My n00b DIY pedalboard

[GibsonKramer]

This is my first pedalboard. I've had a few effects in the past. Most of them, I just never got along with, figured out how to use, etc...

Always loved the wah, phase, and an old Echoplex. Actually didn't like overdrive, or distortion pedals, until recently.

I wanted something cheaper than the PedalTrain option, but not cheaply made. I kept reading about the Gorm boards, but I don't have an Ikea near me (except for the largest distribution centers, West Coast, about 20 minutes away). I saw a video for a guy, with a similar problem who bought basically the same wood at his local hardware store and built his own.

I did the same, added a a 4th slat/row to my second revision, painted it black and added, what appears to be a pretty solid (electrically) power supply from TrueTone.

I'm sure I'll swap out pedals over time. However, I do like the pedals I have, though I haven't quite got the hang of the Ditto. I love the HOF Reverb with TonePrint, the JHS Crybaby, I can't see ever getting rid of, and I haven't decided where I want my volume pedal in the chain. The EVH Phase 90, oh yeah... that won't go anywhere.

Thinking of adding a Decimator II next, or maybe a delay pedal. I don't know...

My first revision. Sloppy... still built like a tank. I'm going to rip the cheap Velcro off and put some industrial on there though, use it for a smaller travel board. I was originally powering it all with a just a wall wart 1 Spot. It did the job.

Second revision, next to first.

After painting and Velcro... 24" x 13" pedal space.

Liked it so much, decided to add an isolated power supply, which did help on noise considerably. An upgrade from TrueTone, the 1Spot Pro CS-7

The power supply came with brackets to mount to the PedalTrain brand of boards, which is pretty slick... but I'd like the option of moving this to my smaller board, and with the industrial Velcro, its not going anywhere.

Couldn't find the right cutting tools, so this came out kind of sloppy. I would care, but I'm never looking at it, so I don't. I put some dense foam in there to help stabilize it. The front of the power supply does clear the floor, but I put the front feet on to protect, if it does shift.

And finally, with everything mounted and in order. Took the Turbo OD out of the chain. I've never liked that thing anyways.

Total cost, not including pedals... $155.

 

[SWeAT hOg]

This is my first pedalboard. I've had a few effects in the past. Most of them, I just never got along with, figured out how to use, etc...

Always loved the wah, phase, and an old Echoplex. Actually didn't like overdrive, or distortion pedals, until recently.

I wanted something cheaper than the PedalTrain option, but not cheaply made. I kept reading about the Gorm boards, but I don't have an Ikea near me (except for the largest distribution centers, West Coast, about 20 minutes away). I saw a video for a guy, with a similar problem who bought basically the same wood at his local hardware store and built his own.

I did the same, added a a 4th slat/row to my second revision, painted it black and added, what appears to be a pretty solid (electrically) power supply from TrueTone.

I'm sure I'll swap out pedals over time. However, I do like the pedals I have, though I haven't quite got the hang of the Ditto. I love the HOF Reverb with TonePrint, the JHS Crybaby, I can't see ever getting rid of, and I haven't decided where I want my volume pedal in the chain. The EVH Phase 90, oh yeah... that won't go anywhere.

Thinking of adding a Decimator II next, or maybe a delay pedal. I don't know...

My first revision. Sloppy... still built like a tank. I'm going to rip the cheap Velcro off and put some industrial on there though, use it for a smaller travel board. I was originally powering it all with a just a wall wart 1 Spot. It did the job.

Second revision, next to first.

After painting and Velcro... 24" x 13" pedal space.

Liked it so much, decided to add an isolated power supply, which did help on noise considerably. An upgrade from TrueTone, the 1Spot Pro CS-7

The power supply came with brackets to mount to the PedalTrain brand of boards, which is pretty slick... but I'd like the option of moving this to my smaller board, and with the industrial Velcro, its not going anywhere.

Couldn't find the right cutting tools, so this came out kind of sloppy. I would care, but I'm never looking at it, so I don't. I put some dense foam in there to help stabilize it. The front of the power supply does clear the floor, but I put the front feet on to protect, if it does shift.

And finally, with everything mounted and in order. Took the Turbo OD out of the chain. I've never liked that thing anyways.

Total cost, not including pedals... $155.

Looks sharp! Plenty of room for a few more, I'm sure we can help you with GAS. Just one hack's opinion, but a loop-strip of some kind would be sweet.

 

[GibsonKramer]

Yeah, that's one of the reasons I added the extra slat. I honestly haven't tried anything other than plugging into the front end of my amps with it... and it sounds good on them all. I was expecting the Jubilee to sound like crap, but surprisingly it sounds really nice.

HOWEVER.

My favorite guitar, the '90 Standard, plugged into the pedalboard, into the front of my Jubilee sounds like horse @#$%. I seriously thought something was wrong with my guitar. I tried others, they sounded fine.

I'm going to mess with it, sometime... not today. Some day... and rewire/rejump and make that easily wired for a loop-strip.

Then of course, I'll be convinced I need the larger power supply, the CS-12.

Damn this disease!

 

[Boppy]

There's nothing noobish about your pedalboards.
They look terrific.

 

[Mule Train]

That's real nice, thanks for sharing.

 

[StillLearning]

That came out lookin pretty good! Now its time to start filling it out with more pedals!

 

[GibsonKramer]

Thanks for the comments!

Yeah, I need more pedals. Haha. Though, I'm still not sure about this Ditto. I can't seem to get the levels right, and everything just sounds muddy, and at times washed out. Either I haven't figured out the trick to it, or is just not what I expected. It says 5 minutes of looping. I just wanted something simple I could sample a small rhythm section and improvise over that. Plus, it makes playing my scales more enjoyable, or should. I just can't seem to make it work that way.

Run into another problem. Power. I can run my pedalboard fine in the living room, because it and the amps are on a separate circuit. My bedroom, has a Jubilee, Tweaker, and SL5. I was getting sound cutouts plugging direct into the Jubilee. It's not doing it with any other amps, and the Jubilee works fine, if I plug straight in.

The place I'm currently in, is not someplace I'm putting any money in. I'm looking to get out of here, within the year. Divorce will be final in August. And I'm looking to move out of state. I will make sure my new place has actual studio space, wired properly.

Plus, I like playing in the living room. Sounds good in there and the JCM1H loves pedals. Even the turbo overdrive sounded decent through it, and I really hate that pedal. Thinking off grabbing an old DS-1. They sound pretty good with an overdrive pedal.

Also trying to decide between the Dyna Comp and CS-3. The CS-3 is noisy, is the MXR as noisy?

I'm really not looking for fancy, high $$$ pedals.I looked up some OD-1 last night, and no way, am I paying $250 - $400 for a pedal. I start cringing at $200.

Yeah, I know. I'll spend close to $3,000 on a guitar, and not $250 on a pedal? It'd just have to be a really special pedal, I used all the time.

Right now, I think I'm going to use the Ditto for trade-in plus cash, for a Flashback Delay. I really like that TonePrint tech.

 

[LP121]

If anyone's interested, Ikea stopped making the Gorm shelving and replaced it with the Hejne line. Planks are narrower with more space between them.

 

[GibsonKramer]

Yeah, I was looking for the stuff online, and it's scarce. Anyone that had it, it's the big shelving, and they want $100+ for it.

The wood and screws were less than $10, with my vet discount at Lowe's.

The Ditto is already off the board. Going to take it back tomorrow and get the Flashback Delay. Probably put money down on an old Boss CE-2 they got in also. If its still available.

 

[kakao]

Great board .. enjoy!

 

[GibsonKramer]

Thanks!

Took that Ditto back this afternoon. Returned it, and grabbed this.

It's brand new, but they couldn't find the box, so I talked them down $20. Not bad, really.

So far I love it. I also bought a couple of the Furman-like LiveWire power strips, and I thought something was wrong when I turned on the Jubilee, it was so quiet.

I'd like to get a good UPS, but then I start looking into rack stuff, and I'm not looking to go there. Not yet, at least.

 

[GibsonKramer]

Wow! Big thanks to Mule Train. I would have double thanked him, if I could.

I noticed right away, he was using a DOD FX75. That, is probably my oldest pedal. I know my wah and the OD are replacements. The Flanger is original. I used to love that pedal! It was the only thing that could make my slop sound good, sometimes! But, when I had built the board, I pulled it out and tried plugging in the various adapters I had, it wouldn't work. Battery was good, but no go on the adapter, then I wasn't going to use it. I wrote it off.

Wednesday night, I found the box for my 1 Spot Pro, and there was another adapter in there. I plugged it into my FX75 and holy crap, it fired up!

Now, I'm thinking trade this, my old wah and my two od pedals, I might be able to score some stuff.

Then I saw Mule Train's post and the comments on the Flanger and I remember how cool that thing was.

I've got a brand new delay pedal, I'm not sure why I bought it, and I haven't used it once. I'll use a Flanger, all the time. The Delay and its $150 trade-in value will get me something SWEET!

So... here is my almost completed rev. 1d (TC Electronics Mini Spark will be here Sunday) Pedalboard. Though, I am going to upgrade to the CS12 power supply and put this one a 2 slat pedalboard.

 

[Matt_Krush]

That looks better.


(Filling up the space)��