My daughter just went to an event at the late Levon Helms’ music studio in Woodstock, New York. She sent me a few photos. I’m still a lowly acoustic guitar learner with hopes of one day playing an electric to get more into the Blues. Looking at this shot, I have a naive question. Is it possible to have too many pedals?
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I suppose it depends on if you want to hear a guitar or want to hear a guitar through lots of processing, possibly to the point where it don’t sound like a guitar even.
So for me, yes.
I got 4. Depending on the amp I’m using, I could eliminate the tremolo pedal though as one of my amps has that effect built into it.
I seem fine with reverb (generally in the amp), tremolo (preferably in the amp).
The pedals I have are a tremolo (for the amps that don’t have built in tremolo in the amp), delay, vintage distortion, compressor.
These are the pedals I have used for the last 2-3 years w/o acquiring more pedals. I seem to get the tones I want with them 4.
Disclaimer, I do have a 5th pedal, a phaser. It’s usually in a drawer and not hooked up as I just don’t use that one too much. But, once in a while, I will get it out for kicks and giggles… 
fwiw, pedals I have considered, but not done anything about acquiring would be a eq and a looper. Still, they are in the back of my mind. Maybe someday… maybe not too. I’m for sure in no hurry and they ain’t something I just got to have. Time will tell.
Good question you raise here Michael. I’ll be interested to see what others think.
I think you probably can have too many… it’s somewhere around the point where you’re just endlessly searching for a sound and playing the guitar has become secondary
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given that there are plenty of notable guitarists who only ever plug straight into their amp, I think it’s possible to have too many pedals. but I suppose it depends on what sound(s) you’re going for.
I’m probably never going to be one of those folks with a huge pedalboard. maybe a couple pedals, but that’s all. I have two right now. they’re both really just switches. One changes channels on my amp (from clean to the effects channel) and the other is a bluetooth utility pedal that I use to control video playback while practicing but might be useful in a show to page through songsheets.
I have noticed that the guitarists and the music I tend to gravitate towards wanting to play tends to be on the minimal size of the pedal spectrum.
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Is it possible to have too many guitars?
… or anything for that matter?
These are usually self-limiting problems.
For some one is too many, for others it’s the ol’ n+1 formula
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Well Michael,
the man who saw your daughter it’s not too much what he has as far as I’m concerned, I am looking at close to number 10 soon … 
It’s pretty safe to say this 
goes a little too far 
Greetings
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Eh you have a varied set list you might need a big range of sounds
Really depends on the musician and music.
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I agree with this answer
I personally love pedals. I play with a board that has 11 of them currently. Some people may think that’s too much. All of the ones I have serve a specific purpose for me and fit what I need. I have been playing with these same 11 for a while, so I know them well and what they can do. Plus, I just really love stomping on them 
To each their own 
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For me, the answer is no; ask a painter if they can have too many color choices.
Now if you ask, can “some” people have too many pedals I’ll likely say yes.
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Indeed, but most painters will have less than a dozen tubes of colour they regularly work with and use those to mix whatever tones they need. It’s similar with pedals.
But yeah- nothing wrong with buying something if it fulfils a technical function or personal desire 
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Sometimes the pedals are in banks, so that a simple stomp on a switch box (which I think is the large bit at the guitarist’s front left) will produce a tone/effect which requires several pedals instantly.
I was watching something a few days back - I think it was on Anderton’s channel on youtube, and someone (maybe Danish Pete) mentioned it.
It makes sense if the guitarist has some distinctive tones they use which require several pedals to be used, and then another effect/tone which requires several other pedals.
One just has to plug the required pedals with the desired settings into one switch and make sure the pedals are all switched on, and then the pedals for the other tone into another switch and ensure they are all switched on.
Instead of trying to hit 3 or 4 (or more) pedals in turn, it is possible to just hit the switch to change between banks.
…Of course, he could just have Pedal Acquisition Syndrome 
edit…Come to think of it, Joe Bonamassa does this.
He has switches/pedals arranged because he uses different guitars into different amps, and using a switch means he can easily get the correct tone. He doesn’t use many pedals, replacing them with a tech and a whole heap of guitars though 
oooo I definitely have that exception again living here 
…this is behind my computer and I bought it 2 or 3 weeks ago…go upstairs and this is a drop on a canvas…
Greetings and just under 12 sounds /pedals…tsss go rinse your mouth 
)
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Oooh… we may have struck gold here
I can’t recall you ever mentioning your interest in painting, let alone sharing any of your work 
Mind you that painting set is far too neat & tidy to grace any serious hobbyist’s studio
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No No Brian, not me ,
but my girl , you must have seen some of that already…and if you forgot , I will post it in my LL later…way later
she especially enjoys copying paintings in detail, it makes her very zen …Picasso and such or parts of a Diamang zoomed in or a wine label
And Yes I have intrest in painting but could not combine those dirty paint fingers with the guitar and I quickly gave up after my chair also started to colour on day 2 
Now i am bussy finish Steady Thumb things blues and tape was $$#@$ by the cat 3 times 
(and looking for a new pedal 
)
To much info
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Tell her to be careful. Interpol have a specialist department that deals with that sort of thing!
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I think he’s down 3 or 4 drive pedals from his usually load-out.
It looks a bit excessive, but the first thing I’m thinking is that his pedal board building skills could be improved
I think I would have gone for something that could fit on a single board…
However, if you go the “full-on” pedal board route, meaning you perhaps use a clean amp as a base (maybe a Fender) and don’t have any built-in effects etc, then it really quickly adds up!
When playing live I’ve always gravitated towards multi-channel amps & amp distortion myself… along with something preset/midi based. I’m the type of player that wants to switch a full tone with one button press. So my live rig is based around a tube head and a Helix Floor multi effects.
But if I were to build a pedal board and get just the sounds I really need to play in a covers band - then my list would be:
Tuner
Volume pedal
Expression pedal (controlling delay, reverb levels etc)
Compressor
Clean boost
1-3 drive pedals (depending on amp)
Chorus
Reverb
Delay
Noise Gate
So that’s about 12 pedals just for the base line. Then I might be tempted to add a few for fun (but I could easily get by without)
Trem
Vibe
Phase 90
All in all, pedals are fun… but for easy setup/tear down and less chance of cable failure I strongly prefer multifx’s for live…
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and if I was going to buy a fun pedal, this one would make me smile
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@Kasper I think pedals vs multi effects is an easy discussion to resolve. I think for most of us “know thy self” is a good place to start and probably leads you to the answer for yourself. From what you’ve written it is clear that you know yourself and multi effects works well for you.
For me: I want to be able to see what’s engaged and what isn’t (the main aspect for me); I don’t get on with hidden menus; I like to think about what effect I want to buy next (or ask from the kids for birthdays and Christmas) and where it will fit on the board; I would get option paralysis with a multi effects unit. So a limited number of effects with pedals is the answer for me.
Each of us knowing ourselves and coming to a different conclusion, Happy Days.
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