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i built a pedal board out of an old guitar case....


Guest nature_1

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Guest nature_1

and it's turned out pretty well...

here's some photos:

firstly, i had a pile of gear. (see New Gear 2007 thread)

then my new DL4 came in, and i decided to tidy it all up a little bit. i had a few thoughts, and figured i should try building a board out of something.

a quick trip to R&B later, and i got me an ancient, wrecked guitar case for 20.

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and so, to the task......i ripped the lid off....

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i ended up with this. then i spraypainted the wood black...

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Then i set about fitting a couple of latches (the tolex was annihalated, so i just cut a lump out of it....nobody'll see it, so i don't really care:P) so i could reattach the lid to the board and carry it about like a guitar - i cant do that quite yet cos i havent got sheet velcro for holding down the pedals!

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then i spraypainted the lump of exposed chipboard (it looks a lot better now than in that photo, lol, i sprayed it with another coat and taped down the tolex)

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then i arranged my pedals and its finished!

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improvements to make:

  • lose the lamp, get a clip on one for the side of the board
  • get sheet velcro for the bottom of the board; i havent velcroed the pedals down yet because i have a couple more coming in next week....i need better patch cables too.
  • a power station is needed...
  • i might make holes in the side of the board for the cables to run in and out of
  • also when i get my amp sorted out, arrange the pedals i'll be putting through the FX loop and connect them up separately to the rest of the board

it doesnt look much, but for 30 of materials, its fine for me!.....

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Guest nature_1

thanks:D

anyone know where i could find sheet velcro, at all? to line the whole of the bottom of the board, so i can just shift pedals as and when?

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Looks quite nice, except a bit untidy. Try to loose all the leads. Get shorter ones which ones wouldn't take the space to be there. Also it would look more tidier

By the way people, is there anybody in aberdeen that makes guitar leads? Using proper NEUTRIK jacks and good leads? All my guitar leads are being made in lithuania by few guys in the shop.

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Guest nature_1

yeah i said in the Improvements bit that i need better patch cables :p they do take up a lot of space, i'm looking into it....

and who needs a tidy pedalboard anyway? not like anyones gonna see it other than me onstage :D

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velcro's shit and will ruin your pedals. Use cable ties.

I've made a pedal board out of an old skateboard deck. All I did was drill a small hole at either side of where the pedals would be and attached them with the chord ties; when necessary I cut out a hole on the back of the deck for putting the batteries in. All in all, only took about 30 minutes, and is perfect for gigging. Only problem is that it will only hold about 4-5 pedals. Will post pictures if anybody wants to see them

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Guest nature_1

go for it, would love to see that.....

cable ties....hmmm, never thought of that!

i would use velco mainly because i'd like the option of re-arranging the pedals if and when i changed the rig....

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Looks quite nice, except a bit untidy. Try to loose all the leads. Get shorter ones which ones wouldn't take the space to be there. Also it would look more tidier

By the way people, is there anybody in aberdeen that makes guitar leads? Using proper NEUTRIK jacks and good leads? All my guitar leads are being made in lithuania by few guys in the shop.

I bought some of r&b a few weeks back. They cut the leads to any size you want etc etc. doubt if they are neutric, but im pretty fussy about patch leads (not pete cornish 20 quid a patch lead fussy, but not far off it) and the "cut to size" stuff was pretty good

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How does velcrow ruin your pedals?

As far as I could fugure out when planning my pedal board:

1) To ensure the grip strong enough so the velcro doesn't break away from the pedal or board you'll have to get some with really sticky bases, or glue it on.

2) Most - but not all - pedals already have raised rubber grips on each corner, so to make sure the velcro's effective you'll either have to remove these grips (bringing the bottom of the pedal down to 'ground level'), or glue some wood between the board and the base of the pedal to put the velcro on.

Either way I reckon cable ties are better because there's no messing or fooling around, they're easy to cut off and replace, plus, you get 100 for a couple of bucks.

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Heavy duty velcro is the king. I stuck all my pedals down with them... it sticks to the bottom of my pedals(aye, the rubber bit) no bother.

Yer talkin pish cocoass :D

The cable tie idea also works, but means a lot of drilling in your case. Plus, if every pedal doesn't run on a power supply, then it's a bitch getting in and out of your pedals.

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Heavy duty velcro is the king. I stuck all my pedals down with them... it sticks to the bottom of my pedals(aye, the rubber bit) no bother.

Yer talkin pish cocoass :D

The cable tie idea also works, but means a lot of drilling in your case. Plus, if every pedal doesn't run on a power supply, then it's a bitch getting in and out of your pedals.

Where did you get your heavy duty velcrow? I like the sound of it more because my pedals won't always be on my board.

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  • 3 months later...

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Sorry that took so long folks, that's the skateboard-pedal board idea. First one I've tried so it's pretty basic, but I've used it for about a dozen gigs and it's pretty ace for taking the hassle away from setting them up on stage every time.

The only thing worth mentioning is that the raised sides are a pain in the arse so put the pedal far enough away to get the jack in nicely or drill a big sloppy hole to solve the problem! (Incidentally, the hole makes it much easier to carry.) Will definately be making a few more of these through the years!

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just a wee update, i broke the board in half cos it was far too heavy to transport

now it can fit into a holdall with no problems:D

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looks fun too

so you built a cool as fuck pedal board then broke it in half...? or was the guitar case board one some one else? either way one MASSIVE one makes you look way cooler and rockstar like.

think like a rockstar.

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Question - what do you use to power all your pedals?I noticed the long black box next to the EH small stone but i can't make out what it is. I'm looking into powering all my pedals through one box and just wondered what you use.

i use one of these:

PEDAL POWER BANK 9VOLT EFFECTS PEDAL BOARD POWER SUPPLY on eBay Effects Pedals, Accessories, Guitars, Musical Instruments (item 270144709621 end time 17-Jul-07 21:05:39 BST)

so much cheaper than the dunlup ones.

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its a soundlab pedal power box, the very same as the one in that link shaun's posted. it does up to 6 pedals. i got it from RnB for about 30 or so, and they can re-solder the power cables ends so they fit any 9v pedal (provided they have the head you need). the supplied cables are a bit short for my liking though, and i am hopeless with soldering and that, so got my grandfather (an electrician) to knock me out some longer ones

on the other board i actually have a power supply i got off of ebay for 12, its on a daisy chain so i use it to power the fuzz factory, tuner and metal muff (soon to be modded DS-1).

The sound lab box is ace though, recommend it for doing the job on a budget

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