Pedalboards and Pedals - part 2

In continuing the theme of pedals and effects, I want to share some thoughts regarding choosing the right gear for your musical context and style with your overall budget in mind. I keep my pedal setup to a very small amount of carefully chosen pieces that work for the context and style of music that I general play. Here are some thoughts:

Think of each gear purchase as an Investment

Don't get caught up in the trap of filling up your room with a bunch of cheap guitars, hooked up to cheap gadgets, wired together with cheap cables, through a cheap amp that ends up sounding like a chain-smoking cat weezing on a furball. Save your pennies, be patient, and buy gear that will last and grow with your playing.

Quality over Quantity

Find out what kind of pedals and accessories your favourite guitarists and artists use and try to start with a few of those choice pieces. Remember they can probably afford the best gear so you can't go wrong in emulating their choices.

Style and Context

I tend to keep all my pedals loose and sitting on the floor and I generally take whatever pedals I need for the gig. If it's a jazz style gig I might take my Strymon reverb and an amp. If it's a rock show I'll bring all my overdrives like my vintage Ibanez Tube Screamer, Carl Martin Plexitone, Rockbox Boiling Point and my Xotic EP boost for solos. If it's a church event I make sure I take my Strymon Blue sky, T.C. Flashback delay and maybe just the Carl Martin plexitone. Sometimes I just bring everything incase I might need it.

Jazz guitarist tend toward the simple no-pedals/no-frills tone. Pop guitarist seem to take the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach and create giant pedalboards. Country players seem to need a good compressor pedal and an overdrive as essentials tools for tone. Blues player definitely go for the Uni-vibes, octave pedals, overdrives and boost pedals. Metal players tend to smaller pedalboards with boost and distortion pedals that take their already giant amp sounds over-the-edge.

Budget

Keep to the budget and add to your rig over time. Unless your heading out on a world tour and need an immediate world-class pedalboard, the time you need to save up for the next piece of gear can be well spent investigating and doing the homework of making the right choice. Watch demos on Youtube, demo the pedals at stores, read reviews on the internet, and ask other guitarist advice.