A common first approach is by Robert Keeley (as originally published in Mix Magazine), maker of the famous Keeley Compressor. Let's take a look at what he had to say...
Ask yourself this when you wonder about effects order or placement: Which Chain Of Effect Pedals Makes Life Easy? All you have to do is remember this phase and which letter corresponds to which type of effect.
Wah -> Which, Compressor ->Chain, Overdrive -> Of, EQ -> Effect, Pitch -> Pedals, Modulation -> Make, Level -> Life, Echo -> Easy.
I like to see wah pedals and sometimes even phasers as the first effect after the guitar. We'll call these Wah effects (yes even the phaser). Wah pedals boost a frequency you sweep to with your foot and phasers cut or notch a frequency that is swept to electronically. Distortion pedals make interesting response changes to the boost or cut from these sweep pedals.
Compressors typically go next although I like them after distortion pedals in many cases if the compressor is clean and transparent enough. Compression after distortion has two effects that I really like:
* The noise floor is lower because the noise from a compressor isn't being amplified and distorted by the overdrive pedal.
* There appears to be more sustain. There is one draw back that some people notice and that is a darker, warmer tone. Some folks might prefer a more conventional, brighter tone.
Next comes Overdrive or distortion. Equalizer pedals can go next. They are commonly used for a boost pedal if they can be turned on and off, or used to shape the tone of the distortion pedal. Pitch changing pedals, Vibrato for example; go next for the simple reason that many distortion pedals can't handle the many pitches at one time. Try strumming a complex chord with your distortion pedal on, say a C7#9#11.
Modulation effects such as chorus and flanging go next. Level pedals (that control the volume) then go next in many cases. This would include tremolo, volume pedals (great at this point in the effects chain because it cuts all the hiss going to your amp), noise gates and limiters. Since compression is a limiter in many cases and this is why it works post-distortion by the way. Echo effects go last. These include delay and reverb. A sample effects board might contain these effects: Guitar -> Wah, Compressor, Overdrive, EQ, Vibrato, Chorus, Tremolo, Volume Pedal, and Delay-> Amp.
The above approach is a great way to start thinking about pedal placement. However, there are other options depending on how your specific pedals "play together." Let's start at the beginning, and analyze your options:
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Before or after a fuzz pedal - Placing a wah before a fuzz pedal will provide darker tone, yet still dynamic and with body. Placing a wah after a fuzz pedal will provide brighter, yet sometimes thinner fuzz tone. Most wah pedals cannot be placed in front of a fuzz pedal without farting out. To solve this, guitarists use a fuzz friendly wah (like the one made by
Real McCoy Custom).
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Before or after an overdrive pedal - Placing a wah before an overdrive pedal will provide a brighter, snappier, more quacky wah/overdrive combo. Great if you want your tone to jump off the stage & stand out. Placing a wah after an overdrive will make your wah/overdrive more mellow & sit in the mix more evenly.
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Before or after a compressor pedal - Placing a wah before a compressor will help to even out the dynamics of your specific wah, and match its overall volume closer to the output of the compressor (whether the wah is on or off). This can be helpful for creating a better mix, but some guitarists will not like the loss of dynamics. Placing a wah after a compressor will provide even dynamics going into the wah, yet retain more of the dynamics of your wah.
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Before or after an overdrive pedal - Placing a compressor before an overdrive pedal is going to even out the dynamics going into the overdrive, providing a smoother saturation tone. Placing a compressor after an overdrive pedal will allow the overdrive pedal react to your playing more like if you weren't using the compressor pedal. The compressor then evens out the output of the overdrive, keeping your volume in check. This placement was made popular by Trey Anastasio of Phish.
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Before or after a fuzz pedal - Placing a compressor before or after a fuzz pedal can often provide similar results as with an overdrive. Notice how the fuzz retains its punchy-ness if you place the compressor afterward. Be careful with placing noisy fuzz pedals before compressors, as most compressors will amplify this.
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Before or after a wah pedal - As already stated...Placing a wah before a compressor will help to even out the dynamics of your specific wah, and match its overall volume closer to the output of the compressor (whether the wah is on or off). This can be helpful for creating a better mix, but some guitarists will not like the loss of dynamics. Placing a wah after a compressor will provide even dynamics going into the wah, yet retain more of the dynamics of your wah.
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Placing Overdrive before or after Distortion - The placement of these two effects in relation to each other is highly subjective. Many guitarists place their "dirt" pedals in order of distortion/gain amount. For example, you may choose to place an overdrive pedal with a mild gain setting in front of a distortion pedal that has a higher gain setting. However, try reversing the two & see how it sounds to you. You may like to also "goose" the input of one dirt pedal with another by increasing the first pedal's volume and/or gain. A compressor is also a common tool to use in this application.
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Before or after a fuzz pedal - Placing an overdrive before a fuzz pedal, and playing the two combined, will allow you to saturate your fuzz sound more so than just using the fuzz alone. The tonal character will still be closer to that of the fuzz pedal, but with more saturation. Placing an overdrive after a fuzz pedal will allow your overdrive tones to sound bigger & fuzzier. This can be a great wooly lead tone & is very amp-like.
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Before or after a compressor pedal - As already stated...Placing a compressor before an overdrive pedal is going to even out the dynamics going into the overdrive, providing a smoother saturation tone. Placing a compressor after an overdrive pedal will allow the overdrive pedal react to your playing more like if you weren't using the compressor pedal. The compressor then evens out the output of the overdrive, keeping your volume in check. This placement was made popular by Trey Anastasio of Phish.
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Before or after a wah pedal - As already stated...Placing a wah before an overdrive pedal will provide a brighter, snappier, more quacky wah/overdrive combo. Great if you want your tone to jump off the stage & stand out. Placing a wah after an overdrive will make your wah/overdrive more mellow & sit in the mix more evenly.