I haven't done an open mic since I was a jazz snob in the 90's. But even then, there was always a "house" band providing backline equipment. Anything that took more than a few seconds to swap out was generally frowned upon. People would bring their own brass instruments, drumsticks, guitars - and maybe a bass drum pedal or snare drum.
Perhaps in my mind it's about my performance level. The talent ranges from beginner to late intermediate. My hope is to put in enough practice so that in about 2 years time I'll be well into the late intermediate stage. With that is the acceptance and recognition that goes along with one's chops being up to snuff to get the gig and be asked back to sit in again.
Yeah, there's a small amount of "hubris" that goes with being able to play well. Up to this point, I've personally not put in enough practice time to say any of that, but it makes sense that now I've got a targeted lesson plan, with specific goals as a rhythm and lead guitarist, this will be possible in the next year or so.
TBH, the open-mic is often a springboard for emerging talent at local folk or bluesfests. My goal is to improve my jazz chording and rhythm, and later connect the dots with improved lead lines. While my goal is not to tour the local jazz scene, it might be enjoyable to play at a semi-pro level at open-mics and sit in with the house bands there just to be known among local guitarists as a decent player.
My advice is to showcase your playing above all else. Find a way to make a sound with whatever you are plugging into, and then just go with it. Become comfortable using more or less gain than you normally would prefer. More or less reverb. Etc.
It's important that you don't get a reputation as being the fussy one that twiddled his knobs the whole set and struggled to find it. Be the one that goes with the flow, and delivers a good performance every time. Be easy to work with, and be a good hang.
So my advice for FM9 is setup is to be prepared with a variety of presets for different setups. Maybe a few kitchen-sink patches with amps/cabs/effects ready to go straight into the PA. And a couple that are effects-only should you be asked to plug in to the front of a guitar amp.
Setup multiple options for your overdrive sounds, since every amp will react to them differently. Not every drive pedal sounds great in front of every amp. And if there's another guitarist on stage at the same time, you might want to make sure you don't sound too similar.
I'd personally skip the scene assignments and controllers, and turn individual effects on/off like a regular pedalboard. Unless of course, you know in advance exactly what songs and sounds you need to group together. Before you know it, you'll be the 'house' guitarist making everyone play through your presets, and everyone will sound better for it.
