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Remembering pedal settings

JakobT

JakobT

Jan 9, 2014
6,352
16,020
Oslo, Norway
#1
I’ve always struggled with the settings of my pedals changing whenever I take my board somewhere. It’s always the same - when I remove my board from its bag, some settings have altered since I put it in.

I figured out a solution today. I recently needed a slightly bigger board, and upgraded from a Pedaltrain Nano to a Metro 16, which is wider, and has three rails instead of two. It turned out that I couldn’t make the pedal placements work the way I’d hoped to, so I ended up with an empty rail at the top.

Today it struck me that I could use that rail to make a note of the knob positions on each pedal, so I made some cards with my standard knob positions on the front, and velcro on the back. Whenever the knobs go out of alignment, or I want to make temporary adjustments, I can now return to the original positions in seconds, and if I should ever want to change the order of pedals, or swap one out, I can easily swap out the card as well.

94B21626-9B85-49F0-8391-F97A0902C815.jpeg

50CC2707-81B7-4621-B5A4-5C99DED00304.jpeg
 
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#2
JakobT said:
I’ve always struggled with the settings of my pedals changing whenever I take my board somewhere. It’s always the same - when I remove my board from its bag, some settings have altered since I put it in.

I figured out a solution today. I recently needed a slightly bigger board, and upgraded from a Pedaltrain Nano to a Metro 16, which is wider, and has three rails instead of two. It turned out that I couldn’t make the pedal placements work the way I’d hoped to, so I ended up with an empty rail at the top.

Today it struck me that I could use that rail to make a note of the knob positions on each pedal, so I made some cards with my standard knob positions on the front, and velcro on the back. Whenever the knobs go out of alignment, or I want to make temporary adjustments, I can now return to the original positions in seconds, and if I should ever want to change the order of pedals, or swap one out, I can easily swap out the card as well.

View attachment 3858252
View attachment 3858257
Click to expand...
Nice, I usually take a pic on my phone. Lol
 
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#3
Cracker7 said:
Nice, I usually take a pic on my phone. Lol
Click to expand...

Me too.
But I also wrap rubber bands under knobs to aid in stopping them from moving easily. It has always worked for me. and sometimes I wrap rubber bands between two knobs. Do this underneath the knob, and it adds enough friction to stop the knob from turning easily.
I do this with all my pedals.

The knob can still be turned, but it has some friction associated with it.
 
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#5
Eddie LeBlanc said:
Me too.
But I also wrap rubber bands under knobs to aid in stopping them from moving easily. It has always worked for me. and sometimes I wrap rubber bands between two knobs. Do this underneath the knob, and it adds enough friction to stop the knob from turning easily.
I do this with all my pedals.

The knob can still be turned, but it has some friction associated with it.
Click to expand...
This ^^^ is an excellent idea. Thanks
 
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#7
Here's a tip I picked up from Adrian Belew when he recently showed off one of his ~30-year-old stompboxes on a Facebook post: Tiny adhesive dots in various colors, stuck to the top of the pedals in specific orientations around the knobs. All the (for example) green dots indicate the knob settings for one particular sound; all the red dots indicate the knob settings for a different particular sound.

Gonna try this on a few of my pedals that have remained semi-inscrutable. I recently picked up a bunch of tiny multicolored adhesive dots from the office supply store. Should work great...so long as I remember what green or red means. :)
 
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#14
Bob_Ross said:
Here's a tip I picked up from Adrian Belew when he recently showed off one of his ~30-year-old stompboxes on a Facebook post: Tiny adhesive dots in various colors, stuck to the top of the pedals in specific orientations around the knobs. All the (for example) green dots indicate the knob settings for one particular sound; all the red dots indicate the knob settings for a different particular sound.
Click to expand...

Geddy Lee's tech used the adhesive dots as well:

big_34a109d0-dd94-4bcc-a8e0-c4368c38ee19.jpeg
 
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#15
BaltBass5 said:
Invalid Link Removed

You’re welcome!
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This one will destroy your pedals permanently. Avoid.

Another idea is to print a circle pattern for your pedal on removable office labels (ie Avery) then use different colour markers to mark the positions. Kind of a combination between the OP and Adrian via @Bob_Ross 's idea. Stick em where it makes sense.
 
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#19
Bob_Ross said:
Here's a tip I picked up from Adrian Belew when he recently showed off one of his ~30-year-old stompboxes on a Facebook post: Tiny adhesive dots in various colors, stuck to the top of the pedals in specific orientations around the knobs. All the (for example) green dots indicate the knob settings for one particular sound; all the red dots indicate the knob settings for a different particular sound.

Gonna try this on a few of my pedals that have remained semi-inscrutable. I recently picked up a bunch of tiny multicolored adhesive dots from the office supply store. Should work great...so long as I remember what green or red means. :)
Click to expand...
This is basically my approach, except I cut thin strips of colored tape.
 

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