KEY TAKEAWAYS
- There is no magic number that indicates you have crossed a guitar pedal threshold, but overloading your system does come with consequences.
- You could introduce unwanted noise or create an unappealing noise floor, even when using delay pedals, volume pedals, overdrive pedals, fuzz pedals, or distortion pedals.
- Make sure your pedals use an isolated power supply and that your pedalboard can accommodate your signal chain needs.
If you are new to guitar effects, you may wonder how many guitar pedals are too many. Many of the best guitars, after all, integrate with a vast array of effects pedals, leading some players to create pedalboards with numerous integrated effects. So can you have too many of the best guitar pedals going at the same time, and what happens if you do? Keep reading to find out.
How Many Pedals Can You Use Simultaneously?
If you are wondering how many pedals you can daisy chain, the answer is, technically, as many as you want. However, that is just part of the story and largely depends on how many essential guitar pedals are in your collection. Though you can connect many pedals together, after learning how to clean guitar pedals, this leads to unintended consequences in some cases.
What Happens When You Connect Too Many Pedals?
Now the number of pedals you can use depends on your pedalboard and your electrical needs. If you connect too many pedals at once, you run the risk of overloading the system and introducing plenty of signal interference that shows up as signal noise and hum. There is also a term called “tone suck” that happens when you pile effect after effect after effect on top of one another. The end result is that, well, your tone sucks. Restraint is never a bad thing.
How to Use Many Pedals at Once
If the above warnings did not scare you, here are some tips for successfully using multiple pedals at once.
Use an Isolated Power Source
To make sure you at least minimize the chances of increased interference from appliances beyond your pedal setup, keep your pedalboard completely isolated from other gadgets. In other words, use an isolated power source that goes straight into the outlet with no additional stops.
Order the Pedals Correctly
There is no easy way to do this, but correctly ordering your pedals will help maximize the number you can use at the same time without running into issues. Every setup is different, so experiment with unique orders and configurations. Try throwing distortion and compression near the end of the chain.
Use the Correct Pedalboard
Make sure your pedalboard can accommodate all of the pedals and effects you plan on using, upgrading when necessary to a larger size.
Pedal Numbers FAQs
Can too many guitar pedals weaken your signal chain?
Weaken is a weird word here, but it can lead to “tone suck,” which is when your sound becomes muddy due to, well, lots of pedals.
How does an FX loop work?
An FX looper pedal is a unique type of pedal. This guitar effect pedal loops a sampled signal or an effect to create unique tones. It is often found in pedal rigs along with octave pedals.
What tone do you want?
When organizing your pedal board, spend time deciding on what tone you want, as this helps you decide which pedals to use. Some players rely on true bypass pedals and tuner pedals, while others like boost pedals and modulation pedals.
STAT
“Guitar pedals are a cocktail of capacitors, transistors, soldering, and digital processing.” (source)
TIP: Keeping the pedals clean and properly maintained also helps here, as it reduces the chances of any unwanted noise.
Sources
https://blog.andertons.co.uk/labs/guitar-pedals-weaken-signal-chain
https://www.tdpri.com/threads/how-many-pedals-is-too-many.955782/page-2
https://www.wamplerpedals.com/blog/latest-news/2015/10/how-many-pedals-is-too-much/
https://www.jhspedals.info/understanding-buffers
https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/how-many-distortion-pedals-do-you-really-need/
