Building a pedal board/case questions. Different spin on the thread.

[beggar_guitar]

I don't want pictures though, but rather practical advice and ideas from those of you who have "been there and done that."
Trying to decide the layout of the board, and the dimensions. Materials to use... What all I will need... etc
A buddy of mine wants to build it. He has access to all the tools he will need through his school, and may even be able to use the board as a project. So it helps us both out.

In my mind I want to go with a two level board. With the back level slightly raised. Pedals that tend to stay on or have minimal use will be back there. I'd like to also make the far right side of the board on a possibly adjustable angle. My wah, and volume pedal will be there.
The back, beneath the 2nd level, will house a power supply.

Is this asking too much in a home made board?

The "Board" at the moment.
Single Channel Switch and an A/B box
Aside running A/B>Wah>FD2>Voodoo Lab Tremolo>DD-20 w/ Tap tempo pedal. Pedals to come are distortion pedal, most likely MI Audio Crunch Box, Chorus pedal, and a volume pedal. Those are definitely happening, and I'm on the fence about a phaser.
Bside > Boss TU-2
I want enough room for these pedals mentioned, and some room to grow.


Thanks for any help and advice!

 

[millsart]

Re: Building a pedal board/case questions. Different spin on the thread.

trying to make something homemade with angle adjustments etc I would say is asking to much. Its difficult enough as is much less with adjustability, which I doubt you'd ever use. Make it right once and keep it that way would be my motto.

I would suggest you definatly wait until you've got all your pedals and know the order. Sometimes trying to squeeze one pedal in, or switching the routing makes the whole thing no longer fit.

I'd also urge against a 2 level board, it makes construction much harder and is going to add to the weight. You'd dont have so many pedals that a single chain would be that long on one tier I don't think. Nice to have but in reality it doesnt really make a difference.


As for dimensions, well that totally depends on how big you want it so I don't think anyone could really answer that

For materials it really depends how much you want to spend, how much weight, and durable.

Heck for about $20 you can build up a nice at home board from the hardware store but its going to weight a bunch and not be great for travel

On the other side of the coin you could easily spend a few hundred building a good flight case style board and it would probably be cheaper to buy.


My board I use right now is just a 4 foot long x 1 foot oak shelf. Pedals all just sit on it and get moved as the mood hits me.

I'm not playing out right now and just jam at home anymore. Its honestly as nice and practical of board as anything else out there for my current needs and its hundreds cheaper.


So thats what you've got to figure out, what are your needs, weight, cost, size etc

Only once you know all those can anyone really start to give some construction advice