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Building your own board - Literally

jmattbassplaya

jmattbassplaya

Supporting Member
Jan 13, 2008
11,843
9,859
#1
I know this topic has been done before but after doing a search and running through a few pages I`ve been unsuccessful in finding it. If someone can guide me to it I`d be most thankful.

In the mean time...

I`m interested in building an actual board to house my effects and I`m wondering if anyone has done this before and can offer some insider tips on materials, schematics, etc... After looking at Pedaltrain boards for the past month or so I`ve come to the conclusion that $100+ is more than a little ridiculous for a piece of metal with gaps in it and a carrying bag. Basically, I just want to build something that`ll hold about 8 pedals (most EHX), has similar openings as the PT`s for cables, and can hold a power supply as well. Preferably I`d want to be able to make it out of wood as well.

For fun, let`s also try to run this at a $50 price cap ;)

Thanks as always!
 
#2
Coming from someone who has built two boards, I'll say this. The PT's design with the gaps is, IMO, useless. If you do it right it will look nicer, but I've found that for functionality sake it doesn't do much. Once again, this is my own personal opinion. Realistically, I'd buy a strong piece of 3/4" wood in the size that you prefer and just throw velcro on it. Requires about 10 minutes and $30.

Of course, if you're dead set on the PT design then go to the lumber yard and buy slats and screws those together in a nice configuration.
 
#4
A couple of years ago I built myself a nice little box of 1/2 mahogany plywood- custom-sized to fit a Zoom 506II, a couple of DOD pedals & a Furman pluglock. It came out pretty nice, w/a removeable top, metal corners, a handle & rubber feet. The one thing I fouled up on was not figuring in cables; they were a bit awkward. I've pretty much settled on the pedals I'll use live- I may do another to house 3-4 boxes & some kind of power supply.
 
#5
cheap plywood sheet cut to size at local hardware store: $5
can of black spray paint: $1
couple pieces of duct tape to prevent splinters: 50c worth
industrial velcro: $5-10 depending on amount of pedals
 
#6
Thanks for the responses thus far.

I`m pretty sure I`ll be going for the PT design with the open slits because I`m a neat freak and less clutter will make me happier in the long run of things - plus if I decide to change the order of the effects all I`d have to do is rearrange the cabling.

Also like the PT I plan on having the board elevated off of the ground some so that the power supply can be put underneath. Because of this I`m slightly worried about how thick I need the cross beams to be because I don`t want to break through them when stepping on a pedal. Any suggestions here on thickness?
 
#7
Maybe this could give you some idea, my DIY PT inspired 2 tier aluminium board :

board1.jpg


power supplies under the 2nd tier :

board2.jpg
 
#9
i2k said:
Maybe this could give you some idea, my DIY PT inspired 2 tier aluminium board :

board1.jpg


power supplies under the 2nd tier :

board2.jpg
Click to expand...

Snakeman1066 said:
closedboard.jpg


Top comes off to reveal this

newestboard12.jpg


as i have a few more pedals on the way....my next home made board will have a false bottom and holes at various intervals to route power cables and house electrical (will be so much more neat and tidy)...
Click to expand...

Thank you so much! Being able to visualize these different ideas is really helping me map out this whole project.
 
#10
I've built a few boards from scratch (one is currently in a re-build phase...). Honestly, I've recently switched to a custom, professionally built board- but my main homemade board lasted over a decade of hard touring across 3 continents! (thats the one being overhauled)

Here's some detailed pic's of a particularly large board (too large, really) that I built from 3/8 plywood. Covered with marine carpet (rubber backed- a must if you go carpet) and hardware bought off the 'bay. I really like having a clam-shell style, or having the pedals anchored within the case/enclosure. I've never liked the PT Pro concept with a board rattling around inside an oversized case (Not that it doesn't work, the vast majority of pro's I work with use them, but I'm rather 'picky' about details!).

gluing up plywood panels:
2.jpg


risers attached to board bed & carpet being applied:
1.jpg


ac & in/out jacks installed (try that on a PT!)
3.jpg


finished connectors & built-in powerstrip:
6.jpg


4.jpg


finished board (detachable lid contained storage for cables, tools, etc..):
7.jpg


8.jpg
 
#11
I've since switched over to a purchased pedalboard solution Link Removed and customized it with concepts from my old boards & took the advantage of the PT idea of under-board routing and power supply mounting.

1109boardcase.jpg


bag is glued to board 'lid' & contains strings, tools, cables, etc...:
1109boardlid.jpg


underside of board bed (attaches to case bottom during use):
1109boardbottom.jpg


patchbay on board bed - in/out, ac inlet and 'aux' in/out for adding off-board extra effects when needed (linked to loop masters last effect loop):
1109boardjacks.jpg


set-up w/ an EH BBM hooked up to the 'aux' loop:
auxsetup.jpg
 
#13
I did mine with one or two sticks of 1x2 chopped up and held together with some strut. I would recommend using some aluminum 1 x 2 or similar instead of strut as it is heavy (I'll probably change it at some point, but not today). That, a handful of screws and some velcro should come in well below $50. I went with vertical slats because a handful of my pedals have top jacks and I wanted it all to fit into the suitcase I designed it for without any overhang to get banged on if someone kicked the edge. I think I would prefer even more narrower slats, but the velcro that seems to stick the best I was only able to find in 2 inch strips.

Top shot:
strutboard.jpg


Gut shot:
gutshot1.jpg
 
#14
i built mine for about 40 dollars. i had lowes cut the ply for me(it costs a quarter). I made a 2 tiered board so a power supply can slide under the 2nd tier. I painted it black and mounted black cabinet pulls on each side to make it easy to pick up off the floor. Works great. I also found aluminum already bent in a u shape to wrap around the edges to protect the wood. All bought at lowes. Next I plan to build a flight case of some type for it. Fun!!
 
#15
A side note... In my experience, the easy part to build is the 'board' itself. Not super challenging or expensive. The real challenge & investment comes in when you try to build something to carry or contain it in! Either a separate case or integrated design really changes things- plus weight starts to become a factor!

If you don't gig a lot, don't need to fly or deal with roadies- a suitcase or "soft" wrapper seems fine. If you seriously want to protect your pedal system, you're going to need to plan out weight/cost issues!

I almost got into building my own ata-type cases (thinking I could make some true "rugged" cases & save some $$$). I didn't want to get into a whole 2nd business, but was considering building cases for friends/colleagues as well. After sourcing materials, tools, etc... I found that there's no way to turn a profit (or even break even) without buying materials in bulk & making literally hundreds of cases! (I'm talking proper hardware, extrusions, and laminates...) It kind of bummed me out how much investment was involved in the whole idea. But, if you don't mind paying extra & just like to build stuff, there are online wholesalers where you can get materials in small qty. Penn-elcom, etc. Just don't trick yourself into thinking that top-of-the-line professional result is possible for >$100 for a small pedalboard! (there was a thread about this a month or 2 ago w/ a kid claiming he built one for less than $50 in materials, but strangely, specific details or pics were not forthcoming...:rollno:)
 
#16
Wow, some of you guys have built some really amazing boards!

Thanks for the pictures everyone - they help a lot.

@Ryognbass

If you have the time I`d definitely love to hear more about the board you built since it is almost exactly what I was looking to build.
 
#17
Going off of what scotch said, the second board I ended up building was pedalpad inspired. I love the angled board and being able to throw all the cabling underneath is a plus, too. It's heavier then solid steel but it's really protective and useful with the attachable top.
 
#19
Great stuff and I`m still open to more ideas and/or pics!

I`ve decided that I`m definitely going to try and build a board that can house the power underneath the pedals - my only problem right now is figuring out how to hold the power adapter in place so that I can lift the board without it coming loose. I`m guessing zip ties would be an essential safety net, but I`m curious as to what might be the best way to 'bracket' it onto the board so that it`s there firmly. I`m also curious as to how I might do this for a surge protector as well.
 
#20
jmattbassplaya said:
Great stuff and I`m still open to more ideas and/or pics!

I`ve decided that I`m definitely going to try and build a board that can house the power underneath the pedals - my only problem right now is figuring out how to hold the power adapter in place so that I can lift the board without it coming loose. I`m guessing zip ties would be an essential safety net, but I`m curious as to what might be the best way to 'bracket' it onto the board so that it`s there firmly. I`m also curious as to how I might do this for a surge protector as well.
Click to expand...

Do yourself a favor and just mount a powerstrip in there. If you like isolated power you can still plug your brick into the strip, and for those oddball pedals you'll have plenty of outlets for a power supply. As far as mounting goes, a lot of powerstrips have holes in the bottom that allow you to slide it into the heads of screws similar to a picture frame. That's how I mounted mine.
 

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