Build-A-Board Workshop

[andy474x]

Wow, has it really been since 2019 that I built a pedal board???

The only thing I've used lately is small board that holds 6-7 pedals, as a blank canvas for quickly switching things out recording at home. I haven't built or used a board for situation specific live play since Covid happened! Ouch.

We've been going to a "new" (to us) church for about 6 months now, really liking it, but I didn't broadcast that I play guitar because I'm content just attending. Turns out the pastor and his wife live in our neighborhood, they came over for dinner a while back and found out I play, and he recruited me for the worship band. Well, if I have to, then I suppose I have to!

I requested not to start til January, so I could tie up some loose ends at work, so it won't be rubber-on-pavement until 2025. But, as all good gear heads do, I wasted no time picking out some gear and getting it ready. Hey, a month and a half goes fast when you have 2 kids!!!

So, here we go, first board build in 5 years.

Not usually a volume pedal person, but they are nice for swells, which I anticipate I might need to do. A very transparent compressor, and a couple of my favorite drive pedals for less aggressive sounds, the Wessex and the MTG. The MTG is a massively under the radar pedal, it's more of an overdrive than a distortion, and having the adjustable boost is a big plus. Clarksdale for a mid push, not usually a big TS guy either, but the Clarksdale into the MTG nails the John Mayer lead tone from "Last Train Home" on his latest album, which is cool. The two Walrus pedals providing the bulk of the delay and reverb sounds, I love the balance of compact, ease of use, and available presets on those pedals. The Clockwork has the warm delay and modulation that only an analog model can provide, and the MXR Reverb has the most beautiful shimmer 'verb I've ever used, so those are more specific indulgences, but could be swapped out. Powered by a Strymon Ojai power supply that I've been sitting on for a while now, and it really hit the spot. 500 mA per output, no fussing with certain outputs for certain pedals, and dead silent. I'm loving these newer generation isolated, switching supplies, they just have it all.

I'll mostly be playing the Custom SSH. I'm torn on what to do about an amp, they have a backline Peavey Classic 30, and it's probably a fine sounding amp. I'm liking the DGT15 for sounds I've been getting at home, and could just bring my loadbox and run the head that way (they're barely using the speaker from the Peavey anyways, just enough for the 57 to pick it up and send it to the system, everyone is on in-ears). The footswitchable boost and trem on the DGT15 are sweet, and no one does reverb like PRS, it's hard to get my reverb pedals to sound that way, and I love the sound.

I'm just not sure if it's rude or diva-esque to bring my own amp.

But, I'm extremely happy with this board, the sounds I'm getting are excellent. 5 years of playing with my pedals at home might just have paid off!!!

 

[Bogner]

Congrats On The New Endeavor...I Pray God Really Uses You To Impact The People And Ultimately The Kingdom With The Music.

I Say Bring Your Own Stuff So You Are Comfortable. The Board Looks Fun! I Am Not Sure The Holy Ghost Approves Of A Board With No Strymon Pedals But The Walrus Stuff May Cover You There.

Again, Congrats!

 

[László]

Wow, has it really been since 2019 that I built a pedal board???

The only thing I've used lately is small board that holds 6-7 pedals, as a blank canvas for quickly switching things out recording at home. I haven't built or used a board for situation specific live play since Covid happened! Ouch.

We've been going to a "new" (to us) church for about 6 months now, really liking it, but I didn't broadcast that I play guitar because I'm content just attending. Turns out the pastor and his wife live in our neighborhood, they came over for dinner a while back and found out I play, and he recruited me for the worship band. Well, if I have to, then I suppose I have to!

I requested not to start til January, so I could tie up some loose ends at work, so it won't be rubber-on-pavement until 2025. But, as all good gear heads do, I wasted no time picking out some gear and getting it ready. Hey, a month and a half goes fast when you have 2 kids!!!

So, here we go, first board build in 5 years.

Not usually a volume pedal person, but they are nice for swells, which I anticipate I might need to do. A very transparent compressor, and a couple of my favorite drive pedals for less aggressive sounds, the Wessex and the MTG. The MTG is a massively under the radar pedal, it's more of an overdrive than a distortion, and having the adjustable boost is a big plus. Clarksdale for a mid push, not usually a big TS guy either, but the Clarksdale into the MTG nails the John Mayer lead tone from "Last Train Home" on his latest album, which is cool. The two Walrus pedals providing the bulk of the delay and reverb sounds, I love the balance of compact, ease of use, and available presets on those pedals. The Clockwork has the warm delay and modulation that only an analog model can provide, and the MXR Reverb has the most beautiful shimmer 'verb I've ever used, so those are more specific indulgences, but could be swapped out. Powered by a Strymon Ojai power supply that I've been sitting on for a while now, and it really hit the spot. 500 mA per output, no fussing with certain outputs for certain pedals, and dead silent. I'm loving these newer generation isolated, switching supplies, they just have it all.

I'll mostly be playing the Custom SSH. I'm torn on what to do about an amp, they have a backline Peavey Classic 30, and it's probably a fine sounding amp. I'm liking the DGT15 for sounds I've been getting at home, and could just bring my loadbox and run the head that way (they're barely using the speaker from the Peavey anyways, just enough for the 57 to pick it up and send it to the system, everyone is on in-ears). The footswitchable boost and trem on the DGT15 are sweet, and no one does reverb like PRS, it's hard to get my reverb pedals to sound that way, and I love the sound.

I'm just not sure if it's rude or diva-esque to bring my own amp.

But, I'm extremely happy with this board, the sounds I'm getting are excellent. 5 years of playing with my pedals at home might just have paid off!!!

A thing of beauty, merriment and joy! What a great pedalboard!

I'd bring the DGT15, I mean, why not? You'd need to spend a fair amount of time with the Classic 30 to get a feel for it anyway. Why bother?

 

[andy474x]

Congrats On The New Endeavor...I Pray God Really Uses You To Impact The People And Ultimately The Kingdom With The Music.

I Say Bring Your Own Stuff So You Are Comfortable. The Board Looks Fun! I Am Not Sure The Holy Ghost Approves Of A Board With No Strymon Pedals But The Walrus Stuff May Cover You There.

Again, Congrats!

They actually have a house Big Sky! I just can’t be that stereotypical. Hopefully the Ojai will keep me out of trouble.

 

[Bogner]

They actually have a house Big Sky! I just can’t be that stereotypical. Hopefully the Ojai will keep me out of trouble.

I Knew It! If They Have A "House" Big Sky You Know It Is An Up And Coming Church And Not A Brand New Church Plant...LOL. They Haven't Hit Mega Church Status Or They Would Have All The Big Box Strymons...LOL.

What Are The Three Most Common Things All The Christ Centered Churches Around The World Have In Common?
1. Jesus
2 KJV Bible
3. Strymon Pedals Somewhere Of Some Sort

 

[Gtrbldr]

Wow, has it really been since 2019 that I built a pedal board???

The only thing I've used lately is small board that holds 6-7 pedals, as a blank canvas for quickly switching things out recording at home. I haven't built or used a board for situation specific live play since Covid happened! Ouch.

We've been going to a "new" (to us) church for about 6 months now, really liking it, but I didn't broadcast that I play guitar because I'm content just attending. Turns out the pastor and his wife live in our neighborhood, they came over for dinner a while back and found out I play, and he recruited me for the worship band. Well, if I have to, then I suppose I have to!

I requested not to start til January, so I could tie up some loose ends at work, so it won't be rubber-on-pavement until 2025. But, as all good gear heads do, I wasted no time picking out some gear and getting it ready. Hey, a month and a half goes fast when you have 2 kids!!!

So, here we go, first board build in 5 years.

Not usually a volume pedal person, but they are nice for swells, which I anticipate I might need to do. A very transparent compressor, and a couple of my favorite drive pedals for less aggressive sounds, the Wessex and the MTG. The MTG is a massively under the radar pedal, it's more of an overdrive than a distortion, and having the adjustable boost is a big plus. Clarksdale for a mid push, not usually a big TS guy either, but the Clarksdale into the MTG nails the John Mayer lead tone from "Last Train Home" on his latest album, which is cool. The two Walrus pedals providing the bulk of the delay and reverb sounds, I love the balance of compact, ease of use, and available presets on those pedals. The Clockwork has the warm delay and modulation that only an analog model can provide, and the MXR Reverb has the most beautiful shimmer 'verb I've ever used, so those are more specific indulgences, but could be swapped out. Powered by a Strymon Ojai power supply that I've been sitting on for a while now, and it really hit the spot. 500 mA per output, no fussing with certain outputs for certain pedals, and dead silent. I'm loving these newer generation isolated, switching supplies, they just have it all.

I'll mostly be playing the Custom SSH. I'm torn on what to do about an amp, they have a backline Peavey Classic 30, and it's probably a fine sounding amp. I'm liking the DGT15 for sounds I've been getting at home, and could just bring my loadbox and run the head that way (they're barely using the speaker from the Peavey anyways, just enough for the 57 to pick it up and send it to the system, everyone is on in-ears). The footswitchable boost and trem on the DGT15 are sweet, and no one does reverb like PRS, it's hard to get my reverb pedals to sound that way, and I love the sound.

I'm just not sure if it's rude or diva-esque to bring my own amp.

But, I'm extremely happy with this board, the sounds I'm getting are excellent. 5 years of playing with my pedals at home might just have paid off!!!

Very cool, congrats on joining the P&W comunity . Strymon pedals do earn heaven points, so you have to make up with your playing for leaving them out. Walrus does not cut it, sorry. ;-) that being said: nice board, that will go a long way.

And I would just bring your own amp with loadbox and IR loader (or something like a captor X), using your own stuff is always better. Yoir drives ate dialled in "right", which sounds better. Going straight to FOH that way is a good thing, works like a charm for me. I go helix LT, bad cat black cat with load box in the loop and IR from helix, straight to FOH. Works like a charm. A peavey classic is a fine amp, but i doubt there is am FOH guy who objects to you bringing "the stuff".

 

[Maertl513]

A very, very long time I wasn't using a pedal board. Starting I had only one pedal - an Ibanez Metal Charger. The next piece was a Dunlop Wah.
Then a multi effect was the next step. Guitar, Dunlop, Korg G3.
I dig all-in solutions. POD, POD 2.0 with floor board, POD XTLive (floor), POD HD500 (floor), POD HD500X (floor), and HELIX (floor) were the next steps.

And then I discovered the genius Thomas Blug with his handy 100 W pedal sized 4 channel amp Amp 1. For a few years I used it purely. Guitar - amp - cab. To switch channels I purchased the appropriate footcontroller.
I do own a special cabinet, last year we agreed on a meeting among owners with the manufacturer. After this meeting I owned my first pedal in, um, 30 years. A delay pedal.
I was very reluctant in buying any further gear, because Thomas Blug announced his next genius piece, the Amp X. An all in solution amp, no profiler, no modeler. But he's eager to deliver perfectionism, because he is foremost a gigging musician. He wants durable stage gear as his mission. He postponed the market introduction several times, though he displayed the respective recent status on a few NAMMs or the Guitar Summit. Maybe next year.
To be independend I decided to expand my sound. One pedal, is no pedal.
After the T-Rex ReplayBox I bought a compressor (PRS Mary cries), a dual flanger (PRS Wind through the trees), and a Leslie clon (electro harmonix). I put everything with the controller of my amp on a pedalboard.
But now the board is too small, because a Eventide H90 Dark is on delivery.
Do I need the Amp X actually? Hm. Maybe not urgend. But, um, a Wah...

I'm aware of the claim: Pictures or it didn't occur.
I promise to share one, when everything is there and attached.

This thread is a good opportunity to share pictures and descriptions of our pedalboards.

 

[Mark Ray]

Not trying to derail the thread, but I have a board related question.

Last year I put together a new board. It's from West Coast Pedalboards. Heavy duty, running 12 pedals. Played through it at quite a few gigs. I started getting a crackling sound, and thought it was my amp (Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister). I thought a tube was going bad. After switching to my back up head (same model), still had the same cracking. Between songs I would engage the tuner to mute the noise.

I've been using my "B board" ever since. Before I delve into trying to find the problem, any tips or suggestions on what it probably is?

 

[andy474x]

Probably a bad patch cable, but also be aware that unused/bare barrel connectors on a power daisy chain can short out the circuit when they contact something and metal and cause signal interruption.

 

[László]

Probably a bad patch cable, but also be aware that unused/bare barrel connectors on a power daisy chain can short out the circuit when they contact something and metal and cause signal interruption.

that'd be my guess, too.

 

[andy474x]

I'd bring the DGT15, I mean, why not? You'd need to spend a fair amount of time with the Classic 30 to get a feel for it anyway. Why bother?

And I would just bring your own amp with loadbox and IR loader (or something like a captor X), using your own stuff is always better. Yoir drives ate dialled in "right", which sounds better. Going straight to FOH that way is a good thing, works like a charm for me. I go helix LT, bad cat black cat with load box in the loop and IR from helix, straight to FOH. Works like a charm. A peavey classic is a fine amp, but i doubt there is am FOH guy who objects to you bringing "the stuff".

I think I’ll take this advice!

I’m mildly concerned that there’s not much value in using the Peavey if it’s turned down to a whisper. I’ll just show up early to set up a bit more… and sniff my corks! But, the band leader seems to be a bit of a gear head, too, so he’ll probably get a kick out of it. We have a rehearsal first, so worst case scenario, it doesn’t go well at rehearsal I’ll just revert to the Peavey.

I could probably trim down slightly by bringing the HDRX, or just not using the footswitch for the DGT15. Believe it or not, the rig I played MANY a P&W set on was a modded Valve Jr. stack, and I got more compliments on that little amp than any of my other gear combined.

We get the set list a week before rehearsal, so I’m going to be keeping an eye out for a good week to bring the HXDA, too. One where I can play a little more straightforward with crunchier sounds and not need as much of the atmospheric stuff. I’m hesitant to bring it out all the time, but you can believe I want to get it out on occasion!

 

[Gtrbldr]

I think I’ll take this advice!

I’m mildly concerned that there’s not much value in using the Peavey if it’s turned down to a whisper. I’ll just show up early to set up a bit more… and sniff my corks! But, the band leader seems to be a bit of a gear head, too, so he’ll probably get a kick out of it. We have a rehearsal first, so worst case scenario, it doesn’t go well at rehearsal I’ll just revert to the Peavey.

I could probably trim down slightly by bringing the HDRX, or just not using the footswitch for the DGT15. Believe it or not, the rig I played MANY a P&W set on was a modded Valve Jr. stack, and I got more compliments on that little amp than any of my other gear combined.

We get the set list a week before rehearsal, so I’m going to be keeping an eye out for a good week to bring the HXDA, too. One where I can play a little more straightforward with crunchier sounds and not need as much of the atmospheric stuff. I’m hesitant to bring it out all the time, but you can believe I want to get it out on occasion!

Very nice. Enjoy the journey. I learn something new every week I serve. Last week, next week I will learn more. Lovely ministry!

 

[László]

Believe it or not, the rig I played MANY a P&W set on was a modded Valve Jr. stack, and I got more compliments on that little amp than any of my other gear combined.

I got Jamie one when he was in high school; I think it was $129 at GC at the time. He loved playing around with it, and it was his practice amp for quite a while.

When he went to college, he left it at a buddy's and figured it was long gone. But several years ago while he was on tour with 30 Seconds to Mars and they played in town, he wondered about it, so my wife decided to call the parents of the friend (we knew them from the school) and the Dad said, "We have the amp in our storage room, no problem, I'll get it out and you can pick it up."

So he was reunited with it. I don't know if he still has it, though. Fender gave him one of their hand-wired '57 Custom Champs with the 8" speaker, and he used it on top of/along with, his Mesa when he toured with Partybaby. I saw it in his house in LA when we were there, and I didn't see the Valve Jr.

 

[andy474x]

A little update and tidying to the board:

I did some digging into the method du jour of time based effects, and found that a lot of people are digging delay and reverb in parallel right now. That brought a lot of things together for me, because running in parallel would either mean some extensive routing with a loop pedal (which I had zero interest in), or just getting one new pedal to do it all. As one should, I chose the option that had "new pedal" in it!

Fortunately, Wampler just came out with their "Catacombs" pedal. When I first saw the release, it was just one of those "eh, cool, but I'm not in the market" moments, but when I realized that I could do all the following, it sounded more appealing: parallel routing, one-stomp delay and reverb presets, no menu-diving, and not a Strymon... I just can't be a clone! So, I grabbed the Catacombs about a week ago, and quickly had some excellent sounds coming out of it. The only small downside was that the footswitches can't be used for tap tempo and preset cycling simultaneously. So, I grabbed the little Syntax switcher to add to the Catacombs for preset surfing.

Some, uhh, help routing cables...

Love these Temple Audio boards for cable routing and management (please disregard the one rogue midi cable, I'm waiting for a shorter and right angle connector version to come in, so I didn't bother tying it down).

Their add-on modules allow me to keep things clean and simple on the ins and outs, too.

I think I'm developing a semi-ASMR reaction to making clean pedalboards.

An added bonus for the Catacombs, it allowed me to gain enough real estate back from dropping three other pedals that I had space to mount the DGT15 footswitch right on the board.

The rig:

(well, sans the physical cabinet, which I'll be running a profile of through a reactive load and IR)

A little more about the Catacombs, for those who are interested - in classic Wampler fashion, it just works. I like the Walrus pedals it replaced a lot, too, but where they have insane tweakability, the Catacombs is easier to dial, while still offering the must-haves. And, all the algorithms sound excellent, where there were a couple on each of the Walrus pedals that were just meh. The hall reverb on the Catacombs is the best sounding hall algorithm I've ever used, I find many muddy or just plain uninspiring. The Catacombs' hall has a nice dose of mid/highs, and an almost shimmer-like quality to it. Definitely unique, and very beautiful. Speaking of shimmer reverb, FINALLY, something that equals the shimmer setting in the MXR M300, and in fact slightly exceeds it! I do love the M300, IMO it's as good as a no-brainer, no-preset reverb pedal can be, but I was strapping it to this board just for the shimmer setting. Now I can integrate it into a preset on the Catacombs, and it's a little more adjustable, too.

The Syntax... it works great for preset switching, which is why I got it, but I'm slightly disappointed in its potential for the other functions. The physical switches are latching, so with how hard they need to be pressed, using them for tap tempo is not going to be very accurate. And using them as a controller for any latching controlled function like an amp footswitch will require an adapter because they only have 1/8 (3.5mm) jacks. Would have been a better product with soft touch switches and no latching amp control function, IMO. But, I'm getting what I need.

The spots where the MTG Tube Distortion (which is really an overdrive) and Clockwork delay currently sit are still wildcard spots, pretty likely they'll stay, but I can swap things around if I want to.

So continues the saga of the pedalboard...

 

[Simon Says]

A little update and tidying to the board:

I did some digging into the method du jour of time based effects, and found that a lot of people are digging delay and reverb in parallel right now. That brought a lot of things together for me, because running in parallel would either mean some extensive routing with a loop pedal (which I had zero interest in), or just getting one new pedal to do it all. As one should, I chose the option that had "new pedal" in it!

Fortunately, Wampler just came out with their "Catacombs" pedal. When I first saw the release, it was just one of those "eh, cool, but I'm not in the market" moments, but when I realized that I could do all the following, it sounded more appealing: parallel routing, one-stomp delay and reverb presets, no menu-diving, and not a Strymon... I just can't be a clone! So, I grabbed the Catacombs about a week ago, and quickly had some excellent sounds coming out of it. The only small downside was that the footswitches can't be used for tap tempo and preset cycling simultaneously. So, I grabbed the little Syntax switcher to add to the Catacombs for preset surfing.

Some, uhh, help routing cables...

Love these Temple Audio boards for cable routing and management (please disregard the one rogue midi cable, I'm waiting for a shorter and right angle connector version to come in, so I didn't bother tying it down).

Their add-on modules allow me to keep things clean and simple on the ins and outs, too.

I think I'm developing a semi-ASMR reaction to making clean pedalboards.

An added bonus for the Catacombs, it allowed me to gain enough real estate back from dropping three other pedals that I had space to mount the DGT15 footswitch right on the board.

The rig:

(well, sans the physical cabinet, which I'll be running a profile of through a reactive load and IR)

A little more about the Catacombs, for those who are interested - in classic Wampler fashion, it just works. I like the Walrus pedals it replaced a lot, too, but where they have insane tweakability, the Catacombs is easier to dial, while still offering the must-haves. And, all the algorithms sound excellent, where there were a couple on each of the Walrus pedals that were just meh. The hall reverb on the Catacombs is the best sounding hall algorithm I've ever used, I find many muddy or just plain uninspiring. The Catacombs' hall has a nice dose of mid/highs, and an almost shimmer-like quality to it. Definitely unique, and very beautiful. Speaking of shimmer reverb, FINALLY, something that equals the shimmer setting in the MXR M300, and in fact slightly exceeds it! I do love the M300, IMO it's as good as a no-brainer, no-preset reverb pedal can be, but I was strapping it to this board just for the shimmer setting. Now I can integrate it into a preset on the Catacombs, and it's a little more adjustable, too.

The Syntax... it works great for preset switching, which is why I got it, but I'm slightly disappointed in its potential for the other functions. The physical switches are latching, so with how hard they need to be pressed, using them for tap tempo is not going to be very accurate. And using them as a controller for any latching controlled function like an amp footswitch will require an adapter because they only have 1/8 (3.5mm) jacks. Would have been a better product with soft touch switches and no latching amp control function, IMO. But, I'm getting what I need.

The spots where the MTG Tube Distortion (which is really an overdrive) and Clockwork delay currently sit are still wildcard spots, pretty likely they'll stay, but I can swap things around if I want to.

So continues the saga of the pedalboard...

Cool board, nice feet, cute puppies!

There's nothing wrong with a well designed loop pedal. Never say never

 

[László]

Great pedalboard. Looks totally organized, and you have a buncha sweet pedals as well!

 

[andy474x]

Great pedalboard. Looks totally organized, and you have a buncha sweet pedals as well!

Thanks!

I love these pedals - and I should, for the number I'm embarrassed to say I've bought, and these made the cut - but most of them are under the radar units that not many people talk about. I guess I can't just make it easy on myself and throw together a bunch of industry standards without auditioning a bunch of others. I've always had a thing for underdogs, though.

 

[bodia]

Board looks great. Dig the pups!

 

[andy474x]

The rubber hit the road today, and it went pretty well! The whole rig functioned wonderfully, with one small exception - between first and second service, the repeats knob on the Clockwork got bumped up, so I was greeted with a slightly embarrassing loud oscillation when I turned it on… oops. Might look at some of the locking knobs for it. Everything else was worked perfectly, the presets I made on the Catacombs were spot on.

They had me turned up pretty loud in the mains today, which surprised me for being my first time there. Nowhere to hide! Definitely had a few cobwebs in my playing, but mostly just a few bum notes on rhythm parts.

 

[Simon Says]

You still happy with Temple, @andy474x ?

I'm thinking of scrapping the Schmidt build, and going with a Temple Duo 17.