Order of Pedals.

SNAKEBITE

I am in the process of building my pedalboard and just wanted to confirm the best order to place them in the chain.

I have:

Overdrive

Reverb

Delay

Looper Pedal

Many thanks.

GavRichList

Depends on personal preference! I’d go drive, Delay, Reverb, looper. 

Roland

In general put analogue (overdrive) before digital (Reverb and delay). Delay and Reverb shouldn’t matter because, if the algorithms are correct, the result should be the same. Looper depends on what you want to loop.

GavRichList

My rational is that Delay is still an effect, and reverb creates the space that I want it to be heard in, which is why I put Reverb at the end. 

Fretwired

I'd always put reverb after delay - it sounds better, especially if you want some ambience. However, there are no rules only bad sounds.

Where the looper goes depends on what you want to loop.

ICBM

For me…

Overdrive > delay > looper > reverb.

Ro_S

as a very general rule of thumb, orthodoxy would be:
>  pitch changing (e.g. octave, pitchshifter, Whammy)   
>  gain/dirt and tone (e.g. overdrive, distortion, fuzz, and EQ)
>  modulation (e.g. chorus) 
> delay
>  reverb

so, in your case
overdrive > delay > reverb

Re: looper 
where you put the looper depends entirely on how you want to use it; i.e. which effects you want to have on your looped parts.
Possibly, last in chain, or last in chain before reverb, may suit you best.

Ro_S

Roland said:

In general put analogue (overdrive) before digital (Reverb and delay). Delay and Reverb shouldn’t matter because, if the algorithms are correct, the result should be the same. Looper depends on what you want to loop.

curious methodology.  so you put an analogue delay before a digital distortion?   
i don't see what analogue v's digital has got to do with it, surely it's about the sequence of type of effect that matters.

"[the sequence of] delay and Reverb shouldn’t matter because, if the algorithms are correct, the result should be the same" 
- eh?  i don't get that either.

Philtre

Depends whether you want to reverberate your delays, or add delays to your reverb.

UnclePsychosis

Roland said:

In general put analogue (overdrive) before digital (Reverb and delay). Delay and Reverb shouldn’t matter because, if the algorithms are correct, the result should be the same. Looper depends on what you want to loop.

-at the risk of being rude I disagree entirely with all of this.

Analogue vs Digital doesn't matter for effects order. Effects type is what matters. 

As for the latter, Reverb into Delay is never going to sound the same as Delay into Reverb - - - that's not how sound works. 

ICBM

I think the reverb and delay order won't matter if the full reverb tail is shorter than the delay time and the delay has no tone modification in the repeats, but otherwise it will.

Sassafras

Roland said:

In general put analogue (overdrive) before digital (Reverb and delay). Delay and Reverb shouldn’t matter because, 

if the algorithms are correct, the result should be the same. 

I don't understand that bit either.

Fuengi

I've got my Echo Park after my reverb and it doesn't sound right. It's only there because it shares the slot with my Trio - they both need a dedicated supply due to noise on daisy chains. 

Other delays / Echo pedals are before the reverb which sits much better in my opinion.

AlexC

UnclePsychosis said:

Roland said:

In general put analogue (overdrive) before digital (Reverb and delay). Delay and Reverb shouldn’t matter because, if the algorithms are correct, the result should be the same. Looper depends on what you want to loop.

-at the risk of being rude I disagree entirely with all of this.

Analogue vs Digital doesn't matter for effects order. Effects type is what matters. 

As for the latter, Reverb into Delay is never going to sound the same as Delay into Reverb - - - that's not how sound works. 

I agree with this It's the types of pedal fx, not analogue or digital. Personally I put my looper at the end so it it will take any sound I put into it or play 'over' it.

ewal

Having gain of some sort after delay and/or reverb is common place in certain circles (I'm thinking shoegaze). Personally I find it doesn't matter one bit what order your pedals are in, once you get beyond a certain amount of drive/saturation. It just sounds big and filthy.

ICBM

ewal said:

Having gain of some sort after delay and/or reverb is common place in certain circles (I'm thinking shoegaze).

And elsewhere. Neil Young's usual sound is reverb before overdrive, and The Edge's is delay before overdrive, for example.

Whether it's going to work so well with a looper, I'm not sure - there's always a risk of making a big muddy mess if you layer too many similar thick sounds on top of each other.

Or you may like that .

DesVegas

If your reverb is modulated it sound good before delay

Roland

Sassafras said:

Roland said:

In general put analogue (overdrive) before digital (Reverb and delay). Delay and Reverb shouldn’t matter because, 

if the algorithms are correct, the result should be the same. 

I don't understand that bit either.

Reading it back I can’t work out where the analogue and digital came from. However it’s certainly distortion (eg overdrive) before modulation (eg Reverb and delay)

SNAKEBITE

Thanks for all the information guys!

munckee

Having never had a looper before, if you put it last does that allow you to record clean rhythm and then driven lead? 

ICBM

munckee said:

Having never had a looper before, if you put it last does that allow you to record clean rhythm and then driven lead? 

Yes. Any pedals before the looper can be on or off for rhythm and lead parts; any pedals after the looper are on both.