how can i scale down on the number of my pedals?

[pintspiller]

don't keep flipping between ideas - live with an approach for a few days at a time otherwise nothing seems right

i would agree there. it's like the setting on the pedals themeselves - i remember when i got the metal zone, i must have fiddled with that thing for hours and not gave myself any time to remember my fave settings.

[Fantantiddlyspan]

How about just using a Multi-FX for the "occasional" effects?

Zoom G3 is a great in front of the amp multifx, and doubles up as a good amp modeler if you ever want to do direct recording.

Take a look at Mooer pedals if you're wanting to cut down on size/weight.

[JHarp]

Have you thought about Visual Sound? If you paired a Route 66 with a H2O you'd have a compressor, OD, chorus and delay using only two pedals. They both sound really great to me, too.

http://visualsound.net/route-66/
http://visualsound.net/h20/

[uncle_psychosis]

For live use the subtleties between different effects gets lost. I always laugh when I see guys gigging with four different flavours of tubescreamer on their boards---total overkill.

[digitalscream]

I've just reduced my pedal board yet again - I think it pays to figure out which pedals you use together, and which ones you use on their own. After a bit of thought, I realised that I only ever use the chorus with the delay pedal, which is a TC Flashback...which has a modulated delay mode (as well as quite a few Toneprints which make use of chorus, flanger and vibe on the repeats). Therefore, the chorus comes off the board and I'm left with:

Wah -> Tuner -> {Bad Monkey or JC Shockwave, not made my mind up}
Flashback in the loop
Amp footswitch
Power supply

This gives me a board which can actually fit comfortably in my lead bag, and is thus one less thing to lug along with me.

[stickyfiddle]

I'm in the process of cutting mine back a little, though it's more physical size than number of pedals for me.

I've recently realised rather than 3 drives and a boost, I only actually need 2 drives that stack nicely (one only very subtle, and one proper noisebox), and actually very rarely need a clean boost, so am swapping a Microamp for an SHO

[Axe_meister]

What about a Nova drive for your driven sounds.
Has an OD and a distortion built in that you can run OD->Dist, or Dist>OD or both in parallel
and recall the sounds as pre-sets.
A tuner obviously.
A delay and a modulation device. In fact if you use a Nova mod and a Nova delay you have loads of sounds in just three pedals.
Add in a midi controller and you can recall different pre-sets as well. Making for a very compact board.

TC just need to make a Nova Fuzz.

[monquixote]

What about a Nova drive for your driven sounds.
Has an OD and a distortion built in that you can run OD->Dist, or Dist>OD or both in parallel
and recall the sounds as pre-sets.
A tuner obviously.
A delay and a modulation device. In fact if you use a Nova mod and a Nova delay you have loads of sounds in just three pedals.
Add in a midi controller and you can recall different pre-sets as well. Making for a very compact board.

TC just need to make a Nova Fuzz.

I've got a Nova mod for sale.

It doesn't do MIDI though. (The Nova Drive is I think the only one that does)

[Axe_meister]

I've got a Nova mod for sale.

It doesn't do MIDI though. (The Nova Drive is I think the only one that does)

It doesn't? Lets hope they bring one out that does.

[cacofonix]

Why not list your pedals, and let the seasoned gigmeisters come up with suggestions based on what you have, and your sound preferences?