Blog - Pedalboard 2.0 (June 15th, 2018)
It has been two years since my first post about building a pedalboard. I have learned a lot since then, and have added to and improved my setup quite a bit. So, I decided to post an update!
The first (and most important thing) that I learned is that YOU SHOULD and NEED TO buy an isolated power supply. I was in denial when I tried to cram a power strip underneath the pedalboard and thought that "it was fine". It wasn't. It was the source of all of my problems. Weird sounds, flaky connections... at one point one of the power supplies was actually switching off the power strip if the ground underneath was uneven and it would push up against the power button. Beyond that, it made cable management absolutely awful. The "Truetone CS12" has been perfect. It powers everything I have with plenty of juice to spare.
So that is my main advice. Don't cheap out there. Buy a power supply!
Also helpful is a cabling kit to make custom length cables. There is some debate online about using solderless cables, however I have not had any issues. I used the "Lava Cable Tightrope" kit. It's really nice not having to deal with all of the slack underneath the board from using random cables.
I also mounted two output jacks on the bottom left of the board. One for the instrument/pedals, and one for the JamMan sampler. It keeps things nice and clean, and easy to set up/tear down.
Finally, the Source Audio Reflex expression pedal is key. It allows me to control the expression inputs of 3 different pedals. You can set up different patches to control any combination of the 3 pedals, in either direction. For instance, you can reverse the direction of one pedal, so when you are on the "heel" position, one pedal is swelled up, and one is swelled down. Then you move to the "toe" position and they blend into eachother and switch. There are a ton of possibilities and it saves you from needing to have multiple expression pedals.
Channel 1 Signal Chain:
|
Instrument(s) ↓ A/B box ↓ Truetone Buffer ↓ Fishman Aura ↓ Amp |
(FX Loop) → Xotic Effects SP Compressor → Electro Harmonix C9 → Walrus Audio Julia → Electro Harmonix Silencer → Ernie Ball VP Jr. Volume Pedal → Dr. Scientist BitQuest → Earthquaker Devices Afterneath → Strymon El Capistan → Empress Reverb -> (FX Loop) |
Channel 2 Signal Chain:
DigiTech JamMan + Saturnworks 3-Button Switch
Expression
Source Audio Reflex → Empress Reverb
→ Strymon El Capistan
→ Dr. Scientist BitQuest
Lots of great sounds on the new album thanks to this stuff!
New tracks will be on the website very soon.