Many years ago, I helped my Rhythm Dawgs band mate Dana Vandiver package up his pedal collection and put together a proper pedal board. Keep in mind that this is long before options like Pedaltrain or Trailer Trash Pedalboards were available. No, we laid things out, got a sheet of plywood and started fabricating the whole thing.
It's been through some minor changes over the years....a pedal swapped out here and there. But recently Dana changed his main amp, and the controller for it is much larger than the one currently on the board. The good news is that the two foot switches on the far left (for Mute and Delay) can come off the board, as their functionality is now available on the new amp controller. Dana also wanted to add an EQ pedal to use with some of his guitars to even out the high end.
Once we agreed on a signal path, I ordered wire and connectors and got to work. Step one, strip the existing board down....
While I had it open, I gave the board a good cleaning. There were a lot of "souvenirs" in there...namely leaves, dog hair, and over a dozen various guitar picks.
Since the new amp controller was going to dictate where everything else went, I located it first, and then the rest of the pedals around it basing their locations on what made the best sense for signal flow. Here's everything dry-fitted in.
As is, it would be difficult to access the pedals in
the top row without bumping the amp controller. The pedals in this
location previously were on risers, so I made new ones with the
appropriate dimensions. The pedals determined the width. The height was picked to clear the amp controller, and be tall enough if we wanted to add an isolated output power supply later. They're just 1/2" BC grade plywood that's glued and nailed.
Here's one of the pedals mounted up. I used the bottom plate of the pedal as a template to mark the riser and then drilled clearance holes in two corners. I replaced those screws with 1" long 6-32 machine screws (which most pedals use) to attach the pedal from the bottom. The riser will then get mounted to the main board with wood screws through the bottom, so that they can be removed if needed.
I used Mogami 2319 shielded cable to make all of the audio interconnects. This stuff is just the best...very easy to work with, small diameter, and sounds good. When working with it, you have to be careful how you strip it...that black covering around the center conductor insulation is conductive (which provides 100% shielding). If you don't strip it back from the wire, you'll get shorts. Connectors are Switchcraft 228 right angle, and one Switchcraft 380 short barrel straight connector.
Dana already had a power supply he likes on the board, so we stayed with it. I had to add another splitter to accommodate the new EQ pedal.
DC coaxial connectors rely on friction fit, which just sucks in my book. I used heat shrink over the connections to make sure they stayed connected.
Ten plus years of use had worn the feet on the board down to pretty much just the screws.
So, I put new tread on it.
Here's the completed board. For those interested, the signal comes in through the MXR Compressor first, then the Microamp. Then it's the 6-band EQ, Fulltone Full Drive, Wah, MXR Uni-Vibe, and finally the Voodoo Labs Tremolo. From there, it's back to the amp.
The silver toggle switch in the upper right corner is what I refer to as the "aw $#!+" switch. It completely bypasses the board, connecting the input directly to the output. In the event of a power supply or pedal failure, you can take everything out of the signal path and at least finish the set. The large silver flange on the left is where a boom mic stand gets inserted.
With any luck, this will last Dana another 10 years! If you would like to see and hear the board in action, come on out to a Rhythm Dawgs or SUIT show.
Ken Carver has been a musician and performer since the early 70's, and involved with live music production since the mid 70's. He worked for 15 years as a broadcast engineer, building numerous studios and transmitter sites around Texas. He's also worked in Critical Care Communications for the medical industry, R&D for an automated lighting manufacturer, and owned Project Lighting & Sound in the 80's. He currently heads up an R&D Hardware Technician Team at National Instruments in Austin, and still performs on the weekends in the Central Texas area with The Rhythm Dawgs and Fire Flight. You can reach Ken at itsjustlogistics@gmail.com
Here's one of the pedals mounted up. I used the bottom plate of the pedal as a template to mark the riser and then drilled clearance holes in two corners. I replaced those screws with 1" long 6-32 machine screws (which most pedals use) to attach the pedal from the bottom. The riser will then get mounted to the main board with wood screws through the bottom, so that they can be removed if needed.
I used Mogami 2319 shielded cable to make all of the audio interconnects. This stuff is just the best...very easy to work with, small diameter, and sounds good. When working with it, you have to be careful how you strip it...that black covering around the center conductor insulation is conductive (which provides 100% shielding). If you don't strip it back from the wire, you'll get shorts. Connectors are Switchcraft 228 right angle, and one Switchcraft 380 short barrel straight connector.
Dana already had a power supply he likes on the board, so we stayed with it. I had to add another splitter to accommodate the new EQ pedal.
DC coaxial connectors rely on friction fit, which just sucks in my book. I used heat shrink over the connections to make sure they stayed connected.
Ten plus years of use had worn the feet on the board down to pretty much just the screws.
So, I put new tread on it.
Here's the completed board. For those interested, the signal comes in through the MXR Compressor first, then the Microamp. Then it's the 6-band EQ, Fulltone Full Drive, Wah, MXR Uni-Vibe, and finally the Voodoo Labs Tremolo. From there, it's back to the amp.
The silver toggle switch in the upper right corner is what I refer to as the "aw $#!+" switch. It completely bypasses the board, connecting the input directly to the output. In the event of a power supply or pedal failure, you can take everything out of the signal path and at least finish the set. The large silver flange on the left is where a boom mic stand gets inserted.
With any luck, this will last Dana another 10 years! If you would like to see and hear the board in action, come on out to a Rhythm Dawgs or SUIT show.
Until next time, keep the meters out of the red!
Ken
Ken Carver has been a musician and performer since the early 70's, and involved with live music production since the mid 70's. He worked for 15 years as a broadcast engineer, building numerous studios and transmitter sites around Texas. He's also worked in Critical Care Communications for the medical industry, R&D for an automated lighting manufacturer, and owned Project Lighting & Sound in the 80's. He currently heads up an R&D Hardware Technician Team at National Instruments in Austin, and still performs on the weekends in the Central Texas area with The Rhythm Dawgs and Fire Flight. You can reach Ken at itsjustlogistics@gmail.com
