Why Do Guitar Pedals Go Right To Left

Why Right to Left feature image.

While using guitar pedals, one question may have crossed your mind: “Why do guitar pedals go from right to left?”. It’s a great question for the curious guitarist, and a great fact to pull out of your pocket at the next party. Let’s get into it!

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Why do guitar pedals go from right to left?

Guitar pedals go from right to left because most guitar players are right-handed. According to Fender Guitar, approximately 10% of guitarists are left-handed. As a result, the jack on an electric guitar usually ends up on the right side of the guitarist’s body.

Guitarist, right handed, supporting why guitar pedal go from right to left.
Right-handed guitarist.

The input jack on your guitar pedals are also on the right side, so the cable hangs on that side of the guitarist’s body. Having the input jack on the right side of guitar pedals lowers the chances of tripping on the guitar cable. In a way, this makes sense since the cost to produce pedals for both right- and left-handed guitarists would be enormous.

Showing the order of signal flow for guitar pedals, from right to left
Showing the order of signal flow for guitar pedals.

Do all guitar pedals go right to left?

Suprisingly no! There is at least one pedal that does not go right to left: the Fender Blender fuzz. Don’t get too confused though, the Fender Blender is the only pedal I’ve seen that goes from left to right. The photo below shows the fuzz pedal with the “Guitar” input on the left and the “Amp” output on the right.

Fender Blender fuzz with the guitar input on the left and amplifier output on the right.
The Fender Blender fuzz (modified with LED status lights)

Which side is input on a guitar pedal?

Usually the right side is the input on guitar pedals. This is the same for both side-mount and top-mount jacks. Normally a guitar pedal will have a graphic designating the input and output jacks, like I/O, In/Out, or Input/Output.

Other times the pedal manufacturer prints an arrow pointing into the pedal to show where the input is. An arrow pointing outwards designates the output.

BOSS DS-1W, showing the input and output designations with arrow markings.
BOSS pedals use “Input” and “Output”. They also have arrow designations pointing in to/out of the pedal.

Can a pedal be modified to go from left to right?

The guitar signals usually flows from right to left. However, some pedals can be modified for use by left-handed guitarists. Simply swap the placement of the input and output jacks!

For example, BOSS pedals are built using panel-mount jacks. Open the pedal, unscrew and dismount the jacks, and swap them to convert the pedal for left-handed guitar.

Showing how to modify a guitar pedal for use by left-handed guitarist.

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