The balancing act of streamlining & versatility in your rig

[rfurtkamp]

Thanks. I'm not in it to win beauty pageants (40-something disfigured cripples won't, let alone their boards designed to run around having half a foot on the best of days!), and I'm needing to run soundscapes and options that most folks won't ever even have to consider.

No need to leave room for a singer in my world.

[Hobbes96]

I force myself to keep a relatively small rig, with a board about the size of a PTJR. I definitely still feel like I could do with less. I might just sell all of it to buy an MF Delay, some Muff variant, and a boost. I honestly don't know how a lot of you manage with more than 7 pedals. I would get super distracted

[rfurtkamp]

It's not about being distracted, it's about knowing the tools (and when to just let go and see where they take you).

Arguing for an arbitrary limit would be like yelling at Dali for having more than a few shades of paint available!

[rustywire]

Yeah 'looks' are of little consequence for something that mostly lives on the floor and/or in dark places, getting stepped on. I did enjoy being able to arrange my small BILF entry with more emphasis on visual appeal (presently my best job at that IMO) but with a *permanent* board my primary concerns are
'where in my signal chain am I going to get the best results with this effect' as many...even most of my pedals have their sweet spot & sound overly noisy everywhere else. This is symbiotic with the secondary concern, 'is the accessibility, usability practical once I find the preferred signal chain and wire things up with purpose?'
I try to put in the thinking ahead of time, so I don't have to remember much when I'm in the moment and want to transition on the fly.

Hobbes96 just hit the nail on the head about distraction, at least for me with the way my brain works. I currently have 12 diff boxes in my setup which combined a guitar & bass board into 1. Within this setup, 3 effects are always-on, often times 4...even 5 if you count a fuzz which varies. Leaves room to focus on wah or manual phasing.

That said, I've been 'mirin the aesthetic of switch/button/fader/knobby electronic interfaces since I was in preschool... when dad built me a "switch board" of antique light switches, just to flick on and off, manipulate dimmer pots and p'tend. I know he still has it stored somewhere, looking forward to rediscovering it at some point. Love this stuff.
It's no accident my most posted in thread is SHOW US YOUR PEDALBOARD

[rustywire]

It's not about being distracted, it's about knowing the tools (and when to just let go and see where they take you).

Arguing for an arbitrary limit would be like yelling at Dali for having more than a few shades of paint available!

Quoting this bc I've made similar analogies about artists only painting with 1 brush & 1 color. Some pretty incredible things can be done within those confines, but multiple tape heads are better than one. And grass always greener or something...

[Chankgeez]

I should also mention, I'm no minimalist. I'm sort of a mid-imalist. I like a good balance of pedals. Not too many, not too few.

EQs and filters are also important to me.

[rustywire]

^

3 always-on are
Deja Vibe acting as an eq...with subtle pitch shifting modulation for movement...or dat throb
Resonator gets use as a HPF or LPF & boost or attenuator for the full wrath of whichever fuzz I'm using
PolyFlange either in Flanger or Filter Matrix mode for comb filter fun, fixed or fluid.

Wah, phase-O-matic both get swept & parked. It depends.

I'm at a point where a lot of stuff is finally making sense, and it's taken my own ass-backwards approach to get here!
Next phase of the journey begins

[rfurtkamp]

The joke is I'm comfortable enough with my base stuff (and have been for so long it's not funny) that adding to it is no big deal. Those little bonus items are grand, and sometimes just used for extreme momentary flavor.

But I'm up to thirteen guitars and basses (no acoustic, never had an interest)...it hasn't been about need in a long, long time.

[infamousalien]

I like limitations and seeing what you can do with that. I'm not knocking anyone for being maximal-ist at all. Just what works for me. If I had some of the boards people have here I would just make weird sounds and twiddle knobs forever (which is fun!) but never actually write anything (which is my goal).

[voerking]

@voerking
I totally knew that and remember watching an in-store you linked while thinking "someone in this band likes Polvo"
also

ha. i'm fairly certain the other two guys in my band have never even heard (or heard OF) Polvo. i like them alright. i saw them a few times back in the old days. i always liked their weird guitar sounds, although, i thought (and still think) the vocals are pretty much unnecessary, and often annoying. I was more of a Truman's Water guy.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mruGgEXDZKU[/youtube]
(sorry for the total thread digression)

[Chankgeez]

ha. i'm fairly certain the other two guys in my band have never even heard (or heard OF) Polvo. i like them alright.