"Swiss army knife" means "versatile" ? If so, some good distortion with 2 or 3 useful mods on toggleswitches should be quite versatile.
DOD250, BD-2, heavily modded DS-1, all with extra possibilities, would all be fine. I also like a good modded Corduroy Fuzz with a toggle to cut the boost section, allowing it to become a beautiful plexi-style overdrive, also able to work as preamp (I found this mod on this forum). Modded Corduroy can do preamp, overdrive, distortion and fuzz, with amazing sounds.
"Swiss-army knife" means self-sufficient ? In the sense that you don't want to have 2 or 3 circuits to shape the sound ?
If so, a good distortion with a terrific 3 band EQ is the least you can do.
Angry Charles, Mostortion, Formula 5F6 are among the most pleasing distortions I ever tried.
An extra Tone-TwEQ board, 2-in-1 with order switch and all, allows any good circuit to widely expend its possibilities.
The Tone TWEQ is an active, true tone control or equalizer It is useful for both guitar and bass instruments Each band will boost or cut the signal
www.musikding.de
RotoTone is also a simple and effective tool to add some clever features on every circuits.
My ultimate and best suggestion would be an EQD Palisades clone, it's the best exemple I know of both versatility and self-sufficiency.
Ask any swiss survivalist. It's a Tube screamer with all the mods, no real Mids control, though.
Compare to EQD Palisades
www.pedalpcb.com
