Behold my massive board of pedals

meltedbuzzbox · July 2016

frank1985 said:

https://s31.postimg.org/nrit97arf/image.jpg

could do with a tidy up!

and a bigger board

dindude · July 2016

Im pleased to announce that the only thing that has changed in 6 months is that my off-board fuzz has shrank, made it to the main board, and kicked of my trem pedal in doing so.

love this board, the back row of drive pedals and tuner is controlled by the flip-flopping Quartermaster, the input of which is fed with the gorgeous Swirl and the output feeds into the Delay. Nice and simple.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n505/dindude/image_zpskdnlhkpb.jpeg

BintyTwanger77 · July 2016

Now all neatly arranged on a PT Classic Jr. May need a tap tempo switch for the Timeline, if anyone can recommend one:

https://imgur.com/a/KeFlm

therose789 · July 2016

EricTheWeary said:

I'd guess channel switching ( if only cause my BO pedal looks like that and does that).

JCA2550 said:

therose789 said:

Latest Version

What is the Bright Onion pedal (bottom left) doing?

It's a favourite switch for the el cap. Love bright onion stuff, I have one of his patch boxes underneath the board too.

thomasross20 · July 2016

First, my old pedal board...
I almost regret "upgrading".... seriously.
I bought this for £100 and it was VERY easy to use. Integrated supply which has never let me down.
Long supply lead. All the patch cables came with it. Foam inserts to mould as required.
Just easy! And it's rock solid, and very portable.

Image: https://tommysixstring.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/img_20160718_220527.jpg?w=656

Image: https://tommysixstring.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/img_20160718_220537.jpg?w=656

Image: https://tommysixstring.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/img_20160718_220559.jpg?w=656

thomasross20 · July 2016

I "upgraded" to a Pedal Train Classic 2. I might put this in the Reviews section, if applicable.

I bought a Voodoo Labs PP2+ to go with it. Had to buy the mounting kit separately.

I read horror stories about the screws that came with the mounting kit, that the heads snap off easily, leaving you with a bit of metal stuck in a hole and no way to get it out...

Cue one Saturday, me trying to find the right type of "self-tapping" screw... spent about half the day, closest I got was Screwfix and they wanted £14 for 1000 or something, and it wasn't even the right size. To top it all off, I got locked in the car park by some gigantic steel shutter (luckily got out). In the end I stuck with the stock screws and things were ok.

Unlike the Boss BCB60, this involved a lot more work and cost.
Firstly, having to buy the dedicated supply (Pedal Power 2+). Then the mounting kit.
Then I had to drill holes, which took forever (and I snapped a drill bit) in the metal in order to fit the mounting kit.
FYI I heard there can be noise issues if a wah is placed over the supply, so my supply is at the top-left of the board, not centre.

Then I realised, unlike the Boss board, I had to buy my own patch cables! I got some nice Van Damme ones, 5" and 6". I have some spares. (I don't think there are enough spare power connector leads which came with the PP2+, though..).

Note the pedal placement below. FX loop pedals are at the top (chorus, delay, boost). I've made inefficient use of space on the right with tuner and wah being pretty central.

I don't think I've left enough room in the bottom left to put in an amp channel-changer footswitch.

One solution I've though of is to move the tuner to the top-right and the EP boost to the bottom right. I can then move the Riot (purple) to the right, freeing up some space. Bit of a hassle as I just tidied up all the power leads in the bottom.

I don't have a patch cable long enough to connect from the bottom-left of the board to the (green) chorus pedal [note to self - need approx 22" cable - measure!], if the intention is to have one straight chain (into the front of an amp, no FX loop). I believe I can temporarily use a guitar cable.

TIP: I tried to keep the pedals fairly close but that's a pain when you want to connect and disconnect patch cables as you don't have a lot of room - so leave a bit of room (or stagger them so the connectors aren't in line)!

I realised a bit late that I never got an S-type connector for the wah to EP Boost connection. Instead, I've twisted one of the 6" connectors. I've put it UNDER the wah power connector. If above, there was the danger of my foot pressing down on the cable, putting pressure on the wah power connector. This isn't ideal (it's fairly tight between the board and the power connector.... and it's clearly twisted)... I was tempted to buy a few S-connectors... but I've spent enough!! Thoughts?

Image: https://tommysixstring.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/img_20160719_004731.jpg?w=656

I took the rubber feet off everything except the wah. Wiring everything up and keeping it tidy took a little thought. I grouped what leads I could with the supplied cable ties and attached them to the board with the velcro tape. Hopefully that will last. I think the Boss wins here as the (daisy chain) supply leads are very cleverly tucked away in a routing compartment. These feel "bare" to me.

I managed to get a nice Mono case for this off eBay:

Something else I never considered. I was going to simply pop my distortion pedal for home use rather than having to dig the whole FX board out (ugh!). However that's not so easy with the velcro attachment - you really don't want to be ripping it off all the time. Same for an amp channel changer footswitch... so I need to come up with a strategy. Maybe just buy a big bloody house so I have the room to have an FX board out all the time...!

thomasross20 · July 2016

Initial thoughts. Looks good. Nice case. Also looks a bit empty in that bottom-left and on the right-hand side.

Wondering if I've spent a lot on something too big for my needs (you can practically remove the chorus and delay considering how often I use them).

The Boss BCB60 really is an elegant solution. Almost ready-to-use out of the box, integrated supply, nice cable tidy which is hidden away, only £100, pop off and on the lid and you're done. I really admire the elegance of that board now! I'm doing my Scottish bit here, regretting spending money... on anything...

Will stick with it now and see how it goes. Might very well put both the tuner and EP Boost on the R.H.S. ( GUITAR -> TUNER -> EP BOOST -> WAH.... sound ok?) in order to free up space for possible amp footswitch on the bottom-left. But if I'm going to have more than one amp (possibility!) that may not be the most practical thing. I couldn't imagine having an amp footswitch to the side of this though.... in addition to the pedalboard.... does anybody do that??

It's going to be weird having two layers (top and bottom) of pedals as opposed to just one row.

handsomerik · July 2016

Did you just put tiny bits of Velcro where you needed them? (I can't see any Velcro). The intended use is to cover the entire slats in the long strips of Velcro so that you can do what you wanted and add a pedal in whenever or rejig things about. If you look at the other pedalboard pics on here you'll see what I mean. :-)

EricTheWeary · July 2016

handsomerik said:

Did you just put tiny bits of Velcro where you needed them? (I can't see any Velcro). The intended use is to cover the entire slats in the long strips of Velcro so that you can do what you wanted and add a pedal in whenever or rejig things about. If you look at the other pedalboard pics on here you'll see what I mean. :-)

I covered the slats on my Jr but didn't do the edge bits so when I got more stuff on there I ended up with tiny bits of Velcro on the edges so I could cover everything

My patch leads also tend to be underneath the slats were possible, although my board is a bit of a higgle piggle of pedals of different makes and sizes so that's a variable thing.
If that patch lead is under the wah and under the slat Thomas would be having to put a huge amount of weight on it to squash the patch lead.My Van Dammes have survived years of abuse so far so the odd bit of twisting shouldn't be an issue.
But, yes, not covering all the slats is different to how most people would do it.

thomasross20 · July 2016

I get you guys... I thought I'd save a bit of velcro lol...

Teetonetal · July 2016

thomasross20 said:

I get you guys... I thought I'd save a bit of velcro lol...

Never scimp on Velcro - it's a very cheap part of the rig and pedals falling off is a right PITA

EricTheWeary · July 2016

http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/y513/phlplls/Mobile Uploads/2016-07/879EFD70-ECE4-4882-A589-EE068D94E3D3_zps8rkml8lz.jpg

EricTheWeary · July 2016

That's just off google images. That's pretty much what Pedaltrains suggest and how I did mine. However, if you run the Velcro right to the ends you can get pedals right up to the edge of the board ( if need be). If you move your pedals about a bit it will be easier than just having patches underneath your pedals. I find it slightly odd with Pedaltrain that you have to put your own Velcro on at all, I don't think you see that with any other make.

thomasross20 · July 2016

Note they don't do the holes at the back anymore. I think this is so you can put the supply anywhere.

Hmm damn, maybe I should have put the whole strips down. Where do you buy more of this magic velcro?

dindude · July 2016

thomasross20 said:

Note they don't do the holes at the back anymore. I think this is so you can put the supply anywhere.

Hmm damn, maybe I should have put the whole strips down. Where do you buy more of this magic velcro?

I have LOADS of genuine Velcro brand hook and loop (50mm wide) from my Smorg days. PM if you like and I can do you some at a very decent price.............

thomasross20 · July 2016

Thanks! I still have half a roll left so I'll think on it.

Have to admit I think I prefer not putting it right across each slat. I like the sleek look of the bare metal. Saying that, looking at mine.. it does look a little funny in that there are little bits of velcro popping out here and there.

Good tip about putting pedals right to the edge...