Essential rig-what do you really vibe with?

Pine Apple Slim

Pine Apple Slim

Armchair Expert
I know its a loaded question with nuances, depends on your amp, your guitar, the setlist, etc. But say given your main preferred amp and guitar and you just wanna pick it up and play, or someone asks you to join them based on your individual personality and sound, what is absolute needed and what isn't?
This is my basic "Me" rig.
Carr Rambler w onboard spring and tremelo
Telecaster(My SG or Falcon would get me there, but just more knobs to fuss with)
Tuner
low to med gain OD that cleans up with vol knob.
Basic short slap back delay.
(only if needed)- an edgier gain pedal, maybe a phaser, maybe a comp for slide or country picking

With some good tremelo and spring reverb from the amp, thats 3-5 pedals including the tuner and it would all fit on a tiny board and could easily be daisy chained.
To have a bazillion pedals and power supplies is starting to feel real silly when all I really need is a Boss Tuner, Boss OD3, and DM2w delay, with maybe a phaser, Rat or Fuzz, and a basic compressor in reserve, lol.

If you had to bring it down to the essentials and still be "you" what would your rig look like?
 
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Chicken Man said:
Acoustic guitar and a couch.
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I played acoustic more than 90% of my first decade. It works great by itself or with a group of acoustic musicians at a jam. It gets a little bit more complicated in a large venue with a PA.

My essential acoustic…

Takamine EAN10C
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For electric, this has been my solid essential rig…

Am Deluxe Strat
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PT Nano Board
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VAC Hayseed 15 w/112 cab
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If I'm playing electric, which I haven't done out of my basement in 15 years, it's Tele, Classic 30, and a tremolo, compressor, and delay.
 
Great question!

So many variables but absolute bare minimum is one of my Trace Elliot Super Tramp combos. Guitar might well vary depending on a multiple factors but for arguments sake I'd say my Patrick Eggle Berlin. I'd need a tuner of some sort as well, pedal or clip on would work. With that I could sit in on most things and make it work.
 
Acoustic mostly just my Waterloo WL-12MH. I have a Boss Acoustic Singer Live if I need more volume

Electric (haven't had one of these in a few years) Reverend Contender 290 + Wangs VT-5HW is usually it but depending on the set I will add a Tech 21 RK-5 and Digitech EX-7.
 
I understand where you acoustic and guitar straight to amp guys are coming from.
I went for 15-20 years only playing my D28 and to this day have refused to even put a pickup in it.
My electric rig got used maybe 2x a year over that time and consisted of a used Epi LP Custom "second" into my little Crate Vintage Club 20r.
But over the last 10-15 yrs Ive collected way too much stuff, pedals being the worst of it. 90% of it gets used only at home, and most of the pedals are on the shelf collecting dust after a few hrs of checking them out.
 
Honestly, any 2-pickup hardtail with decent ergonomics, a clean amp with decent eq controls, a big muff type fuzz, a BF2 or similar flanger, an AIAB drive that can do something tweedy or marshally, and a tape-flavored delay is enough to do pretty much anything I need. I could probably even skip the delay if push comes to shove as long as the amp has decent verb.
 
micwalt said:
I could be absolutely comfortable in most settings with a standard Tele, and Classic 30, and a Rat 2. A volume pedal would be nice too, but not necessary.
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My main gigging rig for years, was a Strat into a rat into a classic 50. Years later it was a music man silhouette into a rat into a Mesa mark 1
 
Fender Princeton
LP/Tele/Strat
Pedals - Nobles OD1, Tumnus (or Klon Clone). Danelectro Roebeck

If I need delay: TC Flashback Mini; If I need chorus: Mooer Ensemble King
 
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