# How the Pedalboard Archive is built

> What each evidence label means, how sources are weighed, and how a reconstructed signal order is decided.

- Canonical page: https://pedalboardarchive.com/methodology/
- Machine-readable index of the archive: https://pedalboardarchive.com/llms.txt
- Evidence and reconstruction conventions: https://pedalboardarchive.com/methodology/

## Two separate claims

Which units sat on a board and the order they sat in are separate claims, evidenced separately. A board can have every unit confirmed by its sources and still have a sequence nobody ever published. Reporting the second as if it were the first misstates the board.

## Unit evidence

| Label | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| Documented | Explicitly identified by the artist, their technician, the manufacturer or another primary source. |
| Visually identified | Recognisable in a dated photograph or video, but not directly named by a source. |
| Reconstructed | Inferred from partial evidence and documented technical context. |
| Tentative | A plausible identification or placement that needs stronger evidence. |
| Unresolved | A unit or signal-path detail is present but cannot yet be identified reliably. |

## Order evidence

| Label | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| Cable-traced | A source follows the cabling itself, so every position is observed rather than inferred. |
| Source-described | A source sets out the order without tracing each cable, usually a rundown, interview or the technician who built the board. |
| Reconstructed | The units are evidenced but their order is not, so the chain follows conventional signal-chain practice. |
| Not applicable | The signal path carries no pedals, so there is no sequence to establish. |

## How a reconstructed order is decided

Where no source publishes a sequence, units are placed in the conventional order of a guitar signal path: Tuner → Wah and filter → Compressor → Overdrive, distortion and fuzz → Modulation → Delay → Reverb → Amplifier.

A documented routing zone always overrides the convention. When a source places a unit in an amplifier loop, a switching loop or one side of a split path, it is recorded there whatever the convention would suggest. The convention describes ordinary practice, not this guitarist’s board: naming the rule makes the inference something a reader can weigh, and disagree with, instead of a silent guess.

## Sources

| Type | Weight |
| --- | --- |
| Primary source | Artist, guitar technician, manufacturer, original photograph, official video or direct interview. |
| Specialist source | A reputable specialist publication, technical archive or editorial rig rundown. |
| Community lead | A forum, database or community post that can guide research but cannot substantiate a published claim by itself. |

A published board needs at least one primary or specialist source, and the archive targets two sources that did not originate from the same observation. Two articles reporting the same rundown are one source. Community submissions are research leads and never substantiate a board on their own. A board resting on a single independent group is published carrying `Single source` in its status.