Building a Pedalboard

[slapmachine]

Hey guys, I was considering making my own pedalboard because all the online choices are ludicrously expensive. Any advice / construction tips?

Not necessarily sure on the design I'd go for

Right now I have:
Markbass Compressore
WMD Super Fatman
Zvex Distotron ( Bass pedal with sub setting 3)

I usually like everything small and compact and three pedals isn't too many, but I may want to leave space for another one in the future.


Best regards,

Brooks

[Dick Tree]

I did the Ikea GORM pedal board. It's awesome.

Preston Clark » DIY GORM Pedal Board

Here's mine:
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/7139/gormc.jpg

I got a longer shelf. They have smaller ones. You'll have no trouble fitting your pedals on either one.

[lowfreq33]

Rondomusic.com just got a shipment of pedalboards in. Expensive they are not.

[G.Bisson]

here's a tip learned the hard way:
Don't use 3/8" plywood, it isn't strong enough to stand on.

[MSUsousaphone]

Man...I thought I would suck at it...not too handy...but it was actually pretty fun. And the think is hella sturdy. Of course I met Delta and Behndy and others and now I have to build one twice it's size....but it was really easy.

The hardest thing was building the "ramps" (angled supports). Everything else was just nailing, gluing, and spray painting. I even figured out a way to build a slot in the back that holds my surge protector. It's like it's "built in". The thing is insanely simple. They have others on here that are just awe inspiring.





I would say "go buy mine on the cheap" but honestly, it's a lot of fun to build and you sound like you're inpired to do it. There's a cool "show youre homemade pedal boards" thread somewhere that gave me a ton of inspirations and helped me figure out how to do it....again, I'm not all that handy.

[MSUsousaphone]

Here's the thread. Tons of ideas in there: Let's see the best homemade pedalboard! Post em'

[DeltaPhoenix]

I'll get around to building one in the next month or so. I have several DIY projects to do. I'll be doing something similar to Sousa's. I may add a little personal touch here or there.

[SoonerMatt]

+1 on the Gorm shelf. The cost of it, a can of black spraypaint, feet, and velcro was about $40.

[Gubna]

While I was at Ikea... looking for the Gorm, I came across this Brada Laptop Support, and made this for about $16:



Used the dremel to cut off part of the stand.




Then, gorilla-glued the piece to the bottom for added support.

[Gubna]

Added velcro (target was out of black, so I had to get white.)



and here it is finished:

[paragrab]

I was facing the same issue last night while trying not to think about my MB Compressore currently in no-tracking-number purgatory. Also because of the recent purchase I was looking to keep my few pedals together and powered as neatly as possible but as cheaply as possible. I spent several hours in the shop planning out a pretty impressive wood-box project (I was busting out the trig calculator for heaven's sake) when I ran across this in some box of random stuff:

It is a child-proof box for a surge protector designed to accommodate wall warts. It is thick-ish white plastic with little stud clips and it opens like this:

Now my very cheap and simple plan is to use a sturdy plank that I had already picked out and screw this plastic housing to the top edge (after some spray paint) and install a small power strip with a very long cord that I can run to my power supply in my rack. This will leave room for at least one 9v wall wart that could run multiple effects and the 12V for the MB. Cover the board in velcro/carpet and I'll put the little rubber feet I took off my amp head on the bottom and bazinga! Effects board for the cost of a power strip and some velcro. Considering adding a couple of cleats to wind the cord and/or some utility handles. Either way I could see this being very effective. My wife said she paid around $20 for the box at walmart a few years ago. It was just in the baby-proofing stuff. Hope someone else finds the idea useful. I'm stuck sitting on my hands until my "expedited" shipment decides to arrive so I can lay everything out.

[Ricardo_Br]

I made my pedalboard using aluminum strips crossed by steel bars threaded 1/2 ':