Board for one project vs board to rule them all

[neonblack]

I always wanted to have my normal board on a pt Jr and then have a separate glitch/noise board on a pt mini that I could connect it to whenever I felt like it. Stuff like the possessed, Raptio, and judder and maybe some kind of crazy dirt that I wouldn't normally need much, but would be fun for a glitch heavy jam.

[PeteeBee]

If I had anything glitchy I definitely would want a little setup dialed in to optimize it.

Do any opinions change if the band is just drums, guitar, and singer lady? I still only really feel I need dirt and reverb, but maybe a little more? I spent all morning A/Bing dirt in conjunction with my reverb pedals and it seems all I need is Fuck and a Spring Chicken, which leaves plenty of fun on the bigger home board. We are trying to write songs full of energy and dancing, which I think leads to people caring less about tone in general.

[Dark Barn]

When I'm the new guy I usually don't bring pedals, or maybe 1-2. If I'm settled in and invested in the band I bring the whole board and load it full of whatever I'm digging on. But then, for shows, I pull off everything I'm definitely not going to use. It keeps things simple and safe and I spread the pedals out more on the board which is better for me live also. Even so my 'simple' live board is pretty deep, with a few pedals that might only get used on one song.

[frigid midget]

I'm also having similar 1st world problems. I can't imagine how a modular approach would work, at least not for me. I've got a handful of pedals on my board that don't get any use at all, they just take up space. I've actually had a patch cable go bad once...And when I found out, in the middle of a rehearsel, I noticed the patch cable was between two pedals that I never ever used in that band

But at home, as well as for my other jam project thing, I like to have all my stuff at my disposal.

Two boards would make sense, but as long as my music isn't paying the bills and my band isn't going places...I don't want to buy 5 extra pedals just for the sake of convenience :s

[PanicProne]

For the past 5-6 years I've always been involved with at least two projects. One being my post-rock/metal/hardcore/whatever band and the other always some kind of punk band. I ended up keeping my big board with the post-wank band, bringing only a minimal setup (sometimes only a tuner) for the punk projects. This didn't rule out bringing an extra pedal once in a while to try out or having lots more at home for experimentation/noise ofc. But I've always liked having access to two "opposite worlds" and tend to keep it that way. I think it also helps and has helped me as a musician. Always lugging the big board around for the spacey band gives me a sense of freedom when I don't have to for the punk bands. At the same time it makes me miss pedals and experimenting so much that when I do get to use a lot of them it really makes my day. Best of both worlds. As far as the modular idea goes, I always thought that worked better as an actual idea than it ended up in real life..

[OddKnowledge]

PeteeBee, for the style of music that you're describing, i'd say keep it as simple as possible without limiting yourself. afterall, drums guitar and vocalist is also the set up of Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Nick Zinner uses a bunch of pedals to build those songs.

so, i'd take the full board at first while writing the first few songs, then figure out what effects you probably wont use and then make a smaller board out of those.

[frigid midget]

^Solid advice imo.

Use all the toys you like to find out what THE sound that works best for your band. Then just keep the ones you actually need, and put the rest on a second board if you want to.

I wish that approach would work for me. I'm not yet sure if my ne band will last long enough to make it worthwile to AGAIN dissasemble my board

[The_Active_Conundrum]

I've got a handful of pedals on my board that don't get any use at all, they just take up space. I've actually had a patch cable go bad once...And when I found out, in the middle of a rehearsel, I noticed the patch cable was between two pedals that I never ever used in that band

In High School when people would come over to jam I'd make a point of using each pedal in a way that helped the song out. Just so when something like that happened and I had to spend an hour+ troubleshooting, no one would be like

but why don't you just you know like....maybe like plug direct into the amp?

Because they knew effects make songs sound good.

Problem is, high school noobs are easier to manipulate like that. I imagine in a real band context it'd be closer "get your shit together! a-2-3-4" and you have to make it work.

[PeteeBee]

Yeah. I do think it's a little different with a few more years under our belts than high school, but most of the people I play with are still in junior college which is pretty much high school and equally broke/not always seeing what various subtleties I'm looking to work out.
Went with just tuner, fuck, and reverb and it totally worked out. I'm not very successful at using delay in fast music, but i want to figure it out and throw one of those in. We are looking for a bass player. Once we have that I'm a little more free to do other things than down pick like a maniac through the entire verse.