Turing pros using "cheap"\"beginner's" gear and pedalboard minimalism

[Highernoon]

About a week ago I went to a melodic metal festival (7 bands - 4 local, 1 from Cyprus [Winter's Verge] and 2 from Italy [Airborn, Elvenking]) here in Tel Aviv.
A day before the festival a picture was posted on the festival's Facebook page from Airborn's page as they were getting ready for flying over here:

I was surprised to see the Digitech RP200, as I thought of it as a cool little toy for beginners to play with and get familiar with different guitar effects, and I commented on that (not dissing, just surprised). Another surprise that soon followed was a response from the band's vocalist\guitarist, explaining why he's using it:
"Yep small and indestructible... great for travel! ...and comes with Glenn Tipton presets as a bonus... It works for me because I really just need two sounds for the whole Airborn set... once I found those I didn't feel the need for anything else. It served me well on festival stages in Europe for a decade."

Here is the dude in action:

I did not do any research about his studio gear though.

Those of you who tour\perform live - do you take your entire pedalboard to every show? What do you leave at home?

 

[mikesr1963]

 

[Dexter Inferno]

About a week ago I went to a melodic metal festival (7 bands - 4 local, 1 from Cyprus [Winter's Verge] and 2 from Italy [Airborn, Elvenking]) here in Tel Aviv.
A day before the festival a picture was posted on the festival's Facebook page from Airborn's page as they were getting ready for flying over here:

I was surprised to see the Digitech RP200, as I thought of it as a cool little toy for beginners to play with and get familiar with different guitar effects, and I commented on that (not dissing, just surprised). Another surprise that soon followed was a response from the band's vocalist\guitarist, explaining why he's using it:
"Yep small and indestructible... great for travel! ...and comes with Glenn Tipton presets as a bonus... It works for me because I really just need two sounds for the whole Airborn set... once I found those I didn't feel the need for anything else. It served me well on festival stages in Europe for a decade."

Here is the dude in action:

I did not do any research about his studio gear though.

Those of you who tour\perform live - do you take your entire pedalboard to every show? What do you leave at home?

Yeah, nothing changes on my board these days.
As I use a loop switcher I don't use everything all the time though, very much depends on the gig. The switcher also has a manual mode, so no problem coming up with sounds on the fly. Plug in power and 4 cables and I'm ready to go.

Interestingly enough, I use way less fx on the original stuff than on most covers

 

[Chicken Man]

I play out, but don't tour, and I have a small "stable" of pedals, from which I stock an even smaller pedal board that I gig with.

As for that Digitech, I never thought of them as indestructible--they always seemed pretty flimsy. I think pedals are often a matter of people who are great players with great ears being able to find the 2 great sounding presets (or program their own sounds) on a unit like that, which is full of obnoxious hairy settings.

 

[Guitar Heel]

There's a ton of guys that tour with mostly Boss pedals. Relatively indestructible, cheap, and easily replaceable anywhere. Makes a lot of sense. I figure that most of us that spend a small fortune on pedals rarely play out.

 

[Mark Wein]

It really depends on the gig but 95% of the time all of this (plus a second guitar) come with me:

For my cover gigs all of it gets used to one extent or another. For blues gigs I could get by with quite a bit less. Most of the time just a tuner and a boost pedal would make me happy depending on the amp.

 

[Dexter Inferno]

There's a ton of guys that tour with mostly Boss pedals. Relatively indestructible, cheap, and easily replaceable anywhere. Makes a lot of sense. I figure that most of us that spend a small fortune on pedals rarely play out.

Yeah, if I was going on lengthy tours my board would be full of Boss and TC pedals. Reliable and pretty much indestructible.

 

[sleewell]

use whatever works. sounding good doesn't mean having one of everything or having the best, most expensive gear - its about using the tools you have to create the sounds in your head.

I geek out on pedals and gear and stuff but really its pretty dumb. just have fun playing music with good people.

 

[Dexter Inferno]

use whatever works. sounding good doesn't mean having one of everything or having the best, most expensive gear - its about using the tools you have to create the sounds in your head.

I geek out on pedals and gear and stuff but really its pretty dumb. just have fun playing music with good people.

Exactly.

I'm at a place now where I'm very happy with how I sound, and most of my guitars are quite cheap. Took a few years of trial and the odd failure, but gear is no longer getting in the way.

Of course, a really great custom built guitar would be nice, but not absolutely necessary at this point

 

[Lerxst]

There's a ton of guys that tour with mostly Boss pedals. Relatively indestructible, cheap, and easily replaceable anywhere. Makes a lot of sense. I figure that most of us that spend a small fortune on pedals rarely play out.

When a friend of mine was touring fairly extensively around the country in a van, living out of hotel rooms and sleeping on people's floors, he would only play Boss pedals on the same logic; no matter where they were, he should be able to replace a pedal locally before a show and not miss a beat.

 

[Mark Wein]

When a friend of mine was touring fairly extensively around the country in a van, living out of hotel rooms and sleeping on people's floors, he would only play Boss pedals on the same logic; no matter where they were, he should be able to replace a pedal locally before a show and not miss a beat.

I don't know if I would go that far (I hate most BOSS products) but there are a ton of products out there that you can find out there at your typical GC or Sam Ash that would do the job as good as any esoteric guitar forum prizes.

 

[Lerxst]

I don't know if I would go that far (I hate most BOSS products) but there are a ton of products out there that you can find out there at your typical GC or Sam Ash that would do the job as good as any esoteric guitar forum prizes.

His pedal selection was pretty slim (as was the singer/2nd guitarist who did the same thing); tuner, distortion, delay, at time trem or chorus.

 

[Chicken Man]

There's a ton of guys that tour with mostly Boss pedals. Relatively indestructible, cheap, and easily replaceable anywhere. Makes a lot of sense. I figure that most of us that spend a small fortune on pedals rarely play out.

As I've said before, playing music and buying music gear are two separate hobbies, with a fairly slim overlap between the two.

 

[Chad]

If I was touring, I would have a backup board. None of my pedals cost over $200 so a backup wouldn't be that much.

 

[OGG]

I have an RP200 lying around here somewhere. I'd gig with it in a pinch if I had to and would likely be just fine with it.

I'd gig my ancient RP3 in a heartbeat. That thing really is built like a tank and I personally think it sounds pretty damn good.

If you suck, you'll still suck through a Klon and $100k boutique amp.

My number one gig guitar is that white MIJ Squier branded 87 Strat. I don't see anything changing that any time soon. Most shows, I use it on every song despite always having a pair of back ups ready. I've never had to stop and tune it between songs even on two hour straight sets with some whammy bar athletics here and there.

Occasionally, some random gear snob will get close enough to see the "Squier" label and make a snide comment. I just chuckle. They're paying to hear me play that Squier...

 

[Modern Saint]

People use what works for them. Price shouldn't be the issue in regards to what works and what doesn't work. Each player has a unique sound that they want and if they find in a cheap or expensive pedal, more power to them.