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Setting up a clean Pedaltrain board: tips & tricks thread

zippydog

zippydog

Dec 28, 2006
852
196
Chicago
#1
Hey guys,
I'm about to switch to a Pedaltrain board and thought it would be cool to set up a "tips & tricks" thread that would put all the "best practices" for good, clean setups in one place.

Yep, I did some searching on the site and found a couple good thought starters, but wouldn't it be cool if we had it all in one place?

Here are a few questions/topics to get this rolling:

1. Velcro: Is the velcro that comes with it good or should you use "industrial"?
2. Running cables underneath: How do you hide them or get them to stick on the underside? Tape? Velcro? What?
3. Power supply: is yours mounted on top or underneath? How'd you do it?
4: Power supply wall wart: did you attach it? where & how?
5. Preferred interconnects and why?
6. Zip ties? for what?

ok - - go!
 
#5
I'd be more than happy to answer your questions! :)

1. Velcro: Is the velcro that comes with it good or should you use "industrial"?
Click to expand...

It's good, but not fantastic. Assuming you use adequate amounts on your pedals and don't change your setup too often, it's held up pretty well for me. Others have complained about the quality, but it's still decent stuff. On the other hand, Industrial-grade velcro will hold up to anything, of course - but then it makes it harder to re-arrange your pedals. :D

The Pedaltrain also comes with zip ties - they're too short for anything except tying up bunches of cable. Don't expect to be able to zip-tie pedals and power supplies with that stuff; you'll need to buy longer ones if you want to use zip ties.

2. Running cables underneath: How do you hide them or get them to stick on the underside? Tape? Velcro? What?
Click to expand...

Electrical tape and duct tape work well for bunching them together while blending in with the board; duct tape is far stronger, though. You could use velcro ties, too, along with some velcro strips under the board, to secure them. And zip ties work well, too. I'm currently using black duct tape because it blends in well, and is pretty tough stuff. I often intertwine cables and tape them together, too.

3. Power supply: is yours mounted on top or underneath? How'd you do it?
Click to expand...

The only power supplies that'll fit underneath are a Dunlop DC Brick, a compact power strip (and this is assuming your wall warts will fit under there, too) and the Gator G-BUS-8 brick. Everything else needs to be top-mounted. Regardless of where it's mounted... velcro and zip ties work well. I'd recommend using industrial-strength velcro if mounting a power supply underneath the board.

If you were willing to cut into the rails (and had the equipment), you could also mount a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2+ underneath, but it really only works on the PT-Pro.



4: Power supply wall wart: did you attach it? where & how?
Click to expand...

See the answer to #3. If you use a power strip to do this, I'd suggest securing it to the power strip with electrical tape, duct tape, or zip ties.

5. Preferred interconnects and why?
Click to expand...

You mean patch cables? Whatever you want, really! :D

To make the most of the railing system and minimize the hassle of tying up the cable clutter underneath, I recommend using a custom cable kit - George L's or Planet Waves. You can also use 1/4" pedal couplers to link together pedals of the same make and style (i.e., two Boss pedals) - this saves space.

I currently use a mix of both - a coupler between my EHX Stereo Electric Mistress and #1 Echo, and Planet Waves custom cables to connect everything else.

6. Zip ties? for what?
Click to expand...

See answers to question #2, #3, and #4. Use them for whatever you want! :D
 
#8
Bryan R. Tyler said:
Are those little white squares hooks to secure the wires to?
Click to expand...

Yep. I've never seen that done on a Pedaltrain... that's pretty clever!

Most hardware stores will have those hooks with adhesive backings, although they're not normally used for these sorts of wires. :D

They're generally for running all sorts of other cables along walls.

Hmm... come to think of it, the larger hooks could be pretty useful for patch cables, too.
 
#10
glad you guys found the approach as interesting as I did.
hit the link to see more pics - overall a very neatly put together board.

I'm going to hit a hardware store over the weekend - Boo's right, just about anyplace should have them. I don't know where for sure, but I'm going to hit Lowe's or H.Depot and look in the department that sells coax cable, speaker wire, phone accessories, etc. Guessing they're somewhere in that neighborhood.
 
#13
Did a little homework/ legwork this weekend.

My PT-2 is due in a couple of days, so I'm gathering up supplies.

Got some industrial velcro @ Lowe's. Couldn't find it at Home Depot...sure they stock it, but darned if I could find it.

I looked for small self-adhesive cable clips at both Lowe's and Home Depot - none to be found at either store - they had some, but they were way too big.

I found smaller self-adhesive clips as well as the very small clips shown in the pic above at Radio Shack. A couple bucks for a bunch of them. Also at Radio Shack, I found zip tie anchors that are basically a flat plastic pad with adhesive on the back. The anchors look to be around 1" x 1" with four loops on them (one on each side) that you could then run zip ties through to anchor wires. Between the Rat Shack clips and zip tie anchors, I think I'll have plenty to secure what I need under the board.

That's all for now - just posting what I've found so far.

Hoping this update will bring out some other Pedaltrain owners with some tips and tricks of their own...:cool:
 
#14
I know I've posted pics of my board more then a few times, but its still a good example of a cleanly set up Pedal Train. I forgot to take pics of the underside but I basically stuck small strips of velcro where ever needed on the underside and then made some velcro ties.

The ties are as simple as cutting two thin strips of velcro 1/2 inch wide or so and about 2-3 inches long. i then take the hook strip and the loop strip and stick them together, back to back so that I have a nice lean little tie strap that can be used on either side, depending on what its being stuck to.
I used these strips on top of the board to secure power cables and used then all over the underside to keep things clean and neat.

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Other then that,
 
#17
I've got a question for you guys...After you have removed the rubber feet off of the pedals where do you keep them and/or how do you re-attach them if you take them off the board later. If they are screw on feet, it is no problem but the stick on ones normally lose their "stickyness".
 
#20
I found adhesive-backed wire securing thingies in varies sizes at Home Depot in the wiring isle- they were made by a company called Gardner-Bender (on first read I thought it said Gender-Bender). My PT-Pro came today as well (:hyper:)- I'll get pics up when done.
 

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