School Me On Pedal Boards/ Cases (i.e. the Board itself, not the contents!)

RocknRollDave

So,
I have one of the Behringer plastic pedal board/ cases - like the Boss one but houses two rows of pedals, so quite large.

I have had to bodge it over the years, drilling holes in it for cable ties, gaffa taping it shut at the end of a gig as the clasps have long since broken, etc.

I want something that looks smart and professional, is compact (maybe two tiers?) but that is rugged enough for me to gig regularly without having to continually repair the fixings.

I'm looking at Pedal Train and I don't get it...just a lot of money for a metal frame (wouldn't it be far cheaper to just make the same thing myself out of wood and add velcro?)

Must accomodate a Crybaby Wah and something like 9 or 10 other pedals of varying dimensions - Boss, Behringer, Danelectro Coolcat etc.
I could live with shedding some excess fat in the pedal department if the perfect board was out there but didn't accomodate the full arsenal, as there are a couple I very rarely use.

What is out there that fits the bill? I'm Googling it and getting all kinds of stuff and starting to not see the wood for the trees, so I'm looking for recommendations.

Thanks.

guitarfishbay

Pedal trains will last, they're expensive for what they are but they do what they say on the tin and you're not likely to have any issues.

Note that they are at an angle and some people dislike this when it comes to wah/volume pedals.

This site can help you see if your stuff should fit http://pedalboardplanner.com/

Grumpyrocker

I have one of those huge Behringer cases too. Waste of space for me as I only need room for about six pedals. Be interesting to see some of the responses to this thread. I'm amazed at the prices of bare pedal boards - anyone would think they had "wedding" or "funeral" attached to them given the price compared to what they actually are.

RocknRollDave

guitarfishbay said:

Pedal trains will last, they're expensive for what they are but they do what they say on the tin and you're not likely to have any issues.

Note that they are at an angle and some people dislike this when it comes to wah/volume pedals.

This site can help you see if your stuff should fit http://pedalboardplanner.com/

Lovely, thanks for your help!

MattBanshee

There's plenty of cheap Pedaltrain clones on Amazon/eBay now. 

Personally, I highly recommend Diago boards. You can usually get a great price on used ones, I'm on my third now (from upsizing/downsizing) and they are utterly indestructible.

Winny_Pooh

Pedaltrain are popular as they work and the bags are great. DIY is ok as long as you do not intend to take it out of the house, if you do you will struggle to find a bag that fits properly.

JayGee

Winny_Pooh said:

Pedaltrain are popular as they work and the bags are great. DIY is ok as long as you do not intend to take it out of the house, if you do you will struggle to find a bag that fits properly.

Not necessarily a deal breaker, if you do want a nice fitted flight case or soft bag apply a little lateral thinking, look out for a nice cheap bag or flight case on eBay (or whatever) of roughly the right proportions, and then build your DIY board to fit it.

I actually did a similar thing when I built a amp from an Ampmaker kit a while back, i.e. bought a dead combo with the right look about it and then made[1] up a chassis to fit!

[1] To be fair I made up a cardboard mock-up and then passed it along with a sheet of aluminum to my father-in-law who happened to have a suitably sized folding gubbins in the shed...

Teetonetal

Warwick rockboard.  Same as pedaltrain but way cheaper. I got the studio model with hardcase for about 80gbo (pt 2 size)

EricTheWeary

I've got a Pedaltrain and without pedals it is lovely and light, a DIY wooden one might be a back breaker once it's loaded. 
The Palmer pedalbays get a lot of love, more adjustable but similar to a PT. They were much cheaper pre Brexit referendum though. 
My problem with the PT style ones is that they don't accommodate micro pedals well, too much air underneath. Although you can push most of your cables out if the way so it's swings and the other things.
Yes, once you start looking at decent bags/ cases then the DIY options aren't necessarily that cheap. 
If you don't get something with tiers you can buy or make pedal risers. The angle on the PT type ones means having a tier is less of an issue.

steer

I have a Palmer Pedalbay that comes in a soft case. Thomann sell them. Works well for me. Its a bit cheaper than a pedaltrain, but does the same thing. 

Alternatively you could go for something a bit different and try a Holeyboard:
http://www.chemistrydesignwerks.com/holeyboards.html

vasselmeyer

Have a look at @CustomPedalBoards stuff. Chris built a fantastic board for me that is virtually bomb-proof http://www.custompedalboards.co.uk/

kjdowd

MattBanshee said:

There's plenty of cheap Pedaltrain clones on Amazon/eBay now. 

Personally, I highly recommend Diago boards. You can usually get a great price on used ones, I'm on my third now (from upsizing/downsizing) and they are utterly indestructible.

Seconded. I use one for my ax8 and it's great. In fact, if you're interested @RocknRollDave I have a mid sized and a large diago board that I'm not using. PM me if interested. 

Beexter

I used to think the same as the OP and over the years spent many hours cutting out and painting/ staining different bits of plywood to make my perfect board. Until I had to make another one, and another etc.  Eventually bit the bullet and bought a pedaltrain and haven't looked back. Whether you go pedaltrain or another variant, powder coated aluminium is the way to go.

The weight saving alone compared to a slab of plywood is worth the price of admission in my book. Buy one used and save yourself a few quid - then they seem very good value. I agree that new, they are a bit pricey. 

garfy

vasselmeyer said:

Have a look at @CustomPedalBoards stuff. Chris built a fantastic board for me that is virtually bomb-proof http://www.custompedalboards.co.uk/

+1 Top bloke and he's stuff is the muts nuts! 

CustomPedalBoards

garfy said:

vasselmeyer said:

Have a look at @CustomPedalBoards stuff. Chris built a fantastic board for me that is virtually bomb-proof http://www.custompedalboards.co.uk/

+1 Top bloke and he's stuff is the muts nuts! 

Cheers Mateys!
we always endeavour to do our best.
our stuff might be a bit to heavy duty but hey u never know!

top tip - small and light as possible is the way to go, depends on your needs but be ruthless with your pedals and trim out unnecessary baggage. you might not need a heavy duty flight case etc, and a removable board and soft case will do the job for you perfectly fine, depends on the gigs really and the set up u want. we do try and cover most needs. so have a good look round custom pedal board site.
or 2nd hand might also be another way to go.

clarkefan

I got 10 pedals on a Pedaltrain Jr, wah on the floor, but it was too much stuff and the soft case wasn't big enough for the wah as well.

I went back to a Boss BCB60 case and just the pedals I need. There's a lot of room in there, takes the wah, and it's light and tough.