For what it's worth, I go from guitar to volume pedal to preamp to reverb to power amp. Some folks put the volume pedal in the effects loop of the preamp (if it has one). I usually use my rack mounted power amp but when I play through a combo amp, I cut the output gain a bit to avoid overdriving the combo amp's preamp circuit. This is not an issue if you go straight into the power amp stage of the combo amp, but my old Session 400 doesn't have that option.
It's important to realize that you can overdrive the input of most devices and need to be sure to set the input gain so that you get a strong signal but don't get distortion. Be sure, for example, that the red light on your reverb unit doesn't go on, except possibly for the strongest signal you plan to use. Our toys have gotten pretty complicated. I've been playing some smaller venues lately and plugging straight into my Session 400 looks better every day (and still sounds pretty good too).
My two cents.
LTB[This message was edited by Larry Bell on 26 March 2000 at 03:40 PM.]