Best signal chain?

There is a rule of thumb:

• FX that work on the signal itself (e.g. wah, compressor)
• FX that drive the signal (boost, fuzz, od, dist)
• FX that modulate the sound (e.g. phaser, flanger)
• Noisegate can be placed somewhere in between, it is a bit trial & error
• Preamp
• Again: FX that modulate the sound (e.g.flanger, chorus), from here (in general) stereo can be used
• FX that are timebased 1 (delay)
• FX that are timebased 2 (reverb)
• Speaker Simulation (can be placed directly after the preamp, too, as it is in the KPA)
• Noisegate can be placed here, it is a bit trial & error
• Poweramp (But: Never run a poweramp into powered speakers or effect devices, those take only line level from the preamp!!!)
• Final Speakers (e.g. studio monitors (with speaker sim on), guitar cab (with speaker sim off))
• EQs can be used anywhere (Again: Not after poweramp if they are made for line level only!)

In studios all FX are often done afterwards. Important: In the end what sounds right to you is right. As long as you don't run a poweramp into selfpowered devices (e.g. studio monitors) or devices that take linelevel only you won't harm your gear.

Quote from Fireloogie

There is a rule of thumb:

Thanks that you remind me.
This basic proposals are not new for me, but now I can look in a list to remember exactly.

I like the sentence "In the end what sounds right to you is right"

Technically flanger and chorus are time-based too, 'Loogie, but for the purposes of your list the separation you make can be forgiven.

Good stuff, mate, and thank you on behalf of all who stumble across your post.

Quote from Monkey_Man

Technically flanger and chorus are time-based too, 'Loogie, but for the purposes of your list the separation you make can be forgiven.

Good stuff, mate, and thank you on behalf of all who stumble across your post.

Thx Monkey, you're right! Good you added that. We could go for three categories:

Dynamic (Comps etc.)
Time based (ANY Fx that has some kind of time modulation going on)
Spectral (EQs)

Yup.

Dynamic and spectral (which includes wahs) generally go before the amp, along with (sometimes) mono phasers and flangers for the unique tones on offer compared to when they're placed post-amp / cab.

Time-based and ALL stereo FX, with few exceptions, go post the rig. The only situation I can think of where stereo could be employed pre-rig is where one has a dual-amp setup.