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The definitive "What order should my FX pedals be placed in?" thread


zeuzman

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What's your point? That's exactly the same situation as shifting it up then distorting it (assuming no massive treble rolloff on the pedal).

In fact from personal experience, I always found putting the whammy second reduced treble as the frequency response is a bit shit.

 

I found it to be the complete opposite and it did lead to comments after a couple of gigs years ago when I had initially bought it.

 

It's not the same situation though. There's be no significance in pedal order if that was the case. :p

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I found it to be the complete opposite and it did lead to comments after a couple of gigs years ago when I had initially bought it.

 

It's not the same situation though. There's be no significance in pedal order if that was the case. :p

 

I'm not saying it doesn't affect the sound, just that your explanation is bollocks - if you pitch shift a sound then distort it, you have the same harmonic content as distorting something then shifting it.

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I'm not saying it doesn't affect the sound, just that your explanation is bollocks - if you pitch shift a sound then distort it, you have the same harmonic content as distorting something then shifting it.

 

I actually agree with Mr Goldenbollocks about the harmonics produced by the OD pedal then being shifted which would produce a different sound with the OD before the whammy

 

Whether that makes it unlistenable though would depend on the overall setup though I imagine, and wouldn't necessarily make it sound shit

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I actually agree with Mr Goldenbollocks about the harmonics produced by the OD pedal then being shifted which would produce a different sound with the OD before the whammy

 

Whether that makes it unlistenable though would depend on the overall setup though I imagine, and wouldn't necessarily make it sound shit

 

You can agree all you like, it doesn't change the physics of the thing :LOL:

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I'm not saying it doesn't affect the sound, just that your explanation is bollocks - if you pitch shift a sound then distort it, you have the same harmonic content as distorting something then shifting it.

 

That's not the case at all.

 

It's possible though, but not with guitars.

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I get what haze is saying. The distortion is producing frequencies that weren't there before that are then being shifted up into ear piercing frequencies.

If the distortion is after the whammy it's only distorting the pitch shifted clean signal.

I dunno if realistically that's what's happening, would be interesting to do it both ways through a frequency graph thingymajig.

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Guest Batman.
You can agree all you like, it doesn't change the physics of the thing :LOL:

 

If the distortion pedal adds loads of harmonics, then these harmonics would be an octave up when put through the whammy. If the whammy was first, you'd have just the clean guitar signal an octave up, then after that you'd have the distortion, which would add the harmonics, but not at an octave up, seeing as they've not been put through a whammy.

 

I'm talking complete bullshit aren't I?

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I get what haze is saying. The distortion is producing frequencies that weren't there before that are then being shifted up into ear piercing frequencies.

If the distortion is after the whammy it's only distorting the pitch shifted clean signal.

I dunno if realistically that's what's happening, would be interesting to do it both ways through a frequency graph thingymajig.

 

If you tried it with a synthesizer or something, then what Jon is saying is possible, it's just that a guitar's sound is more complex than a typical synth and distortion pedals and amps don't have an even frequency response, nor do speakers.

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It gets to a point where the amp wont even be reproducing the highest frequencies because it just cant do it, same as youre losing frequency response when you use the dive bomb setting. Guitar amps just arent designed to make frequencies that high, which is why it really isnt making that much of a problem when putting the distortion first...

 

And even if the speakers could do frequencies that high, the whammy is distoring the signal so much itself that theyre gone anyway.

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It gets to a point where the amp wont even be reproducing the highest frequencies because it just cant do it, same as youre losing frequency response when you use the dive bomb setting. Guitar amps just arent designed to make frequencies that high, which is why it really isnt making that much of a problem when putting the distortion first...

 

And even if the speakers could do frequencies that high, the whammy is distoring the signal so much itself that theyre gone anyway.

 

Your ears are sensitive to certain frequencies, which the speakers typically used with guitar amps can produce (It's not the amp itself that can't produce those frequencies).

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Your ears are sensitive to certain frequencies, which the speakers typically used with guitar amps can produce (It's not the amp itself that can't produce those frequencies).

 

If the amp isnt producing them, you wont hear them.

 

Im really not certain what it is that youre trying to say here, but I think we can pretty much settle that putting the whammy after the overdrive isnt going to fuck up your sound like you originally said.

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If the distortion pedal adds loads of harmonics, then these harmonics would be an octave up when put through the whammy. If the whammy was first, you'd have just the clean guitar signal an octave up, then after that you'd have the distortion, which would add the harmonics, but not at an octave up, seeing as they've not been put through a whammy.

 

I'm talking complete bullshit aren't I?

 

Yes. With the whammy first, the harmonics produced would also be an octave up because the fundamental is an octave up!

Distortion pedals don't just add set frequencies, they add harmonics related to the incoming signal.

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That's not the case at all.

 

It's possible though, but not with guitars.

 

As I said, it will change the sound but not because of harmonics. The pedal's frequency response curve will be shifted up but for the ranges we're talking (and given that it's going through a guitar speaker), unless you have a really high Q in the mids somewhere it's not going to make a lot of difference.

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Guest Batman.
Yes. With the whammy first, the harmonics produced would also be an octave up because the fundamental is an octave up!

Distortion pedals don't just add set frequencies, they add harmonics related to the incoming signal.

 

Aaah I get it now, I wasn't taking into account that the distortion pedal's added harmonics would be relative to the input :facepalm:

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Aaah I get it now, I wasn't taking into account that the distortion pedal's added harmonics would be relative to the input :facepalm:

Haha I think a few people made that mistake, I did at first! :LOL:

wow, some people really know their whammies!

 

Maybe less time spent waggling your whammies in your bedroom and more time getting them out on stage.

 

I'm a professional, don't worry about it.

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