software

I've just got a new MXR Distortion pedal and I'm not sure about where to put it in my setup, and I'm afraid of damaging it. Should it be:

Guitar gt; MXR gt; Multi FX processor gt; amp

OR

Guitar gt; Multi FX processor gt; MXR gt; amp?

Or does it even make any difference? Thanks.

Does your amp have an FX loop, if so, I'd pu the multi FX there

I don't know about an FX loop. Before I got the MXR I just used to plug the guitar into the multi FX and then straight into the amp. What about now with the MXR? Should it go before or after the Multi FX?

Before. Put distortion before any other effects. It just sounds better that way.

All right man thanks for that.

Actually, the Dist is a really noisy pedal- even when it's quot;off.quot; You may wish to try it *after* the effects so your affected signal isn't going through whatever effects you may be running. I can see delay being a problem...

In the end, it really doesn't matter- it's much more about preference and you're not damaging anything as long as it's not coming out of the power amp.

In the end, it really doesn't matter- it's much more about preference and you're not damaging anything as long as it's not coming out of the power amp.

Remember this always. If everybody followed rules then nothing new would ever happened in music. However, saying that it's always better to know the rules before you break them.

The general belief amongst guitarists is that distortion pedals should be early in the chain. The effects that I can think of that usually come before distiortion are Compression (This is debatable, loads of people prefer it after. Another example of how often 'rules' are broken) EQ, Octave and Synths. Compression and EQ because in very different ways they improve your distorted sound. Octaves and Synths simply can't handle the complexity of a distiorted signal.

If you're not using any of these effects (and even if you are) I'd suggest experimenting with the multi-effects AFTER your distiortion pedal. This way modulation effects; such as chorus, tremolo, phase and flange, can come after your distiortion. Also time-based effects; such as echo, delay and reverb, will fall after too. It's more crucial in some regards that you place your time-based effects, rather than modulation effects, after distiortion.

It may get a little confusing here, so bare with me...

In truth, modulation effects are time-based effects. They flucuate the signal but at a much faster rate. Because the 'repeats' of the sound are more noticable in what we call time-based effects, they are more revealing of the potentially nasty sounds you will get from hearing your distiortion more than once. See?

So, in conclusion, and in my opinion,
Compression -gt;- Pitch Shifters -gt;- EQ -gt;- Distortion -gt;- Modulation -gt;- Time-Based.

In spite of everything I've said here the best advice I can give is to take this on board and consider it with a pinch of salt. This is how SOME people have CHOSEN to setup their effects in the past, not how YOU MUST do so in the future.

Johnny Greenwood, Tom Morello, David Gilmour and countless others have done remarkable things with guitars because they chose to go against the 'rules' of pedal placement. Though I'd bet my whiskers they learnt the rules first.

I've been racking my brains trying to think of a way in which pedal placement could potentially damage anything in your setup. I'm stuck. I can't think of any. You needn't worry about this at all.

Hope this helps in some way,
Benja

Wow Benja that's really helpful. Makes it a lot clearer now, thanks