I'm building a new pedal board that will be drilled out to accommodate the width of each of the pedals in my current lineup, so correct pedal sequence ranks high in importance.
While I realize this may be a subjective matter, I also assume there may be valid reasons for a specific order.
My working sequence at present is as follows:
Mic Tone Octave Delay Reverb Sonic Stomp (sonic maximizer) Harp Attack (pre-amp) Amp
Google "pedal sequence." You'll find lots of forums and web pages that go into this in detail, but the general concensus is that there is no "proper" or "correct" sequence.
(Octavers can shift the pitch anywhere from a half step to two octaves.)
One of the things to think about is what is the effect actually doing to the signal?
for instance reverb and delay are there to emulate the sound of your amp being in an echoey space. Putting it in the middle of the chain means you are actually emulating the raw sound (i.e. untreated input) of your instrument in an echoey room and then applying the amps overdrive to that. Not quite the same, and probably adding more feedback potential. I'd always try and put delays/reverbs in an FX loop if your amp has one, I imagine the Sonic Stomp might be more effective in a loop too.
I'm not familiar with the harp attack - do the instructions tell you to put it last? Conventional wisdom is that preamp fx go toward the front of the chain, after compression, but before tone. Try it earlier in the chain.
try: mic - preamp - tone - octave - amp with delay - reverb - sonic stomp in the fx loop
or if you have no fx loop, just try those pedals after the octave.
The worst you can do is create nasty tones and feedback. Experiment.
@ littlejoesampson. FYI: pedals have little on/off buttons; you don't have to run them all at once :)
Seriously though, your right. All of the pedals bought during my "naivety years" are now being used by my guitarist son (except for the Mesa-Boogie tube pre-amp I still use for that "Sugar Blue" sound)
90% of my playing is acoustic but lots of harps/amps/pedals seems to be a side effect of early retirement!
ps: you might want to avoid talking shop with Jason Ricci ;)
The Octave is my most used effect. I love it!! Listen to the manical laughter at 9:20. I use two delay pedals, at 9:20 you can hear the voice through the octave and then through the analog delay (Boss DM-2) and then through the digital delay with tape decay. The bottom line with effects is you need to know what you are doing. Just playing blues licks through effects is going to sound stupid. But if you change you playing as you change effects as I do in the Crimson Rider clip, effects can be very effective and mind altering for the audience. I can't tell you how many times people come up to me and ask what is that stick thing you are playing? They refuse to believe it's a harmonica until I show them.
---------- ~Buddha Pennsylvania - H.A.R.P. (Harmonica Association 'Round Philly)
Last Edited by on Oct 16, 2009 7:08 AM
I'm with Buddha on the use of pedals-I dig the versatility that's made available thru use of them. Let's face it-no matter how great a player you are, the tonal diversity of our humble little instrument of choice is limited. I do agree that effects should NOT be used to disguise a lack of technique, and with so many resources available nowadays to improve techniques, there's no excuse. Now, if a player so chooses to only play blues and ONLY have a'Chicago blues, Little/Big/Medium/Extra Large Walter sound, then he or she might not really see the need in too many effects. But when you delve into other types of music, the tonal variances are really cool.
@LJS-Not sure if the original post on the 'octave' referred to a true octave pedal like a Boss and the like, or it was the Lone Wolf, which I hesitate to classify as an 'octave' pedal. Th LW adds more bottom end and 'balls', to simplify it, instead of a true octave up or down. I have one, and love it. It's great to use in a blues setting when you want your solos to 'jump' out. ---------- Crescent City Harmonica Club www.myspace.com/harpboytodd www.myspace.com/crescentcityharmonicaclub www.myspace.com/am540
Thanx to everyone for the help. I realize this subject gets rehashed just like tongue blocking/lip pursing, ss/tube etc. but nevertheless...
Looks like I'm on the right track with the exception of the preamp. I usually don't have an fx loop. The Harp Attack is occasionally used with ss but mostly for plugging straight to the PA sans amp. The octave is a L W and I agree it's not your typical octave pedal and it, along with the Sonic Stomp, add punch and drive respectively.
I just realized from TG's post the implication of your OCTAVE reference (I don't do mornings well. another side effect of early retirement); yes, I can tongue block. It's not that kind of octave pedal. Should have listed brands. Sorry
Did not intend to come off as a prat. I just look for ways to simplify things as life wears on.
One effect that I do resort to is extreme tremolo and reverb to play Surf harmonica. It's such a popular genre for California. Play it with an amp where they're integral. Sounds like Dick Dale. Weird.
Never thought I'd be doing this, but the people like it.
Octave pedal does not equal split tongue octaves. Totally different effect. Completely and totally different effect. I don't usually say stuff like this on this board, but perhaps folks should not try to give advice when they don't really know exactly what they are talking about. Now don't flame me. That is ALL I'm gonna say about it... Peace out... ---------- ------------------ The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
Here's a great article Robert Keeley wrote on the subject I have always used this as a guide:
EFFECT PEDAL ORDER AND PLACEMENT
Q: Is there a specific order my effects should go in?
A: Yes and no. There are some guidelines that can be followed to make sure odd things don't happen. There have been times when a compressor after a delay pedal or reverb unit has caused some bad (good?) effects, there have been brilliant moves to place effects in certain orders that break most rules, but below is a guideline I came up with and was published in Musician's Hotline Magazine. Nice things is it gives you a way, a phrase to memorize so that when you're on the road, you can get it right if you pick up a new effect. Placing effects in a logical order will help! This list of effects order is just a general guideline. Some of the best and most unique guitar tones have been created by breaking the rules! You guys need a head start at good tone right?! A way to make life easy right?! I came up with a little phrase to help remember the order because even I forget. Ask yourself this when you wonder about effects order or placement: Which Chain Of Effect Pedals Makes Life Easy? All you have to do is remember this phase and which letter corresponds to which type of effect. Wah -> Which, Compressor -> Chain, Overdrive -> Of, EQ -> Effect, Pitch -> Pedals, Modulation -> Make, Level -> Life, Echo -> Easy. I like to see wah pedals and sometimes even phasers as the first effect after the guitar. We�ll call these Wah effects (yes even the phaser). Wah pedals boost a frequency you sweep to with your foot and phasers cut or notch a frequency that is swept to electronically. Distortion pedals make interesting response changes to the boost or cut from these sweep pedals. Compressors typically go next although I like them after distortion pedals in many cases if the compressor is clean and transparent enough. Compression after distortion has two effects that I really like. First, the noise floor is lower because the noise from a compressor isn�t being amplified and distorted by the overdrive pedal. Second, there appears to be more sustain. There is one draw back that some people notice and that is a darker, warmer tone. Some folks might prefer a more conventional, brighter tone. Next comes Overdrive or distortion. Equalizer pedals can go next. They are commonly used for a boost pedal if they can be turned on and off, or used to shape the tone of the distortion pedal. Pitch changing pedals, Vibrato for example; go next for the simple reason that many distortion pedals can�t handle the many pitches at one time. Try strumming a complex chord with your distortion pedal on, say a C7#9#11. Modulation effects go next such as chorus and flanging go next. Level pedals that control the volume go next in many cases. This would include tremolo, volume pedals (great at this point in the effects chain because it cuts all the hiss going to your amp), noise gates and limiters. Since compression is a limiter in many cases and this is why it works post-distortion by the way. Echo effects go last. These include delay and reverb. A sample effects board might contain these effects: Guitar -> Wah, Compressor, Overdrive, EQ, Vibrato, Chorus, Tremolo, Volume Pedal, and Delay-> Amp.
I'd actually like a loop pedal. I know some people think that it's cheating, but I have some stuff I do solo that just can't be done live alone. I recorded it originally as separate tracks with different effects on each one. The only pedal I actually have is a voice pedal multi-effect that I got back when I was singing more. I've seen more people (not harpists but others) switching to laptops instead of pedals, although ones that can do stuff in real time are still high end I think.
Hi OzarkRich, Lots of interesting info here, particularly the one by Violin Cat and the cool vid from Chris. I suggest trying to figure out a more flexible pedal board set up, the order will change according to preferences and those will change with time and gear aquisition. Using velcro to attach or another setup more easy to change order might be a better long term solution than drilling for specific pedal widths.
@violincat-Great article. Printed a copy to keep with my gear.
@nacoran-A loop pedal is an interesting idea for some songs/venues. Also, saw the harp player from WSNB using a wah. obviously redundant with acoustic but sounded good amped. Which leads to...
@walterharp-I've thought about velcro. my new board is treadplate so the strips would have to be glued instead of the adhesive backing and it would require removing the rubber feet (which I'd like to avoid) on the pedals or using raised runners.
