Building a Guitar Effects Pedalboard
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A pedalboard is a great way to consolidate all of your guitar effects; it helps reduce wear and tear on the connectors and greatly simplifies setup. I made my first board in the early 1980s and I've built a half dozen more since then. Below you'll find some information about the design and construction of my three newest rigs, which are designated A, B and C to match a three-switch Morley router (R) used to direct the guitar signal. Here's how the 'A' board came together:

Plans Like so many projects these days, this one started out on the computer. I don't have any drafting software, but managed to draw an adequate set of 'blueprints' using MS Publisher.         Materials The lumber and most of the hardware came from Home Depot, though it did take a supplemental trip to Ace Hardware to complete the shopping list. The final tab was under $50 since I already had all the necessary electronic components.         Measuring With tools and materials in place, it was time to translate the drawings into a real 3-D object. The first step was to transfer all the dimensions from paper to wood.         Sawing Since my table saw is currently located in my brother-in-law's shop (40 miles away), I decided to complete this project with hand tools. I probably should have sharpened my cross-cut saw before starting!         Drilling This design required a lot of holes, in both the pine 1x2s and the half-inch plywood.         Countersink Most of the screws used on the board have flat heads, so it was necessary to use a countersink bit on many of the pilot holes.         Chiseling No table saw = no dado blade, so I had to chisel out the access grooves by hand. The good news is that this task didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would.         Parts Before long all the required pieces were cut, drilled and chiseled.         Trial Assembly A test fitting confirmed that everything was proceeding according to plan.         Sanding I spent a lot of time with this little implement. Next time I'll get a better grade of wood or borrow a power sander!         Painting The unit was disassembled and all the parts were laid out for painting. This is the last time we'll see the naked wood.         Assembly This is the painted board before being covered with electronic gear. The main platform is 24x16 and the upper tier is 18x13x2.         Mounting The pedals were mounted from the underside of the board with machine screws. It's easier to make changes if you mount your pedals on top using Velcro, but I've always preferred this more secure method. If I alter the configuration later I might have to drill some new holes, but that's no big deal.         Wiring Hmmm...a tight squeeze, but the power daisy chains and instrument cables will be organized and tucked out of sight under the upper tier. The few exposed cables will be tacked down with coax saddles.         Surface Mounts The Volume Pedal and the Patch Pad were mounted to the top surface of the board. This was accomplished using some inexpensive shelving hardware.         Handles Years ago I also built my racks and cases, but this time I designed the pedalboard to fit into an existing commercial flight case. There's no room to spare so these handles will make it much easier to move the board in and out of the case.         Power The power supply units (Harmon Pro and One Spot) are plugged into a Furman PlugLock, which was mounted behind the upper tier. The open area next to the Furman is for cord and footswitch storage while the board is in the flight case.         Feet Ten rubber feet spread out over the underside of the main section (384 square inches) will keep the pedalboard nice and stable.         Finished Here's the completed board with all the pedals attached and wired; it ended up weighing just under 26 lbs. fully loaded (39 lbs. in the case). At this point I realized I'd forgotten to keep track of how many hours I invested in the project.         Details This is a closer view showing some of the components. A diagram of the signal chain appears below. An optional three-button footswitch plugs directly into the JamMan and additional effects can be added to the chain via the Patch Pad (see below).       I recently built a new auxiliary unit (above) to replace my 1980s rock board. This new 'B' rig has two tiers but still manages to fit into the 18x13x5 Anvil briefcase shown here. The signal chain diagram appears below.

text and images copyright © 2008 Ronnie Cramer

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