Curious how much did you spend on your pedal board?

mantis

New member
Hello all,
I'm constantly in a state of flux with Multi effects and pedals. When you compare cost to each of them the pedal board and pedals far exceed the cost of any multi effects I've ever seen.
What makes no sense to me is how a company like Boss can make a Multi effects unit like the GT-100 and do all it can do which is a ton but then charge you what they charge you for pedals and now a control unit. it's not even close.
So if you want to build a pedal board that you buy not DIY , you have to spend at least $100 bucks or more just for the board. Then you need power which depending on how many pedals you plan to use you will spend at least another $100 or more. Then you need the small patch cables to link them all together which isn't that much but lets say you will need around $50 bucks just for them depending greatly on how many you need.
So at the very minimum before you even buy your first pedal , your into it for $250. So a tuner is probably a very important pedal that everyone needs agreed? So there's another $100 bucks or so give or take. So now your into this no actual pedals yet for $350 and you have no effects yet.
So if your into just a few things most of us will have a OD pedal of some sort , there's an average of $100 most will spend way more but I'm trying to keep this idea simple as possible. Then most of us will have a Delay so there's another $100. Now Reverb is another very common one if your amp doesn't have it in it another $100. So now your at $650 and you barely have anything going on. If you want to control these pedals and switch your amp, Boss wants $399 for the ES-5 which is probably to small for most pedal people. Now your at $1049. You could easily be at $1500 to $3000 for your pedal board or more easy because we all don't pay $100 bucks for a Pedal all the time. Sometimes less but most of the time more , way more like $299 in some cases or so.
So with all that being said why can't Boss or anyone else build a true Multi effects unit like the Gt-100 and make it analog just like having all pedals with control Midi and WAH volume etc and have it sound exactly as good or really better then a custom built by you pedal Board?
We as artists or Musicians however you want to label us I feel would be willing to spend lets say for arguments sake $1999 for a un believable sounding organic flexible Multi effects board with NO modeling? Why wouldn't most of us be willing to pay for that? You easily will spend that or way more on your pedal board easy.
IMHO most effects sound the same to a point. Not saying that is hard facts but listen a Delay is a delay when built well by most companies. So is Reverb , Chours Flangers and all other Modulation type effects. They don't differ enough to have to have such an array of different brands that not just one brand can satisfy your effects needs right? So lets say TC Electronics or Boss or MXR or Electro Harmonics figure out a way to build a Killer Pedal Board that sounds as good or I feel it could easily sound better then using all those pedals would you buy one?

I look at the Multi Effects units offered today and none of them are better then a custom built by you pedal board. They always lack this or that and you can express yourself and have nothing not the way you want. But what if someone could built it the way you want or they build one so flexible it covers just about everyones needs? Currently these offerings try to do but you have to give up some sound quality and have digital things go on making your amp not sound like itself when you use pedals or your guitar loses some of it's personality but you give that up for the ultimate in flexibility.
Well I'm sick and tired of that and think someone should come forward and built the ultimate multi effects floor processor with NO compromise in tone , signal or anything. You can't tell me these companies can't do it. If someone came forward and built one I bet many people would buy it and it would change forever how we control our rigs, how we create music as Artists.

So what do you guys think ?
 
Re: Curious how much did you spend on your pedal board?

My pedalboard is just a piece of scrap 3/4" plywood that I covered in Velcro. I have maybe $20 in it. It works.

As far as the rest goes, I have no idea how much I have in effects and a power supply. Partially because the pedals I have, I have accumulated over time. Some I got used, some I got new, but I don't remember how much I paid for them. Plus, my pedalboard is in constant flux; stuff gets swapped out alot, or at least it used to. I have a couple really good multi effects units, so the board doesn't get as much use now.

But anyway, the reason that it costs more to go the pedal routs is because you're buying those effects a'la carte, instead of in bulk. Just like anything else. If you go to a fast food place, it's gonna cost more to order items individually than it is to just order a meal.

And high end modelers do just fine, just sayin'. And an analog multi effects would be cost prohibitive and extremely bulky, if you wanted it to be able to do everything that a digital unit does.
 
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Re: Curious how much did you spend on your pedal board?

The pedalboard itself cost around £80 GBP. (I'm from the UK).

The power supply £79.99. Then the patch cables must have totalled £30 (by Mogami and Planet Waves).

This is all before we've even reached the pedals! I only use 3, Boss TU-2, ISP Decimator and the Ibanez Tubescreamer. All 3 add up to £300 approx. Then there's my Line 6 Relay G50 wireless system that cost around £330. I have choruses, delays and other overdrives but I don't really use them.

It cost a bit to put together but its been running for the best part of 5 years with no technical issues at all.
 
Re: Curious how much did you spend on your pedal board?

Multiple 'independent' analog or digital devices chained together have little in common with an all-in-one digital device; cost or tone wise. Completely different engineering and build reality. In my experience it's a matter of 'what' or where' you are willing to compromise. That said, the Fractal units with a foot controller leave very little to be desired for the flexibility you are asking for in your post. If I were hired to help you put a rig together, I would certainly look in that direction for your needs.

I use both analog and digital and I will never publicly say one is 'better' because too many variables exist, but I do know what I prefer *most of the time* sonically and why.
I just put together short tour board for an upcoming gig. $400 for the board and case - $300 in cables - $200 for the power supply - $3000 in pedals (11 plus controller) $3900.00 total. For one board.

I could have set up my Fractal as I know it well enough ( I would need a backup also) with a floor controller and FR speakers. But I didn't for the same reason most touring musicians don't (choose one of the many). Plenty of professional players whose rigs sound phenomenal with modeling, but it is still the minority and for most gigs just doesn't fit.

You have options bro, but don't 'price' compare digital against analog - instead 'tone' compare. The best use of money is a fat happy smile at the end of the signal chain.
 
Re: Curious how much did you spend on your pedal board?

currently ... about $200

Boss TU-2 Tuner - $100 brand new
Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive - $40 Brand new
Boss BF-2 Flanger - $40 used
Boss BCB-30 pedal board/case - $30 used
 
Re: Curious how much did you spend on your pedal board?

even my small board (which is literally a board) isnt cheap and only has three pedals. blacktop fuzz $150, timmy $130, deja vu $200? cant remember what those went for, one spot and daisy chain $30, two 8" monster jazz cables $50. $560 for a three pedal board with a crap power supply on a plank of wood.
 
Re: Curious how much did you spend on your pedal board?

My pedal board is just stupid. I had to value it for insurance purposes about 10 days back for the move back to the UK. All in, it came to £2,800.00. Hope to goodness it turns up now...
 
Re: Curious how much did you spend on your pedal board?

Wow, I feel cheap!

Two delays (Behringer and Danelectro FAB) $17 and $15 respectively, Boss DS-1 $20, Washburn Blues Overdrive $14. 3 short cables at $5 each, and some 9V batteries (say $15 worth) = $96 so far (prices converted to USD from CAD)
On the way from eBay are an Ibanez TubeScreamer TS7 ($42), a TC Electronic Dark Matter ($32), and a Caline CP-05 power brick ($25). So add another $99 US.
I also have a V-Amp that my neighbour gave me for free for my birthday last year. I use that for modulation effects.
I MAY buy a wah (saw a Crybaby at a pawn shop for $40), and a phaser. Maybe. I likely will get a chorus as soon as I find one I like on the cheap. Figure on another $30-40 for that one.

No board as of yet. But I was thinking of just using a piece of plywood and some cheap dollar-store velcro. Or maybe even some metal strapping and a couple of screws, LOL. (No, not really with the metal strapping...that was a joke)

So I've got a cheap power supply, 2 delays, 2 overdrives, and 2 distortions, along with enough cables to run any 4 of them at a time, and all for under $200. (Say $260 if I had paid for the V-Amp instead of getting it as a gift.) Say another $30 for a chorus in the future, and two more cords at $5 each, and I'll be into it for $300.

CAVEAT: I am by no means a professional, or even remotely good, guitar player. I noodle in my den and make noise. My rig would never work for someone who gets paid for this. But as a hobbyist, I'm pretty pleased at the moment.
 
Re: Curious how much did you spend on your pedal board?

that figure for my little board is replacement cost. i got the monster cables when i worked at gc so they were like $10 each, same with the one spot, so that was cheap, the fuzz was a gift, as was the deja vu so the only thing i actually paid for was timmy and that was maybe the best $130 ive spent on gear ever.

my big board is stupid expensive and i barely ever use it
 
Re: Curious how much did you spend on your pedal board?

$3,000

And still haven't seen properly to the power and cabling considerations.
 
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Re: Curious how much did you spend on your pedal board?

20 bucks in my board which is just some plywood and flat
Black paint pedals are : boss tuner (100)->Dunlop Jerry Cantrell wah (110)->Chicago stompworks Rams head clone (60)->mr black dark echo (100)

So roughly $330
 
Re: Curious how much did you spend on your pedal board?

I have over a thousand bucks worth of stuff on my pedalboard, I just didn't pay much for it. I was given an RP1000 (yeah, just given). My latest overdrive was custom built by a pedalmaker, we went through all the components on the breadboard until it was perfect (we call it 'The Cornhole'), a companion fuzz (made by the same pedalmaker), a handful of Mooer boxes, and a Dime wah. The sound mostly comes from the amp and guitar.

The board it's mounted to was about $40. It isn't quite big enough though so I'm looking into simply building one myself.
 
Re: Curious how much did you spend on your pedal board?

22"x11" interior hard DC Case with seven pedals, a Brick style power supply, and Mogami pedals has only run me $450.
 
Re: Curious how much did you spend on your pedal board?

currently ... about $200

Boss TU-2 Tuner - $100 brand new
Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive - $40 Brand new
Boss BF-2 Flanger - $40 used
Boss BCB-30 pedal board/case - $30 used

Im totally a Boss head too.

boss.jpg
 
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Re: Curious how much did you spend on your pedal board?

It's easier to build a collection of pedals one at a time as you develop as a player, and most semi-pro or even pro players don't need a ton of effects. I think your whole argument is fundamentally flawed... you don't NEED a pedalboard with a case, fancy power supply, and a bunch of different sounds to play an electric guitar. You don't NEED a Mustang to drive to work. But if you enjoy it and you can afford it you might as well go for it.
 
Re: Curious how much did you spend on your pedal board?

Seems like you are overestimating the cost. I can make a board out of plywood for maybe less than 20 bucks. Or weld pieces of wrought iron to make a pedaltrain-style skeleton board for about 40 dollars. My board is an actual serving tray.
 
Re: Curious how much did you spend on your pedal board?

Too much.

Not counting the cables or the different iterations and mods... Easily $1117

There's a power supply
An 8-loop programmable switcher
A polytune mini
3 dirt pedals
A clean/dirt boost
A chorus
A delay
A buffer
Another boost for solos
A contingency amp sim/DI



Sent from my EVA-L19 using Tapatalk
 
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Re: Curious how much did you spend on your pedal board?

Cost to replace my current board would be somewhere in between $1500-2000, but like most of the people on here its a result of accumulating gear over a long period of time.
 
Re: Curious how much did you spend on your pedal board?

Cost to replace my current board would be somewhere in between $1500-2000, but like most of the people on here its a result of accumulating gear over a long period of time.

He's got a point ... it takes time to get all that gear.

Think of it like cooking ...

start with an onion (cause every good cajun dish starts with an onion). look at the onion as your amp
add some oil to start the cooking process. look at the oil as your guitar.

pretty bland dish so far. you need some meat.
you like chicken and sausage (overdrive and distortion respectively).
now you getting some where.

but you need color.
add some green bell pepper (chorus)
but you like red bell pepper too (delay)
Aww hell, you need some garlic (flanger)
Starting to smell good.
Seasoning ... need some salt/pepper/tony chacherie's (compressor/wah/boost)

rice (fuzz)

Chicken stock (Reverb)

simmer for 20 minutes and you got a jambalaya
 
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