Pedalboards - Thumbs Up or Down?

Chris Bauer · From: Nashville, TN USA

I've always been more than happy to carry around a variety of stompboxes and mix 'n match them at whim. No big deal, really, bending down and adjusting them with my hands.

On the other hand, the OCD part of me has always thought it would be handy to have a wired pedalboard, elevated or not, that could just be plugged in and ready to go.

Other than an artist gig where you need to have things both totally road ready and able to be set up and down as quickly and routinely as possible, who has thoughts about the pros and cons of going the pedalboard route? I may yet be swayed...

Ollin Landers · From: Willow Springs, NC

I am using a Cube 80XL with the on board reverb and delay for both Tele and PSG. I then added an ABY switch to make it easier. Then I added the Boss FS6 foot-switch to switch the channels on my amp. Then I decided to add a compressor pedal for the Tele.

The next thing I knew I had 4 pedals on the floor and cables everywhere. It was taking me 20mns to set up just the effects at the rehearsal space every tuesday and about the same on a gig.

The straw that broke the camels back was the last gig I played. The power cord to my Hilton VP got trapped under the leg of my seat. It cut the cord and I was without a VP for the last two songs. I decided it was time to build a pedal board I could hang off the side of my seat.

I can now wrap the PS from the Hilton VP to the leg of my steel and to the PS on the pedal board. It never touches the floor. The only cable that touches the floor is the one to the amp and from the power strip to the extension cord.

An added bonus is everything is hooked up and ready to go. I can now take the pedal board out of the aluminum brief case and make a few quick connections. I'm ready to go now in about 4-5mns.

I made the pedal board myself. I'll post pictures later today if I have time.

I am so glad I finally did this. Now I have all my effects at my right hand. Easily adjustable and switching guitars and effects doesn't look like I'm tap dancing.
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Zum SD-12 Black, Zum SD-12 Burly Elm Several B-Bender Tele's and a lot of other gear I can't play.

I spent half my money on gambling, alcohol and wild women. The other half I wasted. W.C. Fields

Joe Naylor · From: Avondale, Arizona, USA

I have made some effects cases on legs for steel players and now building them for guitar players.

Legs fold up like a steel seat so you have effects in a brief case type box. (above)

floor boxes below

Most are Black but this one was as the customer wanted.

Joe Naylor
www.steelseat.com
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Joe Naylor, Avondale, AZ (Phoenix) Announcer/Emcee owner www.steelseat.com *** OFFERING SEATS AND Effects cases with or without legs and other stuff ****** -Desert Rose Guitar S-10, Life Member of the Arizona Carport Pickers Assoc., Southwest Steel Guitar Assoc., Texas Steel Guitar Assoc., GA Steel Guitar Assoc., KS Steel Guitar Assoc. (Asleep at the Steel) tag line willed to me by a close late friend RIP

Howard Parker · From: Maryland

I gig with a compliment of only three pedals.

The Boss BC-30 pedal board was a cheap solution for me. Comes with power harness and patch cables.

Having pedals "permanently" mounted seemed to resolve occasional issues with jacks and cables. Easy to setup/breakdown.

Grab and go.

Easy peasy.

fwiw

h

Don Griffiths · From: Steelville, MO

Awesome Joe! I'm thinking all of my effects would not fit on that unit though, but I imagine you could add more tiers? Anyway I'm laying out an effect cabinet(shelf,rack?)so I can leave most everything attached and hooked up. I got an antique tweed suitcase at a flea market for $20 and plan to pack it all in that. So essentially the only thing I will have to pull out of the case and hook up will be the VP and the loopmaster switcher.The loopmaster will still allow me to switch all of the effects in and out of the signal chain with my foot. Everything else will be up where I can tweak it w/o bending over and sticking my head under my steel.That looks so pro you know! I have an ABC box so I can switch between the steel, acoustic and electric and run everything through the Black Box. I'll be sure to post pictures. By golly I'm on my way to the workshop to work on this today.This will not be considered flight worthy. If my playing ever gets to the point where I'm gigging on the road(I'm many hours of practice away)I'm sure I would be checking out a Rack system or even a Line 6 POD.I was reading Steve Howe started leaving all his effects and vintage amps home when touring as he was able after investing enough time to program all of the Progressive Rock effects he needed into the one unit. Sounds quite impressive to me and I'm only sure this technology will continue to improve.
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Shobud Pro1,BMI U12, Santa Cruz F, PRS Standard, Fender Twin Reverb, ‘53 000-28

Ollin Landers · From: Willow Springs, NC

No where near as professional or as nice as Joe's product.

Here is my home made pedal board and Pro Scaffs.

I bought an aluminum case from Harbour Freight $35.00 shipped.

I bought a piece of birch plywood, cut it to 14" x 9" painted it black $4.00 and covered it with trunk liner carpet, Walmart $8.00 for a huge roll.

It all fits neatly in the case including cables and various accessories. It has a nice egg crate shaped foam in the lid to hold everything in place.

A pair of Pro Scaffs from Dale Hansen "Bes Dang Gizmos"

And that's how it looks

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Zum SD-12 Black, Zum SD-12 Burly Elm Several B-Bender Tele's and a lot of other gear I can't play.

I spent half my money on gambling, alcohol and wild women. The other half I wasted. W.C. Fields

mike nolan · From: Forest Hills, NY USA

Thumbs up for the pedal board! Too many of my New York gigs are of the set up in 10 minutes and go type. Then get off in 10 minutes. Usually some form of Pop/Rock. Just not possible if you have to set up multiple pedals, etc.

Straight country I often go with guitar, vol pedal, Fender amp with reverb.... tuner on an extra VP output..... which, with the exception of the tuner, is the way the Lord intended it to be. Laughing

Joe Naylor · From: Avondale, Arizona, USA

I have made two larger sizes also - just finishing a larger one with a tilt inside for a guitar player.

My idea came from seeing a steel player reaching down on the floor to adjust a knob and I said that was when the cussin started - from hitting his head on his steel.

you might guess that those are the same size as a steelseat.

Joe Naylor
www.steelseat.com
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Joe Naylor, Avondale, AZ (Phoenix) Announcer/Emcee owner www.steelseat.com *** OFFERING SEATS AND Effects cases with or without legs and other stuff ****** -Desert Rose Guitar S-10, Life Member of the Arizona Carport Pickers Assoc., Southwest Steel Guitar Assoc., Texas Steel Guitar Assoc., GA Steel Guitar Assoc., KS Steel Guitar Assoc. (Asleep at the Steel) tag line willed to me by a close late friend RIP

Darvin Willhoite · From: Roxton, Tx. USA

I couldn't find a pedalboard like I wanted for steel a few years ago, so I built one. It sits right beside my volume pedal and it's easy to activate the pedals with my right foot. I have changed a couple of pedals on it since the pictures were taken, I changed the Blues Driver to a Proco Rat, and the phase shifter to an Electro Harmonix Nano Small Stone. These can be seen in the bottom picture. It has a volume pedal loop after the Rat and dual outputs for an amp and whatever else I may need.

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Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, a restored MSA Classic SS, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Also a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored Rose S10, named the "Blue Bird". Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also have a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks, and a showroom condition Sho-Bud Super Pro.

David Spires · From: Millersport, OH

Hi Chris,

I just put together a pedal board for in-town, and I'm already loving it. I've primarily used rack-based stuff for a long time, but since I keep my primary stuff on the road, I finally decided to take the pedal board route, to better match up to using a combo amp.

Just get a big enough board, so that you can experiment as much as you want!

I've got a Strobostomp Classic, BBE Green Screamer, Duncan Shape Shifter (tremolo), Line 6 DL4, and TC Arena (verb) on mine to start.

It's only money! Ha!

David Spires
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2021 MSA Legend XL 10&7; Asher Electro-Hawaiian Junior Lap Steel; '79 OMI Dobro 66 w/ Scheerhorn cone and setup; '64 Hand-wired Re-issue Fender Princeton Reverb

Brett Lanier · From: Madison, TN

I was using a pedaltrain jr but found that's its too awkward to prop up on anything. A thin piece of plywood with velcro is working a lot better for me now. I can either carry it in a briefcase (which is very light and convenient) or a pedalboard roadcase if things are going to be getting banged around a little. Both the briefcase and roadcase are the perfect height and stable enough to prop the pedalboard up next to my seat. Voila!

Paddy Long · From: Christchurch, New Zealand

While I don't use a pedal board for my steel setup, I do have one for my Dobro ...I have it all setup on a Pedaltrain Jnr, works really well and all self-contained.
They make pedal boards of different sizes so I'm sure they cater for just about any configuration.
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14'Zumsteel Hybrid D10 9+9
08'Zumsteel Hybrid D10 9+9
94' Franklin Stereo D10 9+8
Telonics, Peterson, Steelers Choice, Benado, Lexicon, Red Dirt Cases.

Chris Bauer · From: Nashville, TN USA

David - Which pedalboard are you using or did you have one custom-built? Sounds like roughly the same number and size of pedals I'd want to mount, especially if you have at least a little room to spare on there...

Clete Ritta · From: San Antonio, Texas

I sometimes need to set up and tear down quick, so this SKB board and a 1-spot power adapter works well for me. I play mando and guitar too, so this is way more than I would use if just playing steel (though I would still recommend a board anyway, if using two or more pedals...just for convenience). I keep this on the floor to my left, so it is easily operated by foot when standing or sitting.

Its sent thru the effects loop on my NV1000 and most are primarily for 6 string guitar. For pedal steel, I usually only use the RV-3 reverb (and tuner, of course). Occasionally the MXR Carbon Copy is added for a bit of delay, or the MXR Dist+ for a bit of drive on a tune or two.

The only real problem with the SBK is that it has a soft canvas zippered case. It is too fragile, so I'd like to get an aluminum roadcase for it.

Michael Brebes · From: Northridge CA

My pedal board is mainly for regular guitar, a Pedaltrain Pro with road case. It has now expanded to be able to cover the use of dobro, banjo, and acoustic guitar.
Electric guitar side has MXR Micro Amp, Noise Gate, Peterson Strobostomp, DynaComp, Distortion +, Blues Driver, CE-5 Chorus, Tremolo, DL4 delay, Mutron volume pedal. Acoustic side has a Fishman Jerry Douglas Aura pedal, LR Baggs Para DI, with a small volume pedal in the effects loop to control gain.
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Michael Brebes
Instrument/amp/ pickup repair
MSA D10 Classic/Rickenbacher B6/
Dickerson MOTS/Dobro D32 Hawaiian/
Goldtone Paul Beard Reso

Mesa Boogie Studio Pre/Hafler 3000
RP1/MPX100

Darvin Willhoite · From: Roxton, Tx. USA

Here was my guitar pedalboard I used until I went to a POD HD500. I like them neat and clean. I built it into a small aluminum case, but I couldn't find a picture of it with the cover. I put a false bottom in it so I could run all of the wires out of sight underneath. I had a master power jack in the upper LH corner to plug in a One Spot or similar adapter to power everything. I also used a volume pedal, but just placed it beside the board on the floor. I used zip ties to hold the pedals down, velcro isn't very reliable.

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Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, a restored MSA Classic SS, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Also a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored Rose S10, named the "Blue Bird". Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also have a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks, and a showroom condition Sho-Bud Super Pro.

Cory Dolinsky · From: Old Saybrook, Connecticut, USA

I built this one a couple of months ago. It fits right on my rack, it's already wired up. The only problem is I have to still plug in my volume pedal and o.d. Because they're on the floor. It's nice having the effects level with the steel easy to adjust etc. Plus having the effects elevated over the rack I can reach any of the controls in the rack.

Cory

Mark Eaton · Posted 22 Feb 2014 4:48 am

Thumbs up or thumbs down on pedal boards?

I was just thinking at rehearsal the other night for this weekend when I'll be switching between dobro and lap steel, which is historically out of the norm for me but I think I'll be doing it more often in the future along with occasionally a flattop acoustic - with all the crap strewn about the floor it's really time to invest in a pedal board.

I think I've sort of avoided it like how I avoided getting a cell phone for quite some time until the late '90s whereas the majority of folks had already gotten on the program.
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Mark

Joe Naylor · From: Avondale, Arizona, USA

Mark that is why I started building them but it looks like several have built their own.

Pedal boards / Effects boxes are highly personalized I have found. Many musicians with many ideas.

Joe Naylor
www.steelseat.com Very Happy

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Joe Naylor, Avondale, AZ (Phoenix) Announcer/Emcee owner www.steelseat.com *** OFFERING SEATS AND Effects cases with or without legs and other stuff ****** -Desert Rose Guitar S-10, Life Member of the Arizona Carport Pickers Assoc., Southwest Steel Guitar Assoc., Texas Steel Guitar Assoc., GA Steel Guitar Assoc., KS Steel Guitar Assoc. (Asleep at the Steel) tag line willed to me by a close late friend RIP

Will Cowell · From: Cambridgeshire, UK

Darvin, that board is a classy piece of work. Very nice!
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Williams 700 series keyless U12,
Sierra keyless U14, Eezzee-Slide & BJS bars
Moth-eaten old Marshall 150 combo
Roland Cube 80XL, Peterson Strobo+HD,
EarthQuaker Despatch Master for reverb / delay

Jim Priebe · From: Queensland, Australia - R.I.P.

Board is the way to go especially as setup and packup time.
< Effects (all preset) < Hilton VP < Sarno BB < Steel
Three cords to plug in and yer away!

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Priebs GFI ('09)Short-Uni10. GFI ('96)Short-Uni SD11. ('86)JEM U12
www.steelguitardownunder.com

Steve Lipsey · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

This all fits right in my Pac-seat...no extra stuff to carry. And still room for the other stuff I need...built on a Pedaltrain Nano...

It sits on the floor, just as you see it here, where my foot can find it - only pedals I press is the Hotcake overdrive and the instrument switch for steel/dobro..the EQ sets the amp up for dobro (not used on steel).

Two cords out from board to volume pedal (input and tuner), two cords in (dobro and steel), all cords permanently attached to pedalboard....one more cord from vol pedal to amp...

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https://www.lostsailorspdx.com
Williams S10s, Milkman Pedal Steel Mini & "The Amp"
Ben Bonham Resos, 1954 Oahu Diana, 1936 Oahu Parlor

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

I use 4 effects. I have an RP155 that I use in the effects loop of my Nashville 400 for reverb. I have a large tube distortion pedal I have on the floor next to my volume pedal. I have an EQ that I use for dobro simulation. I bought a George L leg clip and super glued it to the back, and clip it to the right rear leg of my guitar within easy reach. And lastly, I have Roto Choir that I drilled a hole in the bottom, super glued a "T" nut(from the inside so the threaded portion sticks through the bottom) and use the leg mount that came with my Strobo-flip. I clip that on my right front leg. Everything I need (except the RP, which sits on top of my amp. I don't need to touch it during the course of a gig).
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Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting.

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