The thread for overhauling a board that you're happy with

[Jwar]

I just listed most of my shit man. I'm tired of this! I remember having a PT1 full and was happier than ever with that. This massive amounts of gear is silly.

[rfurtkamp]

Well, if you don't want to deal with stuff, #yolo !

I'm happy with a freight truck full of stuff, as long as it's got a purpose.

Clearing a few things myself, but they're mostly stuff I bought to help people out in bad financial straights or that has been literally replaced by the same thing in another box.

[UglyCasanova]

I just want a small board on top of what I've already got. We usually only play through 2-3 songs at rehersal, so there's no need to carry 15-16 pedals plus tabletop across town every week. For gigs though, I'm fairly pleased with my setup...for now.

[Jwar]

See that's the whole thing. I don't gig or anything. I play bass and that's it. Nothing else. So sometimes I get really overwhelmed by what I have and find myself noodling instead of playing. If I limit what I have, I usually have a lot more fun, but if it's available, my OCD will not allow me to simple have a board with a small amount. It has to be full. I know it's weird and it's annoying to me. Sigh.

I love everything I have, but it's just something I go through every once awhile...or constantly. LOL

[voerking]

i have a similar, but different, cycle where i gradually start to increase from a very barebones set up & start adding pedals, only to strip it down to the bare minimum again...like my current set up which is guitar>volume pedal>amp. it's kind of freeing to not even need to worry about a board, or power supply, or hitting footswitches at the right time while also trying to play the guitar.

it will happen again, though. i'll think i *need* some effect on a certain part & i'll drag the board back out...

[Jwar]

I hate to admit this as I've only shared it to Excane before, but I play direct a lot. Like a LOT. LOL. It is very freeing. My amps overdrive is amazing and punchy as shit.

[rfurtkamp]

I hate to admit this as I've only shared it to Excane before, but I play direct a lot. Like a LOT. LOL. It is very freeing. My amps overdrive is amazing and punchy as shit.

I play clean with nothing but amp verb an awful lot of the time. I'm dead ok with that. Solid clean 6L6 makes me happy enough if I want that sound.

Someday I'll finish my "live in 1962" jazz album featuring nothing but boring shit available back then.

[PeteeBee]

for me there's an amount of pedals that i use A LOT and then there's the pedals that i just like what they do maybe more than i use them.

so much this. I've come to realize that this is all I need

(crossposting image with pedalboard thread because pics make everything better)

It's perfect because I need two flavors of dirt (but flexible ones) and either delay or reverb. I can fake reverb well enough with a dark delay, but I can't fake delay so I use this. These two haven't left my board in like two months, which for me is an eternity. I'm definitely writing better stuff with just as well. Just forces me to calm down and play, but not too extreme, as in I'm never left dreaming "I wish I had something or other... then this would be a cool song."

That being said, there is obviously a whole pile of pedals that I really like and pull out occasionally.

[ThurberMingus]

I went through this last year with my TimeLine and BlueSky, wound up with a DMM and Ghost Echo. I couldn't deal with the GE's predelay so I traded it, and the DMM went wonky and I traded it. I just swapped two of my favorite "bonus" pedals for another TimeLine and I couldn't be happier. I miss my CT5 but I suspect I'll get another moral of the story: if it ain't broke don't fix it. Also who wants to trade a BlueSky for my Meet Maude?

[phantasmagorovich]

There is no right or wrong about this stuff. But I like to think about my board, especially when I can't afford to change anything in real life. Some of my questions cannot be answered without trying though, so there is an itch. Like would I be able to swap my dirt section out for different pedals or would the sound that I've grown used to just be missed? Which verb would I love if there was no RRR on my board, etc.
I actually like the idea of having spots that stand for certain roles and swapping out the particular pedals in those spots from time to time.

But thinking about this also brings me to realize specific things I might do different in a "shadow board" and I start wondering if I should not work these ideas into my main board. Putting not only two dirt pedals but also two reverb pedals in the Paraloop for example. Or replacing the Scrutator with an. Actual filter pedal. Or adding a real spring reverb. Or getting a broadcast to fuck shit up that has an exp in.

Well, maybe it just goes with getting to know your own board better and better to start thinking about the details rather than the broad strokes.

[psychic vampire.]

Last summer my "board" looked something like HOG2->OC-2->Pharaoh->DD-20->shit peavey head, before it turned into Pharaoh->DD-20->Supernatural

4 months ago, it was Blower Box->141G->Rusty Box

Last month it was bass->amp.

I overhaul sometimes. Mainly bc in the last 9 months I have gone through a bunch of bands. I was happy enough with each of those boards, but pitch effects worked in on place and not the other. There was no room for anything in the purposefully sparse music of my last band, thougn I did concede to using a pick.

[dubkitty]

i'm largely happy with my board, but find myself wanting to have things in a different order than the carefully-planned layout i have. for example, it'd be nice to have the tremolo before the Randy's Revenge. i'm thinking about taking the Goodbye 24 off the board, but i'd need something in a single-size box with top jacks that also makes sense in the order of the signal chain.

[HighDeaf1080p]

i'm largely happy with my board, but find myself wanting to have things in a different order than the carefully-planned layout i have. for example, it'd be nice to have the tremolo before the Randy's Revenge. i'm thinking about taking the Goodbye 24 off the board, but i'd need something in a single-size box with top jacks that also makes sense in the order of the signal chain.

Sounds like you need a patchulator, baby!!

As a solution for my complete board overhauls that were making my OCD become a real problem for getting in any actual PRACTICE, I added the patchulator to the center of my board, so I can swap pedal order in seconds with zero effort, and I started using "foundation overdrive" pedals at the end of my dirt section, so I can revoice my entire boost/overdrive/distortion/fuzz section by swapping out for a different foundation overdrive. So far it's working brilliantly. I had nothing to do yesterday but practice scales, and speed/uniformity drills. Scary that I might actually start improving as a musician again. *gasp*

Technically, it would be nice to have all my foundation overdrives on the board, so I didn't have to swap a pedal to revoice...but that would mean a larger board, which would mean longer patch cables, and would mean more power distribution, etc. etc. etc. and then I'm ready to eat a bullet again...so swapping the ONE foundation overdrive is my compromise for the sake of my ever-loving sanity.

[dubkitty]

the problem is that the Patchulator IIRC only has eight inputs, and i have 15 pedals on my board.

[HighDeaf1080p]

7 inputs. One has to be your guitar/amp.

1: Superego
2: Superego Effects Loop/Meet Maude Effects Loop/Bi-Filter Effects loop (manually switched)
3: Compressor, Arpeggiator, Envelope Filter
4: Dirt Section
5: Mel9
6: Modulation Section
7: Delay/Reverb

For me, I'm very unlikely to want dirt>modulation>delay>modulation>dirt. Haha. So I have the pedals grouped into functions that I will only use once per signal chain, and in only one location, even if I use multiple pedals within that group.

I will never need a delay at the front, and a delay at the end. I will need delay somewhere in there...and depending where I put it, it will change the sound.

Similarly, if I want dirt, I probably want it right after the guitar, or right after compression...but I have the option of sticking modulation in front if it...delay in front of it...sticking dirt in my effects loop of one of my pedals...

If you can't work with the constraints of 7 groups of pedals, then you could always go to a full size rack mounted or tabletop patchbay...