ATXcoder

So I've been playing around with the Guitar Rig demo a lot as a possible replacement for my now defunct multi-effects pedal. I don't really have the money to drop on both the software and the pedal that controls the software so I thought I would try and build one as I have built smaller pedals and other devices with my Netduino. Plus I want to custom design and build it to the way I want it to look and function.
Now that little bit of history is out of the way , lets get down to the question at hand. I'm looking to hook up 9 buttons (well 8 SPST foot switches and a potentiometer). I would like to hook these up to my Netduino, but at the same time use as few pins as possible so that I can later add on to the switch if I want to (like add a LCD or some more buttons). Research I have done so far has pointed to either a resistor ladder or a shift-register. After running all over the internet I thought I would drop by here to see how others have solved this situation. Open to any and all suggestions. Any information you can provide would be much appreciated (also a big fan of Fritzing breadboard and schematics, love that application).

Thanks again, and looking forward to what you guys (and gals) come up with.</i>