Where does a delay pedal go on your pedal board (with video)?

[jpjr50]

Back again with another video but this time it's the delay pedal. This time I took it easy on the Delay and didn't use a position that would muddy everything up. When I did the reverb pedal video most said it was too much reverb, did the opposite this time.

*NOTE - FX loop and reverb not used for this demonstration.

Last week it was the chorus pedal I moved around which had interesting results. That video is here in the forums.

I was surprised where the delay sounded the best to my ears. Might even leave it alone in that position for awhile.

Went against all recommended positions to bring out some unique sounds.

Check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-sMd-UnrZo

[Diggs5011]

Simple: Delay repeats a sound...place after the sounds in which you'd like to repeat. Any pedal post delay merely colors from there. It can be used any which way really. I use mine next to last just before reverb. Good luck

[pieterh]

That's what I do too - reverb last in the chain, delay just before it. Everything else before the delay: as we've suggested before, processors that affect the original signal (so compression, overdrive, phaser etc), then delay-based effects such as chorus, flanger, then actual delays and round off with reverb on the whole. But of course one can experiment (and you have I think!), but that's the general rule of thumb.

These guidelines are useful when deciding whether to use effects loops or not. Some fx loops are wired in series - connecting to the return breaks the original signal path in the amp - and so processors could be used in the loop (though they will still be working on the post-preamp signal). Other fx loops are parallel and I would be wary about putting compressor and overdrive etc in the loop as they will only be affecting the loop, not the signal that stays between the preamp and power stage.

[travisbrown]

Also consider that when you put a DLY pedal before the amp, the progressively quieter repeats won't drive the input stage as hard, so if a crunchy preamp is what you are going for, it will get cleaner and cleaner with each repeat. This is why it's typical to put the DLY in the EFX loop post preamp. It repeats the drive sound. In the same manner, you often don't put reverb before a overdrive stage. You typically don't want the reverb distorted. Rather, you want the distorted tone reverberated.

More or less what Diggs5011 said.

Also, if you have the option of putting the DLY before the EQ section, you can take advantage of compounding EQ, so the regen gets darker and darker if you have rolled off the top end. For example, if you've rolled off the highs 2DB, each repeat has an additional 2DB rolled off. (The reverse usually sounds like crap, if you were wondering)

[jpjr50]

I left the delay and reverb at the end which goes through the Orange FX Loop. It just sounds correct there. It may differ for most people.

When I did chorus pedal video I actually left if in the beginning for a while. When the overdrive and gain is turned on there isn't anything special when the chorus sound is distorted and boosted. I put it back at the end of the chain in front of the amp.