Friday, July 24, 2015

My Effects Order

Perhaps one of the more divisive topics in pedals is what order to place your effects.  There are no hard and fast rules, always keep that in mind.  Sometimes new sounds can be had just by changing the order of pedals.  For example, getting the My Bloody Valentine shoe-gaze sound usually comes about by running a thick reverb into a fuzz pedal, the opposite of how most people order those pedals.  So with that said, here's a run-down of my current board in order and why.



  1. TIMMY - Timmy is a clean boost and transparent overdrive.  This pedal works great early in the chain to provide extra gain and buffering to the effects that follow.  Some people like to use transparent overdrive or boost last in their chains to recover gain.  I like pushing pedals following the boost harder so I use it first in the chain.
  2.  Fuzzhugger Magic Meter - The Magic Meter is a kind of dirty overdrive that has a unique sound and distortion characteristics. It stacks very well into other dirt.
  3. Blackout Effectors Seriously Special Twosome - This is a dual dirt pedal, with a Blunderbuss fuzz which is basically a take on a "Civil War" Big Muff, and a Fix'd Fuzz on the other side, which is a really unique fuzz good for leads.
  4. EHX Freeze - The Freeze is basically a sample-and-hold for guitar.  It has a momentary switch you hold down and it will essentially sample and loop the last thing you played.  It has 3 settings for the sample length but basically it lets you sustain a chord forever.  Great for transitions!
  5. Wilson Freaker wah pedal - I've always been a fan of wah, and the Freaker is a great twin-peak type filter.  Wah's usually sound good after your fuzz, but before time-based effects like delay or modulation.
  6. WMD Super Fatman - The Super Fatman is an auto-wah pedal, meaning it has an envelope follower that reacts to the incoming signal and controls the filter.  The Super Fatman can do low-pass, high-pass, or band-pass filtering and sounds really incredible.  Again, filtering usually sounds best after dirt.  Also the Timmy in front of the Super Fatman allows me to boost the signal hitting the filter so it opens more.
  7. Fuzzhugger Algal Bloom XS+ - I don't keep all my dirt early in the board, the Algal Bloom is probably my favorite dirt pedal and I put it right in the middle of my chain.  Placing it after the filters allows me to control the frequencies going to it, which can create a unique sound.
  8. Malekko Omicron Chorus - Compact chorus pedal with the MN3009 chip that is much sought-after for its very liquidy lush chorus sound.
  9. Malekko Omicron Phaser - Compact phaser that does a good freakout imitation.
  10. Mooer Trelicopter - The Trelicopter is a tremolo that gets good and choppy.  I like to put trem almost last in the chain, but some interesting effects can be achieved putting a dirt after it, especially one that is sensitive to amplitude.
  11. Tuner - Everyone needs a tuner.
  12. Mooer Pro Reecho - The Pro Reecho is a big brother to the smaller and very compact Reecho pedal.  It does digital delay, analog emulations, and looping.  Therefore it goes last in my chain.

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