Building a Pedal Board

SkaKid0991 · #1 04-20-2005, 05:03 PM

I want to build a pedal board to save myself some money, seeing as how they can cost up to a couple hundred bucks.
I don't have it all planned out, but basically it is just going to be some sort of hard material (wood, metal, I don't know) with velcro on it. I want to have (I don't have much of this yet, but I'm saving up for it) some sort of wireless, tuner, effects processor, eq, and volume pedal on it.
My plan was just to attach a power strip to it, plug all this into it, and plug that into the wall. Is that a good idea, and is that all I need to do? or is there some other components (mainly for the box, but info on the pedals and stuff would be helpful) that I would need.
Some of the pictures I was looking at of other pedal boards, that you buy, made it seem more complicated than that.
Any insight on this topic would help me out a lot.
Thanks.

Gresh · #2 04-20-2005, 06:57 PM

Pedal boards are great, they really simplify things and allow you to leave everything set up and ready to go. Plus the constant plugging in and out and packing pedals in bags tends to wear your gear out so on a board it will likely last longer, less wear and tear.

Regarding materials, all you need is velcro, wood and some handles. Some folks bind the edges in aluminum for a more professional look, but that's up to you. Home Depot will cut whatever material you want to your dimensions, but I recommend getting something at least .5 inch thick, and use some time of hardward ply or masonite.

Regarding power, it sort of depends what you intend on running on this board and how many things you'll need to power up. Most pedals use wall warts for converting AC to DC and those tend to take up more space on the outlet strip, so say for a strip with 6 outlets, you might can only get 3 things powered off of it due to spacing of the outlets. Most folks use some sort of power supply like the Voodoo Lab pedal power. I have one and it powers eight devices plus one ac device. I highly recommend those but they cost a bit of jack.

Another issue is cables and their length, recommend George L's because you can cut any length you want without any soldering. Using them will really neaten up any pedal board. Neat wiring is happy wiring. And also try to separate your power from your signal cables to help keep noise down. This is nearly impossible unless you've got lots of capability to make custom power cables too.

I've make a few of these now and it's pretty fun trying to figure out the best layout and then building it. Have fun and experiment with different set ups.

SkaKid0991 · #3 04-20-2005, 08:19 PM

Thank you, but I'm still a little confused.
I don't want to have to pay for the Voodoo pedal power, so I'll have to look into that. On the issue of cables, i was planning on just connecting them with short little wires. Won't that work?
Also, you said separate your power from you signal cables, but does that really cause noise? I wouldn't think so as long as the wires are covered in rubber, which they are (but I'm just guessing).

ryanb · #4 04-20-2005, 08:42 PM

You can use regular wires to connect the pedals if you wish. The special pedal-coupler cables work well too(I really like the DiMarzio ones). The problem is that sometimes you need a longer cable than the couplers, but it is hard to find cables between 6 inches and 6 feet. Making custom length cables makes everything neater and cleaner ... you don't have all the extra cable laying around. And you don't really want any more cable than necessary, because it just creates more signal loss. And don't use cheap cables ... they will just add a lot of noise.

Running power and signal cables together can indeed create unwanted noise. Rubber coating makes no difference. The cable needs to have shielding to avoid noise. Even with shielded cables (most are shielded), it is possible to pickup electrical noise. The main idea is to avoid running signal and power cables in parallel, close together for any more distance than necessary. There is a limit to how much of this is practical though. Try to keep them as far apart as you can. If you aren't getting noise, don't worry about it. If you are getting a lot of noise, rearrange your cables and it will likely go away (or at least change).

SkaKid0991 · #5 04-20-2005, 09:44 PM

Thanks. I'll have to consider all these things when planning my board.

Gresh · #6 04-20-2005, 09:45 PM

Thanks for clarifying for me Ryanb. These sorts of issues are hit and miss. I had a horribly noisey board for a while before switching to George L's and some reliable isolated power supplies. Dead quiet now. I've got a good chunck of change invested in mine however, best advice is don't dump a lot trying to fix problems you don't have. but when you do get them, it's helpful to know what some possible solutions look like.

Gex · #7 04-20-2005, 10:47 PM

Do a google search for "Godlyke Power All" for your pedal-power needs. Works like a charm.

**elcid** · #8 04-20-2005, 10:58 PM

I built my own pedalboard, It turned out pretty nice but I accidentally made it too big
It only took a few hours to make

http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group...c=gr%26.view=t

hopefully that link will work and you can see how it came out

it's 4'X2' the pedal power sits flush with the top and the cables are George Ls
running underneath the board, If you are interested in more pics I will try to take some soon

SkaKid0991 · #9 04-20-2005, 11:24 PM

Hey everyone, thanks for your help.
On the topic of wires, i actually did find some 1' and 3' cables if anyone is interested. Not sure how good they work, but I came across 'em and thought I'd share them with you guys.
They are called Live Wire Advantage Series Instrument Cables.
Seems like they'd be good to connect pedals from across the board, rather than having to put them together with the small pedel-coupler cables.
I dunno.

bduersch · #10 04-21-2005, 12:40 AM

Check out my former pedalboard...

I went to Home Depot and bought a 4' x 1' shelf (basically a finished piece of 1/2" thick particle board), then covered it with extra strength velcro. While some people like bolting their pedals onto the pedalboard, I like the flexibility of velcro.

As you can see I've got a basic power strip velcroed to the side, and (in the bottom outlet) I'm using a Godlyke Power-all to power a couple of the Nobels switching boxes.

For transport, I bought a small soft-sided keyboard case. The whole pedalboard drops into the keyboard case and I'm ready to go.

For reference, here's another version of it...

On that one I was using the VHT Valvulator to provide power to all the pedals.

Nice thing about this setup is that it's durable, flexible, and extremely cheap. I probably spent $5 for the board, $10 for the velcro, and $30 for the keyboard case. Add another $10 for a power strip or $35 for the Godlyke Power-all, and you've got a great setup for well under $100. Compared to some of the other options out there... I owned an SKB pedalboard that was $125 used. It wasn't that big or sturdy, and the power supply made all my pedals buzz. For less $, I "rolled my own", got something bigger, sturdier, and far more quiet.

I'm not using this pedalboard any more, though... I've gone to a rack setup and have mounted all my pedals in a rack and use an Axess GRX4 to switch them (and a Godlyke Power-all to supply the juice). Now I've only got 2 pedals on the floor... a Rocktron MIDIMate (which is phantom powered) and an Ibanez Weeping Demon wah and everything else is tucked away inside the rack.

--B

ScottB · #11 05-06-2005, 02:17 AM

I've got 2 pedal boards, 1 with my main performing rig, and I'm in the process of finishing a smaller one with just a BH-1, Whammy 4, DS-1, EVH Phase 90 and an AD-9.

FYI, I foolishly took the advice of a snot-nosed, pedal-pushing currency seperator at G.C. and bought a 1 Spot power supply from Visual Sound. Stay clear of this $20 p.o.s.! First of all, it doesn't come with the daisy chain cable - that'll cost another $15. Second, and the reason for my negative review, the thing hums and buzzes louder than all of Steve Vai's bees put together.

I've tried everything I know to get rid of the buzzing. Forget about the Whammy, it's on it's own power supply. I've got the BH-1 20 inches away from the 1 spot. When any of these pedals are in my main board, (powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 1) there's no added buzz. When I was setting up the signal chain and using just batteries the sound was perfect.

I think the Godlyke is gonna be my next choice. Does anyone else besides Brent have experience with these?

bpd111 · #12 05-06-2005, 05:22 AM

First, after spending too much on everything, I built my pedal board on the cheap. A sheet of pegboard cut to size, a bunch of wire ties, and two one spots. Put it together and I'm done.

It is only temporary. I didn't want to sink a bunch more cash on a decent rig then just change my mind. But it works for now.

As for the one post sucking, I can say I have two and don't have a noise problem with them. I do have noise, but it's worst on my lead channel with the Boss compressor turned on. The one spot comes in two varieties (I'm aware of) the $20 version (now $25) without the daisy chain and the $30 version with it (and several other adapters).

jimmyfingersminion · #13 05-06-2005, 06:33 AM

i went with a custom built flight case and a dunlop power brick for power. i hand made all my patch cabels and also rewired an ART A/B switcher to take power from the brick. It cost quite alot all in all (£200 plus the price of all my pedals) but its a gig worthy monster that will never break on me, i love it.