the answers
Dan, firstly I hope you are making a speedy recovery? Assuming you have latent injuries going forward, I think a total gigging rig rethink is sensible. If you can, obviously keep what you have because it’ll inspire you and if you recover you can go back to it.
01 Is it possible to have a small rig and sound massive? This really is down to your amplifier and cab choice, but I believe so. A lot of the smaller lunchbox heads offer loads of output. The Victory V30 MKII springs to mind as a 40-watt twochannel amplifier (clean and dirty) in a tiny package. If you couple this with a compact 1x12 ported cab with a lightweight neodymium speaker, you can achieve a much larger sound than its diminutive size would suggest. Another option would be the tiny 1x10 from Barefaced Audio that can handle up to 60 watts and spreads sound like a closed-back 4x12.
02 A small and light pedalboard can indeed be versatile, but you have to design it to meet that brief. If I limit the pedalboard to five pedals that fit on a tiny Pedaltrain, I think that what you can achieve will surprise you. Starting with
the drive section, choose one fuzz and one low- to mid-gain overdrive. These should obviously meet your needs and match your amp. If possible, choose fuzz and overdrives that are as versatile as possible. Something like the ThorpyFX Peacekeeper overdrive is ideal, with the Function F(x) Clusterfuzz Jr on fuzz duties. If you need a wah pedal, then the Dunlop Mini Cry Baby is perfect with its tiny enclosure.
03 Do you have to move to a full modelling rig? I’d say not, but for the last two pedals I’d suggest a multi-effects unit such as the Eventide H9 or the Line 6 HX Stomp. In isolation, these pedals offer a lot of bang in a very small package… but if you couple them with a programmable MIDI switcher such as the Morningstar MC6 or the RJM Mastermind PBC/6X then it makes them infinitely more useful. Indeed, this pedalboard will surprise you with how much ground it can cover.
As you can tell, this rig will be tiny but it will also sound massive. Not a bad compromise at all and at least until you recover it will allow you to still enjoy gigging live. Come back to me when you want to rebuild the spaceship… I have loads of ideas I could share.