There are many pedals out there, and knowing how to order your pedals and where they go in the signal chain can make a big difference in your sound.
Note that these are hints on how to get the most of your pedals. But there is an old rule: If it sounds good, it is good.
If you find a different pedal order works for you, then use it.
Below is the pedal order that works for most guitar players.
If you have a pedal tuner, it should go before any other pedal.
You want the signal to be your guitar only. A distorted tone might give a false result.
Compressors are generally the first effect pedal in the chain.
Compressors even out the input signal. They bring a softer signal up, and a louder signal down to a level.
Depending on the settings, a compressor can give you a tighter tone, increased sustain, and increased harmonic definition.
Compressors are almost essential for guitar players who use tapping techniques.
The difference between using a compressor while tapping are night and day.
Some players use a compressor always on, while others use them only for solos.
Wah pedals are generally placed early in the signal chain.
One exception might be when playing 60's psychedelic Rock, where you might place it after the overdrive/distortion/fuzz section.
Boost pedals usually add a little extra signal strength to the original guitar signal.
It can be used to drive the amp's preamp to a higher gain setting, or fattening up an overdrive or fuzz.
The amount of boost also changes the sound. A little boost adds more signal that will react differently to whatever it's pushing.
There may also be a setting where there is too much boost. It will make the amp sound harsh instead of warm.
Use the boost pedals knob to set the amount of boost you want. Find the sweet spot, where the amp sounds full and warm.
Next up is the Overdrive/Distortion/Fuzz pedals.
There are several types of Overdrives, Distortion pedals, and Fuzz pedals.
They are somewhat related. They have different types of clipping. An overdrive has a softer clipping.
Distortion has a harder clipping, and Fuzz has a lot of clipping of the original signal.
One of the most common types of overdrives is the Tube Screamer. It can be used as an overdrive, adding gain (via the gain knob) to the original signal.
But one of the most common uses of a Tube Screamer is to use it as a boost.
The gain is set on zero, the level is set to the amount of boost you want to add, and the tone knob is set to your taste.
Chorus, Tremolo, Flanger, Phaser Pedals are next in line.
Modulation pedals can be placed here or after Delays and Reverbs, with different results.
They are usually placed here, but as with everything in this list, it's up to you to find out what works best for you.
Next in the chain are Delay pedals.
Delay pedals are set near the end of the signal chain, repeating the processed signal.
Delays are normally placed in the amp's Effect Loop, but can be tried in front of the amp.
At the end of your signal chain are Reverb pedals.
Reverb pedals are usually at the end, after any Delay pedals.
As with Delay pedals, Reverbs are usually in the amp's Effects Loop (FX Loop)
EQs are very versatile pedals that can sit in many places in the signal chain.
Before gain pedals adjusts the tone of the pickups so you can allow the gain pedals to emphasise the current EQ.
After gain pedals allows you to adjust the tone and fine-tune after the EQ of the gain pedals has been set.
End of the chain, before the amp. Shaping the overall signal of the guitar fed to the amp.
In the Amp's Effects Loop (FX Loop). This changes the overall sound coming out of the preamp, before the power amp. This is where the EQ changes the signal of the amp.
For maximum flexibility, some professional players use 2 EQ pedals. One before the amp, and one in the amp's Effects Loop (FX Loop).
There are amplifiers with and without Effects Loop (FX Loop).
Before moving forward, a very basic understanding of how an amplifier works would help understanding and FX Loop.
All amps, including combo amps, have the following signal chain
One thing that you should also understand is that the speaker is where the amp's sound is shaped the most.
Don't like any sound you get out of your amp/cabinet? A speaker change will make a world of difference.
IF your amp does not have an FX Loop, you really have no choice but to place all your pedals BEFORE the amp.
The downside is that some effects do not sound as good before the amplifier. Time based pedals, like delays and reverb fall into this scenario.
So, with an amp without an FX Loop, the chain is:
If your amp has an FX Loop, the signal chain is:
With amps with an FX Loop, the signal chain is:
There are two places where you put effects pedals. Which pedals go where?
Delays and Reverbs go in the FX Loop. A Delay before the amp will give you mixed results. The standard is to have them in the FX Loop.
You could also place an EQ Pedal in the FX Loop to change the overall sound of the amplifier.
Wah, Boost, Distortion, Overdrive pedals go before the preamp.
Chorus pedals can go before or in the FX Loop.
When using high gain settings on an amp, the amp tends to get noisy when you're not playing.
The solution to this problem is a Noise Gate. A noise gate gets triggered when the guitar signal falls below a threshold.
This triggers the pedal's function, and the signal is cut off.
Most Noise Gate pedals have 2 inputs and 2 outputs.
The Noise Gate goes early in the signal chain, but also gets connected to the amp's FX Loop.
It goes early in the signal chain, before your gain pedals, from both sections.
This is a guide to place your guitar pedals in the order to get the "best results."
There are always exceptions to the rule.
You could and should check if any of the pedals sound better somewhere else in the signal chain.
Remember, if it sounds good to you, it is good, for you.