Pedal Chain

[skye]

Hi all in which order would you run this pedal chain and why
Amp / Echo / Compressor / EQ / Tuner.
Thanks in advance Ray

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Ray,
The order you wrote will work, although I would probably move the EQ either between the Echo/Compressor. The tuner should always be next to the guitar because effects, especially echo or delay could cause it to work badly. However, some tuners can load the guitar thereby dulling the tone so in that case you could try putting it between the Compressor and Echo. Compressor pedals are designed to work with a flat signal from the guitar so EQ between the guitar and Echo could affect the way the compressor works, although it is possible in some instances to sound better if less bass reaches the compressor. Echo usually works best as last in the chain before the Amp. There can be exceptions though but generally taking note of the above should help.
Regards,
Charlie

[skye]

Hi Charlie
Thank you for the info much appreciated so you would go
Guitar > Tuner > Compressor > EQ > Echo > Amp.
Regards Ray

[garystrat]

Hi Ray,

Obviously, Charlie is the main man for these things and has given you some really good advice, but if you would like to know a little more the link below explains the working logic behind it:

ledgernote.com/columns/guitar-guru/guitar-pedal-order/

It's always good to know these things because if you start getting into the world of recording and software you can move these things around in ways that wouldn't be viable with physical kit.

Regards

Gary

[sheendigs]

Hi Charlie
A little question here.
What happens with that pedal that has all the effects grouped into one?
Do they obey the sequence above or do they have different paths?
Sheendigs

[skye]

Hi Gary
Thanks for the link, Yes the chain i am looking at is physical.
I do record using a Fractal Fm3 into Ableton and should i need to adjust i use
the plugins within Ableton, To me the recording side with the Fm3 which is a
Amp modeler /Fx Processor has a different feel and sometimes its nice to go back
to basics using individual pedals.
Regards Ray

[Charlie Hall]

Sept 28, 2022 7:17:58 GMT skye said:

Hi Charlie
Thank you for the info much appreciated so you would go
Guitar > Tuner > Compressor > EQ > Echo > Amp.
Regards Ray

Hi Ray,
Yes, that can be considered a normal order of effects.
Regards,
Charlie

[Charlie Hall]

Sept 28, 2022 11:29:27 GMT sheendigs said:

Hi Charlie
A little question here.
What happens with that pedal that has all the effects grouped into one?
Do they obey the sequence above or do they have different paths?
Sheendigs

Hi Sheendigs,
i have and still use a Boss BE-5 multi effects which I believe was the first of its kind back in 1989. The order of effects of that unit is Compressor, Overdrive/Distortion, Effects loop, Digital Delay, Stereo Chorus. It also has a noise gate which I think is triggered by the input signal. It also has a tuner out which is a buffered version of the input signal. Sometimes it would be useful to swap the positions of Compressor and Overdrive/Distortion, but the order as it exists is more useful.
Regards,
Charlie

[skye]

Thanks for your help Charlie
Much Appreciated
Ray

[garystrat]

HI Ray,

I use Ableton Live 11, this has certainly become the DAW of choice for me!

I haven’t seen the Factual FM 3 before, but coming from the Factual AXE-FX III stable I would think it’s very good indeed, I use Helix Native which is the software equivalent of the Line 6 Helix pedal, these both have significant FX routing capability and the software can be used to create patches for the hardware.

In terms of the FX placement possibilities you may be interested in having a look at the link below:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNm5RxvuCuI

As you can see he is setting up a presets that are only possible in some digital pedals or software, it seems to have 4 paths which can be linked or used as scenes, but I’m not sure if you can have things like two effects in parallel on dual tracks?

In any case it sounds terrific and seems to offer a lot of possibilities!

Regards

Gary

[skye]

Hi Gary
Out of interest you say you use Ableton 11 is that the Suite or Standard?
Regards Ray

[garystrat]

Hi Ray,

I have progressively upgraded to the Suite version, it’s become the central hub of my musical interests and a great tool to learn studio techniques and try things out. Some may disagree, but I really like the uniform way it handles plugins and find that find many advanced techniques are much easier to use.

I’ve used and setup many DAWs for others over the years, Ableton came as Lite version with my audio interface and truth I was only going to try it out of curiosity, but was quite surprised how quickly this one grew on me and have not looked back since.

Regards

Gary

[skye]

Thanks for the info Gary
Cheers Ray

[garystrat]

If I may ask, what version are you running Ray and what are your thoughts on it?

Regards

Gary

[skye]

Hi Gary
At the moment just the ableton 10 lite which cam with my focusrite interface
may be looking to upgrade at some point but at the moment it does the job
Cheers Ray

[garystrat]

HI Ray,

I started out with Ableton 10 Lite, the commercial version is also very reasonably priced (around £80.00), has the same core engine as Standard and Suite, plus they have improved the comping features in version 11.

If you are just recording guitar to BT this should be more than enough for your needs, moving up to the Standard version you would of course get version 11, which provides the new comping features, better OS support for Silicone Mac’s (this is what I have), increase in available tracks and quality plugin additions. The move to the Suite version then has Max Live which allows Ableton and their party contributors to provide plugin style extras and more connectivity if it’s being used live at gigs, this really turns it into the Swiss Army knife of DAWs.

Interestingly the latest 11 upgrade is described as having improved sound quality, in my opinion it was already one of the best out there in terms of pristine sound, but I have noticed it seems even better, particularly with plugins and FX.

Regards

Gary