If you had to choose a very basic pedal set up,

robgilmo

Without naming brand names, just type, what would it be?

LionAquaLooper

EQ, OD, Reverb.
That's my meat and potatoes setup.

DoctorX

Fuzz

slacker

Two channel overdrive and a reverb with a delay function and or modulation. That covers a lot of ground  in two pedals.

I do have a number of these types of pedals but no brands.

Fishboy7

Compressor > Overdrive/Boost > Reverb (or a delay if amp has 'verb)  

ICBM

A multi-FX with three main footswitches, a volume/wah pedal and all the controls being knobs.

TimmyO

Basic: Wah, Tuner, Drive, Chorus or Phaser or Trem, Delay.

Very basic: Tuner, Drive, Delay 

chromatuna

drive > trem > delay

monquixote

Minimum I've gigged with is just a drive.

Going up from that in order I'd add

Another drive

A delay

Phaser or Chorus

Wah

blobb

ICBM said:

A multi-FX with three main footswitches, a volume/wah pedal and all the controls being knobs.

You would have thought a big company like, say, Boss would release a unit like that?

Me, basic set up, I'd probably just do without any pedals and go direct. I could happily live without the amp to be honest.

LionAquaLooper

ICBM said:

A multi-FX with three main footswitches, a volume/wah pedal and all the controls being knobs.

So the Zoom G3X then
I've still got one and still one of my favourites

Roland

Tuner and Overdrive will get you through most gigs. Next level up adds Chorus and Delay. 

prowla

A Boss overdrive, a Cry Baby, and a tuner. 

OK, I mentioned brands!

EricTheWeary

I think my best gigging sound was probably guitar, amp, tuner and tremolo pedal (for one song). 

I love delay, I am more interested in delay pedals than other pedals. Or guitars. Yet they are not essential to almost anything I’ve ever played. So an analogue delay pedal please! 

richman6100

Tuner, versatile overdrive, fuzz face, compressor, modulation of choice (or a multi-modulation pedal). Plus a delay, or combined delay/reverb if the amp lacked reverb. I guess that's not really basic. Plus I'd want to add EQ, and a wah. I'm crap at basic.

Kurtis

Dirt and del/mod

That's what I'm using anyway. 

guitargeek62

Tuner and a distortion, maybe a reverb too if the amp doesn’t already have one

Musical_Mystery_Tour

Overdrive, Compressor, Reverb/Delay, EQ. To make things even more basic, I'd make some of those be some of those inexpensive twin effect pedals, for example the Donner Water Echo.

Dan_Halen

Tuner, a couple of drives that play nice together, delay and reverb. Depending on the amp reverb might not be needed so would swap that for a compressor. Wah is for weirdos.

Keefy

Drive
Delay
Tuner (or could use a clip-on)

Grampa

Compressor
Overdrive
Reverb