Big board or little board?

[The_Janitor]

I used a smaller board for years (less than 8 pedals), had a bunch more pedals than would fit on that board, found a good deal on a board + case that was twice the size as the old one and filled it with pedals. First rehearsal with the new board, plagued by issues. First no signal passed, then intermittent signal, then I got signal but with significant, noticeable tone suck. This is with a power supply powering half the pedals, daisy chain for the rest, all new patch cables. I suspect a couple of chinese mini pedals I bought from a vendor in the basement of the NAMM show were probably the culprits, but it's not worth the hassle so I'm going back to the smaller board.

 

[lfmn16]

The biggest drawback I've found to a big board is stage space. If you play mostly venues where there are huge stages, go for it. If you play a lot of small clubs, you're going to have issues. I play one club where I literally have about 2' by 3' to move around. I'm seriously thinking about downsizing.

 

[turcmic]

Hi!

I'm planning out a long term vision for my pedal board.

Funny line in TB land where long term is the end of next week

I would go with 2 small boards. You can link the 2 when needed but use small footprint when required. I rarely use all my pedals but it happens. Also, don’t forget that some pedals take more space (I have a sansamp programmable and a Headway EDB2 for my URB) and often have weird jack location.

 

[GreggBummer]

Honestly,I've scaled my equipment so that I have a solution for each likely situation. I have one pedal, the venerable MS-60b that I can use for small gigs: light comprsssion, a little chorus, tuner. I have a small board, a Pedal train Nano, that has some essentials on it. A DI, a distortion, a chorus, and a tuner. I have a large board, but it rarely leaves the house. It is mainly used for silent practice. Having options is nice. However, I rarely use effects. If I do it is do add some dirt. I use chorus on part of one song. I wish I had more ca effect effects. I'd drag the big board out more.

 

[Drucifer]

I use a small board, a Pedaltrain Nano for gigging, it has the things I need like wireless and tuner, as well as a compressor and an OD. I have a bigger board at my rehearsal space with a Noble and Cali76-TX and other big boxes, but don't feel like lugging it around. I am going to create a couple of modular Pedaltrain Nano boards, one for wireless, one for some effects, one for other effects, and take them as needed, I think that's the best compromise.

 

[The Ryantist]

I should say, my available pedals will vastly outnumber available pedal real estate regardless of how big the board is (within reason)

I think it's funny to see "vastly" and "within reason" in the same sentence

I understand your dilemma, except for me the big board is 8 pedals and the little board is 5. I have the small board and only room for 1 fuzz. I swap out depending on if I need a more brassy-synthy sound or a more grindy-distortion sound for the particular day. I've been wanting to go up to an 8-pedal board size for a couple years but haven't gotten around to it.

 

[Gyver]

Big board lol!

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

Small is sleek and simple. I plug this into a powered speaker and am ready to go!

 

[Pleasurewizard]

Big board lol!

What the the dimensions of that board?

 

[lz4005]

I used to have a PT-Pro with about 15 pedals on it. I found it to be a pain, to be honest. Heavy, large, and too many tiny little cables that can fail. It can also be confusing to have that many pedals if you're in the heat of the moment on a gig and need to switch something up. I've currently got a PT-2 with 10 pedals, and that works much better for me.

I'd never use 15 pedals without some kind of switching system so I didn't have to hit more than one button at at time.

 

[Gyver]

What the the dimensions of that board?

not exactly sure, but I think it is roughly 18" x 25".

 

[HolmeBass]

Hi!

I'm planning out a long term vision for my pedal board. If I let myself get carried away, I could probably have a 15+ pedal board. That said I could probably get by for my typical live performances with between 0-8 pedals.

So my question is: big board or little board? Are there any unforeseen problems/complications of going too big or too small? Have any of you bought too big or too small and had regrets?

Little board = 8 slot powersupply and board that fits about as many standardish sized pedals.

Big board = 15ish slot psu or multiple 8s. Board that can fit around 15 pedals.

The draw for the little board is economy and simplisticy. Also, less $$$ lost if someone walks away with it.

Draw for big board is not switching out pedals as much, can have all the tools available all the time. Costs more but that isn't too much of a concern.

2 little boards? You can set them up to work together or alone.

Small board, 8 pedals. That's the sweet spot. Although I might go for 9. I used run a PT Pro with 16 pedals and a switcher/effect loop, and it was just too much. Too heavy, too much stage space, and I wasn't using all of the pedals at all.

Now running a Metro 22 with 7 pedals, will go up to 8 or 9 and that will handle 95% of what I need. Then I have a Nano w/4 rotating pedals that I use for acoustic shows or, for the odd "pedal sesh" type situation, an add-on to the Metro and I load it with a couple of delays and some reverb. My Metro is dry, just modulation, envelope filters, dirt, and clean boost, adding an octaver.

 

[Jebberz]

I needed a 2 tier small board for my current set-up. Did not found anything that fits the size I needed so I mande mine for ±15$ of parts - 2 chopping boards, velcro, rubber feet and glue. It fits even the smallest stages.

 

[HolmeBass]

I needed a 2 tier small board for my current set-up. Did not found anything that fits the size I needed so I mande mine for ±15$ of parts - 2 chopping boards, velcro, rubber feet and glue. It fits even the smallest stages.

View attachment 3107723

Nice board. What do you use as a carrying case? One benefit of the Pedaltrain stuff is the fit cases, even though they are not great quality, since they fit they do prevent a lot of jostling during transport.

 

[Jebberz]

A cheap utility case that fits the pedalboard almost perfectly. Id have a little room for some cable and power supply.

Just like this one:
Link Removed

 

[smo]

Multi-pedals like the Strymon Mobius are a major space saver. Any pedal that can do multiple duties in a small space gets my attention these days.
I have 3 boards - main one with 7 pedals, a small one with 2 dirt pedals and a tuner for when I do fill-in gigs and another small board with a looper and some crazy pedals that don't actually make anything musical.