The REAL Difference Between Series and Parallel Guitar Effects

What practically changes when you run series vs. parallel effects? Will anyone really be able to tell the difference? Are there any tangible benefits? Is parallel worth the extra effort?

Great questions. As always, my answer - It depends.

Every guitar player has a different 'sound' they are trying to achieve. For some, parallel will be the way to get there, for others, nothing could be farther from what they want.

Todays video will give you practical examples and show you what to listen for when starting the decision making process between series and parallel effects. Yes, it is a process, but it's well worth it.

Format:
00:00 - Intro
02:03 - Series Audio Example
03:02 - Parallel wet effects NO Kill Dry
04:05 - Parallel wet effects WITH Kill Dry, No Dry Thru
05:02 - Parallel wet with Kill Dry and Dry Thru
05:42 - Recap on series delay into verb vs parallel delay into verb.
06:16 - Full audio example from series to parallel.
07:00 - What to listen for in series and parallel / pros and cons

[leandershah]

Like how you're playing Shot in the Dark chords and the delay makes it even better

[aangtonio]

SERIES sounds more natural to me, tbh. If you go to a highly reverberant place (like a great dome) and make some sounds with lots of transients (finger snaps, claps, etc.), you can tell the distinct echoes can actually cause their proper reverb trails as well as the original (dry) sound. It's pretty subtle (because true natural echoes have less volume than regular delay pedal usage as in this video), but perceptible, nonetheless.
On the other hand, PARALLEL offers a lot more clarity and control of both effects, getting a studio-like sound quality, so I think it's a better approach when delay and reverb are needed in a quite dense mix, or for making otherworldly soundscapes.
Great video, btw! 😎

[kevmac]

You really know your stuff.I can definitely hear the difference but I'm slow on the uptake.I bought a EHX tri parallel mixer that I'm trying slowly to learn using.Hate sounding like the Geezer I am but in my heyday we didn't do much of this kind of technology.It hurts my brain getting old.lol

[itube]

Great video - Thanks. I have the EHX Tri-Parallel mixer which has been a complete game changer. I will not go back to series as parallel is far more versatile. By the way, the EHX mixer allows for series chains to still be assigned to any of three channels if one still insists on using series

[ToneCraftFX]

Hey Grant! Great examples and visuals. You’re not able to run the parallel setup with stereo, correct? Would the only solution be a wet/dry/wet system if I wanted a parallel setup while using the stereo features from my delays and reverbs?

[marcusstrymon]

I have 3 stereo fx send outputs on my audio interface.... Meaning with just 3 minutes of setup I can switch from my serial pedalboard config to a 4 way parallel setup. This is stupidly useful. One day I recorded a song with a warble sound on my nightsky. The warble was essential but I did not know how loud i would need it on my final recording - I simply split my signal chain - going from iridium into interface but then going fx out to 100percent wet nightsky. In general, that is what I do quite a lot when recording cause it allows me to mix my pedalboard ex post in the daw. And I do the same with VST - send it to my bigsky, volante or whatever. So good.

And having 2 FX loops in parallel comes at hand when for instance using 2 multihead delays in parallel - you can adjust the delay level ex post for both of em. So good.

[FakeGlasses]

Do switchers like the pbc 6x allow one to sort of (but not truly) pick series/parallel on the fly? If you setup the insert loop as the wet/dry point, then if you run all your wet effects after it you’ll get series, but if you put a wet effect before the split you’ll hear that without the other wets and get some of that clarity back (though not as much as if you had truly run them parallel, since the ‘dry’ signal is still being sent with the effect into the wet)? I’m thinking use case of putting the delay on the ‘dry’ before the insert point so the delays come through on the dry signal and then going into verb on the wet. Or am I crazy?

[Jmacc]

Do you need to run both fx in kill dry? Couldn’t you just kill dry the delay for example and keep the dry signal running through the reverb?

[scooter]

The EHX triparallel mixer is great for guitars

[shuapple]

Hi Grant! Which buffered split and line mixer did you use for the parallel signal chain? If I want to run delay and reverb in parallel but also in stereo, do I need two line mixers or is there a dual line mixer that can take care of the job? And if such dual line mixer exists, is there one with summation functio as well (or am I asking too much? Lol). Finally, if I have RJM, do I need these mixers or splitters or can RJM take care of that?

[jameshalbert]

I like the reverb in parallel. It lets the dry signal cut through the reverb without getting washed out. JHS has a buffered splitter and a summing would these be a good choice to do this?

[marcuslewitzki]

What about running stereo wet in parallel in a W/D/W rig? I get the whole using a line mixer that has stereo capabilities but should the signal be split BEFORE the dry effect pedals in order to get a clean signal through the wet effect pedals or should the splitter be AFTER the dry effects as to color the signal going to the wet effects?

[SL-zwts]

Hi Grant, i am a bit confuse with kill dry and 100% wet..should they run side by side or either one only...

[MatthewSwasta]

I want only the wet side of a stereo delay to have the reverb. I don't have a Timeline (which has it's own effects loop). How is this possible, in the simplest way possible?

[MsefrAnna]

I think you missed using an amp with fx loop. Running the wet effects kill dry into the fx loop with a linemixer, make all the difference for me.

[alvinlacabra]

My board is a mono setup (Series) i want to make my board into parallel. In order to do that what should i'll be add to my board? is Custom Junction is good? please let me know your recommendation. Thank you.

[notnotquirona]

is that right you can help. It’s been on my head. How to set with 2amps I want that ping pong delay.

[nedim_guitar]

So, basically, I should use parallel on my 15 pedal board. I can split my signal and put some pedals in my switcher and others parallel to it. I think I'll have to experiment a bit.

[michaelcraig]

Stuff is really getting complicated..Overwhelming. I like youtube a lot, sure wish there was someone to actually ask questions too, when it gets confusing. Since there is not, I still do not understand this stuff.

[erictripton]

Or just buy a used Yamaha Magicstomp LOL