Electro Harmonix Switchblade Pro DLX Switcher

I originally wanted to get a Boss LS-2 but it unfortunately cannot have its two loops in series, only parallel routing is possible. This Electro-harmonix Switchblade Pro can do both with the series/parallel switch. This also has the additional dry level knob that the LS-2 doesn't.

My Switchblade Pro is on a board that I use with both guitar and bass. I have it set up with my drive and distortion pedals in loop A and my modulation (chorus, flanger, phaser ect) pedals in loop B. Here are some of the ways I use this

- Use the dry level knob to blend in the dry signal when I'm using my distortion/fuzz pedals on bass to retain the low-end on distorted bass tones.
- Use the A/B footswitch with the A+B footswitch off to instantly switch between two sounds : a distorted sound and a "clean" sound with modulation.
- Use the A/B footswitch in series mode to easily change the order of effects. This way, I can have my modulation effects either before or after distortion.

These are just some of the ways you could use this pedal. There's so much more you can do with it. If you don't have the space or the money for large switchers like the Boss ES-8, something like this can simplify turning multiple effects on or off at the same time and opens up new sound possibilities.

The Switchblade Pro gives you a lot of functions - from swapping your pedal order, to blending two parallel pedals, mixing three instruments together or spliting a guitar output into 2 amps... plus more! It is a mono device (a stereo version would be nice to see), but this is not an issue for me as I currently use it to run a fuzz and overdrive in parallel for a very sophisticated blend. But at the flick of a switch I can pop them in series either fuzz into overdrive or vice-versa. Nice!
It's not too huge for your pedal board real estate either - and if space is really a problem you can go for one of it's baby brothers, but you sacrifice the blend controls.
Quality is up there, with soft clickless switching, smooth pots and a nice positive feeling switch. It has a strong roadworthy metal case. Power is 9v via a socket on the back (center negative) but it doesn't need much juice as your only powering a tiny amp and leds. It is noiseless and preserves your tone and goes true bypass when disengaged.
Other alternatives are either too big or overcomplicated. This is simple to use - a quick glance at the included manual is all you need and once wired in you will have no issues. Worth mentioning is that several dB of gain is available on the knobs past 12 noon, so you can kick in your pedals and get an additionalclean gain/boost :)
A 10/10 must have on your pedal board.