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The search for the ultimate pedal board.........
The first pedal I ever
owned was a fuzz box that I constructed in myself in 1967 from
an Electronics Australia article. The circuit was constructed on tag
strip and housed in a home made sheet metal box. The sound to
emulate back in those days was the fuzz tones of the Yardbirds
playing 'Heart full of Soul'. If you ever get a chance to hear that
record you will get an idea of the sound I was looking for.
The next pedal I got I bought via
mail order. Claybridge Sound in Victoria was advertising in
'Go-set'
magazine in the seventies and their stuff looked very impressive.
They were making a range of solid state PA and guitar amps as well
as this fuzz box that cost $20.00. And that included postage.
Eventually I removed the circuitry from the box and installed it
into a 'Phoenix' solid state amp that I had at the time. The fuzz
was then operated using a homemade footswitch. This worked very well
until the Phoenix, which regularly blew fuses at the worst possible
moments finally died for good.
The Phoenix Amp company had vanished by this time so I took the amp
to the newly opened Cord Amplifiers but they didn't
want to repair the Phoenix so mainly out of necessity I built one of
my first 100 watt solid state power amps to replace the dead one. I
used the original power supply and filter caps so it was a fairly
cheap exercise. The amp sounded great and became very popular with
other guitar players in my area. I eventually built quite a few over
the next couple of years and still use this circuit from time to
time to repair old amps that I cant find parts for.
Another pedal I bought in the
early seventies for $50.00 was a 'Coloursound Fuzz Wah'. I really
loved that pedal and used it for many years. The fuzz was totally
uncontrollable and as the circuit was on its own little board, I
eventually removed it. The wah circuit used an inductor and a couple
of unmarked transistors and sounded great. I still have that
pedal somewhere........
In the mid seventies I bought a
little Yamaha 50 watt solid state amp which really suited the club
gigs I was doing at the time. It had a nice clean sound and had foot
switchable distortion built in. Mainly it was very small and easy to
lug. When I moved back to Sydney and started doing rock gigs again
in the late seventies I went back to tube amps and bought a
Fender Twin. At that time Fender were making the 135 watt Ultra
Linear twin which was loud as hell but didn't distort no matter how
loud it was played.
A friend of mine was selling his
pedals because he was buying this new fangled digital thing. He was
describing to me how great it was. It would have been one of the
first wave of Digitec multi effect units. The pedals he was selling
were installed into a Boss carrying case that I thought was very
neat. The six pedals fitted into appropriately shaped recesses in
the base of the unit and a lid was able to be clipped on when
transporting it. The only problem was I could only put Boss
style pedals into the case. I bought a DOD Juice Box (that fitted ok
with a little modification here and there) to add to the line up and
that sounded really nice. My recollection of that pedal board is a
little dim but I know there were a CS1 Compressor and a CS2 Chorus
and DD3 delay pedal. Also there was a PS1 power supply pedal that
acted like a bypass as well.
As the digital multi FX became
more popular I finally relented to the pressure of advertising
(which really influenced me back then) and traded my pedal board in
on a Zoom multi FX unit. It sounded great in the shop and pretty
good at home too but I could never get used to it on stage. It was a
shame because the concept of having all your FX in single box was
very appealing. Fortunately it didn't take too long to go out and
collect a number of pedals at reasonable prices. It was fun really.
I was repairing more and more
amps by now and coming into contact with lots of musos who wanted to
sell the odd pedal so between them and the hock shops I did pretty
well. I had kept my DD3 delay pedal and the DOD Juice Box and
managed to obtain a Boss CE2 chorus pedal, a Rocktron EQ and a
Ibanez TS10 all for $120 at the local pawn shop. I bought a
Maxim tuner from an amp repair customer and bought a second-hand Jim
Dunlop wah and a new Boss Blues Driver from the local music shop.
The only major updates I've made since then is to replace the tuner
after it died with a Boss TU-2 and acquire a TS9 Tube Screamer. I
have tried a few extra pedals from time to time but have pretty much
settled on this line-up.
Initially I did what most of us
do, I set them all up on stage at each gig with lots of little patch
leads and plug packs and batteries and packed them all away at the
end of the gig. Then one night, while I was doing the sound sound
for a band at a pub near where I lived I met a guitarist who was a
very organised type of guy, and who had built him self a decent
pedal board. He had screwed everything down to the board from
underneath. I can't quite recall how he powered everything up but it
was definitely a very cool unit.
At the first chance I got, I cut
out a piece of ply and attached all my pedals to it and started
experimenting. The board initially went through a number of changes
but has now stayed pretty much the same for the last few years and
through a very busy time in my playing career.
Where I was having some problems
in the early stages though, was powering the thing. I started off
using a large plug pack that plugged into the end of a string of
power leads (daisy chain) that went from one pedal to the next. This
worked well but was flimsy and would occasionally disconnect or
break when stepped on or if the board was accidentally moved. I
finally came up with the idea of building a regulated power supply
into a box and installing that next to my amp and running a guitar
type cable from it down to the pedal board. I used CB radio
microphone connectors on the lead and installed a small plastic
jiffy box on the pedal board to connect all the individual pedals
supply leads to.
I have used this arrangement up
to the present time and it works very well. The power supplies I
build use a toroidal transformer and a circuit based on a LM317
voltage regulator. The output voltage is adjustable and can provide
between 8.5 and 12 volts at up to 1 amp to the pedals. I like to set
it at around 9.5 volts at the pedal board to give that 'brand new
battery' sound to the pedals.
Rockdog Power
Supplies
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Single Voltage
regulated power supply.
The little black box shown in the
picture is a 'jiffy box'. It needs to be installed somewhere
convenient on your board. It has a socket in it that connects to the
cable from the power supply. The jiffy box also serves as a junction
box for the separate cables that go off to your pedals.
Sometimes its convenient to have an in/output socket or
footswitch input installed as well. |
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Dual or Triple
Voltage Power Supplies.
These units combine can combine up to three separate voltages
including AC. To incorporate the extra circuitry they are built
into a larger metal case.
Over the last few years there have been many pedals
manufactured that operate from different voltages other than the
standard 9 volts DC. To power these new pedals I have developed
a multi voltage power supply that can provide up to three
different voltages including combinations of AC and DC. As
with the single voltage unit the multi voltage supply still
connects to your pedal board via a guitar type cable.
Its a very tidy way to connect a number of different voltages to
your board with a single cable. |
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Power supply
prices.
Single Voltage Power
Supply Kit
$180.00
Dual Voltage Power Supply
Kit
$220.00
Triple Voltage Power
Supply Kit
$250.00
The 'kit'
includes:
Jiffy box pre drilled and
wired to your specifications.
5 metre long cable for power
supply/pedalboard connection.
Standard IEC mains cable
(kettle cord) for power supply
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I supply DC leads for $2.50
each. These are fitted with either straight or right-angles
jacks on the ends and come in two different sizes. 2.1mm and
2.5mm. (Please email me if you need more clarification about
plug sizes). These leads run from the jiffy box to your pedals.
I can pre-wire your jiffy
box, at no extra cost, with these DC leads cut to the lengths
you specify. The jiffy box can then be screwed to your board and
the cables run to the various pedals.
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Rockdog Pedal Boards
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There are
a number of ways to build a pedalboard and all of them, like
most of the gear we use, has its pros and cons.
The pros: My system is very solid.
The boards are made of ply and coated in 'Rockhard' acrylic
paint. The pedals are screwed down to the board using the right
size screws (so the original screws can be reused if you ever
take the pedal back off the board) and its very tidy. The pedals
on the top row can be raised 20mm so they're easy to reach with
your foot. All the audio and power cables are custom made to the
right length so there is no excess cable anywhere. The pedals
are very easy to access and its also easy to connect your
in/out and footswitch cables.
The power
supply sits up next to your amp so there's no power strip or
plug packs on your board and you don't have to run a 240vac
extension lead to your board. The only extra thing you need on
your board other than pedals, is the jiffy box.
The cons: Its not easy to change
or add pedals. It can be done but it means taking the old pedal
off and unless its the same brand of pedal using the same case,
new holes may need to be drilled and audio and power
cables re routed. Bit of a nuisance!
The board can be difficult to
transport and may need a bag or case to house it in to protect
your pedals from damage.
Some of the
alternatives also have their pros and cons.
Proper pedalboard cases
are very expensive and are either too big or too small. A proper
'cases.com' style case can cost up to $500. Still, if you don't
mind paying that sort of money, I can still power up your pedals
with one of my power supplies.
A popular way of mounting
pedals is Velcro. If you are regularly changing standard 9 vdc
pedals around this maybe the way to go. The cons are its hard to
Velcro down a Wah pedal due to the rubber feet that hold the
base of a wah on and Velcro doesn't stick that well to the
rubber pads on the bases of a lot of pedals.
When I made my own board I
also built myself a road case to not only carry my pedalboard
but all of my other onstage junk as well. Once the box is
emptied I cover it with a black cloth and use it as an amp
stand.
Now you can see why I have
the crazy cut-out in my board. Its to allow my guitar stands to
fit into the case. Underneath the board is all my leads, my
power supply and my vocal and amp microphones. The box is on
wheels, two of which have brakes so that I can place it up right
into the back of my car. It can be laid down if required as the
board holds all the cables in and the lid, fitted with foam
rubber holds the board down.
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This
is my usual setup. Down on the left is my single voltage power
supply and above that, my Samson Airline wireless receiver. The
Carvin Bel Air is my main amp and the Maton Mastersound is my
main axe. The Maton is fitted with a DiMarzio PAF in the neck
and a DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge position. I bought
these in Sydney from the Baez amp shop around 30 years ago
and they still sound very sweet. The Strat is an early 90's
'American Standard' and is fitted with DiMarzio HS-2 humbuckers
and an Artec mid boost preamp. The pickups give me a
classic Strat sound without the hum and the preamp gives the
guitar a nice midrange boost when needed. Occasionally I'll use
a Marshall JTM30 single 12" combo for small gigs or a '65
reissue Ampeg Reverberocket for blues gigs. |
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The little
jiffy box screws on to the board in a convenient spot. In my
case its the top right hand corner of the board.
There are
two sockets on my jiffy box. One is for the incoming DC voltage
to power the pedals the other is an output to power up my
wireless receiver that usually sits up next to my amp. I also
have an amp channel switch on my board that can be configured to
suit the different amps I sometimes use.
I have
also discovered split conduit which is great for keeping all the
cables tidy. |
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Pedalboard Prices
If you would like a
pedalboard but don't quite feel up to doing it your self I can
build one for you.
The boards are constructed
from ply and are
covered in 'Rockhard' acrylic paint. All pedals are screwed to
the board using
appropriately sized screws. All custom length audio patch leads
and power leads are supplied and all pedals are wired to you
specifications.
Price is $350 plus the
cost of an appropriate power supply.
If you prefer, you can
supply a pedal board road case or CNB case and I can wire that
up for you. Price will vary depending on the number of pedals
but the minimum cost is $250.
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| If
you would like to see some of the boards I have made over the
last few years please click
here |
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