Maybe because they can significantly improve your sound on the
cheap, pedals have become perhaps the single hottest commodity
among gearheads. And here at
Premier Guitar, the last couple of months have
illustrated that more conclusively than ever before: We gave away a pedal
every day during our Stompboxtober contest, and you all wanted more. So,
we extended the giveaway for another month. Our November 2010 “Pedal
Issue” included
reviews of 30 pedals in five of the most common categories,
profiles of
five boutique stompbox builders, and a
feature on Electro-Harmonix. Still, we were inundated with requests for more pedal action. So
we decided to set up online galleries of pedalboards from both
readers and
pros. The latter gallery quickly went on to become our most popular ever.
In a nutshell, it’s clear we’re all pedal junkies. But though trying out and
collecting stompboxes is the fun part of this addiction, there’s one area in which
many of us could probably use a primer/refresher course: what exactly is the
best way to patch them all together?
Although a few cynics might question the need for a pedalboard—after all, you
could just carry all your pedals in a knapsack or your gig bag pouch—most of us
agree they’re good for a lot more than just transporting pedals. First and foremost,
they keep your pedals wired up and plugged in so you can plug in and play instead
of having to connect and power each pedal one at a time. This makes a huge difference
when you’re sandwiched between other acts on a gig and you have to set
up and unpack as quickly as possible, or when you’re at a recording studio and are
continually fighting the clock.
Essentials
If you’re not sure which pedals to start with
when you’re planning out a board that’ll meet
your needs, guitar tech Scott Appleton (who has
worked with guitar gods like Alex Lifeson, Neal
Schon, and Slash) has a few suggestions regarding
gear that facilitates a versatile tonal palette.
“Typically, I’ll see a wah-wah, a distortion or
overdrive (or two), a chorus, a delay, and sometimes
a volume pedal.” As for gear that’s roadworthy
and tone-worthy enough to satisfy a lot
of big names, Appleton says, “I see a lot of Tube
Screamer-type variations, Dunlop wahs, and
delays like the Line 6 DL4, Boss DD-20, and
the Eventide TimeFactor. Also the TC Electronic
chorus is very common.”
That said, there are innumerable worthy
options on the market. Appleton says one of the
most important things to keep in mind when
you’re choosing new pedals is that some pedals
may sound great on one amp, and poor on the
next—it can be a matter of trial and error to find
which ones work best.
Order of Effects
Once you’ve got a bunch of pedals, the next step is to
decide what goes where. A typical order of effects is
shown above. But there are no hard-and-fast rules:
If you like the way a particular “unusual” configuration
sounds, then—by all means—go for it.
Analogman Mike Piera (aka AnalogMike), who
is considered by many to be a leading authority on
effects pedals, offers the following example. “The
order of a clean boost and a distortion pedal determines
what the clean boost will do. A clean boost
into a distortion pedal will add more distortion,
because the distortion pedal is already clipping and
will clip
more when you hit it harder. That’s also
why a small amp cranked up does not get louder
when you hit it with a louder signal—it’s already
out of headroom, so it can only distort more. A
clean boost
after a dirt pedal will increase the volume,
without adding more distortion.”
Planning and Layout
Physically positioning your pedals requires some
logistical planning that can be pretty aggravating,
depending on the shape of your pedals and the
amount of real estate on your pedalboard. But,
naturally, where you place things depends on a lot
more than where you’re able to fit everything on
your board. There are practical considerations to
be made, too. For instance, if you have two distortions
or overdrives (say, for lead and rhythm), you’re
probably going to have to turn one on and the
other off simultaneously with one big stomp across
both pedals—unless you have them both plugged
into an A/B box. For this reason, it’s practical to
place the two pedals right next to each other.