Since Gabe started a thread about pedals in the pedalboard and the thread went into the direction of power supplying, I thought it would be interesting to bring a related topic to the round table of the Knights of GMC
I am very happy with my pedalboard - the SKB PS 55 and I have been using mine since 2009. It has done its job very well but the only thing which makes me a bit reluctant into stating that it's perfect is the actual... lack of space I won't be able to fit a whammy and wah pedal in it, with all the stuff that I have right now unfortunately and I am searching for solutions.
Here's how the unit looks like from the perspective of input/output and power supplying possibilities:
Here's the whole thing - pedalboard and protection case (after all the SKB guys are well known for their cases)
Now, what do you guys use and why?
That's a very cool pedalboard Cosmin! The problem as you said is the space, but maybe you could add an extra small pedalboard just for Whammy and Wah Wah. I will share the link to my thread where I shoe what I'm using:
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=48658&pid=642124&st=20&#entry642124
It's bigger, but there is not space for Whammy... and regarding power supply, I'm using Joyo Multi power.
Since I rarely need to use more than 5 or 6 pedals I make my own.
You can see under the blue chorus pedal that there's a little 'riser' (small block of wood).
I try to find old metal camera cases or Samsonite 'brief' cases, pull the inside dividers out and put the board inside.
This one's in the camera case. It's also two tiered. The power supply is under the back tier.
This is in the Samsonite briefcase (which was my fathers and I've been using it since the late 70s).
Powered by a 1-spot (which can be noisy) and some batterys.
Don't use a lot of pedals I can only think of one more pedal I want to add. I use the pt1 pedaltrain. Everything sets up nice and clean.and these come in a wide variety of sizes and you can mount a power supply underneath
I use one of these
As I recently got a GSP1101 off ebay to try. This foot pedal connects using ethernet/cat 5 cable and requires no external battery or power supply which is really handy. It comes with a 25 foot ethernet cable which is plenty long and provides power.
You can get the controller and rack unit for about $500-$600 on Ebay these days since it's now a "retro" thing given that AXE EFFECTS has taken over I like the AXE EFFECTS units a TON but I like Ancient Digitech stuff too I still have my GNX3 and I swear it honestly sounds better than the GSP1101 and has better signal/fx routing. But it does lag between patches and requires a wall wart so....upgrades!!!
Todd
Could be - I had the MIDI controller on my mind for some time, but I never had the occasion to see one in action. I have to try it first and see how it feels.
Do you feel like 'dancing' too much on stage when changing effects/ channels?
Nice I dig the metal click stomps and the metal housing and the light up display. My pedal board is actually designed after things just like what you have here. They just tossed a way/volume on top for good measure with the control 2.
Todd
Check out everything this Line 6 Unit can do. I've been very interested in this one myself for a long time:
http://line6.com/m13/sounds.html <-- See breakdown of effects offered
<-- Demonstration
Looks like it's a very complex piece of machinery... I had the separate delay stomp from Line 6 - The Echo Park and I sold it due to the fact that it needed too much effort to be activated in a live setting. Of course it's not the case here, but still, I have some reminiscent bad feelings
I use Boss BCB-60 pedalboard and that must be the most useful part of gear I have
At first I carried pedals in a bag and I would arrange them on stage but as I started to travel more - it was really down to practicality of getting a pedalboard. It allows me to store all the cables and pedals I would need on stage (and carry it with one hand). Its very quick to setup on stage.
Here is a picture (Markbass Super Booster DI pedal is missing) :
Yeah I know - its been to hell and back!
I'm been rocking this beauty for about 5 years now and love it!
http://www.rondomusic.com/pdc4100e.html
It's extremely sturdy and a fantastic price compared to the extremely overpriced Pedaltrain stuff. Unfortunately, I may have to end up buying (or probably building) a Pedaltrain-style board to keep in this case, just so that I can make a bit more room by keeping my power supply under my board. It's missing my Nova Delay and I just threw this board together on Saturday, but it's a start, the start of a new and killer board!
Aye Todd!
That old saying, stating that tone is in the hands, is so true, ain't it?
Yup So many players spend so much time and money searching for tone in their gear when most of it is just hiding in their fingers. Getting the tone out of the fingers is the tricky part, but like anything else, it just takes practice
Todd
Yeah man, I totally agree - we all know the Satriani video in which he makes a cheap-o guitar sound mindblowingly close to his tone
WOW! Joe and I have something in common! I can take a really expensive guitar and make it sound like a piece of junk.
I have a few different boards that I configure based upon what I need for a particular gig.
Last summer I used this board for the majority of the gigs I did. I try to have the basics - a clean sound, a slightly dirty sound and an overdriven sound and maybe some reverb and tremolo. The Blue Box I needed for one song that the artist I was working with played.
This board has the following pedals:
1- Boss Slow Gear
2- Maxon Compressor
3- Klon Centuar
4- Maxon OD-808
5- MXR Blue Box
6- Fuchs Tremolo
I was using the Peterson Strobo Stomp 2 and the pedal with the two switches controls the CM Headroom that I keep back with my amp. The EH Hum pedal I sometimes use if I bring an old 50s or 60s Strat that isn't shielded out.
I have a slightly larger board that I use if I need more effects then I would typically use. This pic is from when I was trying to figure out how I was going to lay it out:
If I go out on a bunch of dates and there need to be certain effects turned on and off quickly or odd combinations I use a GCX switching system with a Ground Control Pro.
There are many different ways to configure this, but I usually have the 8 top buttons as on/off for any pedal like on a regular board. The bottom 4 I will program something like intro/verse/chorus/solo for each song in the set. That way you hit program up for the next song and the sounds you need are right in there. Very quiet due to the loops and very easy to use.
Here is the GCP:
Interesting configuration man It would be awesome if you could tell us your story so that we may know how these configurations fit to various styles!
I do a few different things.
The main thing I do is write songs and work with developing artists. A lot of times when someone is working with an entertainment lawyer or when they're signed to a development deal I spend time working with the artist and the label's A&R/marketing department types to come up with material and/or get that person ready to record.
I usually will spend a couple weeks with someone getting to know them and kind of figuring out what they're trying to do and from there I'll start writing some songs, or taking songs that have been given to me and getting them to click. Then we'll do 3 or 4 songs and hand them off to give the business types an idea of what they're doing and it helps them put a marketing plan together and pair them with the right team to work on their release.
In the summer I'll usually go out for about 4-6 weeks (25 - 40 dates) with either someone I have been working with or one of the people I have played with in the past. I tend to do something similar in the fall but I spent so much of the last 15 years or so traveling everywhere that these days I like to be closer to home and be with my kids. There are still a couple people I will do half tours with but I'm trying to put those days behind me.
Aside from that I do a lot of work for television and film. That's not always guitar stuff. Sometimes it's more writing or project managment for lack of a better term.
I wrote a blog entry about my pedal board a while back. You can read it here: http://www.tanpants.net/?p=18 if you want more detail.
Getting back to pedalboards, these days I don't have a set board at home. When I sit around and play for fun I usually play clean so I plug into an amp. When I'm recording something I'll take a board and put what I need on it. I keep my pedals I use a lot on a shelf setup in my studio. For the odd stuff I have a bunch of those old wooden coke cases with the dividers that stack with everything else in them. I keep a bunch of patch cords around and am always switching things in and out.
Here is how I store the pedals I use a lot.
When I play live I find that having fewer boxes on the floor tends to be the way to go. My main live amps tend to run clean and I'll use the Klon for a boost and the 808 for the dirt. I'll have some tremolo and maybe something else if I'm replicating album tracks or if an effect is vital to a song. The less things you have the less chance something will fail or that you will spend time hitting boxes instead of playing.
Pedal boards are great if you're going after one thing but at home I like the physical board without anything locked down so I can experiment.
The one thing I really love for everything are the new Sanyo wireless power supplies. They make life super easy, there are no cords to run and no ground loops because they're not plugged in. The best idea to come along in years.
Here are some pics of how I use my small board (I make most of mine myself). I sized it to fit inside a case that can hold a lot of my 1x12 amps. If I'm doing something that isn't playing huge venues or has a limit on cartage I'll use this. For my own local things I use it as well.
When I go out with the GCX I do keep my tuner and wah up front:
Aside from the interesting post which I enjoyed reading - you obviously know a lot about pedals I was curious about the Sanyo wireless power supply - does it run on batteries, or?
How long will the Sanyo power say, 4 or 5 pedals? (tuner, 2 drives, mod, delay)
i think it would depend on the current draw. i have never had one die after 2/3 hours.
Very interesting! Thanks man! But let me get this straight - if I want to power up a few pedals (4-5 having various voltage requirements) - first off, is this possible and second, if yes, how much will it last?
Thanks again man - it sounds pretty decent, but for instance, I have this Russian preamp - AMT SS20 that runs on 12,5V and it'd be totally awesome to have that going as well
Here's the specs from Sanyo.
Read the whole thing. Near the bottom of the page it gives examples of average run time with various configs and power draws.
http://us.sanyo.com/Pedal-Juice
*the more juice you require the shorter the run time - which should be obvious.
Thank you Ken!
I'm considering very seriously getting one of those units as I play a lot of one and two set gigs (3 hours maximum from setup to teardown). Would be really convenient.
I just read through the presentation and I also find it amazing! Would indeed be a great acquisition for me as well
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