Hook up question

[Frets]

okay so I was never big into pedals and I recent got the itch in inquiring some. But I know have a bit of state of confusion on the hook up. I always thought the guitar jack was an output as the amp is an input. I always thought you have to go from an output to an input. So I get a pedal and I thought okay hook the guitar output to the input of the pedal and the output of the pedal to the input of the amp. Correct?

But I have now read that some guitars have a input. So would the hook up be the same? Guitar input to pedal input, pedal output to amp input? Im confusing myself and not quite sure what the guitar jack is anymore. lol! HELP!!!!! If you can. Thanks

[t_e_l_e]

 

plug a cable in to the guitar, plug the other end of the cable into the input of the pedal

plug a cable into the input of the amp, plug the other end of this cable into the output of the pedal

 

guitar-> pedal in, pedal out -> next pedal in, next pedal out .....-> amp in.

 

one good thing about this is, if you switch in and out on the pedal, there is no harm you can do, you most likely will just get no sound of it when turned on.

if it is true bypass, it will work when turned off, if it is a buffered pedal it will even not work when off...

[WRGKMC]

I think he's mixed up on semantics. The pedals are usually marked with what they connect to. If its marked amp or output, that jack gets connected to the amp. If its marked instrument or input, you connect your instrument to it.

 

I have seen some audio gear that's marked bass ackwards. This is usually with Stereo gear and its aux send and returns. I have a couple like that at home and it screws me up every time. I finally got around to relabeling them as In's and Outs last time so I don't have to deal with it again.

 

 

Another note is, most pedals are made for right handed players now. Inputs will be on the right and outputs on the left. This minimizes tripping over cords because your cable stays on the right.

 

There are some pedals that do it reversed. Most of them are older pedals but you still come across some. These Lefty pedals have the input on the left and out on the right. This causes issues wiring the pedal to a pedal board so many manufacturers have abandoned the reverse pedals when designing them. They may be useful to a left handed players but its just as easy for a manufacture to build them right handed so most do.

I think the last lefty I bought was a Morely JD1. I always have to remember to run longer cords to get to the left side input. Longer cords mean diminished audio quality too so having uniform pedal ins and outs minimizes cord lengths between them.

[Phil O'Keefe]

okay so I was never big into pedals and I recent got the itch in inquiring some. But I know have a bit of state of confusion on the hook up. I always thought the guitar jack was an output as the amp is an input. I always thought you have to go from an output to an input. So I get a pedal and I thought okay hook the guitar output to the input of the pedal and the output of the pedal to the input of the amp. Correct?

 

 

Yes.

 

 

But I have now read that some guitars have a input. So would the hook up be the same? Guitar input to pedal input, pedal output to amp input? Im confusing myself and not quite sure what the guitar jack is anymore. lol! HELP!!!!! If you can. Thanks

 

Don't let it confuse you. It's a misnomer to call the 1/4" jack on a guitar an "input" - it is technically an output jack since the signal from the pickups is flowing out of it and on to the input of the next device, whether it be a pedal or a guitar amp.

 

You're correct with the first part of your post, so just go with that and don't worry about it.

 

[Frets]

Thanks guys especially you Phil. I knew I was over reading into it all. Great explanations and Im not confused anymore. lol!

[Phil O'Keefe]

Cool - glad we could help! Don't hesitate to let us know if you have any other questions. That's what we're here for.

[Frets]

Thanks Phil. Have a Happy New Year and hope you had a nice christmas.