Ah man, I feel your pain. Been there many times. Learned a pedal board is like a pizza, you can’t put everything you love on top and get a tasty result.
If you still want a very flexible board I would do the following: get rid of tremolo, colour box, tuner and bit commander. Choose which of the strymon pedals you can live without because of the H9. Do you use the looper in the timeline? if so keep that and maybe get a smaller reverb pedal e.g. Source Audio Ventris. If not then dump it as the H9 can do everything else Timeline can.(though not analog dry thru) H9 also acts as your tuner by the way. I'd also get a smaller volume pedal or even consider an expression pedal instead given the capabilities that will give you with the H9 and strymons as well as potentially being able to act as a volume pedal Do you really need two fuzzes? If not decide which one is most versatile and which stacks best with other pedals. Like lots of others have said get a switcher which does midi and also one that can change the position of pedals in the signal chain (really useful for the H9): gigrig or Boss ES8. This is the most important thing to do in my opinion. Also a tiered board would increase your pedal real estate significantly. Sorry about the essay but I've just been through something similar so its fresh in my mind. Great content by the way
Peter Jessop Hey Peter. Good on you for speaking honestly. There are so many ways to be rude while being critical, so kudos for just sticking to being practical! GigRig, Boss Looper, American Looper... or my favorite, Carl Martin Octa-Switch!!! Problem Solved!
Just added an ES8 to my board and it is indeed a game changer and already used the loop order with the H9 max. Worked great! But it also is throwing a wrench into ,my thinking. I have several dual pedals that are not as optimized. Nice learning through trial and error isn't it! Evolution.
Jack Minear yeah I understand the issue with dual pedals. I decided to set up my D&M drive before start of a song and use it either as a boost for solos or for Rhythm and use an alternative pedal or amp channel for whatever the D&M wasn’t doing if that makes sense.
Hi, I think it’s important to have some before/after stories like this, as people are encouraged to get together as many pedals as possible, whereas in a live situation, the board has to be ‘live-able’ ... as far as switchers go, I wholeheartedly recommend the Gigrig G2 as well as their modular power supply system ... G2 has re-orderable loops and so it’s easy to change things round, and I’m sure you’d then find a position / combination where that JHS Colour Box was useful to you - it is based on Neve pre-amps after all, and Neve knew what he was doing... Good luck with the rebuild...
Thank you so much!!! I can't TELL you how many people have said things to me like, "There's so much space between your pedals! If you arranged them better, you could get more in there or get a smaller board!" Or... I could have enough space to actually operate the board live without having to point my toe like a ballerina! Thank you for advocating for function over form!
Loop switcher and a multi tier board. The best thing I ever bought for my board was a Boss ES 8 switcher. Once you've had one you'll wonder what you ever did without.
I was watching your "How to stack overdrives" video, when you went to turn on your Vertex SSS, you angled your foot in a way to only hit it. I instantly knew your pain. LOL. So, I built a DIY oversized board, that only goes from home to studio. Purposely built so my size 9 1/2 only hits one pedal.
Almost every lesson I've learned in music has been the hard way. (e.g. trading my early 60's LP gold top 40 years ago for a guitar I ended up hardly ever playing). As in life itself, I think that's just the way it works. It's great when we can share what we've learned from experience with others to help them avoid making the same mistakes, as Brett has done here. There is so much valuable information on this video, and I have no doubt it's going to be a big help to a lot of musicians.
Great video! Totally agree. It took me a while to get mine done too. I appreciate your advice. I kept mine simple too. Compressor, overdrives, Preamp to Boss Volume pedal then to Zoom G3 for all delays, reverb to the Joyo Cab Box and that finally worked for me. Definitely keep enough room purposely on the board to step on the right pedals at the right times!
When I first saw your board I thought about some of the issues that you said in this video. Nice to see that you are willing to teach others about your mistakes. Great video.
Hey Rhett!! Thanks for sharing your experience. I can really relate to this video because before I got my Pedaltrain Classic Pro my pedals were all in a very tight position and I would frequently touch cables and switches when turning on a pedal and would even touch the power cable, causing unwanted noise. From that I realized we just don't have to populate the whole board because there is not only problem with turning on a pedal accidentally, there is also problem with power supply, which I tried to solve using my Korg tuners but a couple of times I stumbled upon the problem with voltage requirement and saw pedals that wouldn't power up.
Great and informative video. I’m still building my collection of pedals to put my board together, and I’m almost at the point where it’s time to actually do it, so this kind of advice is invaluable to me.
I love my Strymons, but unless you are changing settings during a gig, there are many great smaller delay and verb pedals out there. My Strymons are just used in a reamp loop in Logic Pro now. If you’re doing session work, and that’s where the versatility of the Strymons becomes necessary, then just keep them in your bag, not on the board.
I started off building and trying to get as many pedals as possible. Now, I’ll play with at max 5 pedals and that includes tuner/ vol pedal. But that’s for my needs. Just try to play with the least amount of pedals. You’ll be able to focus more on the playing and enjoy it more and less worrying about stepping on the right pedals. Howdy from Texas!
From this video to the other one with Mason, it looks like you solved all of your headaches with boards. Tiers, switchers and not putting a volume pedal in the middle are the best things! and I like your comment in there, "I....need.....more......power"
Thanks for the honest vid, Rhett. I'm in the process of revamping my own board. Biggest problem I have is the central part of my setup is a boss gt100. It's lengthy and kind of wide as well. I like that it has it's own effects loop so the small handful of pedals I want to incorporate can be integrated that way but I have cabling issues like you described. Great tips-thanx again. Back to the drawing board (pun intended), for this ol' boy! 🎸
I don't judge other people's boards because I don't know what their needs are for their gigs. I always tell my students when putting a board together to "think of the essentials" and then show them what I use. I get a lot of church gigs and blues/rock gigs, so I built a board for both. The signal path is Volume Pedal, Tuner, Compressor, Dual Overdrive, Delay, and Reverb. That's all I need, and for the blues gig, I typically switch the Volume Pedal for a Wah if the gig calls for it. But, that's all I really need, and working guys have to think that way. Since you've made this video on what not to do maybe make a video in helping to identify what a player needs for a specific gig like "Building a Worship Pedalboard Tutorial" or "Building an RnB Pedalboard." I know for me I just leave essential pedals on the board and adjust one or two for the gig if it calls for it but others might enjoy that, and if it may seem too tedious or unnecessary maybe do guide videos into playing in specific genres. I'm not sure if you do that already, but I know when I teach my more advanced students they ask me questions like that a lot. Keep posting! You're doing great.
I can relate to this. I spent a year, in which I got 3 boutique amps in a box, some really nice time based effects, 11 pedals in total, built the board itself, and decided to be an inventor and power it all, by lithium ion battery pack. Well of course I needed to learn that you can't just use adaptor cables for the 5 to 9v jump required. Then I learned a real good lesson about isolated power supplies. Yes, I learned a lot and came up with an elaborate 12 circuit individually voltage adjustable power supply running off my original battery pack (by the way, my electronics background could be classified as "average guitarist" level). And it was quiet. And it sounded good. Then just take a wild stab at what happens next. Ding ding ding! You are right! Dude! I need a Joyo switcher real bad, can't live without it, gotta get one! Well I got one. And yes it was a super pain in the ass to have to re wire it AGAIN after having just made 30 or so custom length Canare wire cables. Duhooooh... Didn't see that coming. And then, the final of all improbabilities. A sudden windfall of money, allowing me to replace my so so effect platform amp with a Friedman...Who needs those amps in a box now? Such a labour of love, I actually am pretty proud of my originally 12 dollar Ikea challenge pedal board. I am gonna feel like a real heal as I part it out to be replaced by yes.....An HX Effects. I might even miss that colourful 3 tiered monstrosity. Great video by the way, thanks man.
Great video. Thoughtful and all that stuff. -this I why I hand-built my own board and had a custom flight case made for it. I’ve seen boards like yours in the video and always wondered if I did the right thing... -thanks for the confidence boost -I think I did.
If you are not using some of the pedals, then why even have them on the board? It's not rocket surgery. Your foot is big, get rid of a pedal and make more space, which will also give you more power to other pedals, solved.
Part of the reason I put this board together was for a specific label showcase gig I had recently where I needed almost every pedal on the board (except the Colour Box) moving forward I’ll be able to downsize
I have used boosters made from 1x3s cut into pedal sized pieces and velcroed between board and pedals. That way I had tiers so I could use a lot of pedals in tight spaces. For the power issue you can daisy chain the extras.
whether you're building a pedal or a pedalboard, rushing it only leads to more headaches and work later on. think long and hard about it before you drill/solder/attach anything anywhere. good that you made a video about this. a good-looking pedal/board means nothing if it's not functional.
Brave confession! Admirable. My solution (I also have big feet) is to put most used pedals in front row, with space. Least used on top. Volume (or wah) pedal on far right edge/bottom. It's ok to have open space. Good luck! 🙂
I think I've learned a lot through building a few boards myself. After trying many pedals, I've settled on the very pedals that I will use night after night. I then chose the size board to hold my pedals. I don't want an oversized board that I have to drag out to my car or van at the end of the night when I am tired. So, I've got my board down to two rows of pedals and give enough space between them that I don't hit an unwanted switch. I placed risers underneath my board's back so I don't mess up the front rows settings. I've very happy with how it ended up. I think sometimes it's good to go through the growing pains to be smarter about it all. Well, for me at least.
You nailed it - That's an Instagram board, not a practical one. I've built those myself too and the realisation part sucks. My current board is still tight, but with a lot more thought put into accessibility and switch placement. No sideways pedals, using pedal risers and Barefoot Button Tall Boys for tight spaces really helped me a lot.
This kind of confirms why I think I'm going to go with a tiered board...something like the Friedman. You lose out on some real estate, but you're not stepping on your front row when trying to reach the back row. And, it keeps you from cramming pedals too close together, at least front to back. Just found your channel a couple of days ago Rhett. Good stuff.
Great video with a lot of great points. I do a lot of fly dates and the motto "less is more", is more important than ever. This video hit the key issue in that when something goes wrong, it's always just minutes before curtains are up and you don't have time to start pulling shit apart to see what is going on. Talk about stressful. I play country so I am lucky to not need as many pedals, just 6 including a tuner. I try to also pick pedals with dual function. Since I use slap back 98% of the time, I can easily combine reverb/delay into either my Wampler Etheral or a Dispatch master. I set the reverb and forget it. Same with the delay. I also like to use smaller pedals when possible. The Wampler Tumnus is small and is a great option. I also use an inexpensive and small Mooer Pitchbox for my chorus. It's just one sound, but it only gets used 2-3 times so it's cool. It's not what I have on my main (big) board that I get to use on bus runs, but it works fine for a 60-90 minute fly-show. And there's room to get to everything fast....THAT IS SO IMPORTANT...... The power supply is smaller, too. And it all fits in a laptop bag that fits into my carry on backpack together with a few clothes......and my guitar flight case doubles as my suitcase for the rest of my clothes!! Smells like dirty sox now.........sorry to be long winded. Great video!!!
I went through a similar thing. I've got a loop switcher now which makes turning on certain effects a lot easier and less risky for a crowded and large board. Its working for now but I think it might be better to run 2 smaller boards than cramming everything into one.
You know, I couldn't agree more, Rhett. Many pedals that I have on my board are all wish-list pedals that I wanted individually but did not give much thought into whether they 'played nice' together. In specifics, my distortion stacking. I also wish I had investigated on a better delay pedal.. I digress.. Thank you much for this video!
Rhett, first of all, recent subscriber speaking here, i enjoy your videos, awesome job and as they say - keep 'em coming! :) But, if i may i would like to share some of my thoughts with you regarding this topic, and what i have always regarded as simple, somewhat obvious priorities when designing all of the layouts of my gigging pedalboards to date: 1) Only what is needed and necessary -- as you realised yourself, having excess pedals on the board makes things unnecessarily crowded and just more difficult for precise live use. Trim it down, leave what is essential for the gigs you need the board for. I know that this most probably clashes directly with the needed versatility, BUT, if being honest, i think we all realise at a certain point, that more often than not, we tend to keep some pedals on the board even if we don't use them that much. I stopped doing that because i can't stand having something on the board if i don't use it on a regular basis. 2) Front row of pedals should be those that are being stomped on THE MOST -- i know that this (well, as everything else, i guess :) ) is strictly personal thing, depending on needs, habits etc, but i always, and i do mean always fill the front row with pedals that i use the most, so that they are most accessible for stomping, but always paying extra attention to the spacing betweeen the switches. You saw for yourself what can happen if the two wrong things are too close one to another. So, cramming as many pedals as possible is not the best idea most of the time, especially if the board is for live gigging, where all sorts of things can happen. I always tend to populate the front row with drives and a delay (because of the tap tempo which gets corrected all the time), and IF there is leftover space, maybe i'll put something else in there, but only if it doesn't make it too crammed for stomping with average care and precision. 3) Wah/Volume/Expression pedals to the side of the board - this is also strictly my personal taste, but for example, having a fairly large pedal of that type in the middle of a densely populated board as you do (and we should keep in mind - those pedals are being used in a picky, more delicate manner compared to the simple stomping of the footswitch), would make me somewhat uncomfortable because i would have to pay extra attention of not screwing up my settings of the neighbouring pedals every time i go near that wah/volume/expression. Since the physical placement of pedals does not have to follow the signal flow, i feel that people should take advantage of that fact more often. That's all. The rest of the decisions take secondary priority compared to those three. Everything else must be according to those three basic principles. And this way of board layout and design has served me well for over 700+ live gigs. I hope this was somewhat helpful, looking forward to seeing more quality content. :)
Great vid. For anyone using/splitting their modulation FX through an FX loop. I had similar volume pedal issues. Saved a ton of space by taking my volume pedal off the board
With the volume pedal off the board you can stand anywhere with it and you’re not straightjacketed to your pedalboard. It’s also very quick to flip pre/post reverbs or delays if you want to change tail dynamics.
The problem with the volume pedal I also had it, in my case if I push the distortion, I ended with volume down at the same time! So I changed it to a pedal that has two switches , Which the main switch is not close and if the other is activated nothing happens. Love your videos broth! Thanks to you I have setup I rethinking about all my gear! Saludos desde Ecuador.
I've made some of those same mistakes. I think when people have that many pedals on a board, they generally have a switcher to control it all. That should solve the button & knob accidents, and then if you find when you're setting up your patches that you don't use certain pedals for tones you want, then take them off the board. I found the Boss MS-3 to be a great "brain" for the board, because it also has built in effects, in addition to FX loops, MIDI control, expression, amp switching, etc. Still, if you ever need something that's missing, or are using the H9 for something, you can always pop in one of the on-boards. Also has a built-in tuner. It's a great size to integrate with a board where you need space for your favorite analog pedals. The main limitations are that it only has 3 loops and they have to be adjacent in the chain. If you remove the bit commander and have a little more vertical space for the H9, you might consider the Barn3 OX9 to get some more functionality out of the H9, including built-in tuner, phrase looping, expression switching, etc. (then again, if you have the MS-3, you can have that trigger a lot of those functions on the H9 via MIDI).
The guys at my church have always had hugely oversized boards (compared to the small number of pedals on them) and it makes sense for this very reason. I very rarely see either of them hit a pedal unintentionally.
I feel ya, dude. Sometimes gotta go through it to know. If it were me, I’d keep the processors (strymon, eveneide) a few select gain pedals, and the volume pedal - and pull everything else. Maybe consider using the volume pedal as an expression pedal for the H9 and swelling with you volume knob. That’s what I did and much happier for it.
as always , very honestly done video. the sign of those fellows whose main goal is to improve in life. so according to what you said, my 2 cents in a very easy step : taking off 2 pedals will resolve main of your complains. - power issues - pushing buttons errors etc.. - give your volume pedal "breathing" - get all your main pedals in vertical position back. cheers from Israel.
Good video, thanks for the insight. Something I suggest you consider looking into are "Barefoot Buttons". I found they made a huge difference in hitting effects more reliably. Plus they look amazing.
I also have the Novo 24 and I also try to cram as much onto it as I can. That said, my wah and volume pedal take up most of the space and the cables I use don't allow for too much cramming. I now run 10 pedals which all serve a purpose. I can most likely still add two more which I might do in the future. I do have a shortage of power, though. :3
This seems like a pretty normal thing to go through. I've done it myself. It's kind of a pain in the ass but ya just rethink and adjust. I discovered I didn't need as many pedals as I tried to fit at first. I think of it as packing a suitcase for a trip. Only bring what you really need and leave open space in case you want to add something at the last minute. I've been playing 35 years and I still make adjustments.
I bought myself a Quartermaster 8 from GigRig (Daniel from That Pedal Show) and that allows me to access all effects at the bottom of the board. I'm limited to 8 Pedals unless I put some in front or after. But I find it just the right amount to cover everything in sounds I need. I'm using the Evidence Audio solderless cables which are fantastic - power supply is the fantastic CIOKS DC10. I"m super happy with this board - which is a NOVO 24 as well. I've sent you a picture on twitter.
Kudos for sharing your failure - I know how much courage that requires, but it was of great value to me. I'm myself planning a board of similar size myself - and your video just boosted the previous messages how essential a simple loop switcher might be for my setup, or how I should really plan to have an "empty space for the extra pedal" built into the design. Good luck rebuilding this one. I am confident that you'll end up with a marvellous setup now!
I really enjoy your videos. For several reasons. You have a certain helpful quality that shows through; that you want others to benefit from your experience and knowledge. And generally you seem like a really nice guy. If I were much younger and lived in your area; I would enjoy hanging with you and talking shop. I have been a musician, practically all my life, and have had various musical experiences that I value and cherish. But the one thing I've never done (for reasons too involved to go into here), is go on tour with a band. So, in a way, I am living vicariously through you when I see your videos of your travels and gigs. And I do really like the instructional videos, like this one and the others you did on building a pedal board. And the ones on equipment you like and use - guitars, effects, amps, etc. Keep it up. I am now a subscriber. BTW, your wife is gorgeous. You are a lucky man.
I always try to keep expression pedals and tap tempos on the sides of the board with space around them. Also, I've found running 2 power supplies is better than a single larger one. This helps isolate certain noisy or hi-fidelity pedals as well as provide more options. It also looks like the case is big enough to support an addition of a tier. Thus making some easier to reach. I'm sure someone has pointed out and you've updated since, but larger add-on buttons may help too. It's all trial and error if you don't have it custom built.
I think with that many pedals I would use something like a Boss ES-8 or a Crocodile Tail. You’re obviously going to trim some fat off the board which will free up power and space and once you do that, you can have a switcher which will make effect switching more convenient and reliable but it will also clean up your signal path giving you truer tone. Thanks for your videos, I learn a lot from your honesty.
I had the same dilema after having my then set up for 4 years. i ended up swapping my pedaltrain pt3 to the new classic one and got rid of my loop switcher and removed pedals that i really didnt need. i bought some barefoot buttons for the pedals i constantly turn on and off. also decided to keep those pedals closer to my feet for easy reach. I decided to get my volume pedal out of my chain since i constantly ride my volume knob more often and i really dont do swells or anything...
Agreeing with a few others I've seen: a switcher I the solution. If you have a power or cable failure, it's so much easier to isolate the issue on the fly and won't leave the rest of the board unusable. You have those wonderful midi pedals, you should take advantage of it. Keeping things tidy and attractive is a good idea, it shows you care. People do kind of hate the "instagram era of pedalboards, usually because they don't have the time to dedicate on such a project. Musicom and Boss make excellent solutions, but I think you don't want a larger size board. Morningstar ML5 or VooDoo Labs Hex are switchers you can fit under the board and control with a small midi switcher (both are easy to chain together). You can even have a switcher off you board if you'd rather not take a pedal off with just a midi out on the side of the board. You will have to essentially double your cable count, however, so it isn't exactly the cheapest option. But it's the most ideal for your setup
I always put the overdrive pedals in the first row of my pedalboard, because I alternate from clean to dirt parts very frequently, or at least I have to do that the easiest way possibile without troubles. Hitting a delay and a boost of volume for solos is also something you have to be able to do easily, so they usually are next to the drives. All the other pedals can be placed in a second, elevated row. Yes, elevating pedals with little bits of plywood covered with isolating tape is both fun and useful: all the problems of accidentally moving pedal settings will be gone!
Thanks for sharing. It's not easy admitting mistakes, but I know people will watch this and reconsider some of the choices they'd make for their pedalboards. I ran into the same thing with pedals being crammed together and crazy signal paths. Wish I'd seen this video first ;)
Hey! Another nice video! I designed you another board, with a couple of extras, note that the Boost pedal showing is taking the place of the Steel String, (they didn't have the steel string on the site... lol) Anyway, here's the signal chain I would recommend: Guitar > Volume Pedal (Volume Pedal out to Tuner) > HoofReaper > ES-5 > (In the loops they can be rearranged with the Boss ES-5) 1. Tremolo 2. Boost 3. Steel String 4. LightSpeed 5. Bitcommander > H9 > Timeline > Big Sky > Amp You can use the Boss to send tap tempo and everything through Midi and control turning everything except the fuzz on and off. It also has buffers in and out so you can keep a strong signal without messing with the fuzz. It also gives you plenty of space to work with where you're not hitting things you don't want to hit. Here's a little picture of what it would, kind of, look like. Also, you can power the entire thing with very simple power supplies. Let me know if you have any questions about any of this, I'd be happy to help out any way I can. thaddaeus@chasingthetone.com www.dropbox.com/s/ccyeds3k8qbcumh/Screen%20Shot%202018-09-12%20at%201.06.01%20PM.png?dl=0
As a bass player with a pretty similar board as yours, the boss ls-2 is a life saver. I run most of my pedals through it. I have everything that I need on before the song starts, and with one button, I can turn on/ off 2 entire signals. That being said- I kinda hate my board too haha I also have a hoof reaper that I constantly accidentally hit on. I’m starting to think of just downgrading to a simple board. Tuner- comp- octave- Fuzz.
Man, I feel that. I've designed my first board myself and it was a horrible mess, so I've decided to downsize the number of pedals and create a layout using modulargrid. I've got every measurement right, I set up all the pedals, got all cables managed and the board looked absolutely fantastic. And was an absolute horror to play, with little to no space between pedals. Lesson learned.
I recommend the Road Rage True Bypass Looper. They are available in combinations of 4-16 'staggered' loops. The are hand built and made of thick anodized aluminum. True pro quality! They use Neutrik jacks, Taiwan Blue 3PDT switches and audiophile grade hookup wire. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.
Mooer is more. Since most are mini's you save space. And since most are small mV's you can power them easier. Guess I got lucky cause my 1st board I got 15 powered pedals and outs on the side.
First things first. Keep your volume pedal on the right hand side (if you're right handed), take off the redundant and unused pedals and rewire. You will have so much more space. When placing the pedals, make sure you have space to operate the various footswitches. We all learn through experience. It's a good looking board Rhett, now you can make it better :)
thanks for the vid. good points. + yeah u gotta have the pedal set-up working , before commiting it to the board. you have the construction down tho. looks super clean. next build should be fine : ). u can always use 2 power supplies, or have a power strip that goes with the board.
So in other words, you are bored with this board. Thanks for sharing Rhett! I have been watching your videos these days and absolutely love them! Props from Greece! Keep it up!
I really like my Disaster area DPC 5 controller which loops five pedals and controls four midi devices, and controls the looper on the timeline. It also changes my amp channels. Program it per set to change everything with one button. Pretty sweet. (They don’t pay me- I just love it) it does require power, but it’s worth sacrificing something.
pedal placement was something i never considered. I also play at church, and I remember going tap dancing my board to get ready for a recognizable guitar hook in the song, only to step on the POG accidentally, then frantically try to turn it off, only to turn off the OD. I also had my tuner set to kill the signal when tuning, and have many times accidentally killed the signal during songs... I think I need a bypass looper. lol
Move the hoof and diamond pedal toward the back and move the spring and Greer to the front. Then turn the Greer 180. The color box might also be better suited toward the back of the chain. You could fix all these issues in 30 min of ripping velcro and using a few longer cables to run under the board. Just a thought.
I don't get it -- if you get rid of those redundant pedals you mentioned doesn't it solve all the issues (clears up space, not as many power cables needed)?
Some throats: 1) interchange 2 pedals on bottom (empress and fuzz) with 2 pedals above them 2) or just use loop switcher 3) or just remove 2-3 pedal to leave more space for big foot))
So true, so many boards look great on Instagram but when it comes to playing actually live they must be impossible. You kind of want more space if anything, having everything tightly packed means you're going to he pressing everything! When you're live you need to be able switch quickly. Without triggering the wrong effects/pedals. So yeah more space is needed, bigger boards dependant on what you need are the key
It's a live and learn thing❣️ Might could stick on Velcro something to mod the height of your volume pedal. Could crazy glue some kind of bead bling or key cover, to one of your couple of close switches. I know the cable situation still would be there. Just some stuff I'd probably try in the moment. Tactile stuff just different enough.
I have the same board :) I eventualy got rid if my volume pedal and use my volume control on my guitar. I can think of a few ways of making more room on your board. You may want to set a swell setting on your timeline. And definitely get rid of what youre not using at your gigs. Doesnt mean you couldnt experiment with the non gigged pedals at home. I personally dont have much on the middle row of my novo 24 because I had the same problem of stepping on stuff I didnt want to and it became to crowded for my eyes. I wasnt able to focus because there was "to much" to choose from and to look at. I have about 11 pedals on my board and one is the exp for my neunaber expanse which are powered together. My tuner powers the 10th pedal that my power supply cant. Your h9 is a great "multi effect" Id definitely dive into that cause like you mentioned, you really like a lot of what it does and that should give you some more space to work with.
I keep my wah and volume pedal off the board and all the effects on the board only. That being said.. I've effed up my pedal board and reconfigured it numerous times before I got happy. .. what's refreshing about your video and all your videos really, is that you're so humble and honest about your learning experiences. *Respect
The best thing I ever did for building my studio pedal board was to get a BOSS ES-8.It made sense after I built it with my friend who made many pedal boards ! He's an electronics expert tech so that helps!We ran with all Evidence cables at custom built lengths .For Power : A Decibel Eleven & Voodoo labs Power supplies. Everything is plugged into the ES-8 in various places .The I have a mini Dunlop wha & Mini Dunlop volume pedal there plugged into the Expression ports. A Mini TC Poly tune plugged into the tuner port, Keeley Compressor (Loop1), Nobles ODR-1 (Loop 2) ,Fulltone OCD (Loop 3), Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret 2 (Loop 4)Lovepedal Kalamazoo (Loop5) ,Eventide H9 Max (Loop 6), TC Alter ego Vintage Delays x4 (Loop7) after that I plug into a 4 Channel Voo Doo Labs Amp Selector.I Plug into (Channel 1) a Vox AC-30 with Blu Alnico Celestion Speaker with a Celestion Greenback speaker .Then into (Channel 2) Roland JC-77 for clean. Then into (Channel 3) to Fender 68 Deluxe Reverb with a EV EL 12 M 200 WATT speaker ,Then into (Channel4) a Rozon (Custom made amp) 4 Channel 75 watt rack Mount amp powering a 4x12 enclosed cabinet with G12 T 75 watt Celestions. I pretty much have everything I need at my studio sound wise covered.But the quest for tone never stops!
I'm glad you said that about the redundancy because the first thing I thought when I saw it was "what kind of crazy sounds is he going for where he has an h9 max but still needs a trem, big sky, and timeline?"
OK, sorry for the long reply, but my opinion. Pull off the Color Box and Bit Commander are they are not used. Unless you need a bunch different delays and reverbs running simultaneously, remove the Timeline Big Sky and get a second H9. Run one H9 in mono (pre/post... check Eventide website for details), that will also allow for removal of the Tremolo (and give you back the functionality of the Bit Commander). Next add a midi enabled loop switcher, something like a Musicomm Lab EXF-LE or even a Boss ES-5. This will give you both presets and handle midi switching of the 2 H9s. please don't hesitate to message if you think I can be of more assistance. And yes I agree, having a pro shop do your board is a GREAT idea. Dave Philips at LA Sound Design would be my first call.
..which is why I'll never have anymore than 4 to 5 pedals ...tuner , line 6 modulation pedal in front ( which works fine for effects ) Duallist OD , Exotic boost and delay .....done ....no compression pedals etc etc ....in saying that , great video Rhett , keeping it real ....cheers
Simplify your setup for live situations. As a guitarist in a shoegaze/alternative band... I change my setup depending on the tour or on the material we'll be playing. Sometimes I just buy a smaller pedal with a similar sound to make some space. Or buy one that can combine two effects.
Thanks for sharing. I ended up adding a Voodoo Lab Digital supply to the VL Pedal Power 2 Plus and that solved my power supply deficit issue. I can run 9 or 12 V. I have a Pedaltrain PT-Pro, so I think it’s wider than yours appears to be. My size 10s work fine even wearing boots! I even have a little unused real estate, hmmm, what to add next....
I did a similar mistake of getting the stompers too close together. Before I committed to a layout, I gave it a day or two just letting the layout sit there and talk to me. And, still, the first layout I went with had problems. O man, how did you end up with your expression pedal not at the east or west end of your board?!? As soon as you pulled it out, I knew what happened - and you told the story of hitting your fuzz box while at the volume pedal. Ack! I really appreciate you sharing your mistakes. On my first build, I didn’t pay mind to the rule, “measure twice to cut once.” My new rule is “measure 3 or 4 times, then think about it for an hour, then cut. After that, just know you’ll have to redo the whole thing in a week.” As much as ya plan, when you start actually using the board, all your mistakes become glaringly apparent. I’ve been building my new board layout slowly, checking the placing and spacing for ease in performance. Bon chance on your next build!
This is the exact reason I am running my single pedals with a multieffects pedal set up as a back up to emulate my single pedals should something go out of wack in my single pedal chain live.
If you've large feet/wear boots, I strongly recommend a tiered pedal board. I also suggest ditching any pedal you don't use in for at least 75% of the gig. Anything else can be thrown in the loop/in front of the amp (depending on where your board is). Check your total power draw, and upgrade your supply as required. You've a couple of Strymon, try one of their supplies, if you've not already. Outside that, well, I'd say switch over to as many Boss Pedals as possible, but I'm a bit of a fanboy of Boss, so maybe I'm biased? lol
Ah man, I feel your pain. Been there many times. Learned a pedal board is like a pizza, you can’t put everything you love on top and get a tasty result.
Stefan Hamilton that is literally the best analogy.
Damn well said
So true
Stefan Hamilton 6
RE: Pizza toppings. Speak for yourself! ;)
That was just as helpful as a seeing a successful build.
If you still want a very flexible board I would do the following:
get rid of tremolo, colour box, tuner and bit commander. Choose which of the strymon pedals you can live without because of the H9. Do you use the looper in the timeline? if so keep that and maybe get a smaller reverb pedal e.g. Source Audio Ventris. If not then dump it as the H9 can do everything else Timeline can.(though not analog dry thru) H9 also acts as your tuner by the way.
I'd also get a smaller volume pedal or even consider an expression pedal instead given the capabilities that will give you with the H9 and strymons as well as potentially being able to act as a volume pedal
Do you really need two fuzzes? If not decide which one is most versatile and which stacks best with other pedals.
Like lots of others have said get a switcher which does midi and also one that can change the position of pedals in the signal chain (really useful for the H9): gigrig or Boss ES8. This is the most important thing to do in my opinion.
Also a tiered board would increase your pedal real estate significantly.
Sorry about the essay but I've just been through something similar so its fresh in my mind.
Great content by the way
Peter Jessop
Hey Peter. Good on you for speaking honestly.
There are so many ways to be rude while being critical, so kudos for just sticking to being practical!
GigRig, Boss Looper, American Looper... or my favorite, Carl Martin Octa-Switch!!! Problem Solved!
Just added an ES8 to my board and it is indeed a game changer and already used the loop order with the H9 max. Worked great! But it also is throwing a wrench into ,my thinking. I have several dual pedals that are not as optimized. Nice learning through trial and error isn't it! Evolution.
Calypso Reese thanks very much
Jack Minear yeah I understand the issue with dual pedals. I decided to set up my D&M drive before start of a song and use it either as a boost for solos or for Rhythm and use an alternative pedal or amp channel for whatever the D&M wasn’t doing if that makes sense.
Hi,
I think it’s important to have some before/after stories like this, as people are encouraged to get together as many pedals as possible, whereas in a live situation, the board has to be ‘live-able’ ... as far as switchers go, I wholeheartedly recommend the Gigrig G2 as well as their modular power supply system ... G2 has re-orderable loops and so it’s easy to change things round, and I’m sure you’d then find a position / combination where that JHS Colour Box was useful to you - it is based on Neve pre-amps after all, and Neve knew what he was doing... Good luck with the rebuild...
As a size 14 foot who is starting to get into building a pedal board, I appreciate your honesty.
This guy needs a switcher. Problems all solved.
The last thing you want is to quick on a gnarly fuzz pedal 😂
Thank you so much!!! I can't TELL you how many people have said things to me like, "There's so much space between your pedals! If you arranged them better, you could get more in there or get a smaller board!" Or... I could have enough space to actually operate the board live without having to point my toe like a ballerina! Thank you for advocating for function over form!
genuinely cant believe this guy doesnt just fix the issues
Loop switcher and a multi tier board. The best thing I ever bought for my board was a Boss ES 8 switcher. Once you've had one you'll wonder what you ever did without.
I have an ES-5, but feel the same way.
I was watching your "How to stack overdrives" video, when you went to turn on your Vertex SSS, you angled your foot in a way to only hit it. I instantly knew your pain. LOL. So, I built a DIY oversized board, that only goes from home to studio. Purposely built so my size 9 1/2 only hits one pedal.
Almost every lesson I've learned in music has been the hard way. (e.g. trading my early 60's LP gold top 40 years ago for a guitar I ended up hardly ever playing). As in life itself, I think that's just the way it works. It's great when we can share what we've learned from experience with others to help them avoid making the same mistakes, as Brett has done here. There is so much valuable information on this video, and I have no doubt it's going to be a big help to a lot of musicians.
Great video! Totally agree. It took me a while to get mine done too. I appreciate your advice. I kept mine simple too. Compressor, overdrives, Preamp to Boss Volume pedal then to Zoom G3 for all delays, reverb to the Joyo Cab Box and that finally worked for me. Definitely keep enough room purposely on the board to step on the right pedals at the right times!
When I first saw your board I thought about some of the issues that you said in this video. Nice to see that you are willing to teach others about your mistakes. Great video.
My board's being built right now, with room to grow and space for my feet to switch comfortably. It's been a 10+ year journey. So stoked!
Hey Rhett!! Thanks for sharing your experience. I can really relate to this video because before I got my Pedaltrain Classic Pro my pedals were all in a very tight position and I would frequently touch cables and switches when turning on a pedal and would even touch the power cable, causing unwanted noise. From that I realized we just don't have to populate the whole board because there is not only problem with turning on a pedal accidentally, there is also problem with power supply, which I tried to solve using my Korg tuners but a couple of times I stumbled upon the problem with voltage requirement and saw pedals that wouldn't power up.
Great and informative video. I’m still building my collection of pedals to put my board together, and I’m almost at the point where it’s time to actually do it, so this kind of advice is invaluable to me.
Call Daniel Steinhardt at the Gig Rig!
This video is why I love your channel...you're honest, and you're real.
Awesome video! I’m so happy you learned and are adept at sharing that learning. It’s not failure if you can make a lesson of it.
I love my Strymons, but unless you are changing settings during a gig, there are many great smaller delay and verb pedals out there. My Strymons are just used in a reamp loop in Logic Pro now. If you’re doing session work, and that’s where the versatility of the Strymons becomes necessary, then just keep them in your bag, not on the board.
I started off building and trying to get as many pedals as possible. Now, I’ll play with at max 5 pedals and that includes tuner/ vol pedal. But that’s for my needs. Just try to play with the least amount of pedals. You’ll be able to focus more on the playing and enjoy it more and less worrying about stepping on the right pedals. Howdy from Texas!
From this video to the other one with Mason, it looks like you solved all of your headaches with boards. Tiers, switchers and not putting a volume pedal in the middle are the best things!
and I like your comment in there, "I....need.....more......power"
Thanks for the honest vid, Rhett. I'm in the process of revamping my own board. Biggest problem I have is the central part of my setup is a boss gt100. It's lengthy and kind of wide as well. I like that it has it's own effects loop so the small handful of pedals I want to incorporate can be integrated that way but I have cabling issues like you described. Great tips-thanx again. Back to the drawing board (pun intended), for this ol' boy! 🎸
I don't judge other people's boards because I don't know what their needs are for their gigs. I always tell my students when putting a board together to "think of the essentials" and then show them what I use. I get a lot of church gigs and blues/rock gigs, so I built a board for both. The signal path is Volume Pedal, Tuner, Compressor, Dual Overdrive, Delay, and Reverb. That's all I need, and for the blues gig, I typically switch the Volume Pedal for a Wah if the gig calls for it. But, that's all I really need, and working guys have to think that way.
Since you've made this video on what not to do maybe make a video in helping to identify what a player needs for a specific gig like "Building a Worship Pedalboard Tutorial" or "Building an RnB Pedalboard." I know for me I just leave essential pedals on the board and adjust one or two for the gig if it calls for it but others might enjoy that, and if it may seem too tedious or unnecessary maybe do guide videos into playing in specific genres. I'm not sure if you do that already, but I know when I teach my more advanced students they ask me questions like that a lot.
Keep posting! You're doing great.
Nice, I thought that I was crazy because I don't use modulations.
Antonio de Jesús López Alarcón No, you're not crazy.
I'm not knocking modulation either. I just don't use it enough to invest in it.
I can relate to this. I spent a year, in which I got 3 boutique amps in a box, some really nice time based effects, 11 pedals in total, built the board itself, and decided to be an inventor and power it all, by lithium ion battery pack. Well of course I needed to learn that you can't just use adaptor cables for the 5 to 9v jump required. Then I learned a real good lesson about isolated power supplies. Yes, I learned a lot and came up with an elaborate 12 circuit individually voltage adjustable power supply running off my original battery pack (by the way, my electronics background could be classified as "average guitarist" level). And it was quiet. And it sounded good. Then just take a wild stab at what happens next. Ding ding ding! You are right! Dude! I need a Joyo switcher real bad, can't live without it, gotta get one! Well I got one. And yes it was a super pain in the ass to have to re wire it AGAIN after having just made 30 or so custom length Canare wire cables. Duhooooh... Didn't see that coming. And then, the final of all improbabilities. A sudden windfall of money, allowing me to replace my so so effect platform amp with a Friedman...Who needs those amps in a box now? Such a labour of love, I actually am pretty proud of my originally 12 dollar Ikea challenge pedal board. I am gonna feel like a real heal as I part it out to be replaced by yes.....An HX Effects. I might even miss that colourful 3 tiered monstrosity. Great video by the way, thanks man.
Great video. Thoughtful and all that stuff. -this I why I hand-built my own board and had a custom flight case made for it. I’ve seen boards like yours in the video and always wondered if I did the right thing... -thanks for the confidence boost -I think I did.
If you are not using some of the pedals, then why even have them on the board? It's not rocket surgery. Your foot is big, get rid of a pedal and make more space, which will also give you more power to other pedals, solved.
Part of the reason I put this board together was for a specific label showcase gig I had recently where I needed almost every pedal on the board (except the Colour Box) moving forward I’ll be able to downsize
radialdrift did you just say ‘rocket surgery’?
"Rocket surgery" 😂🤣
I have used boosters made from 1x3s cut into pedal sized pieces and velcroed between board and pedals. That way I had tiers so I could use a lot of pedals in tight spaces. For the power issue you can daisy chain the extras.
@@Alexanderzzzzon Just like Drain Bramage.... I LIKE IT!
whether you're building a pedal or a pedalboard, rushing it only leads to more headaches and work later on. think long and hard about it before you drill/solder/attach anything anywhere. good that you made a video about this. a good-looking pedal/board means nothing if it's not functional.
Brave confession! Admirable. My solution (I also have big feet) is to put most used pedals in front row, with space. Least used on top. Volume (or wah) pedal on far right edge/bottom. It's ok to have open space. Good luck! 🙂
I think I've learned a lot through building a few boards myself. After trying many pedals, I've settled on the very pedals that I will use night after night. I then chose the size board to hold my pedals. I don't want an oversized board that I have to drag out to my car or van at the end of the night when I am tired. So, I've got my board down to two rows of pedals and give enough space between them that I don't hit an unwanted switch. I placed risers underneath my board's back so I don't mess up the front rows settings. I've very happy with how it ended up. I think sometimes it's good to go through the growing pains to be smarter about it all. Well, for me at least.
You nailed it - That's an Instagram board, not a practical one. I've built those myself too and the realisation part sucks.
My current board is still tight, but with a lot more thought put into accessibility and switch placement. No sideways pedals, using pedal risers and Barefoot Button Tall Boys for tight spaces really helped me a lot.
This kind of confirms why I think I'm going to go with a tiered board...something like the Friedman. You lose out on some real estate, but you're not stepping on your front row when trying to reach the back row. And, it keeps you from cramming pedals too close together, at least front to back. Just found your channel a couple of days ago Rhett. Good stuff.
Thanks! Im looking into a tiered board I saw at NAMM. Ill be sure to keep everyone updated
Great video with a lot of great points. I do a lot of fly dates and the motto "less is more", is more important than ever. This video hit the key issue in that when something goes wrong, it's always just minutes before curtains are up and you don't have time to start pulling shit apart to see what is going on. Talk about stressful. I play country so I am lucky to not need as many pedals, just 6 including a tuner. I try to also pick pedals with dual function. Since I use slap back 98% of the time, I can easily combine reverb/delay into either my Wampler Etheral or a Dispatch master. I set the reverb and forget it. Same with the delay. I also like to use smaller pedals when possible. The Wampler Tumnus is small and is a great option. I also use an inexpensive and small Mooer Pitchbox for my chorus. It's just one sound, but it only gets used 2-3 times so it's cool. It's not what I have on my main (big) board that I get to use on bus runs, but it works fine for a 60-90 minute fly-show. And there's room to get to everything fast....THAT IS SO IMPORTANT...... The power supply is smaller, too. And it all fits in a laptop bag that fits into my carry on backpack together with a few clothes......and my guitar flight case doubles as my suitcase for the rest of my clothes!! Smells like dirty sox now.........sorry to be long winded. Great video!!!
I went through a similar thing. I've got a loop switcher now which makes turning on certain effects a lot easier and less risky for a crowded and large board. Its working for now but I think it might be better to run 2 smaller boards than cramming everything into one.
I'm on my 3rd setup on my board, and it's just a learning experience. Gets better every time.
You know, I couldn't agree more, Rhett. Many pedals that I have on my board are all wish-list pedals that I wanted individually but did not give much thought into whether they 'played nice' together. In specifics, my distortion stacking. I also wish I had investigated on a better delay pedal.. I digress.. Thank you much for this video!
Man, your videos are not only perfectly done, but VERY useful, thanks from Argentina!
You're making me so glad I'm happy with 2-4 pedals at at time.
Rhett, first of all, recent subscriber speaking here, i enjoy your videos, awesome job and as they say - keep 'em coming! :)
But, if i may i would like to share some of my thoughts with you regarding this topic, and what i have always regarded as simple, somewhat obvious priorities when designing all of the layouts of my gigging pedalboards to date:
1) Only what is needed and necessary -- as you realised yourself, having excess pedals on the board makes things unnecessarily crowded and just more difficult for precise live use. Trim it down, leave what is essential for the gigs you need the board for. I know that this most probably clashes directly with the needed versatility, BUT, if being honest, i think we all realise at a certain point, that more often than not, we tend to keep some pedals on the board even if we don't use them that much. I stopped doing that because i can't stand having something on the board if i don't use it on a regular basis.
2) Front row of pedals should be those that are being stomped on THE MOST -- i know that this (well, as everything else, i guess :) ) is strictly personal thing, depending on needs, habits etc, but i always, and i do mean always fill the front row with pedals that i use the most, so that they are most accessible for stomping, but always paying extra attention to the spacing betweeen the switches. You saw for yourself what can happen if the two wrong things are too close one to another. So, cramming as many pedals as possible is not the best idea most of the time, especially if the board is for live gigging, where all sorts of things can happen. I always tend to populate the front row with drives and a delay (because of the tap tempo which gets corrected all the time), and IF there is leftover space, maybe i'll put something else in there, but only if it doesn't make it too crammed for stomping with average care and precision.
3) Wah/Volume/Expression pedals to the side of the board - this is also strictly my personal taste, but for example, having a fairly large pedal of that type in the middle of a densely populated board as you do (and we should keep in mind - those pedals are being used in a picky, more delicate manner compared to the simple stomping of the footswitch), would make me somewhat uncomfortable because i would have to pay extra attention of not screwing up my settings of the neighbouring pedals every time i go near that wah/volume/expression. Since the physical placement of pedals does not have to follow the signal flow, i feel that people should take advantage of that fact more often.
That's all. The rest of the decisions take secondary priority compared to those three. Everything else must be according to those three basic principles. And this way of board layout and design has served me well for over 700+ live gigs.
I hope this was somewhat helpful, looking forward to seeing more quality content. :)
Great vid. For anyone using/splitting their modulation FX through an FX loop. I had similar volume pedal issues. Saved a ton of space by taking my volume pedal off the board
With the volume pedal off the board you can stand anywhere with it and you’re not straightjacketed to your pedalboard. It’s also very quick to flip pre/post reverbs or delays if you want to change tail dynamics.
Great lessons and that's the most valuable! Shows how important it is to edit yourself during the creative process.
The problem with the volume pedal I also had it, in my case if I push the distortion, I ended with volume down at the same time! So I changed it to a pedal that has two switches , Which the main switch is not close and if the other is activated nothing happens. Love your videos broth! Thanks to you I have setup I rethinking about all my gear! Saludos desde Ecuador.
I've made some of those same mistakes. I think when people have that many pedals on a board, they generally have a switcher to control it all. That should solve the button & knob accidents, and then if you find when you're setting up your patches that you don't use certain pedals for tones you want, then take them off the board. I found the Boss MS-3 to be a great "brain" for the board, because it also has built in effects, in addition to FX loops, MIDI control, expression, amp switching, etc. Still, if you ever need something that's missing, or are using the H9 for something, you can always pop in one of the on-boards. Also has a built-in tuner. It's a great size to integrate with a board where you need space for your favorite analog pedals. The main limitations are that it only has 3 loops and they have to be adjacent in the chain. If you remove the bit commander and have a little more vertical space for the H9, you might consider the Barn3 OX9 to get some more functionality out of the H9, including built-in tuner, phrase looping, expression switching, etc. (then again, if you have the MS-3, you can have that trigger a lot of those functions on the H9 via MIDI).
The guys at my church have always had hugely oversized boards (compared to the small number of pedals on them) and it makes sense for this very reason. I very rarely see either of them hit a pedal unintentionally.
I feel ya, dude. Sometimes gotta go through it to know. If it were me, I’d keep the processors (strymon, eveneide) a few select gain pedals, and the volume pedal - and pull everything else. Maybe consider using the volume pedal as an expression pedal for the H9 and swelling with you volume knob. That’s what I did and much happier for it.
as always , very honestly done video. the sign of those fellows whose main goal is to improve in life.
so according to what you said, my 2 cents in a very easy step :
taking off 2 pedals will resolve main of your complains.
- power issues
- pushing buttons errors etc..
- give your volume pedal "breathing"
- get all your main pedals in vertical position back.
cheers from Israel.
Good video, thanks for the insight. Something I suggest you consider looking into are "Barefoot Buttons". I found they made a huge difference in hitting effects more reliably. Plus they look amazing.
Building a pedalboard is piece of art :)
I also have the Novo 24 and I also try to cram as much onto it as I can. That said, my wah and volume pedal take up most of the space and the cables I use don't allow for too much cramming. I now run 10 pedals which all serve a purpose. I can most likely still add two more which I might do in the future. I do have a shortage of power, though. :3
This seems like a pretty normal thing to go through. I've done it myself. It's kind of a pain in the ass but ya just rethink and adjust. I discovered I didn't need as many pedals as I tried to fit at first. I think of it as packing a suitcase for a trip. Only bring what you really need and leave open space in case you want to add something at the last minute. I've been playing 35 years and I still make adjustments.
Thank you for sharing. I have always used only one or two pedals without a board. But, now, I want to make a board. Your video is very helpful.
I bought myself a Quartermaster 8 from GigRig (Daniel from That Pedal Show) and that allows me to access all effects at the bottom of the board. I'm limited to 8 Pedals unless I put some in front or after. But I find it just the right amount to cover everything in sounds I need. I'm using the Evidence Audio solderless cables which are fantastic - power supply is the fantastic CIOKS DC10. I"m super happy with this board - which is a NOVO 24 as well. I've sent you a picture on twitter.
Kudos for sharing your failure - I know how much courage that requires, but it was of great value to me. I'm myself planning a board of similar size myself - and your video just boosted the previous messages how essential a simple loop switcher might be for my setup, or how I should really plan to have an "empty space for the extra pedal" built into the design. Good luck rebuilding this one. I am confident that you'll end up with a marvellous setup now!
I second that - kudos to Rhett
I really enjoy your videos. For several reasons. You have a certain helpful quality that shows through; that you want others to benefit from your experience and knowledge. And generally you seem like a really nice guy. If I were much younger and lived in your area; I would enjoy hanging with you and talking shop. I have been a musician, practically all my life, and have had various musical experiences that I value and cherish. But the one thing I've never done (for reasons too involved to go into here), is go on tour with a band. So, in a way, I am living vicariously through you when I see your videos of your travels and gigs. And I do really like the instructional videos, like this one and the others you did on building a pedal board. And the ones on equipment you like and use - guitars, effects, amps, etc. Keep it up. I am now a subscriber. BTW, your wife is gorgeous. You are a lucky man.
Thanks for the kind words Thomas!
I always try to keep expression pedals and tap tempos on the sides of the board with space around them. Also, I've found running 2 power supplies is better than a single larger one. This helps isolate certain noisy or hi-fidelity pedals as well as provide more options. It also looks like the case is big enough to support an addition of a tier. Thus making some easier to reach. I'm sure someone has pointed out and you've updated since, but larger add-on buttons may help too. It's all trial and error if you don't have it custom built.
I think with that many pedals I would use something like a Boss ES-8 or a Crocodile Tail. You’re obviously going to trim some fat off the board which will free up power and space and once you do that, you can have a switcher which will make effect switching more convenient and reliable but it will also clean up your signal path giving you truer tone. Thanks for your videos, I learn a lot from your honesty.
I had the same dilema after having my then set up for 4 years. i ended up swapping my pedaltrain pt3 to the new classic one and got rid of my loop switcher and removed pedals that i really didnt need. i bought some barefoot buttons for the pedals i constantly turn on and off. also decided to keep those pedals closer to my feet for easy reach. I decided to get my volume pedal out of my chain since i constantly ride my volume knob more often and i really dont do swells or anything...
As far as I’m concerned this video ought to be the primer for anyone looking to set up a board. Thanks for sharing your experience.
I needed to see this. As someone who scaled down and still had a cake and eat it mindset I needed to see this
Agreeing with a few others I've seen: a switcher I the solution. If you have a power or cable failure, it's so much easier to isolate the issue on the fly and won't leave the rest of the board unusable. You have those wonderful midi pedals, you should take advantage of it. Keeping things tidy and attractive is a good idea, it shows you care. People do kind of hate the "instagram era of pedalboards, usually because they don't have the time to dedicate on such a project. Musicom and Boss make excellent solutions, but I think you don't want a larger size board. Morningstar ML5 or VooDoo Labs Hex are switchers you can fit under the board and control with a small midi switcher (both are easy to chain together). You can even have a switcher off you board if you'd rather not take a pedal off with just a midi out on the side of the board. You will have to essentially double your cable count, however, so it isn't exactly the cheapest option. But it's the most ideal for your setup
oansun u
I always put the overdrive pedals in the first row of my pedalboard, because I alternate from clean to dirt parts very frequently, or at least I have to do that the easiest way possibile without troubles. Hitting a delay and a boost of volume for solos is also something you have to be able to do easily, so they usually are next to the drives. All the other pedals can be placed in a second, elevated row. Yes, elevating pedals with little bits of plywood covered with isolating tape is both fun and useful: all the problems of accidentally moving pedal settings will be gone!
Thanks for sharing. It's not easy admitting mistakes, but I know people will watch this and reconsider some of the choices they'd make for their pedalboards. I ran into the same thing with pedals being crammed together and crazy signal paths. Wish I'd seen this video first ;)
Hey! Another nice video!
I designed you another board, with a couple of extras, note that the Boost pedal showing is taking the place of the Steel String, (they didn't have the steel string on the site... lol)
Anyway, here's the signal chain I would recommend:
Guitar > Volume Pedal (Volume Pedal out to Tuner) > HoofReaper > ES-5 > (In the loops they can be rearranged with the Boss ES-5) 1. Tremolo 2. Boost 3. Steel String 4. LightSpeed 5. Bitcommander > H9 > Timeline > Big Sky > Amp
You can use the Boss to send tap tempo and everything through Midi and control turning everything except the fuzz on and off. It also has buffers in and out so you can keep a strong signal without messing with the fuzz. It also gives you plenty of space to work with where you're not hitting things you don't want to hit.
Here's a little picture of what it would, kind of, look like. Also, you can power the entire thing with very simple power supplies. Let me know if you have any questions about any of this, I'd be happy to help out any way I can. thaddaeus@chasingthetone.com
www.dropbox.com/s/ccyeds3k8qbcumh/Screen%20Shot%202018-09-12%20at%201.06.01%20PM.png?dl=0
As a bass player with a pretty similar board as yours, the boss ls-2 is a life saver. I run most of my pedals through it. I have everything that I need on before the song starts, and with one button, I can turn on/ off 2 entire signals.
That being said- I kinda hate my board too haha I also have a hoof reaper that I constantly accidentally hit on.
I’m starting to think of just downgrading to a simple board. Tuner- comp- octave- Fuzz.
Man, I feel that. I've designed my first board myself and it was a horrible mess, so I've decided to downsize the number of pedals and create a layout using modulargrid. I've got every measurement right, I set up all the pedals, got all cables managed and the board looked absolutely fantastic. And was an absolute horror to play, with little to no space between pedals. Lesson learned.
Lots of very good points made and appreciated. I too really dig the NOVO 24.
I learned long ago to always test out the feel of my volume pedal when re-arranging my board. Looking to just getting a mini volume pedal now.
I recommend the Road Rage True Bypass Looper. They are available in combinations of 4-16 'staggered' loops. The are hand built and made of thick anodized aluminum. True pro quality! They use Neutrik jacks, Taiwan Blue 3PDT switches and audiophile grade hookup wire. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.
Great point about pedals being too close, I got the Novo 32 just to give me extra space between pedals, Paul Gilbert mentions this constantly.
"Less is more"
More is more. MOAR.
More more and more +more=Yngwie
Tell that to Gilmour
Mooer is more. Since most are mini's you save space. And since most are small mV's you can power them easier. Guess I got lucky cause my 1st board I got 15 powered pedals and outs on the side.
Even me, in my Woman's boots, couldn't use that board. Nice that you were honest and made your mistakes into a useful video.
First things first. Keep your volume pedal on the right hand side (if you're right handed), take off the redundant and unused pedals and rewire. You will have so much more space. When placing the pedals, make sure you have space to operate the various footswitches. We all learn through experience. It's a good looking board Rhett, now you can make it better :)
thanks for the vid. good points. + yeah u gotta have the pedal set-up working , before commiting it to the board. you have the construction down tho. looks super clean. next build should be fine : ). u can always use 2 power supplies, or have a power strip that goes with the board.
"are you breaking up with me?" - pedalboard
So in other words, you are bored with this board.
Thanks for sharing Rhett! I have been watching your videos these days and absolutely love them! Props from Greece! Keep it up!
Nice of you to help others with your mistakes - Thanks - great job!
I really like my Disaster area DPC 5 controller which loops five pedals and controls four midi devices, and controls the looper on the timeline. It also changes my amp channels. Program it per set to change everything with one button. Pretty sweet. (They don’t pay me- I just love it) it does require power, but it’s worth sacrificing something.
pedal placement was something i never considered. I also play at church, and I remember going tap dancing my board to get ready for a recognizable guitar hook in the song, only to step on the POG accidentally, then frantically try to turn it off, only to turn off the OD. I also had my tuner set to kill the signal when tuning, and have many times accidentally killed the signal during songs... I think I need a bypass looper. lol
Called it! As soon as I saw the Volume Pedal position you just know its going to catch everything else.
Move the hoof and diamond pedal toward the back and move the spring and Greer to the front. Then turn the Greer 180. The color box might also be better suited toward the back of the chain. You could fix all these issues in 30 min of ripping velcro and using a few longer cables to run under the board. Just a thought.
I don't get it -- if you get rid of those redundant pedals you mentioned doesn't it solve all the issues (clears up space, not as many power cables needed)?
Some throats:
1) interchange 2 pedals on bottom (empress and fuzz) with 2 pedals above them
2) or just use loop switcher
3) or just remove 2-3 pedal to leave more space for big foot))
So true, so many boards look great on Instagram but when it comes to playing actually live they must be impossible.
You kind of want more space if anything, having everything tightly packed means you're going to he pressing everything! When you're live you need to be able switch quickly. Without triggering the wrong effects/pedals. So yeah more space is needed, bigger boards dependant on what you need are the key
I had similar problems while pushing the buttons. I added some pedal raisers and they helped me (diy ones)
Glad you get to the point quicker in your more recent videos.. and don't really need to see you get your keys and open the boot to make a point :)
It's a live and learn thing❣️ Might could stick on Velcro something to mod the height of your volume pedal. Could crazy glue some kind of bead bling or key cover, to one of your couple of close switches. I know the cable situation still would be there. Just some stuff I'd probably try in the moment. Tactile stuff just different enough.
I have the same board :) I eventualy got rid if my volume pedal and use my volume control on my guitar. I can think of a few ways of making more room on your board. You may want to set a swell setting on your timeline. And definitely get rid of what youre not using at your gigs. Doesnt mean you couldnt experiment with the non gigged pedals at home. I personally dont have much on the middle row of my novo 24 because I had the same problem of stepping on stuff I didnt want to and it became to crowded for my eyes. I wasnt able to focus because there was "to much" to choose from and to look at. I have about 11 pedals on my board and one is the exp for my neunaber expanse which are powered together. My tuner powers the 10th pedal that my power supply cant. Your h9 is a great "multi effect" Id definitely dive into that cause like you mentioned, you really like a lot of what it does and that should give you some more space to work with.
I keep my wah and volume pedal off the board and all the effects on the board only. That being said.. I've effed up my pedal board and reconfigured it numerous times before I got happy. .. what's refreshing about your video and all your videos really, is that you're so humble and honest about your learning experiences. *Respect
The best thing I ever did for building my studio pedal board was to get a BOSS ES-8.It made sense after I built it with my friend who made many pedal boards ! He's an electronics expert tech so that helps!We ran with all Evidence cables at custom built lengths .For Power : A Decibel Eleven & Voodoo labs Power supplies. Everything is plugged into the ES-8 in various places .The I have a mini Dunlop wha & Mini Dunlop volume pedal there plugged into the Expression ports. A Mini TC Poly tune plugged into the tuner port, Keeley Compressor (Loop1), Nobles ODR-1 (Loop 2) ,Fulltone OCD (Loop 3), Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret 2 (Loop 4)Lovepedal Kalamazoo (Loop5) ,Eventide H9 Max (Loop 6), TC Alter ego Vintage Delays x4 (Loop7) after that I plug into a 4 Channel Voo Doo Labs Amp Selector.I Plug into (Channel 1) a Vox AC-30 with Blu Alnico Celestion Speaker with a Celestion Greenback speaker .Then into (Channel 2) Roland JC-77 for clean. Then into (Channel 3) to Fender 68 Deluxe Reverb with a EV EL 12 M 200 WATT speaker ,Then into (Channel4) a Rozon (Custom made amp) 4 Channel 75 watt rack Mount amp powering a 4x12 enclosed cabinet with G12 T 75 watt Celestions. I pretty much have everything I need at my studio sound wise covered.But the quest for tone never stops!
I'm glad you said that about the redundancy because the first thing I thought when I saw it was "what kind of crazy sounds is he going for where he has an h9 max but still needs a trem, big sky, and timeline?"
OK, sorry for the long reply, but my opinion. Pull off the Color Box and Bit Commander are they are not used. Unless you need a bunch different delays and reverbs running simultaneously, remove the Timeline Big Sky and get a second H9. Run one H9 in mono (pre/post... check Eventide website for details), that will also allow for removal of the Tremolo (and give you back the functionality of the Bit Commander). Next add a midi enabled loop switcher, something like a Musicomm Lab EXF-LE or even a Boss ES-5. This will give you both presets and handle midi switching of the 2 H9s. please don't hesitate to message if you think I can be of more assistance. And yes I agree, having a pro shop do your board is a GREAT idea. Dave Philips at LA Sound Design would be my first call.
Man, I'm having the exact same problems! This is basically a video talking about my board haha.
..which is why I'll never have anymore than 4 to 5 pedals ...tuner , line 6 modulation pedal in front ( which works fine for effects ) Duallist OD , Exotic boost and delay .....done ....no compression pedals etc etc ....in saying that , great video Rhett , keeping it real ....cheers
Simplify your setup for live situations. As a guitarist in a shoegaze/alternative band... I change my setup depending on the tour or on the material we'll be playing. Sometimes I just buy a smaller pedal with a similar sound to make some space. Or buy one that can combine two effects.
Thanks for sharing. I ended up adding a Voodoo Lab Digital supply to the VL Pedal Power 2 Plus and that solved my power supply deficit issue. I can run 9 or 12 V. I have a Pedaltrain PT-Pro, so I think it’s wider than yours appears to be. My size 10s work fine even wearing boots! I even have a little unused real estate, hmmm, what to add next....
I did a similar mistake of getting the stompers too close together. Before I committed to a layout, I gave it a day or two just letting the layout sit there and talk to me. And, still, the first layout I went with had problems. O man, how did you end up with your expression pedal not at the east or west end of your board?!? As soon as you pulled it out, I knew what happened - and you told the story of hitting your fuzz box while at the volume pedal. Ack! I really appreciate you sharing your mistakes. On my first build, I didn’t pay mind to the rule, “measure twice to cut once.” My new rule is “measure 3 or 4 times, then think about it for an hour, then cut. After that, just know you’ll have to redo the whole thing in a week.” As much as ya plan, when you start actually using the board, all your mistakes become glaringly apparent. I’ve been building my new board layout slowly, checking the placing and spacing for ease in performance. Bon chance on your next build!
This is the exact reason I am running my single pedals with a multieffects pedal set up as a back up to emulate my single pedals should something go out of wack in my single pedal chain live.
Best way to build a board is to start off with only a few essentials and then add more as you go, if a pedal doesn't work you will know straight away.
If you've large feet/wear boots, I strongly recommend a tiered pedal board. I also suggest ditching any pedal you don't use in for at least 75% of the gig. Anything else can be thrown in the loop/in front of the amp (depending on where your board is).
Check your total power draw, and upgrade your supply as required. You've a couple of Strymon, try one of their supplies, if you've not already.
Outside that, well, I'd say switch over to as many Boss Pedals as possible, but I'm a bit of a fanboy of Boss, so maybe I'm biased? lol
Good info man. I'm starting to get pedals to build my first board, so I'm a little weary about what to get.