Time for a real update. I had two days off work when the first day was mostly dedicated to new layout planning. I wanted to keep both the Cioks DC7 and the 8 Expander. Infortunetally, no chance. No matter how much planning I was putting into it and how creative I was trying to be, there was no chance to keep both on a small board such as SA450. If only Shmidt had enough space between the bottom deck and the floor of the pedalboard, it would be such a great place to hide the power supply there.
The plan will be to cheat a bit with the power layout. I will use two isolated outs from the DC7 to run each to one of two Secret Preamps, and I will split the power from there to two GigRig isolators. One Isolator will be used to power 18VDC pedals by linking two Isolator outs, while the other Isolator will power all low-consumption pedals such as the Octaland, tuner, Q-zone, and an MXR buffer/splitter. I still may have a bit of a problem fitting the new X4LC series Isolators on, they are significantly larger than the old version I can't find anywhere, but this is the nearest to the perfect solution I was able to come up with. Same time I won't have enough isolated outs to do an AUX power for external WahWah, but I can leave with it. For now, that is.
My progress on day two was bigger than I thought it would be. I did half the audio for the QMX looper, the preamp output section wiring (except the output jack, I'm just waiting for the shielded heat shrink tubing), and a part of the input section from the splitter. Power has yet to be done, mostly due to issues with the power grid explained above. It's for another day.
So far, I'm happy with the cable run. Since the bottom deck lays so low above the floor, I had to double down on cable tie bases to keep the cable runs flat. I couldn't click the deck back in place otherwise. I like how it looks; it will be easier to troubleshoot, too. Once the power grid is laid, I will change the cable ties to red. I did that with some of my previous pedalboards, and for some reason, I like the black+red look of it—just my thing, that's all.
Another thing I did in the last two days was to modify the black Secret Preamp. It lives just below the Looper/Drum Machine, and I rest my heel on it when I loop over. Since it's always on, I removed the footswitch and changed the knob to make it fit the purpose. I used a silicon gasket under the knob to stop it from accidentally rotating. All came out clean.
So, the pictures, in no particular order: