Members english_bob Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 Got to thinking- how do people decide what goes on the board and what doesn't? Do you play in a band, and use your current setlist to determine what goes on the board? Do you aim to have one (or more) pedal on your board for every effect type you might use, regardless of whether the musical project you're involved in right now actually uses it? Do you put together a board to produce a set group of sounds that you can slot in to a range of musical settings? Do you put together the board you think will get you most respec from HC or TGP? :poke: How do you decide when a pedal has "earned a spot on your board" (urgh) or when it's time for it to come off? Is what's on your board all you've got, or could you make up a B, C and D rig from the pedals you keep in your cupboard? Is your board finished? I'll go first: I haven't been in a regular band for quite a while, so my board is primarily for my own amusement- there's no over-arching logic to what's on it, but it covers a range of sounds I like, and I dare say that if I joined another band I'd be able to use what's on it to cover most of the sounds I'd need for any genre I wanted to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members renula Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 I use the same style of setup since 1997. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elessar [Sly] Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 Ironically I have a bigger pedalboard now I'm not in a band. I think it is more to do with the fact I can do anything I like. If I was in a gigging situation it would be bare bones for the set list. But, I like to think I would have more pedals live than I used to. Perhaps four-six. I have recently downsized my board (to buy a new amp and guitar!). That was 'Sell what you don't ACTUALLY need to enjoy playing'. Only have what I call 'support pedals' like EQ, tuner, etc. And of course, Delay and chorus. The amp provides the dirt I need. - That said I have the octafuzz for when I play with humbuckers and a CS-2 for when I play the strat. Pretty basic, but not too basic that I can't have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CS Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 I have a PT2 and some EH bags. I will mix and match depending on what projects I am involved with. At the moment the PT2 has a fuzz, wah, two overdrives, delay, phaser, tuner and AB box. The EH bag has an overdrive ab tuner and delay and odd pedals are a compressor currently used for bass and a random arpeg thingy that currently has no use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sleewell Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 mine right now is tuner and mak4 footswitch so i guess... LESS IS MOAR? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members imbuedblue Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 In the past, I had one big board with everything I needed for the different projects I was working on. In recent years, I've been gigging with three different groups and the odd solo gig. Each group has completely different needs so I end up tearing {censored} apart and rebuilding before every gig. This is a bit of a hassle so I've been working on a modular setup with separate boards that I can run together when needed. I try to keep things as simple as possible--playing straight into the amp on some gigs--but invariably, I'll run into a situation where I hear something that I can only do with whatever effect I didn't bring. I just get over it and play something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members erksin Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 #1 thing for me is that the pedal has to mesh with the basic amp sound and feel - I don't like anything with too extreme an EQ/gain/dynamic shift. Sole exception is fuzzes and then it's wide open - whatever sounds good is good. If I don't have a regular use for the thing, it doesn't go on the board. I don't use a ton of different sounds - I try to get the most I can out of a fairly simple set up. I have a fat clean sound, tweed-flavored rhythm that can be boosted for leads, harmonically-rich fuzz, slapback echo, surfy reverb, swampy tremolo, and Hammond/B3 Leslie type tones. I've tried a ton of other sounds and they don't stick with me for very long. I could have B, C, D, E, and F rigs with the extra stuff I have laying around. lol I don't think in terms of 'finished' - I like to use what inspires me at the time - but I will say that 80% of my board has been the same for about 5 years now. The recipe is locked in - it's the ingredients that rotate based on whatever I'm craving at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Naterel Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 I still have my first set up in my current set up, I can use those for most of the songs. Everything else just came from growth and experimentation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Marc G Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 Because I play covers my current set up is based on 100% flexability and the ability to get multiple tones easily.... If I wasn't doing covers my set up would change BIG time.... WIIO and Musket for dirt and some individual Mod pedals rather than the M9... but for now.... I'm really happy with this set up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lefort_1 Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 My thinking: I've got a 15x30 floorspace..... FILL IT UP!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members english_bob Posted April 17, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 My thinking: I've got a 15x30 floorspace..... FILL IT UP!!!!! Inches or feet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elessar [Sly] Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 Inches or feet? Feet is the only answer that should be given! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members H.P. Lovecraft Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 I try to get the most bang out of my buck. 1) I have to know what sounds I am looking for or need.2) What can meet those needs in a small package3) What works or sounds well with my amp & guitar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ItchyFingers Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 I have boards set up for each of my projects and they are highly dependent on what my needs are for each of those gigs. My clean tone comes from a DRRI and a compressor for everything. For the Moz tribute, I need to cover about 30 years and at least 5 different guitarists. So I run an OD (currently an ARC Honey Bee clone) and a Marshall-y distortion (currently a Pharaoh), simple analog delay (HBE Mimic II), phaser (phase 90), polyphonic organ/piano/synth sounds (POG2), and a reverb to stack with the amp for certain songs/parts (WET). For the Noise project, I just try to get all my whacky pedals together. The SMMH is critical, as is another delay, trem, SHOE Silver Apple, Subdecay NoiseBox, Lowbrow Tonebender MKII clone, and usually a whammy. Then I have boards with no pedals, so that when friends come over to jam, they can populate the boards with a choice of all the leftovers I have on a bookshelf (15-25 pedals usually). Things get booted off the board when I find something I like better in that genre. Like on my Moz board, I was using a Mad Professor Sweet Honey OD for a few months, but that was booted in favor of the ARC honey bee clone. And along those lines, I don't think I'm ever done with any board. I am done selling stuff though - as I always seem to regret it after I get rid of it. More pedals for my friends to check out in jam sessions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members triviani Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 Down to bare bones, i'd play fuzz+modulation+delay. There has been quite a lot of rotation around each piece, but these are the basic setup. Modulation has slowly seen an evolution from tremolo to vibrato to currently phaser tones. As a delay I use a Dl8, which I still have fun with after 3 years. Then I have some satellite pedals around, that are used from time to time, or they rotate. Wah is very close to leave the board, tremolo may come back.. having fun with the Dispatch Master these days. I feel that a bit of pedal rotation brings fresh ideas to what you play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members triviani Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 Almost forgot to mention the Boomerang III, mostly used on noise and drone days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elessar [Sly] Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 I feel that a bit of pedal rotation brings fresh ideas to what you play. This is very true. Although I have recently sold most of my pedals, the ones I had laying around I'd occasionally plug in and give me fresh ideas. I also find changing the type of guitar/style of playing really helps as well. For example if I have been playing heavier stuff a lot I will play acoustic for an evening or the strat and mess around with some blues/jazz/or funk. Then by the time I get back to playing the heavier stuff I have new ideas/doesn't feel tired. - this was touched upon in a thread the other day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChuckNorris1982 Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 Whenever I'm not in a band, my board has a tendency to grow - I always end up having one of each type of modulation, multiple delays, multiple reverbs, far too many dirt pedals etc etc. When I'm in a band, I slim it down to just what I need - which is currently a couple of dirts, a Ring Thing, a delay and a reverb. I've just bought a trem, which I'm going to experiment with, but ultimately I think it may not find its way onto the band board. Generally for me I like to keep it simple for the band board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members caeman Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 For me, I like the idea of a clean channel that is always active and always clean. The signal gets split at the EQ (MXR KFK-1). Channel 1 goes through the tuner to the LS-2 (A+B mixing mode). Channel 2 goes through my fuzz pedal to the LS-2. This way, I can use any old fuzz in channel 2, regardless of its bass loss and noise, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members macadood Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 with my M9 i can cover pretty much any type of sound. my board is set up for practicality, versatily, booteekness, hcfx cred, and pleasure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members caeman Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 with my M9 i can cover pretty much any type of sound. my board is set up for practicality, versatily, booteekness, hcfx cred, and pleasure. But is it TGP Certified? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jisatsu Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 I like to have every effect that I use while playing regardless of what I'm doing, so if I suddenly feel in the mood to play something totally different from what I'm doing at the time, I can and not feel like I have to change set ups. I try to limit my dirt section to specific needs. One clean boost, one drive pedal, and one fuzz (usually a muff of some sort). That way I'm not fumbling around too much with dirt and keep it simple. As far as effects, the only effect I over kill with is at least two delays. One analog and one digital. Sometimes I'll have 3 or more but for the last year or so I've been using just 2. Also I have two pitch pedals, a pitchfactor and a whammy. Kinda overkill but I use them for two different things. I don't play in a band right now, my life is too busy for that and I find it harder to play guitar with a past hand injury these days. When I did play in a band, I didn't have a pedal board and usually only used a noise suppressor or a digital delay. Then again, you don't need much for metal. I haven't changed my board since mid 2010 except to add a pitchfactor early in 2011. I'm considering a major overhaul in the near future though. More reverb, more pitch-shaping. Less dirt. I dunno, we'll see how I feel in a couple weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kriegsemann Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 My board is usually almost all pedals I use in a band and then one or two that only get used when I play alone and want to make stupid noises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members macadood Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 But is it TGP Certified? getting there :poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ryan. Posted April 17, 2012 Members Share Posted April 17, 2012 i go with what is a good value. then i play it live. if it doesn't crap out on me on stage, i'm happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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