I don’t like jargon.
For instance, I have a master’s degree in biblical studies. But whenever I teach or preach, I rarely — if ever — use big theological words. Yes, I know what “hypostatic union” and “weltanschauung” mean, but odds are my audience doesn’t. And my interests don’t lie in showing everyone how educated I am; I’m much more concerned with actual communication, which means my hearers have to understand what I’m saying.
Hence my disdain for jargon. But jargon exists in every area of interest. And as shorthand for talking with other people “in the know,” it’s fine as far as it goes. But it has the unintended consequence of potentially shutting newcomers out of the conversation.
For me, “signal chain” is one of those terms in the guitar realm.
When I started playing guitar a very long time ago, I had a cheap electric guitar and a cheap amplifier. No pedals, no noise suppressors, no nothing. I had never heard of a signal chain and would have had no insight into what it might be.
Only many years later, when I started to really learn about guitar, did I start to figure out terms like “signal chain.” So today, I’d like to provide a basic overview of a signal chain to help anyone out there who, like “past me,” hears such terms and needs an explanation.
What is a signal chain?
Thankfully, a signal chain is a pretty straightforward idea. The “signal” being referred to is simply the signal that runs from your guitar to the amplifier via the cable. Your guitar’s pickups are basically electromagnets that translate the vibrations of your strings into an electrical signal. This signal is then transmitted to the amplifier by your instrument cable, where the speaker converts it into sound waves.
With a basic setup like I had when I started, your “chain” is literally just the 10-foot cable connecting your guitar to the amp. But as you progress, most guitarists start wanting to add to or change their guitar’s sound. For most of us, I would guess, a distortion pedal is the first thing we buy to achieve this.
Once you add something like a distortion pedal, you have what could truly be called a “chain” — a signal path with multiple links. In our example case, you now have a guitar signal that is interrupted and modified by your distortion pedal before being sent on to the amplifier.
Of course, most of us soon realize that if one pedal is good, more must be better! So we save up and buy all kinds of effects pedals: phasers, delays, fuzz, chorus, octave, wah… If you want an effect, there’s probably a pedal designed to do just that.
So as we slowly build up our pedalboard, we extend our signal chain. In fact, you could almost consider the terms “pedalboard” and “signal chain” to be synonymous.
How do I set up a signal chain?
One thing you’ll notice about guitarists is how many of us have so many pedals. I’ve seen players with at least a dozen pedals stuffed onto a board, and it seems like you need a master’s degree in electrical engineering just to understand all of the buttons and knobs.
But it doesn’t have to be that complex — you can use as many or as few pedals and effects in your signal chain as you want.
And even for the most convoluted pedalboards out there, most players are following the same basic order of effects — and here it is:
- The first effects in your signal chain are typically compressors, EQs, and wah pedals. These are called “dynamics” or “filter effects.”
- Next come overdrive and distortion pedals, sometimes called “gain effects.”
- Time-based effects like delays, chorus, and flangers come next in line.
- Reverb effects often come last.
I’m not a tech guy, so rather than explain why this order works, it’s much easier to say, “This is the order a whole bunch of guitarists over the decades have come to agree is best,” and get on with your day.
But that statement, while true, doesn’t mean it’s the order you have to put your pedals in. When you are playing your guitar into your amp with your own pedals, you have the freedom to try any signal chain you want. And who knows — you might come across a combination you love and that comes to define your sound.
The more you know
At its core, a signal chain really is that simple. It’s just a way to refer to the pedals and effects that sit in between your guitar and the amplifier.
Like anything, you can dive into signal chains as deep as you want. I’m perfectly happy having a pedalboard with just a few basic pedals, but other people want to go all in and spend thousands of dollars on a massive board. I’m also perfectly fine not understanding all of the theory and intricacies behind how the electronics work, but you may be a person who enjoys such things. In either case, it’s totally fine. You do you.
Hopefully this has been a helpful, albeit basic, primer on signal chains. So I encourage you to go out with your newfound knowledge with confidence!
Leave a Reply