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The perfect pedal board? Need 50+ opinions!!

Montanamike

Montanamike

Mike Atkinson
Dec 23, 2009
820
51
Havre, Montana, USA
#1
I'm working on a new pedal board design. I would love to hear your opinions.

Note: my design ideas are for the board that the pedals are mounted to not the pedals themselves.

The good? Brands and features.
The bad? Mostly features
What is the most important feature?
What would you spend to get what you want?

After 50 or so posts, I'll post a prototype idea?

Thanks, Mike
 
#2
Your questions are perhaps a little broad. I think they cover pretty much everything posted under effects, since it's always in one way or another about what's good and bad, which features and which prices. I don't really know where to begin here. Perhaps if you started out with some kind of prototype idea, it would be more fun for others to comment.

Anyway, a tuner, a light OD and an EQ of some sort is pretty essential for me, but there are many good brands and features available. What do you wan't your board to do?
 
#4
I'm still kind of new to putting effects together but one of the things I've been exploring is putting certain effects through the effects loop. Right now I have the chorus swollen pick and ring thing going through the effects loop at 40 to 50 percent. I am using the ring mod as an octaver trying to get a dirty guitar tone just under the clean bass tone. As for effect suggestion swollen pickle for distortion just keep in mind you will probably have to get inside and tweek the trim pots. Another dirt pedal some would say the better choice fender sublime fuzz I say get them both. The sublime you can get to the trim pots by flipping it over but its a huge unit.
 
#5
boss,digitech, tc electronic, t-rex, fuzzrocious, empress, amt, baddy shoe one, loud button electronic, mojo hand FX, amptweaker, electro harmonix, mxr, subdecay, heavy electronic, black cat, wren and cuff, mantic frequency, fender pedlas, markbass pedals, source audio, retrosonic, darkglass electronic, gogo pedal, Fishman pedals, eventide, catalin bread, skreddy FX, visual sounds, chunk system, twa, pigtronix,

Why don't you just go to a pedal ol store and see all the brand they have: prymaxevintage.com
 
#6
I see a lot of people do chorus. Me, I can not live without a phaser.

I am actually building a new, lightweight board myself, and the essential parts of it are:

tuner->compressor->clean boost->dirt pedal->phaser

Since I am a guitar player too, for a long time I used the same pedal board for both guitar and bass, and finding effects that work well with both was a challenge. I also contained redundant pedals (pedals that I only used for either bass or guitar). So what I am doing now is splitting it up.

I think my actual bass board will look like this:
  • Joyo JT-305 tuner (Korg Pitch Black clone)
  • Joyo Dyna Compressor (yes, it works on bass)
  • Mooer Pure Boost (this also has bass and treble controls. I usually find I can dial in the EQ I need with the amp/active EQ on the bass, but a boost like this is great for getting the little extra oomph when doing solos or other stuff that need to cut through the mix)
  • Mooer Bass Sweeper (this I haven't tried yet, but I like the way it sounds in demos, and I think it may add some wah-coolness, without having to haul and operate a wah pedal. Yes, less control, but a lot of the fun. Besides, being a mediocre player, I think concentrating on my hands keeps me plenty busy)
  • Mooer Green Mile (gives me all the grit I need, I don't like heavily overdriven/distorted bass)
  • Mooer Ninety Orange Phaser (MXR Phase 90 clone. I know... This is probably a less common choice for bass, but really like the fleeting sound. Indispensable for getting a Pink Floydish vibe on things, IMHO)
I currently don' have an FX loop on the amp, but having a solid state, non overdriven amp makes that less of a necessity, IMHO. If I had such an amp, the Phaser would probably go there.

I hope and believe this will become a low cost, but still rather good pedal board. I see you seek perfection, but for me pedals have always been a matter of getting it pretty good. My experience is that the microscopic details that sound so good when playing alone gets pretty much lost in the mix when playing with a band. The perfect thing about this is that it will be light weight. Easy to carry to and from rehearsals with the band, while it still gives me everything I need (at the moment, that is).

NB. When it comes to reverb, I never use that on bass. If it is needed live, it can be added in the PA.
 
#7
Well, for me I'll talk about something not everyone uses.
Carl Martin. Their Compressor is awesome, it just colors the tone in a really beautiful their, perhaps it's the best compressor out there in this price range.
Also the carl martin bass drive, it is better in my opinion than the popular Tech21 Sansamp bass DI. It has a warmer sound, keeps the low frequencies in a very nice way and has a tube pre-amp.
Take a look at the Carl Martin site in general, it's a little bit expensive, but definitely worth it.
 
#8
Wow guys, impressive lists. I agree that the question is too broad, and this is a great example of "I wrote one thing and meant another."

I was actually thinking about the board itself. Like shardik, I have found the need to build my own board since none of the board manufacturers give me everything I am looking for, hence the questions.

So if you feel like chiming back in about the "board" and less on the pedals themselves, that would be awesome.

Mike
 
#9
Montanamike said:
Wow guys, impressive lists. I agree that the question is too broad, and this is a great example of "I wrote one thing and meant another."

I was actually thinking about the board itself. Like shardik, I have found the need to build my own board since none of the board manufacturers give me everything I am looking for, hence the questions.

So if you feel like chiming back in about the "board" and less on the pedals themselves, that would be awesome.

Mike
Click to expand...

RIgid, Light, No "frame" when in the floor (Some boards have a little elevated frame... )good quality velcro and CHEAP
 
#10
Depends on the desired flexibility. I don't think that the pedal train-type of board can be beat if you wan't the most flexibility, but another good solution will be a flat board with a row of pedals in front and a raised podium for a second row of pedals behind it, that can cover/contain a power supply and wiring. The podium can then be cut off at one or both sides to make space on the floor level of the board for exp/wah/volume. A cool solution would perhaps be to make removable extensions of the podium in each side, so that there were optional room for expression pedals.

Whatever you do, build the board in aluminium!
 
#12
The perfect board to hold my effects...

1. For a bigger board, it must be two-tiered, and yet not be taller than a PT-Jr in a soft case.
2. Each tier of a board must be slatted, to allow poking the cables downward and out of the way.
3. The entire board should be made available in more than just black. BORING!

I am most a smaller board kind of guy, so for smaller boards with just one tier...
1. The inside of the board is hollow and slatted, to allow the convenient mounting of a power supply INSIDE the board.
 
#14
Uhm... I was not quite clear on that "building a board" phrase. What I meant was that I am putting together a new set of pedals for a compact, portable board, but the board itself is actually just a case with a removable lid.

This will be my board part 2, since my first board is a drag to drag around between locations.

Here is my old board (old picture, I have other and more pedals on it now):

201284_pedalbrett_ferdig.jpg


This is NOT the perfect board. Perfect boards need to be easily portable.
 
#16
I use a PedalTrain board: they're lightweight, very sturdy, and are built to accommodate the VooDoo Labs power supply. PedalTrain is a fantastic product in my opinion, my only real complaint is that they're a bit pricey. PedalTrain is well known and well established, it will be tough to compete with them.

The good? Brands and features. For PedalTrain? Lightweight and sturdy construction. Ability to mount a power supply underneath.

The bad? Mostly features My previous pedalboard was a home-made from plywood. It worked but was a bit heavy.

What is the most important feature? That it hold pedals? <shrugs>

What would you spend to get what you want?Around $100 retail. I think my PedalTrain cost $120 with a hardshell case. I'm mainly a home player, I couldn't justify spending a lot more unless I was gigging.

The only thing I can think of that's potentially lacking from the PT boards is some way to route and manage the patch cables and power adapter wires. Everything has to be bundled and tied down with zip ties, it makes it a hassle if the board has to be re-done because one has to cut all those zip ties... I'm sure this is due to my job in telecom and networking where "wire management" is kind of a big deal.
 
#17
JimmyM said:
I build my own out of scrap wood and black spray paint. So under $10 is what I like in a pedalboard ;)
Click to expand...

Jimmy, I can relate, I've built many of these too:)

Tons of great replies guys, thanks. I think we are on the same page too.:hyper:

caeman said:
The perfect board to hold my effects...

3. The entire board should be made available in more than just black. BORING!
Click to expand...

Caeman has a great point! So here is my question?

What color would be your Preference?
Would you pay extra for custom color?
What color should be standard?
 
#20
Black should be the standard color. I think primary colors. Like red, blue, green, yellow, etc should be available for an upgrade.

I would love a board that had some kind of outlet on it. Not all pedals can run off of a 9v and depending on how many pedals you have on your board you might need more than a one spot or iso5 can run.

Input and outputs on the side of the pedal board would be sweet.

I think aluminum is the way to go as far as material is concerned.

Some kind of carrying case is a good touch.
 

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