How to Set Up Guitar Pedals
Decide what kind of tone you want to have., Connect your pedals with short patch cables., Position your tuner pedal first., Connect filter effects pedals early in the chain., Plug in your compressor pedal after the filter pedals., Add overdrive and...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Decide what kind of tone you want to have.
While there are some standard configurations for guitar pedals, the order of your pedals depends on the tone you want to achieve.
This will differ depending on the style of music you play.Make sure you're preserving the functionality of the pedal.
Keep in mind that switching the order can have a drastic effect on the tone produced.
You may want to experiment with some pedals in different positions until you find the sound you want.
Once you've chosen your order, number your pedals so you can easily reproduce the same order and don't have to memorize it. -
Step 2: Connect your pedals with short patch cables.
When choosing the cables that connect your pedals, be willing to invest in quality.
The better the cable, the better the tone from your guitar.Your patch cables should be as short as possible.
Longer cables will cause the signal to degrade and your tone will suffer. , If you use a chromatic tuner pedal, plug your guitar directly into the tuner.
You want the pedal to tune your guitar's clean, unmodulated signal rather than the heavily distorted sound produced by first running the signal through other effects pedals., Filter pedals, such as auto-wahs, envelope filters, and wah-wahs, typically work best when they follow your tuner pedal.
If you don't use a tuner pedal, filter pedals should be first in your setup.Any filter should modulate a clean signal.
Placing them after other effects pedals limits their ability to function properly.
This also may be a good position for phaser pedals, depending on the type of tone you want to achieve. , Compressor pedals "level out" your guitar's volume, boosting the volume of quieter tones.You'll get lots of noisy, unwanted sound if you put the compressor pedal later on in the chain when the guitar's tone has already been heavily modified.Depending on the type of music you're playing, you may actually want your compressor pedal at the end of your chain.
For example, if you're playing country music, a compressor pedal at the end of the chain squashes everything, regardless of the effects you're using.
With rock music, on the other hand, it typically works better right after the filter pedals. , Overdrive and distortion pedals are some of the most popular types of effects pedals, particularly in rock music.
Placing these pedals before filter and compressor pedals can produce an unpleasant tone.Overdrive and distortion pedals generate and amplify the overtones of each note you play.
For this reason, you don't want amplified overtones fed into filter or compressor pedals. , In most cases, a pitch-shifting pedal functions best when it's being fed a compressed signal.
You generally want to place it after compression or equalizer pedals, unless you've positioned your compressor pedal at the end of your chain., If you're using any modulation pedals such as chorus, flanger, tremolo, or phaser pedals, you generally want to place them later in your signal chain so they have a richer sound.If you have multiple modulation-style pedals, you may want to experiment with their order until you find the best arrangement that will give your guitar the tone you want. , Whether you put the volume pedal earlier or later in the signal chain affects what part of your guitar's sound the pedal adjusts, and gives this pedal a different functionality.Near the beginning of your signal chain, closest to your guitar, the volume pedal will adjust the volume of your unmodulated signal going into other effects pedals.
It can be helpful to clean up your sound if you use overdrive a lot.
Placing your volume pedal towards the end of your signal chain adjusts the volume of the finished signal. , When ordering time-based pedals such as delay pedals, think of how the sound you're creating actually occurs in physical space.
Since delay or echo is the last thing heard, it makes sense to place these types of pedals at the end of the signal chain.Keep in mind that placing a delay pedal before a volume pedal can make it more difficult to control the volume of each successive delay or echo effect. -
Step 3: Position your tuner pedal first.
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Step 4: Connect filter effects pedals early in the chain.
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Step 5: Plug in your compressor pedal after the filter pedals.
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Step 6: Add overdrive and distortion pedals.
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Step 7: Decide where to place any pitch-shifting pedals.
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Step 8: Connect modulation pedals towards the end of your signal chain.
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Step 9: Place volume pedals at the beginning or end of your signal chain.
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Step 10: Position any time-based pedals last.
Detailed Guide
While there are some standard configurations for guitar pedals, the order of your pedals depends on the tone you want to achieve.
This will differ depending on the style of music you play.Make sure you're preserving the functionality of the pedal.
Keep in mind that switching the order can have a drastic effect on the tone produced.
You may want to experiment with some pedals in different positions until you find the sound you want.
Once you've chosen your order, number your pedals so you can easily reproduce the same order and don't have to memorize it.
When choosing the cables that connect your pedals, be willing to invest in quality.
The better the cable, the better the tone from your guitar.Your patch cables should be as short as possible.
Longer cables will cause the signal to degrade and your tone will suffer. , If you use a chromatic tuner pedal, plug your guitar directly into the tuner.
You want the pedal to tune your guitar's clean, unmodulated signal rather than the heavily distorted sound produced by first running the signal through other effects pedals., Filter pedals, such as auto-wahs, envelope filters, and wah-wahs, typically work best when they follow your tuner pedal.
If you don't use a tuner pedal, filter pedals should be first in your setup.Any filter should modulate a clean signal.
Placing them after other effects pedals limits their ability to function properly.
This also may be a good position for phaser pedals, depending on the type of tone you want to achieve. , Compressor pedals "level out" your guitar's volume, boosting the volume of quieter tones.You'll get lots of noisy, unwanted sound if you put the compressor pedal later on in the chain when the guitar's tone has already been heavily modified.Depending on the type of music you're playing, you may actually want your compressor pedal at the end of your chain.
For example, if you're playing country music, a compressor pedal at the end of the chain squashes everything, regardless of the effects you're using.
With rock music, on the other hand, it typically works better right after the filter pedals. , Overdrive and distortion pedals are some of the most popular types of effects pedals, particularly in rock music.
Placing these pedals before filter and compressor pedals can produce an unpleasant tone.Overdrive and distortion pedals generate and amplify the overtones of each note you play.
For this reason, you don't want amplified overtones fed into filter or compressor pedals. , In most cases, a pitch-shifting pedal functions best when it's being fed a compressed signal.
You generally want to place it after compression or equalizer pedals, unless you've positioned your compressor pedal at the end of your chain., If you're using any modulation pedals such as chorus, flanger, tremolo, or phaser pedals, you generally want to place them later in your signal chain so they have a richer sound.If you have multiple modulation-style pedals, you may want to experiment with their order until you find the best arrangement that will give your guitar the tone you want. , Whether you put the volume pedal earlier or later in the signal chain affects what part of your guitar's sound the pedal adjusts, and gives this pedal a different functionality.Near the beginning of your signal chain, closest to your guitar, the volume pedal will adjust the volume of your unmodulated signal going into other effects pedals.
It can be helpful to clean up your sound if you use overdrive a lot.
Placing your volume pedal towards the end of your signal chain adjusts the volume of the finished signal. , When ordering time-based pedals such as delay pedals, think of how the sound you're creating actually occurs in physical space.
Since delay or echo is the last thing heard, it makes sense to place these types of pedals at the end of the signal chain.Keep in mind that placing a delay pedal before a volume pedal can make it more difficult to control the volume of each successive delay or echo effect.
About the Author
Carolyn Rodriguez
Experienced content creator specializing in DIY projects guides and tutorials.
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