If you have a delay pedal with separate outputs for the delayed sound and the dry sound, you could put an octave pedal on the delays only. Keep in mind that messing with your effect order can create some really interesting sounds. My previous signal chain was larger – wah, volume, compression, octavia, fuzz, overdrive, chorus, tremolo, POG, delay. The current incarnation of my pedalboard is as follows – volume, wah, fuzz, boost, tremolo, chorus, POG, delay. It’s just a question of what my intent is. In that case I will put the looper first in the chain. Sometimes, however, I want to make a loop and change the loop over time by manipulating effects manually. I have a little looper that I love, and it goes after eveything (including time based effects) if I want to make loops with multiple parts that might have different effects on them. If your amp has an effects loop you might run these pedals through that so that they come after the preamp section of your amp. Delay and reverb are also effects that are usually added after the fact in the studio. Basically everything that came before delay was shaping your sound, and delay is echoing that shaped sound. I can’t think of too many times when you would want those early in the signal chain. The last section of my signal chain is delay and reverb, in that order. If you’re going for the Eddie Van Halen sound you might prefer to put the Phase 90 before the distortion pedals. I prefer the sound of modulation pedals after distortion, but some prefer them before. I love the POG and assumed it would go before gain based pedals but I found that when I am using POG with distortion or fuzz it sounds way more badass if the fuzz comes first. If I’m using the POG (another pitch based pedal) it goes after the modulation. I will put them after the gain based pedals but before delays. Next in line for me would be modulation pedals. The basic idea here is that pedals that shape the tonal characteristic of your sound – filters, pitch shifters, and maybe also equalizers – should come before effects that alter the gain. I like to put compressors after fuzzes and OD, but you might try other methods, including putting compressors at the very end. The octavia needs a clean signal to do its octave thing, plus it also has a fuzz built in, so it’s technically part of the gain section. I’ve rarely enjoyed the sound of wah after gain in my setup. I put the wah before my gain pedals because the wah is basically a variable filter and I find that it does a better job of filtering a clean signal. I find that using the volume pedal after my gain pedals sounds less organic to my ear, but it’s worth trying on your own. I like the way that a volume swell increases the distortion as it’s turned up. The only pedals that come before my gain based effects are volume pedal, wah, and octavia. There are no right or wrong ways to set up your board. The first thing to remember is that it’s a very good idea to experiment at home with effect order. Most effects fall into the following broad categories: gain based effects (volume pedal, compressor, boost, OD, distortion, fuzz), pitch based effects (octave, harmonizer, wammy), modulation (phaser, flanger, chorus, tremolo), and time based effects (delay, reverb). One important factor in getting the most out of your pedals is putting some thought into the signal path, or the order that the effects are set up on your board. I use George L cables because I can cut them to the length I want, and I use the Pedal Power 2 because it does not care when I plug a positive ground effect into it, as long as I have the correct cable. I love the modular nature of effect pedals and I set up my pedalboard so that it is easy to switch pedals out for different playing situations. Multi-effect processors have been around for decades, yet many guitarists, myself included, still prefer stompboxes when it comes to signal processing.
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