Pedalboards: your way

[hercules]

Hi folks, I am curious to know your approaches to pedalboards - particularly if they're really neat and tidy.

I am in the process of planning a 'mostly final' pedalboard, but I am curious to see what else is out there, and how you arrived at your current setup.

Pedaltrain has been the main base of mine for a while but (at least, the slightly older ones I have) I find just don't quite fit things the way I want - annoying gaps, not enough places for the pedals to stick, and not quite enough room for cables underneath. I can't afford a Schmidt Array board, but it doesn't seem like there are many options out there for two-level boards, power integration, etc...

Anyway - show me what you've got, and talk me through how you got there!

[Slowy]

‘Final’ pedalboard is not a concept I understand.
I have a couple of pedaltrains. I use Lava cable and good power supplies.
Beyond that, stuff gets stuck in the order I want.
Gaps, visible cables etc are irrelevant, it’s a tool, not an art work.

Well you did ask about our approaches!

[jeremyb]

My question is "What tones am I trying to recreate, and how can I jam as much stuff into the smallest place to achieve those tones."

As my tastes have changed (and my budget) the boards have changed, these days I want a board that can do everything from super clean to filthy walls of sound, the pedals reflect my main influences: John Mayer, John Frusciante, David Gilmour, and Matt Bellamy, but the sound that comes out is hopefully uniquely my own

Aesthetics are highly important to me, I want a really tidy board that I can setup and not have to touch, I switched from Pedaltrain to the Rockboard boards and they're a game changer, way easier to route cables!

I like having a modular patch bay on the back for outputs and inputs, power etc, Rockboard product again, and a single power supply that can power all the pedals (albeit some on daisy chains).

[Bg]

bish, bash, bosh. neat and does everything I need. sorted.

[captainfruitbat]

bish, bash, bosh. neat and does everything I need. sorted.

Ditto. I spent years going backwards and forwards between analogue pedalboards and various modellers. Bought the Helix 4 years ago and haven't looked back. All my pedals have gone now.

[Zaulkin]

I have been using a templeboard for a while now. If you want it to be OCD perfect it won't be cheap. Custom cables I made, specific connectors, mods... I have spent hours on this thing. Get crafty with other stuff you can make or buy to fill gaps. I made a couple of custom pedals and pickholders just to fit it. Some people might see it as a waste of time, and in some ways it is, but I do like being proud of a cool board I built.

I still have yet to rebuild my current FM3 board because I've changed it so many times... And yesterday I unexpectedly found a pedal I liked a lot. And it's going on. But here is my last iteration from a few years back with an AX8.

received_766478687183354.jpeg (245.32 KiB) Viewed 1422 times

[Zaulkin]

I should mention that I view my main board as a gigging board. I put on it what I need to sound great live and for the gig to go smoothly - I don't want to think about adjusting settings unless I have to. I want convenience for live stuff and minimal tap dancing.

At home, I use my board for recording, and have a few other sentimental pedals I can connect in the effects loop if I want. I can also add extra over the top stuff via plugins. I have different patches if I wanted to go in the front end of a tube amp and keep things minimal.

If I money was no object, I'd just have loads of different boards, but unfortunately it is. This system works for me!

[Zaulkin]

My question is "What tones am I trying to recreate, and how can I jam as much stuff into the smallest place to achieve those tones."

As my tastes have changed (and my budget) the boards have changed, these days I want a board that can do everything from super clean to filthy walls of sound, the pedals reflect my main influences: John Mayer, John Frusciante, David Gilmour, and Matt Bellamy, but the sound that comes out is hopefully uniquely my own

Aesthetics are highly important to me, I want a really tidy board that I can setup and not have to touch, I switched from Pedaltrain to the Rockboard boards and they're a game changer, way easier to route cables!

I like having a modular patch bay on the back for outputs and inputs, power etc, Rockboard product again, and a single power supply that can power all the pedals (albeit some on daisy chains).

Fuzzboy spotting!

[jeremyb]

My question is "What tones am I trying to recreate, and how can I jam as much stuff into the smallest place to achieve those tones."

As my tastes have changed (and my budget) the boards have changed, these days I want a board that can do everything from super clean to filthy walls of sound, the pedals reflect my main influences: John Mayer, John Frusciante, David Gilmour, and Matt Bellamy, but the sound that comes out is hopefully uniquely my own

Aesthetics are highly important to me, I want a really tidy board that I can setup and not have to touch, I switched from Pedaltrain to the Rockboard boards and they're a game changer, way easier to route cables!

I like having a modular patch bay on the back for outputs and inputs, power etc, Rockboard product again, and a single power supply that can power all the pedals (albeit some on daisy chains).

Fuzzboy spotting!

Its a killer pedal, love it for Jack White and Matt Bellamy velcro splatty fuzziness!

[Bg]

bish, bash, bosh. neat and does everything I need. sorted.

Ditto. I spent years going backwards and forwards between analogue pedalboards and various modellers. Bought the Helix 4 years ago and haven't looked back. All my pedals have gone now.

I have one pedal left and its a fuzziebro, just because sentimental value. Played most of my gigs with it, lent it out and got it back after 4 or 5 years. I used to send it xmas card emails.

Recently got a Wampler from somebody with a bad memory, looking forward to trying that out...

[JHorner]

Hi folks, I am curious to know your approaches to pedalboards

I gave up on getting lots of diff drive variations and modulation.

I just want 3 channels: Clean, Med Gain, High Gain with noise gate

With an always on clean boost at the end and an amp with a decent headroom clean channel.

Don't need an isolated power supply underneath.

No tap dancing.

Make my own patch cable to length. Don't care about cables tidied away underneath.

[Slowy]

My question is "What tones am I trying to recreate, and how can I jam as much stuff into the smallest place to achieve those tones."

As my tastes have changed (and my budget) the boards have changed, these days I want a board that can do everything from super clean to filthy walls of sound, the pedals reflect my main influences: John Mayer, John Frusciante, David Gilmour, and Matt Bellamy, but the sound that comes out is hopefully uniquely my own

Aesthetics are highly important to me, I want a really tidy board that I can setup and not have to touch, I switched from Pedaltrain to the Rockboard boards and they're a game changer, way easier to route cables!

I like having a modular patch bay on the back for outputs and inputs, power etc, Rockboard product again, and a single power supply that can power all the pedals (albeit some on daisy chains).

Jb, where did you get the ODR mini? I could be a starter for one of those.

[Slowy]

Recently got a Wampler from somebody with a bad memory, looking forward to trying that out...

Now that reminds me...
And it wasn't recent except in geological terms.

[Bg]

Recently got a Wampler from somebody with a bad memory, looking forward to trying that out...

Now that reminds me...
And it wasn't recent except in geological terms.

you only remembered it recently.... I relied on your memory.

sorry, what was the pedal?

[Slowy]

Recently got a Wampler from somebody with a bad memory, looking forward to trying that out...

Now that reminds me...
And it wasn't recent except in geological terms.

you only remembered it recently.... I relied on your memory.

sorry, what was the pedal?

It's the Tumnus Deluxe. Minty fresh in box with all the box candy.
See? My memory is reliable; I'm just very patient.