>: What is the best sequence for a stomp box effects chain? I use
>: Overdrive/Distortion, Compression, Wah, Delay and Tremelo. Are there
>: any tried and true "rules" such as compression first, then Overdrive,
>: then wah, etc.


The standard ideal sequence of effects pedals:


wah
compression
eq (optional)
distortion (includes limited post-distortion eq)
echo
reverb


Ideally, to avoid beats, delay-derived effects should go after the mic'd speaker, as though adding in echo and reverb at the mixing console:


wah
compression
eq (optional)
distortion
eq (from distortion tone controls, or amp's preamp)
power tubes, output transformer, speaker, mic
echo
reverb


This setup enables heavy power-tube saturation with no beats -- a very pure tone. Then you can add tons of crazy time-based effects once the Basic Tone is secured.

I think that what "straight into the amp" extremists really hate the most is beats caused by running echo through saturated power tubes. Wah sounds perfectly smooth and clear -- by nature, it can't cause beats before a distortion stage.

Compression after wah seems like a great sequence. Another good placement idea is compression after mic'd speaker.

_____________

At 08:57 AM 8/23/97 -0600, eric j anderson wrote:
>Just bought my first tube amp. I use an Ibanez Ghostrider with DiMarzio Norton and DiMeola Model humbuckers+ plugged into a Digitech FX7 multieffects box into my "new" Ampeg VS503 Tube amp.

>How would you rate the tools I'm using and can you make suggestions for getting the most out of the set?


I don't know that equipment in detail. For typical equipment, you can do either chain:

Setup A: multifx before the amp's input
o multifx unit:
    - programmable compression
    - programmable distortion
    - programmable eq
    - time-based fx
o distortion stage in the amp - noise-free and simple [sounds awful if preceded by time-fx]
o tone controls (eq) in the amp - noise-free and simple
o fx loop in the amp - not used
o power tubes (essentially another saturation stage, which hates time-fx)
o guitar speaker, mic
o mixing board, with time-based effects in the board's fx loop

OR
Setup B: multifx in the amp's fx loop
o distortion stage in the amp - noise-free and simple
o tone controls (eq) in the amp - noise-free and simple
o fx loop in the amp - contains multifx unit:
    - programmable compression
    - programmable distortion
    - programmable eq
    - time-based fx
o power tubes (essentially another saturation stage, which hates time-fx)
o guitar speaker, mic
o mixing board, with time-based effects in the board's fx loop

In Setup B, it's impossible to do the muddy chain of time-fx and then distortion. However, it's still possible to do time-fx and then *power tube* saturation, which would generate excessive muddiness if the power tubes are highly saturated (distorted, clipped).

Even if you avoid time-based fx before a *preamp* clipping stage, you still have to beware of doing heavy time-based effects followed by heavy *power tube* (and speaker) saturation, or else you'll get muddiness/beats. The only way to combine heavy power tube saturation with heavy time-based effects is to put the time-fx in the mixing board's fx loop -- because this way, the clear, simple amp tone has been safely established all the way to the guitar speakers, before introducing the sonic complexity of the harmonic beats and clashing overtones inherent in echo-derived effects. It seems that linear amplification stages can handle these harmonic complex beats, but nonlinear (that is, saturated) amplification stages garble these beats unmusically.

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