I'll add one thing here that no one has mentioned:
Pedals are fun. And so are modeling amps.
Pedals can make practice more fun than just repetition (which needs repetition).
Modeling amps can be like exploring Diagon Alley. If I'm working on something
that needs to be repeated a lot, sometimes having a pedal to stomp makes the
time fly by. ...hmmm, let's try it again, but with a bit more overdrive...
hmm... let's try it again, but with preset number six...
That's what I think. For performance, I use f/x, but sparingly.
Like makeup on a lovely lady, less is best IMHO. Just a touch can make things
a little more interesting.
That's my humble opinion. For performance, most audience members won't know
if you're using f/x or not. Unless you overdo it, and then they'll say your music
sounds like mush. IMHO, most audience members don't know the difference between
a guitar and a bass. And they don't care. They are getting stoned, and getting laid.
If they're lucky. If they're not lucky, they're getting

faced.
So all this is for us "experts" to figure out, and to present in the best way possible.
That's how we get the gig, and that's how we get invited back. IMHO. Therefore...
it's a good discussion to have. A closed mind is nothing to be proud of...
It's actually a crippling handicap for a musician IMHO. Unless you just want to
sound like the same ol' same old... all the time.
But if you're having fun with your music,
the audience gets this in a big way.
And they have fun too. They need this, badly. That's why they pay to get in.
Most people lead lives of quiet desparation, and they come to hear music in hopes
of getting out of that temporarily.
It's our sacred duty to help them do so.
If we do it well, we might get paid.
So IMHO (as always)... anything, almost anything that we can use to provide some
...excitement? amusement? entertainment? depth? soul? art? ...or just simple fun
for the audience is going to be important. Some performers do it with costumes,
or dance moves, or comedy routines in between songs, some of us do it with
full tilt boogie that won't stop, or crisp solos, or killer rhythms... whatever it takes
is what we should be using.
Pedals are just one more arrow in your quiver, IMHO.