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Two small versus one large pedalboard?

D

Digntynleisure

May 3, 2024
33
56
Virginia
#1
I have tended to go up and down in terms of my effect pedal use and right now I am in an upswing. I am outgrowing my more modestly sized pedalboard (Rockboard 2.1) but am having trouble with next steps. For most of the playing I do I will use an always on preamp (in my case the ampeg sgtdi with the drive on and set for some light saturation—I know, a big pedal), a tuner, an overdrive for some added boost, and then a compressor I am about to add. For a minority of my gigs, though, I also ape some bass synth parts, and for those I will use a chorus, octave, and fuzz.

I can see the benefit creatively to having a larger pedalboard with access to different tools on all of my gigs but I really don’t like having “so much” with me. This is both for creative and I guess aesthetic reasons.

It would obviously be a pain to be constantly reshuffling pedals on my one board but how about having one “big” and another more minimal board? Any tips from people who do this to make it less of a hassle? I don’t want to have to buy a second power supply or preamp pedal, so perhaps just leaving the power supply cables routed and set up on each and then just move the power supply and preamp back and forth? I use a cioks power supply that is light enough to be held by Velcro so it would be easy to move.

Or, should I just give up my minimal pedalboard dreams and go with a bigger board?
 
#2
I bit the bullet and upgraded to a slightly larger board (in my case went from a PT Nano to a Metro 16) since I like having access to all the sounds I can make, but I have a guitar player friend who does the two small boards thing you mention here. He seems happy with it! I think you can pull off something similar.

What I would do is put your "synth" pedals on a small board, and just patch them in to your main board as needed. Do you ever use any of those effects (octave, chorus, fuzz) on their own/for non-synth reasons in the set? Because if you simply use those three for any synth bass parts, and otherwise leave them turned off, I think you can easily run them in front of your main pedal board. Octave and fuzz usually do best towards the start of a signal chain, so it'd really just be the chorus in an "unconventional" position, if you run the synth pedals at the front of your signal path.

What I would do is leave the power cables plugged into the synth pedals, but keep the Cioks supply mounted onto the "core" board. That way you just plug the new pedals into the supply, and then a small patch cable to connect the end of the synth board to the start of the core board. Easy peasy!
 
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#6
You could also use something like this.
IMG_0119.jpeg

Which would cover basic needs and then run an external board through the FX loop when you need more FX.
 
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#8
Digntynleisure said:
It would obviously be a pain to be constantly reshuffling pedals on my one board but how about having one “big” and another more minimal board? Any tips from people who do this to make it less of a hassle?

Or, should I just give up my minimal pedalboard dreams and go with a bigger board?
Click to expand...
Either be happy having everything on one board, or spend the money and also have a small HX-stomp board like everyone else (not a bad thing, I do it too)
 
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#9
sloppy_phil said:
I bit the bullet and upgraded to a slightly larger board (in my case went from a PT Nano to a Metro 16) since I like having access to all the sounds I can make, but I have a guitar player friend who does the two small boards thing you mention here. He seems happy with it! I think you can pull off something similar.

What I would do is put your "synth" pedals on a small board, and just patch them in to your main board as needed. Do you ever use any of those effects (octave, chorus, fuzz) on their own/for non-synth reasons in the set? Because if you simply use those three for any synth bass parts, and otherwise leave them turned off, I think you can easily run them in front of your main pedal board. Octave and fuzz usually do best towards the start of a signal chain, so it'd really just be the chorus in an "unconventional" position, if you run the synth pedals at the front of your signal path.

What I would do is leave the power cables plugged into the synth pedals, but keep the Cioks supply mounted onto the "core" board. That way you just plug the new pedals into the supply, and then a small patch cable to connect the end of the synth board to the start of the core board. Easy peasy!
Click to expand...
This is an excellent idea, especially if I’m continuing to only use the synth-y type pedals less than once a month, as is the case now. I always think I will pull out some Tim Lefebvre style octave playing out for my other bands but it never happens.
 
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#11
I simply took my old small board, which already had a power supply mounted, and then bought another tuner.
And another comp.
And another preamp.
And another dirt pedal.
Hey! But at least I took the chorus off the bigger board!

So for the price of a small pedalboard without a chorus on it, I got a small pedalboard with a chorus on it,
and I can use these totally independent from each other.
 
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#12
This is the main reason I ditched individual pedals and went to multi fix/modelers. I have a metro 16 with a volume/effects pedal and a quad cortex and then I have a nano board with a tuner, hx stomp and a DI that fits in a backpack easily with everything else I need besides a bass and either one is virtually unlimited in the sounds you can get out of them.
 
#14
I do that, but the set-up is this…I love the PT Metro series, all the widths, and they accomodate Cioks DC-7/Eventide power units perfectly underneath (hmm, you’d think that maybe they actually conferred on that).

On a 24, I have a Radial Bassbone preamp, original version, acting as a nerve center with a tuner, compresor, octave, dirt, and wah before it, but with a strategically placed single effects loop pedal in between. That way I can patch in any weirder effects (depending on the band/project)located on a smaller Metro(like a 16 or 20). The Radial has its own FX loop, and that has modulation/tremelo in it, as well as another single loop patch point, ready for whatever.

Then there is the occasional need for a small board(usually the 16)with clearly marked expression pedals for whatever boxes can use them. Everything layed out like an arc in front of the mic stand, more or less in a line, no tier or row confusion. Any additional board is like a satellite. I’m not a fan of multi-FX units, I like to pick and choose models and brands, and I hate futzing around with menus.
 
#15
I went thru several reshuffles of my boards, and ended up with three boards (technically four, since I have a separate modelling board). I have a big board that has the better tone shaping option, a medium board that has synth (plus the medium board can be used as a stand alone) and then a board with dirt. I had a whole thread about the process, you might find it interesting.

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/my-preamp-journey.1504928/
 
#16
The problem with one big board is that they are bulky and weigh a lot. If you're a home player it's no biggie but if you travel a lot it is. I have one smallish board that consists of multi-effects for modulation and time based and individual pedals for dirt and boost.
 
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#17
I have a Pedal Train Pro that I set up for guitar. This is not mine but hopefully you get the idea how big it is.
1728239003292.png

I have a pair of Voodoo Lab PP2+ power supplies bolted in underneath.

A board this big is definitely a challenge to transport. I have more pedals than will fit and have definitely considered a smaller "side car". I think what makes the most sense is to group pedals on the side car by function. For example perhaps I could put modulation effects on the side car and break the signal path in the middle of the big board. Or maybe I could break the path near the end and put 2nd Compressor, EQ, Reverb, Delay, and Tuner on the side car.

IMHO the side car doesn't make as much sense if I want to build a second board for bass, as I will be pulling pedals randomly from one board to put on another, rather than having both boards fully configured and breaking the signal path of the big board at only one place to insert the smaller board. I guess it might make sense if I am only moving a few pedals from the big board to the small board. Then bass specific pedals stay on the small board all the time, and I only move pedals that are versatile enough to work for bass and guitar. Moving and patching multiple pedals is a hassle and in my experience the cables are likely to get glitchy fairly quickly.


I also don't like the idea of sharing power supplies between boards. It's really nice to have the power supply bolted to the pedal board. One less thing to carry and worry about. So I would have dedicated power supplies on each board. This is especially true if you have pedals with a range of different voltage and current requirements...meaning you have to reconfigure the outputs on the power supply. For example you might have 9V, 12V, 18V, or 24V requirements. The PP2+ uses dip switches to go from 9V to 12V. To support 18V or 24V you have to strap two outputs together with a voltage doubler cable. Some digital pedals are current hogs, so you may need to strap two outputs together with a current doubler cable as well. Keep in mind, most of the PP2+ outputs are only rated for 100mA. Outputs 5 and 6 are good for 250mA each, so 500mA is available with a current doubler.
 
#19
Personally I'd go with one medium sized board. I've been back and forth over the years. I used to use two PT Pro sized boards. I loved for a while but I can't imagine going back to that if I regularly gigged. Once I started using Helix/multi effects units like the stomp and quad cortex, big boards were a thing of the past. I now use a PT 2. I have two of them but I use one for home and one for the band/gigging. So much better/easier/simpler.

I did throw the idea around of going back to a PT Pro a few months back because I wanted to not have a wah or whammy off to the side on the floor like I was doing off and on. No way. That board weighed a ton. I'd be happy with running the whammy or wah off to the side with a 1spot and keep one of the other in my bass bags front pocket.

Have you considered a Source Audio C4 for synth sounds @Digntynleisure ? It's really a beast of a pedal...
 
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#20
Digntynleisure said:
I have tended to go up and down in terms of my effect pedal use and right now I am in an upswing. I am outgrowing my more modestly sized pedalboard (Rockboard 2.1) but am having trouble with next steps. For most of the playing I do I will use an always on preamp (in my case the ampeg sgtdi with the drive on and set for some light saturation—I know, a big pedal), a tuner, an overdrive for some added boost, and then a compressor I am about to add. For a minority of my gigs, though, I also ape some bass synth parts, and for those I will use a chorus, octave, and fuzz.

I can see the benefit creatively to having a larger pedalboard with access to different tools on all of my gigs but I really don’t like having “so much” with me. This is both for creative and I guess aesthetic reasons.

It would obviously be a pain to be constantly reshuffling pedals on my one board but how about having one “big” and another more minimal board? Any tips from people who do this to make it less of a hassle? I don’t want to have to buy a second power supply or preamp pedal, so perhaps just leaving the power supply cables routed and set up on each and then just move the power supply and preamp back and forth? I use a cioks power supply that is light enough to be held by Velcro so it would be easy to move.

Or, should I just give up my minimal pedalboard dreams and go with a bigger board?
Click to expand...
I'm a fan of the D'Addario xpnd boards, which allow you to grow/contract your board on a whim.
 

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