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Assembling a pedal board

V

VTheHTyphoon

May 4, 2010
281
83
#1
So, I figured it is time I assembled a pedal board and got some stuff I can reasonably use. And some stuff for fun. Looking for opinions insights and comments on order and whatnot.

Ok so for an actual board I plan on using a Gator Mega G Bone pedalboard which can hold a good set of pedals. Pretty much 9 boss sized pedals and wah if you organize it right.

So anyway I have a couple pedals but I found a new pedal I am looking into and I have purchased a power supply for all of this. So the order in the end would be:

Bass-->POG2-->Red Ripper-->Oil Can Phaser-->EVH Flanger-->
Digiverb-->Axle Grease Delay-->TU-2-->Bass Wah-->Amp

Then, in the middle of the bone is where I plan on placing the power supply which is the Dunlop DC Brick. I have calculated the milliamps for all of the pedals, and I only haven't been able to find the power draw for the digiverb and the EVH, so if any of you know it that would be terrific, but I am still way under the 1000mA the brick provides. Any suggestions on the order or anything of the sort? I would love some input.
 
#7
A buffer, like your TU-2, up first in your signal chain can help preserve high end content better that can be lost over long cable/pedal runs. But it doesn't have to be the very first. In longer runs, optimally you want one near the beginning and one near the end. But either one can do the job just fine. I use mine after my fuzz, because some of them don't play nice with buffers in front of them, and before my delay, to mute the input while having the delay going.

As long as you don't have any pedals engaged before your TU-2 it will track every bit as well wherever you put it in your chain and I'm sure tune just as accurate as it would up front.

Hey dude, I would try experimenting with putting your Wah in front of your phaser and see how you like it. I like to do slow wah sweeps with fuzz in front and phasing, flange, delay and reverb after.
 
#8
BASS > POG > Wah > Red Ripper > Phaser > Flanger > TU2 > delay > Reverb > AMP

I think that's the order I'd recomend. I personally prefer tuner at the end. I've never had any trouble with tracking because of it, though I wouldn't recomend tuning with all the effects switched on...

I think you may run out of space quickly on that G Bone...in fact you may not have enough space at all, especially since MOST of the pedals you listed are larger than the compact Boss pedals. I've never seen one in person, but the pics online look pretty crowded with as many pedals as you're planning. I think it's a cool looking board, but I think you'd be much better off with a rectangular board that would take up the same amount of floorspace and give you a LOT more leeway to arrange pedals in a way that works for you... You could make one from stuff at home depot for $20 tops!

-JV
 
#9
If you haven't purchases the Brick yet I would advise you not to. It's pretty much just a daisy chain in a box with an LED. some pedals don't play well with others on the same power supply and need an isolated power source. You would be much better off with the T-Rex fuel tank Jr. it's a little cheaper than the brick and it has 5 isolated outs, plus it doesn't use a wall wart.
 
#10
MK1 said:
If you haven't purchases the Brick yet I would advise you not to. It's pretty much just a daisy chain in a box with an LED. some pedals don't play well with others on the same power supply and need an isolated power source. You would be much better off with the T-Rex fuel tank Jr. it's a little cheaper than the brick and it has 5 isolated outs, plus it doesn't use a wall wart.
Click to expand...

Except he needs more than 5 outs...

Save yourself some money and pedalboard space go with one or two Visual Sound 1 Spots.
 
#12
MK1 said:
If you haven't purchases the Brick yet I would advise you not to. It's pretty much just a daisy chain in a box with an LED. some pedals don't play well with others on the same power supply and need an isolated power source. You would be much better off with the T-Rex fuel tank Jr. it's a little cheaper than the brick and it has 5 isolated outs, plus it doesn't use a wall wart.
Click to expand...

The Brick would be bottom of the list of power distributors. I personally would go with a Pedal Power 2. And IMO, the power distribution issue is probably the most important piece on your pedalboard. So make room for it, perhaps a bigger board or one suited to house a PP2 underneath.

About the tuner, I place mine at the end, before delay and reverb, for the instant signal cutoff and delay and reverb trails.
 
#13
Ok alot to respond too so I will get the short answer out of the way first and then I will give a more convoluted response haha.

I have bought a DC Brick already, it was going to be my last purchase in this whole system but I got it half off on CL so I figured I might as well take advantage of that scenario.

I havent tried my wah before anything but I will, and if I want the same intensity I will probably have to adjust the variable Q and maybe volume but def the Q.

Ok big convoluted answer ... bear with me here. and any references I make will be using the effect order I listed way above for simplicity.

The Mega G Bone, as I have seen it has alot of space and most of the photos I have seen using it haven't taken full advantage of it really. Now I would like to say as well that I have also planned on building an attachment for the mega bone, to place the POG2 on since I have big clumsy feet, and I don't want to have to bend over in the middle of a song to readjust levels should I accidentally move them trying to activate the POG. Since I have some basic woodworking skills, I planned on making a small platform for the POG to lift it up. It would be completely even to take advantage of the slope the mega bone already has. It would probably be 1 inch thick so the POG's button can sit above the knobs of the two pedals below it. I wont be doing that for the tuner because I wont be tuning in the middle of a song. I figured I could secure the block with velcro or if I really needed to drill into the board to make is 100% solid. Sorry if this is confusing. So here is how the order will go... in my mind.

On the right side big panel of the board, the POG 2 will take over the top half of that large end, then underneath it in the bottom right corner would be the Ripper and to the left of it the Oil Can( Was looking at the nano small stone by EHX, but currently being an owner of the Blogger I know EHX pedals arent friendly with daisy chains, can anybody tell me if this is the same for the SS?)Then moving into the center bar, I would have the EVH Flanger on the right side, the DC Brick sitting sideways so as to maximize space, then the Digiverb on the other side of it. Then moving to the left side big space, it would go into the Axle Grease delay on the bottom right of that large section, the Tuner right above it and the Wah taking up the whole left side of that big section. I am sorry to those of you this confuses but look up the Mega G Bone and you will see how this all fits in.

whew!

EDIT: I was originally looking at the Voodoo Labs PP2+ except there is one small problem. And this seriously irks me. it only has 8 outputs, and even though they are all isolated and I only have 8 pedals listed, AND it was my first choice, I would need to get a second power supply because 2 of the PP2+ outlets would need to be connected to power my 18v EVH Flanger. I realize that one extra cable is no big deal but I can be a tad OCD at times and it irks me that a single pedal won't fit in that power supply. Also in response to the pedalboard size issues I have been looking at some of the slightly cheaper options that are little more than a piece of solid material built into a fabric case, the issue being my need for a riser for the pedals in the back.
 
#14
I honestly still don't think it will all fit, and if you are able to squeeze them all on there, it will be cramped and difficult to switch pedals on and off without 'accidents'.....

I don't understand why (since you have the woodworking skills) you would buy a board that is already too small the day you buy it, and then plan to build an attachment, when you could just build a much cheaper board with better use of space from the start. Also, chances are you will aquire more pedals down the road, or at least swap some around, and it's always good to have a little more space than too little.....

The first board I built was exactly as small as I could make it and squeeze all my pedals on it..... lasted about 2 months before I built a bigger one....

-JV
 
#15
I have BASIC woodworking skills haha. I can do really really easy stuff and I know that I could probably build something that works for me and has a degree of stability I might be better off spending money on something like the Roadrunner all in one gigbag that is only 40 bucks, but it doesn't look super stable.

My original plan was to build a board that could fit in a small suitcase I have but in order to do so it would have to be dual level, and I am not THAT confident in my skills.

Also, tell me what you think of this idea. I like to make I can see how my effects are set during a set when I look down and I want to be able to adjust them whether the stage is well lit or not. One of my brilliant (or idiotic) ideas was to use UV reactive paint. For well lit stages I can see what my pedals are, and I use small pieces of paper with my levels written on them taped to my pedal so I can make sure they are correct. The idea I had was to take UV reactive paint that in regular light can just barely be seen (clear) to pain over the lines on my knobs, over the pieces of paper, and possibly over the name of the pedal as well so in daytime you can still see the pedals' lovliness but then have either UV LED light rope or a couple small desklamps with UV bulbs illuminating my board so I could see my levels and pedals and whatnot without too much thought.

woodworking.jpg
 
#16
The ehx pedals that are problematic are the slant box ones with the 1.8mm headphone type plug. They are apparently all center positive, so keep it on a battery or seperate/isolated supply. This includes the double muff, lpb2, small stone etc. They changed to the standard center neg "boss type" jacks with the nano/newer line. My newer ehx pedals (memory toy and boy) spark if a power supply touches the enclosure. I have never had problems with them in my chain however.
 
#17
I have the EHX bass blogger and I know it can't be used in a daisy chain since it is technically 9.6v and something like 200mA, and it is a center negative boss style power input. I use a Nady 9v adapter, and it works but it won't work in a daisy chain but I am wondering about if the small stone has that problem.
 

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