having 'No sound pedals' in your effects chain

[mbengs1]

I don't usually need 'no sound pedals' like equalizers, compressors, and sonic maximizers but I recently decided to have one in the signal chain. I put this 'no sound pedal' after the noise suppressor (where the gain pedals are stationed). It is usually an equalizer pedal but a compressor or sonic maximizer would do, too. Is this the right setup? how should I situate these pedals in the signal chain and am arranging them right? my pre gain pedals are usually wah, phase, or univibe and the post gain pedals are a chorus and flange with a pitch shifter or octave after. Then I use a delay, reverb, and volume pedal in the end. 

[Phil O'Keefe]

6 hours ago, mbengs1 said:

I don't usually need 'no sound pedals' like equalizers, compressors, and sonic maximizers

I certainly wouldn't consider any of those types of pedals to be "no sound" type pedals. All of them can have a significant effect on your guitar's sound. 

 

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but I recently decided to have one in the signal chain. I put this 'no sound pedal' after the noise suppressor (where the gain pedals are stationed).

Noise suppressors are usually best placed after high-gain pedals like overdrive, fuzz and distortion pedals. 

 

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It is usually an equalizer pedal but a compressor or sonic maximizer would do, too.

An equalizer won't "do" if what you're after is compression... they're completely different things. 

 

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Is this the right setup? how should I situate these pedals in the signal chain and am arranging them right?

It depends on which of the three types of pedals (EQ, enhancer, compressor) you're talking about... 

 

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my pre gain pedals are usually wah, phase, or univibe and the post gain pedals are a chorus and flange with a pitch shifter or octave after. Then I use a delay, reverb, and volume pedal in the end. 

With the caveat that effects pedal order is a matter of personal taste, the configuration you described here is pretty standard / orthodox and should work just fine, although you might want to try the octave box in front of the dirt pedals sometime and see if you like it that way better. You might, or you might not.   

As far as where to place EQ? It can go either before the gain pedals, or after them. Either is fine, but each will impact the sound differently. EQ in front of the dirt changes the way the dirt pedals respond - by boosting (or cutting) some frequencies, you'll change what the dirt pedal is going to do, in a similar (although frequency-dependent) manner as stacking dirt boxes will. Putting the EQ after the dirt pedals won't change the way they operate, but will allow you to adjust the sound coming out of them. 

The interaction of compression and EQ is somewhat similar. Generally an EQ in front of a compressor will impact the way the compressor operates and what frequencies "trigger" the compressor, and it will be less effective as an overall tonal-shaper. For that reason I generally prefer to put EQ after the compressor and not in front of it. Either way, compressors are usually used before dirt pedals.  

I usually prefer to put enhancers (Sonic Maximizers, Aural Exciters, etc.) towards the end of the chain... but as with all of this stuff, feel free to experiment and put the pedals in whatever order works best for you and that you like the resulting sound of the best. 

 

[1001gear]

These r gud. Self power 2

[Mr.Grumpy]

 

On 3/13/2020 at 1:28 AM, mbengs1 said:

I put this 'no sound pedal' after the noise suppressor (where the gain pedals are stationed). It is usually an equalizer pedal but a compressor or sonic maximizer would do, too. Is this the right setup?

This is not a logical way to think about pedals. I'll try to explain what each one of these "no sound" pedals do and how they can be used....and where I think they work best in the pedal chain. 

1) Compressors. In my opinion, they are usually pointless for playing with any dirt/gain, whether from the amp or a distortion/overdrive/fuzz pedal. ALL forms of distortion clip and compress the guitar signal, somewhat evening out the volume between soft and loud, between chords and single note lines. If you put a compressor after distortion, it won't have much effect because distortion is already compressed. Any further compression is just going to take away dynamics (difference between loud and soft), and add noise. 

Two places a compressor is useful: 1) completely 'clean' tones, like Mark Knopfler's lead guitar tone in "Sultans of Swing" 2) Heavy compression before light OD can give a 'sweet' sustaining but not too distorted tone for lead lines. Great for 70s soft rock leads.

I suspect you don't need a compressor pedal at all, but if you insist on having one, I'd put it before any drive/distortion pedals. Use it for playing clean arpeggios with some chorus dialed in...

2) Equalizers.  Can go anywhere, depending on what you're wanting to do... putting EQ before distortion can really change the flavor and  voicing of distorted guitar. Works great for a lead boost (cut bass and boost mids and/or treble), or can be used after a distortion pedal to shape the distorted tones.   I'm too lazy to write anymore for this paragraph. 

3) Sonic Maximizer.  Here's what the Sonic Maximizer is and what it does:

It is a side-chain treble expander. It dynamically boosts the treble of the signal based on the overall loudness of the incoming signal. Quiet signals get no treble boost, medium loudness signals get a little treble boost, loud signals get the most treble boost. (depending on the unit's settings of course) . Schematics are on the web and circuit isn't that complex, it's all analog and it's implemented with a few op-amps and a VCA chip. 

It does NOT "time align the bass and treble frequencies" !!! Why the manufacturer of this gizmo continues to spew this misleading and un-necessary marketing nonsense baffles me. It's also not a pre-set EQ as many seem to believe. 

Here's my theory on how & why it works:  Sounds with more treble sound louder. I believe the Sonic Maximizer helps restore some of the apparent dynamics of signals that have been compressed. That's why it's mostly used on instruments that are commonly compressed: distorted guitars, bass guitar, drum mixes. So on distorted guitars, you get an extra blast of treble on the note attack, giving your signal more "punch" or "clairty" or whatever. Get a used rackmount version, they're super-cheap.  People say over-using the effect (turning up the 'process' control too high) makes your signal shrill and fatiguing to listen to. Use with care. 

Sonic Maximizer goes near or at the end of your effects chain, definitely after any distortion or compression effects.