Tone Control Placement

[CodeMonk]

I realize the subject would depend on what type of effect it is, so lets pick a few...

Fuzz (Jordan Bosstone or in particular).
OD
Distortion (Preferably a metal type).

Should the tone control circuitry go after or before the Volume\Level pot of after?

Advantages\Disadvantages to each?

Thanks

[Rob Strand]

No hard and fast rules. but generally it's better to place it before the volume pot.

Placing tone controls after the level pots usually makes the tone control behave differently for different volume control settings - because  impedance of the volume pot affect the behaviour of the following circuits.  If the tone control was active then placing it before the volume pot will maximize the signal to noise.

[MikeH]

I wouldn't put it after the volume control, but experiment with placing it between different gain stages.  Some distortions benefit from tone shaping pre clipping/gain stages.  Others will definitely not