I still don't really need ten. The list hasn't changed much in years. I've gotten a proper Bee Baa clone (with ugly treble boost and all), so not wanting it any more since I have it. SGE is a maintenance hassle and I only pull it out for special occasions now, and the Devi Test Pattern is bumped by my vastly improved Godbox version with extra features and built-in sag.rfurtkamp wrote:I don't need ten. Counting dirt boxes in general in this category, since I see other HM-2 and other mentions.
Ampeg Scrambler (any of the modern clones are fine, don't care)
Fender Blender (original, RI, clone, don't care)
Devi Test Pattern (which has to be cloned these days, since it's not in production and hasn't been in a long time, an absolutely essential piece of kit for me now
Roland Bee Baa (clone, original, don't matter, I miss my old one badly and it's on my list to get another)
MXR Blue Box (original, RI, clone, who cares)
Boss GL-100 (technically not a fuzz, but an entire 2 channel rack preamp, it gets HM-2 and everything else Boss of that era in one box and gets super-splatty with rack-headroom when pushed)
ART SGE Mk2 (digital distortion from the first generation of digital distortion. Nasty, ugly, bright, everything terrible from the late 80s in one box, and you can reverse gate verb it. Definitely not a primary distortion but on the second amp, hell yes)
Those are my only *essential* ones. I love my other couple dozen and then some...but those are the ones I would buy immediately again after say a fire.
So, the 2017 version:
Ampeg Scrambler (any of the modern clones are fine, don't care)
Fender Blender (original, RI, clone, don't care)
Godbox Test Pattern from Hell (better than the Devi in so many ways, yet does everything it did as well - schematic available with permission of the dude who worked up the changes for me)
Roland Bee Baa (clone, original, don't matter, but it HAS to have the right ugly original treble boost and not be some modern rethinking crap)
MXR Blue Box (original, RI, clone, who cares)
Boss GL-100 (I have two now!)
Boss HM-2 (because, well, even though the GL-100 gets me there, the HM-2 does all the time and frees up the monsters for other stuff!)
Godbox 1893 World's Fair (heavily modded germanium Fuzz Face with sag and modern conveniences)
Source Audio Kingmaker (or any of the other two gain pedals from Source in the line, since they're all the same inside with the same patches and sound options) - a nice catch-all for dirt and the first digital dirt I've actually ever LIKED because it was good, not just because it was ugly.