Stand-alone input and output for pedalboard use.

Andrew311 · #1 08-18-2009, 03:42 PM

I want to make a box to put on my pedalboard that has 1 input and 1 output and then 2 inputs and 2 outputs.

I got the idea from here on some other DIY pedalboard thread. I'm wondering how it would be wired since I've rather new to the whole "build your own effect" business. Attached is a crude drawing of my best guess at how it would go.

Any advice? I know a couple of people on here have done this same thing.

Thanks for any help

smeet · #2 08-18-2009, 03:52 PM

Not sure of the wiring, but Loop-master makes some nice ones, maybe you could get some info from them:

http://www.loop-master.com/index.php?cPath=32

standupbassman · #3 08-18-2009, 03:56 PM

why would you build a box when you could go down to radio shack and spend a buck on a splitter??? unless you want to be able to switch between the two outputs but that isn't really what your thumbnail is showing

your picture is showing your bass, than a series of pedals, then it splits in two for no reason (i can think of) and goes into 1 input. I've seen things where there is person has two basses and they have a splitter and send it into a single effect chain then an amp, or take one bass and put it into two pedal chains, into an amp, or 1 bass to 1 effect chain into 2 amps, etc but that isn't really what you are showing. sorry if that wasn't helpful but you should try something like this
http://www.amazon.com/Stereo-Headpho...0633288&sr=8-1
and try to find one that is 3 female or 2 male and one female

Andrew311 · #4 08-18-2009, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by standupbassman

why would you build a box when you could go down to radio shack and spend a buck on a splitter??? unless you want to be able to switch between the two outputs but that isn't really what your thumbnail is showing

your picture is showing your bass, than a series of pedals, then it splits in two for no reason (i can think of) and goes into 1 input. I've seen things where there is person has two basses and they have a splitter and send it into a single effect chain then an amp, or take one bass and put it into two pedal chains, into an amp, or 1 bass to 1 effect chain into 2 amps, etc but that isn't really what you are showing. sorry if that wasn't helpful but you should try something like this
http://www.amazon.com/Stereo-Headpho...0633288&sr=8-1
and try to find one that is 3 female or 2 male and one female

My bad, I should have made it clear that I wanted two outputs for use of stereo pedals.

Pictures say a thousand words, so here's another crude drawing.

bongomania · #5 08-18-2009, 04:27 PM

Is your amp a stereo amp, with separate cabs per channel?

Andrew311 · #6 08-18-2009, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

Is your amp a stereo amp, with separate cabs per channel?

My amp isn't, but I run each signal into separate channels on the mixer and pan accordingly.

bongomania · #7 08-18-2009, 04:29 PM

Also, in that second drawing, what is the in/out box actually supposed to be doing? It doesn't look like it's doing anything at all, at least the way you've shown it.

bongomania · #8 08-18-2009, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew311

My amp isn't, but I run each signal into separate channels on the mixer and pan accordingly.

If your amp is mono and your cab is mono, then there is absolutely no point to running any of your pedals in stereo. Panning achieves nothing without stereo amplification.

Andrew311 · #9 08-18-2009, 04:34 PM

The box in question is meant to be built in to the pedal board so that my effects can always be plugged in to it and instead of plugging in to my first and last effects to setup, I just plug in to this box.

A la "bigchiefbc"

http://1aught9.com/images/pedalboard2.jpg

Found in this thread ( Intricacies of a pedalboard )

Jazz Ad · #10 08-18-2009, 04:50 PM

It's a minimalist patch bay, so to say.

OilcanRacer · #11 08-18-2009, 05:34 PM

have you played around with low frequency stereo in a club? most of the time its a mess, with the lefts and rights canceling each other out and getting mass dead zones where no bass is heard, muddy zones where its just bad and a few sweet spots that sound.....um...mono.

i used to try and be all tricky with stereo bass cabs and effects and found out the hard way. it doesn't really work well. the most i could get was a cool left to right pan effects. it didn't sound any bigger or fancier than running both cabs mono and adding effects to them.

now in recording you have more separation and control. then its up to the listener to have a good acoustic environment.

gastric · #12 08-18-2009, 05:46 PM

The box obviously isn't doing much functionally other than letting you plug in/out of it instead of in/out of the pedals themselves. But there's no reason you can't do it. My PedalPad board has a variety of in/out/routing built directly into it which does exactly what you want. And I find it pretty useful, though I didn't think it would be before I got the pedal board delivered.

gastric · #13 08-18-2009, 06:23 PM

Last thought on this - if you build a jacks-in-the-box instead of hard wiring some 1/4" jacks directly in the board you'll use a bit of extra patch cables. Just a consideration.

bigchiefbc · #14 08-18-2009, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew311

The box in question is meant to be built in to the pedal board so that my effects can always be plugged in to it and instead of plugging in to my first and last effects to setup, I just plug in to this box.

A la "bigchiefbc"

http://1aught9.com/images/pedalboard2.jpg

Found in this thread ( Intricacies of a pedalboard )

Hey there. As someone already mentioned, what I have on that board is not a patch box per se, its actually just jacks screwed into a plate on the side of the board, and those jacks are soldered directly to cables that pop up through holes in the board where they plug into the first and last pedals in my chain.