Back to pedals?

Over the past few years, I've tried a lot of different multi-FX units... some rack-based (TC Electronic G-Major, Lexicon MPX-G2), some floor-based (Vox Tonelab SE, Boss GT-8), but I've never really had an effects setup based on pedals. Somewhat odd, I know, since that's where most guitar players start, but somehow I started out with a Digitech GSP-21 Legend and never looked back from the world of digital multi-effects.

One thing I've found, though, is that whenever I have anything that's too versatile from a multi-FX standpoint, I spend far more time building & tweaking patches than I actually spend playing guitar. During the past few weeks I've had a bit more free time for guitar-oriented activities, and I just haven't been able to bring myself to sit down and program the Lexicon MPX-G2 patches I need (which is probably good, since I've been spending that time playing guitar & recording concepts). So after a lot of research and consideration, I've decided to ditch the rack-based effects altogether and build the "pedalboard from hell."

This, of course, raises the question... if I build a massive pedalboard, won't I end up in the same situation where I spend more time tweaking than playing? Perhaps, but in the true spirit of G.A.S., I've got to give it a try...

As a starting point, I rounded up all the pedals I already own... Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, Carl Martin compressor, Fulltone Clyde Deluxe wah, Peterson Strobostomp tuner, Axess BS2 buffer, and Rocktron MidiMate controller (for the Egnater M4). Already that was enough to fill a standard pedalboard, but still left me wanting for some effects. So today I put in an order for a couple new pedals...

TC Electronic Nova Delay -- Don't think it's possible to go wrong with a TC delay unit... this has 6 types of delay, 2+ seconds of delay, and 9 user programmable presets. Nicely flexible, but does pretty much one thing (and hopefully does it well!).

Damage Control Glass Nexus -- A relatively new entry into the effects world... has tubes (!), 8 modulation effects plus delay & reverb, and 8 user programmable presets (more accessible via MIDI). Although I originally ordered an Eventide ModFactor, it is backordered until December, so if the Glass Nexus gets the job done I may cancel the order for the Eventide. Also, if the Glass Nexus delay does the trick, I may end up sending the TC Nova back... who knows?

Only other additions I'm debating at this point is the the almost-mandatory Ernie Ball volume pedal and ISP Decimator noise reduction pedal.

I'm also debating whether I should put together a custom pedalboard for hauling the pedals around so that they'll be pre-wired and ready to play. Ideally, I'd like to put together a 2-tier pedalboard like this...



I built a pedalboard a few years ago that was 36x12"... managed to dust it off and set up all the pedals I've got so far on it. Hopefully there will be enough room for the Glass Nexus--it should arrive early next week, so I should have the pedalboard finalized by the end of next week. Looks like it's time to go buy some velcro.

--B