Harmony pedal ? Where in the signal chain before or after distortion boxes?
Only place I've ever used one was the loop, since it is my Lexicon rack verb unit, so I'd say "after." Given what they do, I'd guess that for a pedal this would be the same answer, but since you don't use a ton of gain, I'd probably at least suggest experimenting. I always thought chorus and vibe ALWAYS went after OD pedals but a few years back sheep told me to try the Vibe before OD and I have to admit that both ways are different and definitely usable. Which was is better with those is simply which way you are going for. There is no wrong or right. And, while I'd think harmony would need to come after OD, if you aren't using a lot of drive, it might be cool in front. I'd at least try it.
Thanks Howie, I was thinkin the same. Put it after the distortion boxes. Of course before I set it in I will try both, I do use all the gain I can get from my tube stomps, I would say I play at about 60%-70% of metal gain. Just enough to drive the tubes into saturation. I set the output knobs on the distortion boxes to be the same volume level as my clean sounds, so what comes out after them is the same as far as volume is concerned.
My 2 cents (and I expect change back! :D ). I like to run anything that harmonizes (and therefore needs to be able to detect the key) early in the chain so that it can figure out what's being played a lot easier. Never had a harmonizing pedal though, just a BOSS VF-1 that I sold to August and my G-Force - both of which are so-called intelligent harmonizers. Naturally, if you have to tell the harmonizer what key you're going to play in, you can probably put it just about anywhere. :)
Yep I will be playing in e minor, and the pedal has to know that. Boss has one for $169 that does three part harmony, the note you put in, and two harmony notes. But there is a key change at the end of the song and it goes to G but since G is the relative major to e minor, it works at least it does on 2 part harmony.
When I had one it was before the dirt boxes. That way it processed the signal and THAT went to the dirt to get processed.
Also a good idea amigo, makes perfect sense, then it colors the dirt rather than the dirt coloring the harmonies.
desertbluesman — Jun 10, 2013Also a good idea amigo, makes perfect sense, then it colors the dirt rather than the dirt coloring the harmonies.
Bingo. FWIW....I find that different amps require different things. Some amps I prefer to go through the effects loop and some amps I prefer to go through the front. Sometimes if I switch amps things just sound so different that I actually have to switch pedals. The thing is to try a little bit of everything and see what sounds best to YOU.
Depends on what you are looking for. I tend to like a pure signal with a lot of separation. But sometimes I look for something that just sounds weird....so I have to mess everything I have up to get it. :D