pedal board planning (everyone's favorite questions)

[e44crowe]

I know everyone loves these questions but I want some input from other brains.

I am constantly tweaking my pedalboard. I have a PT-JR with onboard power for 6 pedals. This is the max I have given myself for a board.

SO, my question is how would you equip your pedalboard?

I'll start off with what I consider to be mandatory on the board with my current selection in parenthesis:

Tuner (Korg Pitchblack)
OD (Fulltone OCD)
Delay (Sitori Sonics Reel Repeat)
Modulation (Boss Flanger)

I currently also use:

2nd OD (Tubescreamer)
2nd Modulation (Boss Tremolo)

How would you change? I am really looking more for pedal type guidance more than brands.

I am currently obsessed with adding in a compressor for some reason. Would you remove the 2nd drive pedal or the 2nd modulation type pedal? I like the Tremolo but cant say that it is the most useful pedal for a lot of stuff I play. It is just fun to noodle around with. The 2nd drive pedal gives me options for crunch level at the step of a shoe and also gives me a solo boost option.

FWIW, I play in a classic rock cover band.

 

[Tweaker]

Classic rock...you need some fuzz!!

 

[Slasher]

I agree with Tweaker, you need fuzz

If you don't use the tremolo much, take that one out and add the compressor if you want.

Maybe swap something with a fuzz?
It's all up to you man!

 

[Stuff]

You didn't say anything about your amp setup. If you run the amp with any sort of breakup or drive, a boost pedal might be worth looking into.

 

[Batman]

I'm building a small 6 pedal board right now so I have in a similar dilemma.

Right now its looking like;

Tuner - TC Polytune
OD - ??
Distortion - Analogman DS-1
Flanger - Boss BF-2
Delay - Hardwire DL-8
Reverb - Hardwire RV-7

I've had compressors on my board and they have a lot of value for playing clean but are less useful (IMO) for playing with gain.

The other modulation I use a lot is chorus. It's a tough call when you get down to 6 pedals.

I'm undecided as to what OD to use. . .SD-1 or TS808 or other?

 

[Brocko]

I am constantly tweaking my pedalboard. I have a PT-JR with onboard power for 6 pedals. This is the max I have given myself for a board.

Bravely spoken...

 

[Brocko]

I keep recommending the Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive Mod - it is the best OD in my opinion. The main reason is the ability to blend in the clean tone - it just makes such a difference. The same feature on my Boss RT-20 works wonders too.

So maybe having a blend pedal as one of the options? Something like a parallel looper (for an idea have a look at the Xotic x-blender).

 

[Brocko]

Also a versatile Drive like the Minimoog Drive - can be an OD, a fuzz plus plug in an expression pedal for a very extreme wah. Anything with an expression pedal opens up a whole new game.

With 6 pedals, one of which is a tuner, you need to get creative!

 

[mmd]

I have 8 pedals:

tuner
compressor
clean boost (for leads)
phase 90
OD
distortion
noise gate
delay

I play in 2 bands so the OD is for one, and the distortion for the other. but, if I HAD to lower my pedals to 6, I would drop the OD and the noise gate. the reason I have the gate on my board is I play stock strats right now and it helps cut down on the 60 cycle hum.

 

[e44crowe]

I am leaning fairly strong towards dropping the Tremolo for a compressor (which one?).

My board would then be: tuner> compressor> tubescreamer ( main crunch)> OCD (run at 18v and drive set very low for use as a clean boost) > flanger (surprisingly useful modulation) > delay.

FYI, I do also have a fuzz face for whenever I want that. It's off the board and I place it first in the chain if I need to get all fuzzy.

 

[snaredrum]

you guys are messing with me, right?

like anybody could play music with only SIX pedals...

 

[hrfdez]

Mine right now goes:

Guitar to--------
Peterson Stomp Classic Tuner-
Keeley 4 knob Compressor-
BB Preamp-
Wampler Plexi Drive-
OCD V3-
MXR Superbadass Distortion-
Keeley Fuzz Head-
MXR Analog Chorus-
MXR Micro Flanger-
MXR EVH Phaser-
MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay-------
Amp

I also have a Classic Wah and a JB Fet Driver that I switch with the Fuzz Head.

I am just learning how to mess with all this crap, so I am constantly tinkering with the knobs on the pedals.

I mostly use the pedalboard with my Fender DRRI.

 

[Kalz]

I'd switch out your modulation with a pedal that can do multiple modulation types EVEN if it doesn't sound the greatest compared to a single unit, you want more versatility with little quality sacrifice when you are limiting yourself to 6 pedals.

I would go

Tuner
Fuzz
Ts808 circuit
Marshall/Vox/HiWatt in a box
Delay
Modulation


Also, a Pt-jr has a deceptively large amount of space. You can probably fit 10 standard size pedals on there if you place them correctly

 

[Brocko]

you guys are messing with me, right?

like anybody could play music with only SIX pedals...

yeah easy:

Tuner
Pigronix Philosophers King
MiniMoog Drive w/ expression pedal
Empress Nebulus
Cusack Tap a Whirl
Vox Delaylab (or similar, Line 6 maybe)

The pigtronix gives you compression, bit of distortion and a bit of synth wierdness - Moog gives you OD, fuzz and a mental sweep wah - Empress gives you chorus, flanger, vibrato plus a few extras like univibe - Cusack is all the trem you would ever need - Vox covers all the delay. Grab a headstock tuner and that frees up another pedal slot - Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive mod for some conventional OD tones or a Pigtronix Envelope Phaser for phasing and envelope goodies.

Yeah i know i cheated.

 

[st.bede]

I hate how those clip on tuners look but one would open up a space on the board.