If you are concerned about loss of tone, there are tuner pedals available that have a true bypass mode. I find that having a tuner in my pedalboard is easier than having to connect to a separate one when I need to tune up. There is no right or wrong answer here it’s up to your own personal preference. Some purists don’t like having a tuner in the chain, as they feel it adversely affects their tone.īut others love the ease of use that a tuner pedal brings. A volume pedal can go either at the beginning or end of the chain, with a different effect created with each location.Looper pedals should go at the very end, so the complete signal chain gets looped.Logically this makes sense as reverb and delay effects are produced naturally from sounds and are the last things you hear. Time-based effects like delay or reverb that create ambiance should be at the end of the chain.They should fall towards the beginning of the chain but before any delay/reverb devices. Distortion/ overdrive units, wah pedals, and any other gain increasing effects can potentially increase noise and/or amplify noise created by previous devices in the chain.Pedals that help create your guitar’s basic tone – like overdrive, distortion, wah, EQ – should come before pedals that modify or change the sound, like chorus or phasers.Your guitar should be plugged directly into the tuner. You can’t effectively tune a guitar with delays or modulation effects turned on. If you use a tuner, it should be the first pedal in the chain so you can tune your guitar signal without any effects.The object is to produce great tone with minimal noise buildup. The following tips and guidelines will help you understand the best order to put your effects pedals in a chain. Tips and Guidelines On Pedal Order Placement Getting this right solves many of the issues that can come up.
Some pedals work better earlier in the chain, others better at the end. The order of your pedals makes a huge difference in your sound! Experiment with it until you find the flow that suits you! Pedalboard Order BasicsĪn effective layout is based on optimizing your guitar’s signal running through various effects, as well as including your own creative workflow and sound choices. The right to left connections flow from pedal to pedal naturally.īUT, you don’t have to set it up this way if it doesn’t feel right. The reason is that many standard size pedals have the input on the right side and output on the left. Most guitarists have their effects laid out and connected from right to left. Embellish tone and add character, not destroy it.Create the right pedal order that reduces noise and hum.