Pedal Boards - Buy one or Build My Own?

[jabps]

Here's a pic of my board, Bob. Look under the Xotic BB Midboost (silver pedal at front left) and the power supply (black box at front right, under the white TC Polytune). You can see there is only a small piece of Dual Lock at each corner. It is so strong, I can lift the entire board off the ground by grabbing onto either of these pieces!

Same with the two silver, double-wide Diamond pedals (and black interface boxes under them) in this photo:

P.S. This board was made by forum member Casey Hanson (user name "Fallout-Labs"). It is not a DIY project!

Hey rlord...sorry to get off topic but what is the signal chain of your board?

 

[rlord1974]

Hey rlord...sorry to get off topic but what is the signal chain of your board?

This is how the board is currently configured. The earlier pics were how the board was originally wired, but I had Casey make some tweaks a few months ago. The below photo is up-to-date.....

GUITAR --> TC Polytune (sits on top of a Voodoo Lab ISO-5 power supply) --> Fallout-Labs 18v Stevia Buffer (black box under the Diamond Tremolo) --> Xotic BB Preamp w/Midboost --> CAE MC404 Wah --> Fallout-Labs Interface Box (black box under Diamond Memory Lane Jr.) --> AMP INPUT

AMP FX SEND --> Fallout-Labs Interface Box (black box under Diamond Memory Lane Jr.) --> Mr. Black Tunnelworm Flanger --> Diamond Tremolo --> Diamond Memory Lane Jr. --> Mr. Black Eterna Reverb --> Fallout-Labs Interface Box (black box under Diamond Memory Lane Jr.) --> AMP FX RETURN

 

[Bob Savage]

GUITAR --> TC Polytune (sits on top of a Voodoo Lab ISO-5 power supply) --> Fallout-Labs 18v Stevia Buffer (black box under the Diamond Tremolo) --> Xotic BB Preamp w/Midboost --> CAE MC404 Wah --> Fallout-Labs Interface Box (black box under Diamond Memory Lane Jr.) --> AMP INPUT

AMP FX SEND --> Fallout-Labs Interface Box (black box under Diamond Memory Lane Jr.) --> Mr. Black Tunnelworm Flanger --> Diamond Tremolo --> Diamond Memory Lane Jr. --> Mr. Black Eterna Reverb --> Fallout-Labs Interface Box (black box under Diamond Memory Lane Jr.) --> AMP FX RETURN

I've never been a big chain pedal guy... what are all the black boxes for? Is it not possible to stick a 3-4 pedals in a row and expect that bad things aren't going to happen?

 

[rlord1974]

No big mystery or secrets here.

I bought two black Hammond enclosures that are the same size as the double-wide Diamond pedals. That way, I could use them as risers to boost the Diamond pedals in the back row to an easily accessible height.

I had Casey make me an 18 volt, high headroom buffer that is housed in one of the black boxes (the one under the Tremolo). It comes right after the tuner in my pedal chain. The second black box is simply an interface/patching box - there's nothing active in it. It just keeps the board wired nicely and allows me to neatly patch my snake into the board.

Yes, if you want to go simple, there is no reason why you can't just put a bunch of pedals in a row, in the order you like them. If you are using a lot of true bypass pedals ahead of your amp, you should really consider getting a buffer to run between your guitar and the first pedal. This will ensure you don't lose a bunch of high end as your signal travels through multiple true bypass pedals and then a long cable run to your amp's input jack. If you are also going to run pedals in your loop (more long cable runs), and if your loop is not buffered, you should put another buffer at the start of your loop chain as well.

 

[Bob Savage]

No big mystery or secrets here.

I bought two black Hammond enclosures that are the same size as the double-wide Diamond pedals. That way, I could use them as risers to boost the Diamond pedals in the back row to an easily accessible height.

I had Casey make me an 18 volt, high headroom buffer that is housed in one of the black boxes (the one under the Tremolo). It comes right after the tuner in my pedal chain. The second black box is simply an interface/patching box - there's nothing active in it. It just keeps the board wired nicely and allows me to neatly patch my snake into the board.

Yes, if you want to go simple, there is no reason why you can't just put a bunch of pedals in a row, in the order you like them. If you are using a lot of true bypass pedals ahead of your amp, you should really consider getting a buffer to run between your guitar and the first pedal. This will ensure you don't lose a bunch of high end as your signal travels through multiple true bypass pedals and then a long cable run to your amp's input jack. If you are also going to run pedals in your loop (more long cable runs), and if your loop is not buffered, you should put another buffer at the start of your loop chain as well.

You had me laughing... I have a VHT/Fryette Valvulator I tube buffer but wasn't sure whether I needed it. Should I stick it in the chain? Didn't really budget space for it.

 

[jabps]

Hey rlord...sorry to get off topic but what is the signal chain of your board?

This is how the board is currently configured. The earlier pics were how the board was originally wired, but I had Casey make some tweaks a few months ago. The below photo is up-to-date.....

GUITAR --> TC Polytune (sits on top of a Voodoo Lab ISO-5 power supply) --> Fallout-Labs 18v Stevia Buffer (black box under the Diamond Tremolo) --> Xotic BB Preamp w/Midboost --> CAE MC404 Wah --> Fallout-Labs Interface Box (black box under Diamond Memory Lane Jr.) --> AMP INPUT

AMP FX SEND --> Fallout-Labs Interface Box (black box under Diamond Memory Lane Jr.) --> Mr. Black Tunnelworm Flanger --> Diamond Tremolo --> Diamond Memory Lane Jr. --> Mr. Black Eterna Reverb --> Fallout-Labs Interface Box (black box under Diamond Memory Lane Jr.) --> AMP FX RETURN

Thanks man...I was wondering what you had in front and what you had in the loop.

 

[kiesshauer]

To avoid any confusion: you need the regular, not low profile Dual Lock for your pedals!

I use the low profile stuff in my Dual Lock Pedalboard Kit (http://kiesshauer.com/stuff.html) and on my board and it is absolute perfection. So why you hatin' on the low profile? I'm seriously curious.