How to scale down without sacrificing tone.

WGTR Topics

Aug 7

It’s no secret that guitar rigs are never truly ‘done.’ As our tastes evolve and the demands of worship music change, we find ourselves needing to cover a lot of creative ground. So how do you build a worship rig that can handle a wide range of tones without ending up with a massive pedalboard? Or, if you already have a huge board, how do you scale down without sacrificing flexibility and creativity?

If you’re afraid that scaling down will limit your options and reduce your ability to be creative, keep reading. We asked five worship guitar players how they scaled down their boards without compromising their sound. Here’s what they had to say!

Brendan MacBride

“I love compact pedalboards that can cover a wide range of tones. It’s a fun challenge to put together a rig that is small yet has a lot of options. In the past, I had massive pedalboards with a ton of different effects, but in recent years I have gone back to smaller and simpler setups.

When you put together a scaled-down board, you really need to be intentional about the pedals that you choose. The pedals you pick need to have a variety of sounds in them with a small footprint. The UI and navigation of the pedals are really important as well. You want a pedal that is easy to navigate and has quick access to important controls. Also, coming from larger, big-box delays and reverbs, you want a small pedal that doesn’t sacrifice sound quality.

That is why I chose to use the Eternity and Revelation on a bunch of my recent small pedalboard builds. The combination of the small footprint, navigation, and sound quality makes them perfect for a compact rig.

I love small pedals that give you a variety of sounds in one box. This allows you to get the same sounds you would have with a larger board but in a smaller footprint. A great delay and a great reverb pedal are the core of a compact board like this. When I set up this board, I built everything around those, knowing that I could have presets in each pedal set up for any situation.”

Doug Schneider

“To give myself the best range of quality tones, I’ve had the same approach for years—a Line 6 modeler as the foundation of my tone with a few other pedals to augment the range and power of the rig. Two things enabled me to scale down and enhance the power and functionality of my board.

The first was swapping out the massive POD HD500 for an HX Stomp. The Stomp's small footprint and flexible/intuitive UI was a game changer. I moved to a smaller board and swapped my oversized VoiceLive 3 for a Boss VE-500, getting a huge upgrade in tone and functionality.

I added a Morningstar MC6 and Pedalnetics compact aux switch for even more control, but I struggled with integrating my non-MIDI pedals, which were always in the signal chain and required extra footswitch actions. Then came the Unity6.

Call me a fanboy, but this pedal delivered everything I wanted—effects loops, fewer taps, and easy touch-screen programming. Beyond that, the wireless Bluetooth functionality gives me the capability to sequence all of my changes from my MPC Live. With this setup, I can dial in almost any scenario I think of in a matter of minutes.

We all love gear, but it's the music that matters. This board lets me focus on the music.”

Darius Counts

“I primarily manage my board at church, but I also enjoy experimenting with various music styles that require different tones. When I built the board in the photo, I included the HX Stomp as I was transitioning from a Helix to a more traditional setup.

I specifically wanted the HX Stomp for amp/cab simulation and modulation while keeping drive and wet effects organic. I believe that modeled or captured effects can't truly replicate the nuances of analog pedals. With the Lion and the Lamb, I have access to three clipping options per pedal and seemingly endless presets if you use MIDI, which I do. Even without MIDI, the Lion and the Lamb offer four distinct sounds each (three presets plus a live setting), but MIDI compatibility makes switching between a wide range of tones effortless.

The Revelation Radiant Space reverb pedal is fantastic, offering numerous algorithms. I can switch from a springy, slap-back sound reminiscent of John Mayer to an ambient swell with modulation. The shimmer and anti-shimmer algorithms also add interesting textures to my sound.

Fitting these pedals into a smaller board has been no problem at all. Honestly, if the Jet Pedals Eternity delay included reverse reverb, I might not even need the TimeLine!”

Angel Santiago

“I don't know a lot about pedals, and I’m learning now at almost 45 years old. I’ve seen many players with three or four overdrive or distortion pedals on their pedalboard. I know that each pedal has a different sound and is configured to give a range from clean to more distorted tones in each song. How could I build a rig that covers many different tones without ending up with a huge pedalboard? The versatility of the pedals I buy makes this possible, as each pedal gives me several options with different circuits without needing a pedal for each specific sound.

With the Lamb and the Lion, I don't need more overdrive pedals because each can produce four different sounds from clean to saturated. With the Lion, I can have four different sounds on the same pedal, from a crunchy clean to a saturated distortion. And that’s just using the yellow circuit; I still have the blue and red circuits, each offering different sounds. The MIDI pedals provide much more variety. Each color circuit can have three different presets, giving me nine presets plus live pedal mode. That’s why a small pedalboard is enough for me.”

Chad Mangum

“I used to have what I would call a massive pedalboard—two separate delay pedals, four different drives, and of course, the essential reverb, tuner, compressor, and volume pedals. This led to a big, heavy board that was hard to manage, especially since I sing while playing.

Then I found JET Pedals! Each pedal’s versatility, with its multiple sounds or algorithms, allowed me to downsize my board and improve my sound. I found more and better sounds with fewer pedals. Now, with the Unity6, I have all the flexibility and more with the press of a single button. I still have my staples, but adding JET Pedals to my rig has allowed me to use them in a whole new way.”

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By hearing from these seasoned worship guitarists, it's clear that downsizing your pedalboard doesn’t mean compromising your sound. With the right gear, you can achieve a versatile, powerful setup that inspires creativity and enhances your performance. Explore our range of pedals at JET Pedals and discover how you can scale down without sacrificing tone.

Jayme Thomason