An unpopular and questionably off-thread opinion:
One GOOD preamp.
One GOOD multi-fx unit
One midi controller
I dropped the huge peadlboard years ago. Here's why:
After chaining all of my fx together w/ true bypass and line boosters to negate the signal loss associated with the mess of connecting cable, I had a really good tone. Then I unplugged from the monster board and plugged straight into a GOOD amp to compare, and PRESTO! My tone was 20% better, fuller, more harmonic content, etc.
I sold or gave away every stompbox I had in about the two months that it took me to go with a better approach.
One can simply not retrive the loss associated with lots of cable and lots of interconnects.
So, the longest cable in my system that carries a signal is 12" long, and I have every effect that I need, and many I never use, and nothing is in the signal path unless I'm using it.
Food for thought?
Anyway, your mileage may vary, but I'll never go back to stompboxes. State-of-the art rack gear rules. :rock-on: