Pedal Board placement help

Orion

Newbie
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3
Just ready to have a proper setup before I head up to Berklee!

Alright here is what I'm dealing with
Amp- Fender Super Sonic Running into a Marshall 1960 CAB
Effects (in no special order)- Boss TU-2 Tuner, Electro Harmonix Holy Grail + Reverb, Boss CS-3 Compression Sustainer, Boss DD-7 Digital Delay, BBE Green Screamer, BBE Soul Vibe, BBE Sonic Stomp (greatest invention ever), Dunlop 535Q Cry Baby, Decimator Noise Reduction Pedal.

Thanks a bunch,
Orion
 
Maybe he just wanted to tell us that he is going to Berklee.  I'm a little impressed, myself.
 
haha no I forgot to add the question, I wanted to see if you guys had any suggestions on how to layout my pedals.  Sorry I didn't mean to make it seem like I was bragging
 
seems to me you've got some stuff that would be nice in the amp's effects loop and some that would be good before the amp. And the tuner should be out on it's own...

I'd recommend picking up one of these:
http://www.loop-master.com/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=60

I'd try the modulation and reverb/delay stuff (and the maximizer) in the effects loop and everything else before the amp.  Put the noise reduction as the first thing in your chain.
 
Whatever order you like ...

Start with your favorite and second favorite, experiment, which sounds better first, then once you get the order you like, then add the third and so on

Also, I've come to the stage where I believe in minimalism, are there any that you'd want to prune? 
 
Rick said:
Whatever order you like ...

Start with your favorite and second favorite, experiment, which sounds better first, then once you get the order you like, then add the third and so on

Also, I've come to the stage where I believe in minimalism, are there any that you'd want to prune? 

+1.  If it were me I'd keep the tuner, the delay, and whatever OD floats your boat.  Sell the rest. Oh - get one of those power adapter things.

Regarding order, put the delay after the OD.
 
Well, it depends what sounds Orion needs. I mean, depending on what they play, the Holy Grail could be critical.

I personally do a lot of simple sounds, but plenty of ambient as well. I personally am a mini-max-imalist. I am about being minimalist, but that doesn't always mean fewer. For example, last year I went through a major rig overhaul. I "simplified" my rig by getting rid of my Vetta II combo and going to using a homemade compressor, homemade distortion, homemade envelope filter, Line 6 M13, and a Traynor YCV20. So I have a way more physically complex rig, but I was going for a simpler sound... and it worked. There is the possibility to light up too many buttons on the Vetta just because you can. Not that it's bad at all, but the tendency is to put together a bunch of effects and amp settings that only sound half-good individually in an effort to improve the sound. It really doesn't work; to get a good sound takes a lot of time tweaking and lots of restraint.

On the other hand, my now physically more complex rig makes it easier for me to keep my sound simple. Really, I can turn on about the same number of effects at once as I could with the Vetta, but it doesn't tempt me to in the same way.

The other reason I got rid of the Vetta was that I found myself using almost exclusively either a Vox AC15 or a Fender Blackface amp model with just a tube screamer and some delay. Seems like a waste of that rig to only run only those few simple things!

I don't know where this thread went and how it got there, but I figured Orion has probably already gone and thus wouldn't mind the indirectly-related discussion.
 
+1 on the Sonic Stomp.  A friend of mine was telling me how much of a great addition to his rig it was so I tried it and was messing around with it and told him I didn't think my amp sounded that much different...then he told me to turn it off.  Whoa.  Can't live without it now.
 
With those sonic stomps I've found alot depends on your amp and the other effects you have.  They have the potential to add a nasty high end hiss.  For bass, though I've found they always work.  But I can live without it. :toothy12:
 
Place them wherever you like them. Just remember that a wah pedal should go first in the signal chain, and any distortion pedals after that, then everything else after the distortion pedal...
 
T.L. said:
Place them wherever you like them. Just remember that a wah pedal should go first in the signal chain, and any distortion pedals after that, then everything else after the distortion pedal...

Agreed.  Gain-based effects should always be first, time-based effects second.  You want to reverb/delay a distorted signal, not distort a reverb or delay.
Also, if you have the option of using an FX loop for the time-based effects, go for it!

As far as the noise gate, I would put it after any distortion or eq pedals, and before delays and reverbs.  That way, the noise from the distortion pedals is eliminated, but your reverb and delay tails remain clean.
 
T.L. said:
Place them wherever you like them. Just remember that a wah pedal should go first in the signal chain, and any distortion pedals after that, then everything else after the distortion pedal...

I've found some interesting tones by not following that doctrine, delay into a wah for example can be very nice sounding.
 
Generally I place the guitar first but sometimes if I'm feeling "randy", I'll break convention and use a blender instead.
 
fooling around with a blender will probably cause permanent damage... but hey, whatever floats your boat.  :laughing7:
 
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