I play semi-professionally in bands on bass; guitar players, IME, are currently favoring pedals grouped together on a board of some kind, transported in a case.

I play semi-professionally in bands on bass; guitar players, IME, are currently favoring pedals grouped together on a board of some kind, transported in a case. As a guitar player, and a lot of folks feel similarly, I feel that a good tube amp and a couple of relatively simple pedals is the best package all around, from reliability to portability to sound quality. There are many possible options (the best alternative I have heard is digital processor that emulates amplifiers), and there are lot of options on the phone. However, even the best of these phone or mobile options is less rugged and not as good sounding as the other possibilities, so people generally stick with known quantities.