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Why, oh why? (Pedalboard overkill content)

#165
Jazz Ad said:
The pink neon color is absolutely perfect for an 80's gig.
It takes a lot of effects to play guitar 80's style. They were everywhere.
Granted, nowadays any entry-level multi has them all without taking space but he did it with style.
What guitar did he use ? Jackson, Charvel, BC Rich ?
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I agree he was trying to cover all the sonic bases on the 80s tunes. The most synthesized decade there ever was. He also gets kudos for having the vintage look. God forbid he has a short somewhere during the gig. Oh yeah, you forgot to mention Kramer as one of the possible guitar options.
 
#168
Bonesy85 said:
For awhile I was powering it all with a Yankee PS-M2. No real issues with that setup, but I wanted more isolated outputs, so I added an Eventide Powermax.
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Yeah, there's a bunch of power supplies that can handle this kind of board. I have a Truetone CS12 that has done well with up to 19 pedals/power-draws without a problem, though we've obviously seen people use a couple supplies.

In speaking to the 'more connections more chance of failure'...yeah, that can be an issue. Also, with so many controls exposed, its really easy for one piece along the way to get pushed out of place. That tends to be my issue more often then not, but I'm used to checking the 'usual suspects' for that kind of issue. But for those who aren't used to having a loop/switcher on a board, it's actually much less of an issue than if you have a single long signal chain. Lots of connections, but most of them are out of your signal chain most of the time.

I don't use as big a looper (mine is only 5 loops) but if you're on a song that's not being massaged by any effects you may only have what looks like 3 or 4 pedals in your signal chain. And it's super easy to go through and test your loops during soundcheck to see if there's any problems. If you click something and it's 'dead' you know exactly what to check without hesitation.

Of course with any pedal board you do best when you occasionally check your routing and test your cables.
 
#169
BurningSkies said:
Yeah, there's a bunch of power supplies that can handle this kind of board. I have a Truetone CS12 that has done well with up to 19 pedals/power-draws without a problem, though we've obviously seen people use a couple supplies.

In speaking to the 'more connections more chance of failure'...yeah, that can be an issue. Also, with so many controls exposed, its really easy for one piece along the way to get pushed out of place. That tends to be my issue more often then not, but I'm used to checking the 'usual suspects' for that kind of issue. But for those who aren't used to having a loop/switcher on a board, it's actually much less of an issue than if you have a single long signal chain. Lots of connections, but most of them are out of your signal chain most of the time.

I don't use as big a looper (mine is only 5 loops) but if you're on a song that's not being massaged by any effects you may only have what looks like 3 or 4 pedals in your signal chain. And it's super easy to go through and test your loops during soundcheck to see if there's any problems. If you click something and it's 'dead' you know exactly what to check without hesitation.

Of course with any pedal board you do best when you occasionally check your routing and test your cables.
Click to expand...
One of the issues I've had with almost every power supply I've owned is that the cables can come loose too easily. I'm really loving what Cioks did with their cables (like an RCA on one end) and thinking about switching out the PS-M2 with another Cioks, especially since they are so small. The only time I've ever had issues with not having enough juice was when I attempted running the lights off one of the isolated ports on the yankee. it powers them just fine, but it drew so much that the power supply got too hot and activated the protection shutdown after about 10 min. Now the lights are on a completely separate wall wart supply.
 
#170
Bonesy85 said:
One of the issues I've had with almost every power supply I've owned is that the cables can come loose too easily. I'm really loving what Cioks did with their cables (like an RCA on one end) and thinking about switching out the PS-M2 with another Cioks, especially since they are so small. The only time I've ever had issues with not having enough juice was when I attempted running the lights off one of the isolated ports on the yankee. it powers them just fine, but it drew so much that the power supply got too hot and activated the protection shutdown after about 10 min. Now the lights are on a completely separate wall wart supply.
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The CS12 has been pretty solid and none of the connections are wiggly. But I also have cable tie-downs under my board that hopefully keep things in place, and I always flip up my board when I'm setting up and make sure. Part of that is also to check my HPF which rides under my board (just to make sure its two knobs haven't been knocked out of adjustment). I also retain a free 9v out on the CS12 for when I need to plug in my IEM pack. I don't do wireless and leave my pack at my pedalboard and use an extension from pack-to-IEM...I've found that to be less cumbersome than wearing a pack with a full sized XLR. I also have the AC tap and the second 18v tap taped over on my CS12 with bright orange tape, and any daisy chain connections in my power lines taped with bright green tape so I can avoid accidents on stage or if I find a power issue I can find my connections quickly.

I also ride with a cable tester in my gear, though 99% of the time, I'm testing 'house' XLR cables rather than any of my/our stuff. Most of the time if there's a connection problem on stage (power, audio, line noise, you name it)...it's house related.

Though I will say that I've been careful of how I wire stuff so I don't get digital pedals on the same lines as other digital pedals and my fuzz is isolated, etc.
 
#173
Il Duce said:
Dude shows up at a gig last night in a relatively small club with quite a small stage for a 8-piece band and THIS is the pedalboard he lays down and hooks up:

View attachment 3544748

Mind you, this was a for an early gig (7:30 to 10:30pm) with a 1980s cover band. His board and amp alone took up about a fifth of the overall stage. The drummer had a smaller footprint!

All I can say is, why? Even if you're an effects maven, would you show up with such a ridiculous rig, bragging about the fact that it lights up, when you probably wouldn't use more than two of the pedals on the board?

This band included three female singers, a singing sax player, a singing keyboard player, a singing drummer, a singing guitar player, in addition to the non-singing bass player.

I was just flabbergasted. I mean, really, WT... you know the rest!

(I do wish I had the guy's money, though -- That board must have cost more than my car!)
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I think this guy has a bad case of GAS.
I have always found the best sounds comes from having as little as possible between the guitar and a good amp. I think he should spend more time learning to get the sound he wants from his fingers, not toys.
(How great is a stock Strat into a Mesa Boogie?!)
 
#174
Mark Ellis said:
I think this guy has a bad case of GAS.
I have always found the best sounds comes from having as little as possible between the guitar and a good amp. I think he should spend more time learning to get the sound he wants from his fingers, not toys.
(How great is a stock Strat into a Mesa Boogie?!)
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Yeah, I think a stock strat into a Mesa Boogie is going to sound a little different than a bass through that pedal board. Plenty of other people can get a great time using a pedal board. I'm all for a nice clean tone too but I understand that a board like that is meant for more than just a simple clean tone.
 
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#175
Mark Ellis said:
I think this guy has a bad case of GAS.
I have always found the best sounds comes from having as little as possible between the guitar and a good amp. I think he should spend more time learning to get the sound he wants from his fingers, not toys.
(How great is a stock Strat into a Mesa Boogie?!)
Click to expand...

I don't care how much you practice, your fingers will never sound like a flanger, or a tremolo, or reverb, or fuzz etc.
 
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#177
Bonesy85 said:
One of the issues I've had with almost every power supply I've owned is that the cables can come loose too easily. I'm really loving what Cioks did with their cables (like an RCA on one end) and thinking about switching out the PS-M2 with another Cioks, especially since they are so small. The only time I've ever had issues with not having enough juice was when I attempted running the lights off one of the isolated ports on the yankee. it powers them just fine, but it drew so much that the power supply got too hot and activated the protection shutdown after about 10 min. Now the lights are on a completely separate wall wart supply.
Click to expand...
Do you use led strips for the light on that pedalboard ???
Looks swell, might add some myself, less pinkish tho.
 
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