Expression pedals: How many is too many?

rocknroling

Inspired
I have used a number of various midi pedals and foot controllers through out my years as a gigging musician and I have always used 2 expression pedals. One for Wah, and the other for Volume. Then came the MFC-101.... 4 expression outputs plus 4 external command outs, are you serious?? At first I considered this an over correction, but then I started thinking about the possibilities of what more can do. So I am starting to dabble in adding more, but the question then becomes, will I really use them?

I am thinking of adding a third to my board, but am trying to figure out if I want to dedicate it to modulation intensity, or modulation mix, or length and mix of delay, or whammy.... Almost too many to decide. If you are using 3 expressions or more, what do you have them assigned to?
 
I have always used 4 until recently. I just removed my first one set to input volume.
The rest are as follows
2. Mission with a spring for wah
3. Delay mixes, so I can bring in and out the delays
4. Used for rates such as rotary, tremolo,etc

I don't use 4 much either these days. I think I can get away with two go forward. My rig 2 will just have 2. Rig 2 Ax8 and two ev-1's. I will use one switch for boost.
 
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I have (1) an EV-1 as my dedicated volume pedal (2) an EV-1 for mix / expression and (3) a Mission controller for wah / leslie speed.
 
I have three that are connected right now:

1. Mission spring loaded - Wah
2. Mission spring loaded - Whammy
3. Mission standard - Looper volume

I only need 1 and 2 for gigs, and could get by with just #1.

I also have an Boomerang Wholly Roller that I am thinking about assigning type something else like Rotary speed or similar... But currently it's not connected.
 
Always had 2, one for volume, the other for whatever might come by. Just started thinking of getting me a 3rd one but am afraid of the hassle of one pedal more in the bag, the cabling and the risk to mix up 2nd and 3rd pedal and send the band to extraorbital cafernaum or nirvana. So probably I'll keep 2....
 
I have used almost every kind of expression pedal out there... Call me crazy, but I still like the feel of the Ernie Ball Volume Jr's!! I am kicking myself for getting rid of my spring loaded mission (which I loved for wah's), I like the Boss FV-500H but they are so friggin big! The EBJR was the perfect size.
 
I use one spring loaded expression dedicated for WAH only as standard for all presets and another expression for many things (depends on the preset and its use), volume, delay mix, amp drive control, distortion pedal mix or % etc,.

I don’t have any space in my pedal board for a 3rd expression and I really don’t need it.

However I’m fully using the 4 x external switching option (with my EXT4MFXC), I would not mind heaving more switches, I do use almost all of them all the time, this (switches) is something I do need as much as possible.

Of course I can always scroll through scenes and have many preset setups but I can’t remember each scene what it have and by heaving switches for specific block, I can tell what do I have in the preset (according to the LED).

In live situation I like to experiment many times with single pedals switching so the more control I have, the better I use it.
 
I have 3 on my board. Have a volume pedal and a wah on most of my presets. The extra one is always available for any wild ideas I might come up with.
 
it's never too many...:D
mfc101_Apr12_zpsuiiznwh2.jpg

#1 direct to exp jack on axe fx for wah
#2 whammy or pitch related effect
#3 and #4 delay levels (my delay blocks are in parallel)
#5 reverb level (my reverb block is in parallel)
#3-5 are simply mixers to bringing in the amount of ambience
 
Well, by definition, if you have an MFC, then 9 would be too many... ;-)

I have 2 EXP pedals - one for Vol, the other for Wah/Whammy/assorted specialized functions like fx mixes, input drive, etc.
And 3 EXT switches - 2 for Vol Incr/Decr, and one for Tap Tempo.
 
I use one that is two... the Mission SP-2. A toe switch changes from Ext 1 to Ext 2. I Use the Ext 1 for Wah on auto-engage at 95% (I keep it toe down), the Ext 2 for volume (violin mostly) and whammy. The reason I went toe down on the wah is 1> It just feels better to be able to go heel completely down and not have it turn off, and 2> When I leave the volume in the full on (toe down) position to switch, which requires you go toe down and then a touch more, my wah is off at that setting.

Been working great for years. If you work it right, you can squeeze 4 into the space of 2. Or 6 into 3... you get the point.
 
I have 4, and there can never be too many. My biggest wish for the next Axe-FX is separate modifiers on the X/Y states of blocks to add even more expression pedal options within a single preset.

Mission SP-1: Wah/volume with toe switch toggle
Mission SP-1: Whammy, delay boost, sound-on-sound effect depending on preset and/or scene
Mission rotary knob: Tied to amplifier input trim for minor gain adjustments
Mission rotary knob: Tied to level of my reverb and delay blocks to adjust overall wetness for the particular gig volume
 
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