Rock board · Pedalboards by Genre

The goal: a crunchy, punchy rhythm sound that can jump to a singing lead, with a few colors on top.

Tweak it

Rhythm too mushy? Lower the gain. Rock rhythm usually needs less distortion than you think, especially with a band.
Pick your dirt source. Decide whether the amp or the pedal is your main distortion. Stacking a high-gain pedal into a high-gain amp often gets muddy.
Wah too shrill? Use less of the toe position, and lower the drive's Tone a little. Trust your ears.
Leads lost in the mix? Kick in the boost or raise the drive Level, not the Gain. Volume and mids cut through; more gain doesn't.
Delay muddy under riffs? Shorten the Time or lower the Feedback, and switch it off for rhythm parts.
Bright guitar or amp? Turn drive Tone toward 11 o'clock; dark ones toward 1 o'clock.

Signal chain

Guitar to amp, left to right. Settings are starting points to get you close: trust your ears.

1. Tuner

Tuner

First, so it gets your guitar's clean signal.

2. Wah

Cry Baby-style wah

Before the drive, so the drive shapes the sweep. Rock it heel to toe; most have no knobs.

3. Overdrive

Overdrive or boost

Into a crunchy amp, use it as a push: low gain, high level, for tighter rhythm and leads.

4. Distortion

RAT or DS-1-style distortion

Into a clean amp, use this instead of the overdrive for the main dirt. Tone is Filter on some pedals; set Level to match bypass.

5. PhaserOptional

Phaser

Phaser or chorus: swirl for intros or riffs. After the drive it sounds more obvious; that's fine here. Depth only if it has one.

6. ChorusOptional

Chorus

The alternative to the phaser, in the same spot.

7. Delay

Delay

Time 350-450 ms. Mostly for solos: it makes leads sound bigger.

8. Reverb

Reverb

A little space so the tone doesn't feel dry.

9. Amp

Crunchy or clean amp

A crunchy amp pairs with the overdrive as a push; a clean amp pairs with the distortion pedal.