I had an old-man-yelling-at-clouds moment this morning. That said, I’ve had this same thought, in the same situation, for years. This one was a little different though.
The thought over the years is that I laugh at folks posting pics of their pedal board that will have 10 or 12 of the small, nano-sized pedals on it and call it their small board. While not entirely inaccurate, imho, it’s not really accurate either. I guess it comes down to perspective, and here’s mine.
Looking at those “small boards,” they’ll sometimes have a fuzz or two, several drive pedals, a delay or two, maybe a tremolo, a reverb, a tuner, and maybe a couple of others. Yes, the pedals are smaller and they fit on a smaller board than they would if they were full-size pedals, so it’s a “smaller” board. But, if you think about it, you’re still having to do a complicated tap dance to get your sounds.
A smaller board, to me, is one that is maybe 4 or 5 pedals total, and it all fits on a board small enough to fit in your backpack with the rest of your gear. If it’s big enough that it needs its own bag, then it’s probably not a small board. Granted, I know (and even have) a small board that came with its own bag. The bag is small enough that I strap it to my gig bag without worrying that it’s going to damage my guitar.
10 or 12 years ago, when I first noticed this phenomenon, what got me laughing at it is is this. There were several of these folks that would post a pic of their regular board and their smaller board. The only difference was the size of the pedals. Their big board had 10 or 12 pedals, and their small board had 10 or 12 pedals. The boards had the same types of pedals on them in the same numbers. It’s just the big boards had regular size pedals, and the small boards had the nano-size pedals. So, again, perspective, they weren’t really smaller.
Now that brings me to the board I saw this morning. The person posting it was calling it their small board. There were 15 pedals on the board. Not only were they all full-size pedals, but probably a third of them were multi-pedals. The board was huge! My big board wasn’t even as big as it was. I didn’t look closely enough to see what the pedals actually were beyond noticing that most of them appeared to be expensive, high dollar pedals. So, honestly, it may’ve just been the poster wanting to brag about his board.
To me, small boards should be small and as minimal as possible. If it’s got representation of all the pedal types, it’s not a small board. If it won’t fit in your backpack, it’s not small. If it’s big enough, or has enough pedals, that you’re constantly stepping on something, it’s not small. And, if your small board has 15 pedals on it, I don’t care if it’s smaller than something else, it’s not a small board.
And that makes me think, I’ve been meaning to update my small board. It’s currently a tuner, a couple of drives, a delay, and a reverb/trem pedal. I realized that I don’t really use the delay anymore, so I’m going to pull it off. Then I’m going to take off the reverb/trem pedal and replace it with a reverb and a trem. So, once I’m done, it’ll be a tuner > klone > D-type drive > trem > reverb. And it’ll fit in my backpack.
I’ve got another one that I consider a small board. When I put it together, it was with the express purpose of getting something that would fit in my backpack and that I could use for casual jams. It’s a tuner > multi (comp > drive > reverb) > vibe. This one is a LOT of fun to play with.
Neeways, that’s my old-man-moment for today. If your board requires its own zip code, then it’s not a small board.