The signal line is some what complex, but the idea is simple.
The basic idea is that the guitar goes through a wah, enters the preamp where the signal is split, one goes to a mixer, and another goes to an fx device. The sound from the fx device also goes to the mixer where the dry and wet signals are mixed. From there it goes to the poweramp. That's the basic idea of my setup, there are some extra gadgets involved to get it working the way I want, but this is the main idea.
From my guitar the signal goes to the Geoffrey Teese RMC3 Wah (which is equiped with a true bypass) and then directly to the Mesa/Boogie Quad preamp. Because this is a high quality preamp I want to keep the signal unaffected by AD/DA convertors, that's why I split my dry and wet sounds. The fx send of the preamp is connected to the DigiTech GSP2101 effect module. One output of the preamp is connected to a Korg DTR-1 tuner, which is kept out of the signal line to prevent noise and signal loss. Another output of the preamp is connected to a Custom A/B Switcher. It allows me to mute the signal of the preamp when I only want a sound from my fx unit. Output A of the Custom A/B Switcher is connected to the Behringer Ultralink Pro mixer and a footswitch output is connected to the Nobels MS-8 which takes care of the midi programming of the Custom A/B Switcher and the Mesa/Boogie Quad preamp.
The signal that goes to the DigiTech, from the fx send of the preamp, goes first through the preamp section of the GSP2101 where I can use a 7 band graphic EQ to fine tune my sound and can program the volume. After that there is the fx loop of the DigiTech, which I use to feed the signal back to the preamp. So only the analog section of the DigiTech is used to change, if wanted, the sound and volume of preamp. The DigiTech creates all effects for me and is fully programmable. The balanced stereo outputs of the Digitech go to the same mixer as where the analog sound of the preamp goes, where the dry and wet signals are mixed.
The balanced outputs of the mixer goes to the Behringer Ultralink Pro, which boosts a little bit of low end. I could boost lows else where in my signal as well, but this just is the place where it is the tightest. From there the signal goes to the Mesa/Boogie Simul 395 Stereo poweramp and to the Marshall 1960A speaker cabinet.
All signal cables in my rack are Van Den
Hul D-102 III Hybrid and Neutrik connectors and for speaker cables I use 12
gauge Van Den Hul CS-122. They are not cheap, but these high end audio cables
make sure that my setup sounds as good as possible and prevents noise from
interfering. Most cables between the components are wired in this way:
core 1: connected to both tips
core
2: connected to both sleeves
shield: connected to the sleeve from the OUTPUT
device
That way the shield works as a true shield and the 2nd core functions
as a connection between ground. In a noisy atmosphere this is a good solution to
prevent hum/noise in your signal and is used in all profesional applications.
For the guitar to the rack I use double shielded cables from Sixt to prevent
audio loss and interference of "Radio Russia". For studio use I have a very low
capacitance cable from Tasker, which sounds good, but is not really road
prove.
I left the tuner out of the signal line, because they take away all your sound. The same happens with stock pedals and wahs as well, but I only use a Teese RMC3 wah , which has a true bypass switch. So there are no "tone killers" between my guitar and amp, which improves/restores your sound drasticly.