Building a pedalboard is one of the most exciting parts of crafting your unique guitar tone. But beyond choosing the right pedals, how you order them in your signal chain can make or break your sound. Think of it like ingredients in a recipe — the right elements in the wrong order can lead to underwhelming results.
Why Signal Chain Order Matters
Each effects pedal processes your guitar signal differently, and the signal that enters a pedal is affected by everything that came before it. That means a fuzz pedal will sound drastically different when fed a compressed signal versus a raw one, or that a delay placed before distortion might muddy your repeats.
While there’s no definitive “right” way to set up a signal chain, there are well-established conventions that form a solid starting point. Here’s a breakdown of the most commonly recommended order — and why each type of effect goes where it does:
The Traditional Signal Chain Order
- Tuner Your tuner should always go first. It needs the cleanest, most direct signal from your guitar to function accurately. Placing it upfront ensures reliable tuning and avoids tracking issues.
- Wah / Auto-Wah / Envelope Filters These filters are highly touch-sensitive and dynamic. Putting them early in the chain allows them to respond best to your playing and pickup attack. Wah before distortion is the classic setup for a vocal, expressive sweep.
- Compressor Compressors smooth out volume inconsistencies and add sustain. By placing it before overdrive or fuzz, you’re ensuring a consistent signal hits your gain pedals. Some players prefer it after gain for a punchier feel — experiment and see what you prefer.
- Overdrive / Distortion / Fuzz This is the heart of many players’ tone. Gain-based effects are usually stacked from low to high gain and placed before modulation and time-based effects to preserve clarity and definition. Fuzz pedals, especially vintage ones, are often sensitive to buffer placement, so they usually go early in the chain — sometimes even before the wah.
- Modulation (Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, Vibrato) These effects typically go after distortion to modulate the already-shaped tone. This keeps your modulation clear and pronounced. Think of these as adding motion or texture to your core sound.
- Volume Pedal Placement depends on its purpose:
- Before distortion lets you control gain dynamically with your foot.
- After distortion acts like a master volume, affecting loudness without changing gain levels.
- Delay and Reverb These time-based effects usually go at the end of your chain. Delay before reverb gives more control over the clarity of your echoes. Reverb is typically last so that your entire signal is placed “in a space.” Reverb before gain can sound messy or overly saturated.
Final Tips
- Use a looper pedal during setup to hear how changes affect your tone.
- Buffered vs. True Bypass: The number and type of bypass systems in your pedals can impact tone and signal strength — especially with long cables.
- Experiment! Some players intentionally reverse conventions. Eddie Van Halen famously ran his phaser before distortion. The Edge from U2 uses delay early in the chain for rhythmic texture.
There’s no one “correct” way to build your board. Let your ears be your guide, and don’t be afraid to break the rules once you understand them.
