Simple Pedalboard Build Play by Play

#22
Killing Floor said:
Look, I'd cut my leg off if I had a chop saw. I am good at some things and woodworking is not one of them. But this is a piece of cake. Seriously took 30 minutes to cut it and assemble, minus the painting. One of these cheap saws and miter box is about $14. I'm not afraid to buy a metal board but I change mine around so much this makes more sense. I have one for my bass, one for my guitar and one that is mostly midi effects for occasional use and recording. It makes cleanup easy!
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I am seriously going to go get the miter box this weekend along with the other supplies and make on for myself. I just need to pick up a power supply too but that should be no problem.

Thanks again for the inspiration. :thumbsup:
 
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#23
BassDad1964 said:
I am seriously going to go get the miter box this weekend along with the other supplies and make on for myself. I just need to pick up a power supply too but that should be no problem.

Thanks again for the inspiration. :thumbsup:
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I’m no handyman. Happy to walk you through any of it. And really my jumping in point was a video of someone making one from an IKEA crate. I picked one up but it was flimsy and I knew it wouldn’t last.
 
#24
I have never used a pedal board because I just like to pluck some strings at home, but I always wonder why there are not pedal boards that fold up like a solid briefcase.
You could use a solid camera case, pistol case, shotgun case, guitar case, any solid carry bag that is squarish in shape would do the job.
Easy to transport if you gig, put the box down and unfold it and it is set up. It can be made to "accordion" up the second row when it is opened up, with a standard power plug on the outside.
All the pedals would be secure and protected with the lid closed. Maybe if I had to use one I wouldn't have these silly ideas.
 
#25
Killing Floor said:
I've gone a little easy on the Velcro so I can plunk the PAX on if I want to.
If you add a 3rd plank on the top it's easily enough for 2 rows of pedals. Last one I made holds about 10 devices. I'll probably make a new one for guitar when the JC Emerald shows up in a couple months or so, I'll post a pic over there at that point.
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As a woodworker, I heartily applaud the DIY method of problemsolving!
My only addition to this clearly cost effective approach to avoiding unnecessary equipment buying (whew!), would be to add a cover/carry function for safe tranpost and storage.
 
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#26
Damn. I was all set to buy a board but now I'm torn. I even already have a miter box. And wood glue. Was really leaning toward something without Velcro but I'm not sure. What does this weigh? The one in your pictures is about the size I want to build.
 
#27
BassmanNate said:
Damn. I was all set to buy a board but now I'm torn. I even already have a miter box. And wood glue. Was really leaning toward something without Velcro but I'm not sure. What does this weigh? The one in your pictures is about the size I want to build.
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The wood vs. metal directions have their pluses and minuses. Metal is just harder to work with which is why I like using wood. and it can be pretty. But a pedal board needs to be rugged, so wood will get heavier to accomplish that goal. I would try to incorporate a board/enclosure approach to maximize the effort.

The key to your success will be in the design - with wood or metal. May the force be with you!
 
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#28
Brian Patterson said:
The wood vs. metal directions have their pluses and minuses. Metal is just harder to work with which is why I like using wood. and it can be pretty. But a pedal board needs to be rugged, so wood will get heavier to accomplish that goal. I would try to incorporate a board/enclosure approach to maximize the effort.

The key to your success will be in the design - with wood or metal. May the force be with you!
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Yeah, I get it. Nearly 24 years playing bass and I've never had a pedal board. Always used multi effects units. Just started getting into analog stuff lately but none have left the house because it would be too much of a pain to set up individual pedals once you're there. lol! The board I was looking at is 20% off on Amazon for prime day now so maybe I'll get that and build if I need to expand beyond what it can do.
 
#29
Thanks KF. Much to glean there. I failed to mention, I want this thing to replace a real clapped out gig box with all my pedals, chords, and associated junk in it now, plus a tool box, mics, bunch of other crap. Now all that would not be going in this unit, just the effects themselves and whatever's needed to power and connect them.

Just glanced over at my stuff and I've got 4 pedals I'd want lined up side by side, one of which is a big multi unit, and a big compressor (Squeezebox) and a couple small guys that could sit behind and never need fiddling with while actually performing.

I'm going to start by just laying out the gizmos in the actual configuration I need, then take er from there.
 
#30
I gotta think about this carefully 'cause I'm going to want to be able to reroute cables, going from geetar to bass and back. Especially the goofy but lovable multi effects I'm using on guitar....I'm not going to want my bass signal to be going thru that, even if off....that kind of thing

I want to end up where unit is it's own road worthy case, don't mind if I have to reroute a couple cables going back and forth. But that might mean I can't squeeze that front line together as much as if I was using flat connectors and didn't have to get in there and unplug/plug etc.

Still🤔
 
#32
Sorry, see I thread jumped there. Thought I was still in my looking for plans one.

Now I think a bit more, may be all I need is a nice aluminum ready made case of sufficient size, so long as it have a narrow lip on the bottom panel so frontline pedals are toe-tappable. Could build it out from that if such case be. Kinda the reverse of usual, where the top panel that hinges to open up, is the small one. This would be the reverse.

I see cases like this exist, kinda spendy.
 
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