Let's REVIEW those pedal boards you are using right now.

[Aceman]

All right...gotta think about how I'm gonna handle this one...new territory.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

There is a lot to love here, and some not so much. And some really/seriously....

First of all, let me say that there seems to be some sort of "stealth" board factor. Like, there is a board, but I can't see it. That's cool!

Lovepedal Bonetender - rare and cool and in the right spot!
Fuzz 50 - not really familiar, 2nd Lovepedal Fuzz. Is this necessary?
Lovepedal Pickle Vibe - could only be cooler if it was purple! Interesting position, but like Phase, opinions opinions on positions vary.
VFE Pale Horse - Most excellent TS9 alternative!

Tuner is there. Fine.

The Beardsman Bi-chorus. Interesting...another Lovepedal.
The JMP 11 is also very cool, but unfortunately, we have entered the fanboy zone.


I'm just gonna ask this ONE question: Joyop Blue Rain OD. Is that really necessary. I think you know the answer. Then again, if you did, it wouldn't be there, would it? Lose it period!

Lovepedal EchoSo - Lovepedal fanboy intervention time. There are a ton of other companies out there. The Pickle stays, as does the JMP 11. Yes, we all know that Lovepedal is a good, if not great company. But seriously....And I see now why it is "Pedals Akimbo." You are hoping no one will notice. Throw a couple of obvious non-love pedals on the back, sideways to get noticed, maybe a crappy little Joyo in the mix.

We aren't gonna do this cold turkey man. I'll get you through it. Here is the deal. You get to KEEP: The JMP11, The Pickle Vibe, and One Fuzz. (Personally, I dig the Bonetender with the starve!) I'll EVEN allow you to keep either the bi-chorus or the Echo. But not both! Think about maybe an Echoplex pedal. It even looks a lot like the Lovepedal Echo...

And now we are bumping into another problem. The Marvel Drive and Super Six. In case of "Clean" backline??? And three other guitar players without an OD pedal? You have more channels of dirt on this than Mikemurry's DSL40!!!!! Seriously man, Fuzz, Horse, JMP, and ONE other - that's it. Except the Joyo because that goes no matter what.. Just no. If you are too broke from the Lovepedal investment...maybe you just don't need ONE more OD.

Seriously - where do you walk off a plane and need 7 different flavors of dirt? Fuzz, Tumnus, VFE, JMP 11 - Done! And who needs 7 Lovepedals? If we are going with 7 of them, well then, let's go all the way!!!!

And by the way...I'm not counting the Emerald Prince or the Boost on the JMP.

So....While I generally don't even acknowledge defenses of ones board dumb@$$ery....the excessiveness of the OD's and the Lovepedals intrigues me.

I'm gonna allow you to admit you have a problem, and explain how this calamity of brand and type happened.

First of all, I do acknowledge that I'm a Lovepedal fanboy. I like them, and I have for years. But I refuse to admit that's a problem.

Two fuzzes so I don't need to redial for two entirely different uses:
Fuzz 50 is Fuzzface-ish, with stellar cleanup from full psychedelic to iconic Jimi-style semicleans with a twist of the guitar's volume.
It offers such a broad spectrum within that distinctive texture that it generally stays on throughout a tune or jam.
The Bonetender, however, is set more extremely as a once-in-a-while special, starved-fuzz madness on demand.
That's why it's in the front row for quick easy on/off, with the Fuzz 50 in back since it doesn't need convenient access.

~

I love vibe before drives - old school Trower tone. Pickle Vibe is small but epic - sounds fab.

Beardsman is two choruses in series, with separate speed controls. Extra depth & complexity and a far less repetitive sweep.
Running chorus downstream from fuzz and the Pale Horse (love that pedal) so I can do 80s style drive-into-chorus when I want to.
But most drives are after; I generally prefer chorus into dirt. Gives a more organic whorl - like running it into a cooking amp in the old days.

Echophonic is a nice simple vintagey echo, quite warm for a digital unit. Has a modulation knob for a bit of old school drift.
It also does the runaway effect, albeit smoothly. Once in a while I'll put my Garland Cosmo in that slot for wilder distorted runaways.
I have plenty more delay pedals. But the Echophonic has clarity & sweet tone, and it isn't finicky at all.
Even when set high, the repeats never swamp the original sound. To my ear it has real advantages over the Dunlop.

(Still wish I'd never sold both my tape Echoplexes, but that's another story... They wouldn't be on pedalboards anyway.)

~

I just use the Emerald Prince as an always-on sweetener, not a boost. Good thing, too, since its controls are inside on trimpots.
Pale Green is always on too, but isn't there for audible squeezing, just as a final EQ and for a subtle bit of cranked-amp feel.

~

As for having more drives onboard than necessary, I have to concede that. Yet it isn't quite as excessive as it looks.

Basically the drives in service are the Pale Horse and JMP Eleven. Pale Horse delivers trademark liquid TS mids.
COT half of the JMP adds crisp loose drive - but not extra volume; usually it's engaged for several songs at a time.
Neither of those is set for large amounts of gain. And they stack beautifully.
The JMP's drive side is Marshall-flavored and set hot & bright, serving as lead channel for solos and feedback.

But the Blue Rain only gets kicked on momentarily with the echo for pick drags. Strategically placed so I can hit both buttons at once.
Actually the thing sounds pretty darn good on its own (or as an afterburner with other drives) but I don't use it that way.
Footprint is tiny enough that it's worth the space for just one specific use.

As for the Marvel Drive and Super Six (another Lovepedal), I probably should've said "in case of sketchy backline."

Here's the story: I use my own amp whenever possible, set for crunchy grit and backing off the guitar for cleans.
I play quite a bit just on that core tone, no ODs engaged. Get perfectly usable core tone from typical backline amps too.
But occasionally you're surprised with something totally unfamiliar and without time to find its sweet spot.

One time in 2015 the surprise was a solid state Hiwatt combo. No soundcheck; ninety seconds to plug in and go.
Dead clean was it was set for. Going with that - a known quantity - seemed better than experimenting during a performance.
I needed to concentrate on playing; we'd only had two rehearsals together before the show.
Anyway, wound up playing nearly the whole set with an OD808 on.
Afterward, I resolved to be ready if it happened again.

The Marvel and Super provide nice core tones, at controllable volume, through just about any clean amp.
Both are responsive enough that I can still roll back at the guitar for cleanup, the way I'm used to.
They're hardly ever used so I don't consider them active units - more like reserves, a sonic spare tire.

And aside from questionable backlines, if one of the main drives - or one of the other players - has trouble, they'll be ready.

(BTW, aesthetically speaking, sideways pedals bother me too. These two are mounted sideways-and-opposed so I can hit both at once, switching between them with a single tap. Pic doesn't show it but the Marvel is a taller box; metal cap on the Super Six button levels them.)

 

[NegativeEase]

OK Aceman, let me have it.

Excruciating details are available in the build thread if you care, while the TL;DR is available in the other pedal board thread. Otherwise here are the goods:

Rack & pedals

Pedal board & controller

The road units I design and build for other people look a lot like this on the rack side, not so much on the pedalboard side.. that controller is a beast!

 

[dystrust]

The road units I design and build for other people look a lot like this on the rack side, not so much on the pedalboard side.. that controller is a beast!

Thanks I think :lol:

I've built several racks over the years, mainly for myself but also for a few friends though this one is clearly the most ambitious. I found a few build threads on TGP & Rig Talk to fine-tune my process, otherwise I made good use of the examples Nice Rack Canada posts on their blog. It isn't 100% perfect, but I'd feel reasonably confident taking it to a gig across town. I have backups for just about any cable I need in the 2U drawer at the bottom of the rack, and if worst comes to worst I have a simple pedal board I can plug into the front end of the Marshall and finish the show.

That controller is an RJM Mastermind GT/16 and I can't recommend it highly enough. I believe the case is aluminum, so it only weighs 6lbs despite being 19" wide and 10.5" from front to back. The entire controller board with the wah, volume pedal, tuner, & interface weighs 21.3lbs. I like the footprint of the Liquidfoot+12 better, but I can't argue with the build quality or reliability of the RJM. I've taken both of these controllers apart, and the RJM is clearly designed to be as user-serviceable as possible with lots of modular boards and plug-in connectors instead of being hardwired. In terms of functionality, it'll do just about anything you can think of with an excellent computer editor. The Liquidfoot had a couple features that the Mastermind doesn't, but it was buggy and support is effectively non-existent. OTOH everything the MMGT does is 100% dependable and RJM's support is by far the best I've ever seen in the industry.

 

[maug2122]

I use old Digitech gear in my rack and pedalboard, it's tuned up perfectly.
A few other guitarist thought I had newer gear, until I shown them my set up.

LOL !!!! , the look of shock when they saw that it was an old Digitech 2112, RP-12, RP-1 and Decibel Eleven Loop Expander..... was totally priceless.

 

[maug2122]

I use old Digitech gear in my rack and pedalboard, it's tuned up perfectly.
A few other guitarist thought I had newer gear, until I shown them my set up.

LOL !!!! , the look of shock when they saw that it was an old Digitech 2112, RP-12, RP-1 and Decibel Eleven Loop Expander..... was totally priceless.

This it.

 

[NegativeEase]

Thanks I think :lol:

I've built several racks over the years, mainly for myself but also for a few friends though this one is clearly the most ambitious. I found a few build threads on TGP & Rig Talk to fine-tune my process, otherwise I made good use of the examples Nice Rack Canada posts on their blog. It isn't 100% perfect, but I'd feel reasonably confident taking it to a gig across town. I have backups for just about any cable I need in the 2U drawer at the bottom of the rack, and if worst comes to worst I have a simple pedal board I can plug into the front end of the Marshall and finish the show.

That controller is an RJM Mastermind GT/16 and I can't recommend it highly enough. I believe the case is aluminum, so it only weighs 6lbs despite being 19" wide and 10.5" from front to back. The entire controller board with the wah, volume pedal, tuner, & interface weighs 21.3lbs. I like the footprint of the Liquidfoot+12 better, but I can't argue with the build quality or reliability of the RJM. I've taken both of these controllers apart, and the RJM is clearly designed to be as user-serviceable as possible with lots of modular boards and plug-in connectors instead of being hardwired. In terms of functionality, it'll do just about anything you can think of with an excellent computer editor. The Liquidfoot had a couple features that the Mastermind doesn't, but it was buggy and support is effectively non-existent. OTOH everything the MMGT does is 100% dependable and RJM's support is by far the best I've ever seen in the industry.

Haha -yeah, that was a compliment on your setup! I build pro rack systems often when asked - Just most people I build for don't prefer a controller that big -the displays per button on that thing are amazing.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

I use old Digitech gear in my rack and pedalboard, it's tuned up perfectly.
A few other guitarist thought I had newer gear, until I shown them my set up.

LOL !!!! , the look of shock when they saw that it was an old Digitech 2112, RP-12, RP-1 and Decibel Eleven Loop Expander..... was totally priceless.

That Loop Expander is a cool unit. Too bad they discontinued it.
Still, I got mine on a blowout sale when they did.
Looks as if they're discontinuing the Switch Dr too, another interesting tool.
It's on sale now for less than half price.

Might have to score one - none of my pedalboards has MIDI, and I've been eager to use the H9 on one.
Love the sounds but without MIDI it's just too cumbersome to take full advantage of IMO...

 

[maug2122]

That Loop Expander is a cool unit. Too bad they discontinued it.
Still, I got mine on a blowout sale when they did.
Looks as if they're discontinuing the Switch Dr too, another interesting tool.
It's on sale now for less than half price.

Might have to score one - none of my pedalboards has MIDI, and I've been eager to use the H9 on one.
Love the sounds but without MIDI it's just too cumbersome to take full advantage of IMO...

Who knows one day, the Switch Doctor may show up on Reverb or Ebay one day.... count on it !!!!

 

[Mincer]

I use old Digitech gear in my rack and pedalboard, it's tuned up perfectly.
A few other guitarist thought I had newer gear, until I shown them my set up.

LOL !!!! , the look of shock when they saw that it was an old Digitech 2112, RP-12, RP-1 and Decibel Eleven Loop Expander..... was totally priceless.

I had a 2112 for a few years. It does a few things I hadn't heard any other multi do.

 

[maug2122]

I had a 2112 for a few years. It does a few things I hadn't heard any other multi do.

I had a Johnson Millennium amp head in the late 90's and sold it ..... with regrets.

I went to a used gear store in Fresno, CA. back in 2013 and found the 2112 SGS with a Control One board .... and the shop owner threw in a mint condition old Digitech RP-1 ....ALL FOR ONLY $ 300.00 !!!! .

The 2112 SGS is identical to the Johnson Millennium Amp head.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Who knows one day, the Switch Doctor may show up on Reverb or Ebay one day.... count on it !!!!

Screaming deal right now for $139 on closeout from Decibel Eleven.
Way below current eBay prices.
Mighty tempting.

 

[Aceman]

The road units I design and build for other people look a lot like this on the rack side, not so much on the pedalboard side.. that controller is a beast!

Alright. It took me a while to decide how to handle this.

Here is the official statement: This is a midi controller and a rack. NOT a pedal board so, really does not apply. But you asked for item so you are gonna get it!

Tumnus, GT-500, HBE Fuzz/Oct. that's 7+ flavors of dirt, and all tasty choice pedals!
Chorus and Phase - and a again, WAZA and the EVH, so 4 styles there too!
Cali76 is irreproachable (almost)
I don't recognize the TC unit, but, TC rack processor - recognize!
Of course, the cool graphic Vox Wah is still cool.

But......


WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU RUIN THAT EPIC AWESOME BOARD?!?!?!?!?!?!

First of all, you DID put a board in there - and then you went and put that square ass, elementary school looking, pastel colors, square midi monstrosity on the board. News flash: IT DOESN'T FIT!!!!!! This may shock you, but when your Midi board is that big it is the effing board. That's alike putting a tire on a tire on your car. Seriously man, who does that? Perfectly awesome egos trashed. Now you have crooked alignment, wires showing, and you crowded the Vox, which is now a color eye sore.

And hey - remember all the pedal selection love just a moment ago? Well, lets just effing forget that. The reason you buy those epic @$$ pedals is for the ENVY and PRAISE of other guitar players! Here is a little visual appeal tip: When you have amazing pedals and a cool board put them on it. Why is that you say, Aceman? Because when you put them in a draw in a rack NO ONE CAN EFFING SEE THEM!!!!!!! Might as well have a Behringer FZ300, a Dano Mini chorus and a Mooer orange 90.

Seriously man, you had probably one of the top 5 boards in this thread, and shot it all to hell with some kind of Pink Floyd/Bob Bradshaw bull$#!t fantasy. Now you have a Kindergarten-crooked setup that hides the only things worth seeing. All because you want to perpetuate the stereotype that white men can't dance because of your privileged guilt (as you secretly stash more than a years income of pedals for most people).

Everyone....this is an example of how to go from king of the pedal world to midi malignancy and board-room irrelevance, and spend a crap-ton of money while doing it.

Damn, I'm sure that midi board works great, but it's about one step away from a black board with sticky notes on it aesthetically.

This kind of change would suggest serious underlying problems. Are you having trouble in the bedroom, maybe? I'm really feeling the juxtaposition of the epic pedals with this sort of Midi Masturbation and the helter skelter "board on board" arrangement as having some sort of serious psycho-sexual implication in the unconcious.

And, just to avoid the years of Psycho acoustic analysis:

This used to be You:

What the hell happened man?

 

[idsnowdog]

The case is from Harbor Freight. Caline power supply, Calin Tantrum Distortion (Metal Muff clone), Asmuse Ultimate Drive (OCD clone), Behringer SF300 (Boss FZ-3 clone), Musiclily Fuzz (Foxx Tone Machine clone), Coolmusic Fuzz, Dolamo Vintage Distortion (RAT clone), Mooer Solo (Suhr Riot clone), Staxx Dumbler (Zendrive clone), Mosky Golden Horse (Klon Centaur clone), Mosky D250X (DOD 250 clone), Rowin Booster, Donner Harmonic Square, Donner Compressor. The SF300 and Musiclily Fuzz are kind of redundant except the Musiclily has an octave fuzz option.

The Tantrum, Solo, and Dumbler will probably be downsized. The Tantrum doesn't do anything for me. The Solo and Dumbler inhabit the same tonal territory as the Ultimate Drive so they are redundant.

 

[Aceman]

The case is from Harbor Freight. Caline power supply, Calin Tantrum Distortion (Metal Muff clone), Asmuse Ultimate Drive (OCD clone), Behringer SF300 (Boss FZ-3 clone), Musiclily Fuzz (Foxx Tone Machine clone), Coolmusic Fuzz, Dolamo Vintage Distortion (RAT clone), Mooer Solo (Suhr Riot clone), Staxx Dumbler (Zendrive clone), Mosky Golden Horse (Klon Centaur clone), Mosky D250X (DOD 250 clone), Rowin Booster, Donner Harmonic Square, Donner Compressor. The SF300 and Musiclily Fuzz are kind of redundant except the Musiclily has an octave fuzz option.

The Tantrum, Solo, and Dumbler will probably be downsized. The Tantrum doesn't do anything for me. The Solo and Dumbler inhabit the same tonal territory as the Ultimate Drive so they are redundant.

Cheap @$$ box of dirt. Cheap @$$ box, and cheap @$$ dirt pedals/clones. I LOVE IT!!!!!

 

[idsnowdog]

I have plenty of distortion/fuzz/overdrive pedals and need to thin the herd a bit. I need to create a second board for reverb, delay, tremolo/vibrato, and phaser.

 

[NegativeEase]

The case is from Harbor Freight. Caline power supply, Calin Tantrum Distortion (Metal Muff clone), Asmuse Ultimate Drive (OCD clone), Behringer SF300 (Boss FZ-3 clone), Musiclily Fuzz (Foxx Tone Machine clone), Coolmusic Fuzz, Dolamo Vintage Distortion (RAT clone), Mooer Solo (Suhr Riot clone), Staxx Dumbler (Zendrive clone), Mosky Golden Horse (Klon Centaur clone), Mosky D250X (DOD 250 clone), Rowin Booster, Donner Harmonic Square, Donner Compressor. The SF300 and Musiclily Fuzz are kind of redundant except the Musiclily has an octave fuzz option.

The Tantrum, Solo, and Dumbler will probably be downsized. The Tantrum doesn't do anything for me. The Solo and Dumbler inhabit the same tonal territory as the Ultimate Drive so they are redundant.

Cool board, but do you wear these to operate it?

 

[idsnowdog]

Their proximity hasn't proved an issue yet and I tend to use them singly and not together.

 

[Demanic]

Cheap @$$ box of dirt. Cheap @$$ box, and cheap @$$ dirt pedals/clones. I LOVE IT!!!!!

Hypocrite.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

 

[Blille]

Hypocrite.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

Cheap @$$ box of dirt. Cheap @$$ box, and cheap @$$ dirt pedals/clones. I LOVE IT!!!!!

I thought you would have a field day with that lol