Loop:
Carvin FX-2 24 bit dual processor for delays (not a bad unit, very musical delays, will replace it in time with the Vox Timemachien I like a lot)
Lovepedal pickle Vibe (more a phase tweak than a real vibe, will do until I get a Fulltone or a Ubervibe)
Digotech Hardwire RV-7 Reverb (great unit, Lexicon reverbs)

recommended wll not fail chain order——–
Wahs
Envelop trigger effects
Whammy
Compressors (never use these anymore, I consider comps and a chorus moreso for cleaner playing and big pretty chords)
ODs
Dist
EQ

I like all modulation effects in the loop:
Phaser, Vibe, Flanger, Chorus, Delays, Reverbs, Sonic mazimizer
(options are placing Phaser, Vibe or Flange before gain boxes at amp in, works for some apparently, not for me. Greater bandwidth in the loop.) If you do not have a loop follow this same order, but amp- in is greatly diminished quality over the loop. You could also put your vol pedal or EQ pedal last in amp-in or in a loop.

Still do not agree on pitch shifters or harmonizer effects after gains or ODs. The issue is simple here, usually one is just creating a relatively simple harmony of an 8va, a 4th or a 5th and these sound incredibly good going into any quality OD or Dist unit. Of course you cannot play a highly figured interval chord structure through gain but you are not doing this with a pitch shifter/harmonizer either. Digitech recommends the Whammy up front and I use it more for harmonizer effects, Satriani uses both the mini POG and std POD before his gains.

Another option is the wah which can be uses before or after gains, I have even tried one in the loop, it works anywhere but I think one will find up front before anything is a better result. Satriani’s 1st pedal is his Wah.

Another is the Vibe or Univibe pedal, many use them before OD or Dist, try as I might I still get a better bolder more bandwidth vibrant effect in the loop. Both Satch and Trower run their Vibe into gains or OD, Trower has his Vibe 1st in chain w the wah after. No arguing they get great sounds, but two points here, I do not think Trower’s new sounds are as dynamic and bold as the old tunes and it is not the equipment just the use or order of them. Satch and his Vibe also sounds good but one is hard pressed to name a specific tune of his that one can say now there is a Vibe tone.

Bottom line Phase, Vibe, Flange before OD or dirt = big OD or Dirt, after = big phase, vibe or flange. Running before works for some but not for me. No one can tell me you can run a chorus or delay before gains and that sounds good.

One guy explained it well once, that before gains is bigger dist tone after is bigger vibe or phase. A chorus belongs after or best in a loop for my tases. I really do not believe it all does not matter, everything matters when in search of the monster tone!

I recommend to anyone that they power their tuner off a dry or direct out from any box, preferably up front and get the box out of the chain line. It does not need to pass your signal just get one. It can be anywhere if you have a spare output jack as everything is off during tuning anyway.

Hard by-pass does not save you from signal loading or cap build up, you need a good buffer pedal in your chain for the best fidelity. Bradshaw and the other first pedal baord builders knew a good buffer amp circuit was better than just hard wire by-pass. It’s just physics. Having all true by-pass does NOT prevent signal degrade! A bad buffer can suck tone like the little unmodifed Boss pedals. Visual Sound and Morely make good buffer amp circuits. Lovepedal and some others make just a buffer box w no controls, really nice.

No one can argue what EVH did with a Phase 90 into a driven Marshall. And, I have heard phasers in front of gain boxes sound similar. When one looks at multi-effects processors one always finds the compressor first in the chain and the phaser back near the mid end with the other modulators.

I guess right there, in itself, is the advantage of separate boxes and the options at hand. By the way, changed my order of auto wah, synth wah after the Whammy, Whammy is first in chain for the best signal before compressor. Works very well. My line is currently:

Digitech Whammy
Digitech Synth Wah
Morely Vai II Contour Wah
Visual Sound Route 66 (comp& OD)
Visual Sound Jekyl&Hyde (dist & OD)
Amp in>>>>(modified Carvin V3 tube head w Carvin vintage load 4×12 )

Loop>>
Visual Sound Liquid Chorus
Boss DD-20 Gigadelay
Carvin (rackmount) FX-2 (set for light and deep reverb on dual unit)
BBE Sonicmaximizer (rackmount)
Loop return>>>>>>>>

Noise reduction is on set at min on Route 66 comp. Noise reduction (internal switch) off on J&H
All Power Furman Power Conditioner Filter
BBE Supra-Charger all 200 and <mA effects.
Two special 300mA power supplies for the Morely Wah and the Whammy

Super quiet system, no noise floor, no signal cap load or loss from the super quality Visual Sound line buffer amp bypass and the Morely line driver circuits.

The Whammy does not work well on harmonzer mode with dirt. Some claim harmonizers after dist but I have yet to see an example of how this might sound correct.

I find all trigger pedals require a clean up front signal as close to the dynamics of the guitar as possible and in front of any compressor.

I have decades of experience with pedal chains and boards, here is the optimum list with workable acceptable options.

Filter triggers, auto-wahs, envelope followers/filters

Whammy pedal

Wah (can be placed after dist but really does not sound as good as the moving band pass filter works to manipulate the tone of the distortion. Hendrix is an up front tone, Many guitarists have used a fixed wah to color their distortions ebem amp gained dist. this is also in front. Trower seems to get a killer tone -after OD, yet he breaks a lot of rules and seems to make it work, try doing what he does and I’ll bet you find it is unmanageable, aka an OCD or RTO on full volume using the guitar to control the level !)

Compressor

Overdrive (I use an OD before and after my heavier dist pedal to get all options and advantages of each)

Distortion (compressor after distortion, sounds like a good theory, again try it, I am not stoned enough to think it sounds right.)

Overdrive (option, before and after both have their uses, two overdrives without a dist box is also very useful)

Wah (option)

Ideally all modulation units like chorus/flange/phaser, delay and reverb work best in the amp loop. If you do not have a loop then you are forced to use amp in. Problems with amp in, is that you get a good tone set up on a clean robust channel and when you which to high gain your modulators are in front of distortion (preamp) and this just sounds liek crapola, period. It reduces the bandwidth and headroom sweep of the units, craps the echo and is a really stupid way to do reverb. Solution: if no amp loop, keep all modulator pedals OFF on high amp gain channels.

Proper order of modulators:
Chorus – Flange – Phaser – Delays – Reverbs
(Option: Univibe can be used on amp-in with dist, gets a low fi warble Trower gets but he does not gain his preamps that heavy, the more dist the more it sounds like crap)

(I have seen a dual pedal with delay before Chorus, it just does not really sound as good. I use the Liquid Chorus and it sounds better into my Gigadelay than vise-versa)

It is not always try and it and see or a matter of taste, there are rules of sonic and sound engineering, there is a better sound and although some might think a bad sound is cool or unique, it is more akin to slitting your speaker grill with a razor to get a fuzz tone, like in the early 60s)