ya thanks for the hints, im thinking of trying to write some scripts to make some tools more context sensitivity, apparently modo supports python scripting which i got some basic knowledge off. right now im working on a script to combine all the edge loop tools.
You should take a look at making custom pie menus as well. They make it easy to get 8 tools onto one button press + a mouse gesture. Combine them with a context sensitive hotkey and/or script and you get a whole lot more. They're not great for things you use really often like changing selection modes, but they sure can…
There are a few scripts floating about for partial selections. There's also the command: select.between which can select the elements between two selected elements. You can set up a hotkey for it in the Input Editor. EDIT: I like using: select.more and select.less I think these are set to the up and down arrow keys by…