Let's see your PEDAL BOARD!

[mathias]

I like lots of pedals and I cannot lie.

That said, I don't just add them willy-nilly because I own them. There's two moving boxes of pedals that aren't on my board in the attic, and once and awhile I'll get them out and audition them for a spot, but those ones just don't cut it for the sound I'm after.

[bigchiefbc]

There are a few reasons I no longer tote around a 40lb pedalboard:

It can be distracting/counterproductive if you're trying to work on something. If you spend an hour trying to line up the phased signal with both the tremolo and the delay just right for the song you're working on, you're no longer workin on the song, you're just experimenting with pedals.

Even if you know exactly how you want something to sound and how to adjust each pedal, with a big board making the necessary knob adjustments in between songs can take a long time and still not come out just right. And sometimes it's physically challenging to stomp on all the necessary switches, mid-song, to get that cool sound.

And then there's the whole "smaller board makes you think more creatively" argument, which I guess makes some sense. For me it was sometimes just about, "hey that pedal looks crazy! Maybe if I fill up a huge pedalboard with crazy shit I can come up with an original/cool sound." A small board forced me to think in terms of "what would sound cool here" as opposed to "I don't know what to do...so, let's play around with knobs until we find something that sounds cool." Though, I still am partial to the sonic experimentation leading to song creation thing.

Last thing: if I want to make my guitar sound like a synthesizer, why don't I just pull out a synthesizer? I could make a pedalboard with lots of octaves and fuzzes and filters and compressors and volume pedals and choruses/phaser/flangers and ring mods to give my guitar that atmospheric sound that only gets crazier as you add crazy delays and reverbs...but why? While it is pretty cool and an accomplishment to do something like that, why should I go through the herculean effort involved when I can just pull out a synthesizer instead?

So that's why my pedalboard is five pedals, a mixer and a looper; that I use with my guitar and my synth.

I guess I understand what you're saying, I've just never experienced it. Maybe this is just me, but I don't add anything to my pedalboard unless I already know exactly what I want to do with it. So I don't run into situations where I'm just turning stuff on and trying to find inspiration. That happens before I ever decide to put it on my board.

[GardenoftheDead]

I personally find that all of my favorite pedals don't take endless tweaking to find the good sounds. If I spend more than 10 minutes with a pedal trying to get the sound I want I usually end up flipping it within a month.

[skullservant]

I personally find that all of my favorite pedals don't take endless tweaking to find the good sounds. If I spend more than 10 minutes with a pedal trying to get the sound I want I usually end up flipping it within a month.

THIS. And why I was a B/S/T whore for the longest time.

[Mudfuzz]

I guess I understand what you're saying, I've just never experienced it. Maybe this is just me, but I don't add anything to my pedalboard unless I already know exactly what I want to do with it. So I don't run into situations where I'm just turning stuff on and trying to find inspiration. That happens before I ever decide to put it on my board.

[Bassus Sanguinis]

Had I more money to use on gear, I'd try travelling in the commuter train with TWO pedalboard cases and a bass.

[01010111]

Different strokes for different folks that's just been my experience. I try to go by what i need, and for what I do I don't need a lot. If you're happy with a big board more power to ya

[kbit]

this apparently happened during a college football game, but I feel like it's relevant. also, my new favorite GIF when it comes to creepin.

This is fantastic.

[Bassus Sanguinis]

Different strokes for different folks that's just been my experience. I try to go by what i need, and for what I do I don't need a lot. If you're happy with a big board more power to ya

yeah I used to be fine with six, at times four or just three. BUT I haven't once wanted to go back there. At least not yet. And it would have to be a different band, if I did a show or two with some of my old bands, I'd settle for much less.

[stripes]

i seriously tried to simplify my board, which is why it took me so long to actually commit to buying a bigger board. but when i play a show, i use every single one of those pedals at some point. and i don't get overwhelmed by my board anymore because i either write songs on my acoustic guitar or with no pedals at all and then adapt them to have effects or intros/outros if i want and i decide which pedals to use. when i played guitar in a band setting i had a much smaller board, because really what else do you need other than some kind of distortion and delay, verb and maybe some fun modulations? but now i play shows solo and use loops beyond loops and can stack 6 pedals that echo, pitch bend, and distort because the sound coming out of my amp is the only sound other than my voice to be heard. it feels good! also recording is a whole other excuse to have 50 pedals lying around, never knowing when you want "that sound" for something.

ALSO I LOVE ALL YOUR MEMES

BUT SERIOUSLY THAT FOOTBALL ONE.......

[mathias]

Yeah, if I was going to play with a band, live, I'd have a smaller, simpler board. Probably cheaper stuff, so that I didn't feel bad if a drunk person spilled their beer on it.

I still only have like 2-3 fuzzes at a time and then modulation, boost.. Easily gets me to a dozen pedals when I cover all the bases.

Play whatever size board feels right to you.

[bigchiefbc]

Different strokes for different folks that's just been my experience. I try to go by what i need, and for what I do I don't need a lot. If you're happy with a big board more power to ya

Hey it's cool man. I'm just saying, you shouldn't downsize just for it's own sake, have a reason for it.

For me, between an overdrive, two fuzzes, a whammy, a synth, a wah, comp, delay, chorus, phaser, flanger and tuner, I'm already at a dozen pedals before I even start getting cute about it. But yeah, the question comes down to what you actually end up using at a gig. For me, all of those get used at least twice. As a matter of fact, that's my rule. I won't put anything on my board that I only use once. If it can't find its way into at least two songs, it doesn't earn a spot on the board.

[ryan summit]

hey brotherman,all i needs my 2rock and a timm.....
whoa where am i...?

one of each for me at the moment
anything more gets confusing
but i just started playin regularly after long hiatus
so playin is my focus rather than fine tuning tone
as long as im in the ballpark
but my board grows and i dont mind at all
if it gets out of control, fuck it, as long as im usin them all
i think an unused pedal is a sin
theres poor kids in china....

[Jwar]

Here be what I have at the moment.

Need another ISO 5 or PP2 though.

can i ask a boring question
since this is the first time ive seen a morley on a board recently
do you like it
for whatever it is wah/vol/both
ive been tempted a few times to buy a cheap used one but got talked out of it

I actually really like the wah sound of the Morley. I've had it for a long time but it's been on/off a lot. I don't EVER use the volume pedal. I honestly don't see the use in them, but that's just me.

So to answer your questions. It's great pedal that can be had for super cheap.

[ryan summit]

thanks
i was told the optical bs was a pain in the butt suntines
but what isnt
and id like not to spend $70+ for everything