I think Surgeon's sound comes down to Surgeon's brain... which I don't have. Haha. Same with Richie Hawtin. Those guys can make incredible music with incredibly minimal setups. I have to supplement my dull-witted brain with extra knobs and utilities.
Everyone will do this differently. I don't take any of the advice given as gospel, so I try something and if it doesn't work for me, I search for what will help me solve the problem and move on to that. My rack, and MylarMelodies' rack, and Surgeon's rack are wrong for YOU. So, at some point you just have to dive in and try your ideas. Don't expect them to work every time. You may find at some point that a Behringer 303 and 909 is all you really need to make amazing live techno, and modular just gets in the way. Or you may find that you don't need VCAs or LFOs for your approach. Only one way to find out! :)