Recording Guitar Pedals

Guitar effects pedals shape tone before, after, or instead of amplification. Recording with pedals involves decisions about signal chain position, whether to commit effects to recordings, and how to capture pedal-based sounds effectively.

Pedals Before Amplification

Traditional pedalboard positioning places effects between guitar and amplifier input. The pedals affect the signal that reaches the amp’s preamp section.

Overdrive and distortion pedals interact with amp gain when placed before the amp. Stacking pedals adds complexity and harmonic interaction.

This signal chain commits the pedal sound to whatever recording method captures the amplifier output. The pedal effect becomes part of the recorded tone.

Pedals in Effects Loops

Amplifier effects loops insert between preamp and power amp sections. Placing time-based effects here prevents amp distortion from affecting the effect.

Delay placed in the effects loop produces distinct echoes rather than distorted repetitions. Reverb similarly benefits from placement after distortion.

Recording amplifiers with effects loop pedals captures the complete processed signal. The pedals are integral to the tone being recorded.

Direct Recording with Pedals

Pedals can feed recording interfaces directly, bypassing amplifiers entirely. This approach works well with certain pedals and applications.

Amp-in-a-box pedals and preamp pedals are designed for direct recording. Products like the Strymon Iridium, Walrus Audio ACS1, and similar units include speaker simulation.

Standard overdrive and distortion pedals often lack low-end fullness when recorded direct. They’re designed to interact with amplifier response rather than drive recording inputs.

Committing vs. Flexibility

Recording through pedals commits to specific effect settings. The delay time, reverb amount, or modulation depth becomes permanent in the recording.

Recording clean DI signals preserves the option to add effects during mixing. Plugin versions of many popular pedals enable later effect decisions.

A hybrid approach records both processed and clean signals. The processed recording captures the intended sound while the clean DI provides flexibility.

Stereo Pedals

Stereo pedals produce different signals for left and right outputs. Recording both outputs preserves the stereo character.

Some effects like stereo chorus, ping-pong delay, and wide reverb depend on stereo to achieve their full character. Mono recording collapses these effects.

Interface input count and track management determine whether stereo pedal recording is practical. The expanded sound may justify additional resources.

Power Supply Considerations

Clean power supply prevents pedal noise from entering recordings. Isolated power supplies eliminate ground loop hum between pedals.

Battery power provides the cleanest power but requires maintenance. High-quality isolated supplies approach battery-level cleanliness with convenience.

Noise that seems acceptable at performance volume may become problematic at recording levels. Checking signal paths for noise before tracking prevents issues.

Order and Interaction

Pedal order affects the overall sound significantly. Typical order places compression and filters first, then drives, then modulation, then delay and reverb.

Experimentation with order creates different interactions. Placing delay before distortion, for example, creates rhythmic distortion rather than distinct echoes.

Recording captures whatever pedal configuration is used. Changes to order or settings between takes require documentation for recall.

Documentation

Documenting pedal settings enables recreation of sounds. Photographs of pedalboards with visible settings preserve configuration information.

Notes about signal chain order, specific pedals used, and any unusual configurations complete the documentation.

This information proves valuable when matching sounds for additional recording or recreating setups for future projects.