I'm thinking I'm going to end up making my own pedal board, and have been looking at some of the better DIY boards and commercial boards for some of the best features available. I'm even thinking about trying to make a curved or angled board, so it doesn't look like a small tray table in front of me, but rather somewhat wraps around where I'm standing. I'm still looking for ideas at this point, though, because I'm still building all the pedals that will go on the board first. (like anyone here is ever done with that stage, lol!)
What are some of your favorite features that you have used or seen in a pedal board? Anything... even basic "don't forget this" things will help.
List for reference:
- Slots for routing all cables below the board
- Hidden power supply below the board
- Side jacks for input, FX loop, and AC power built in
- Built-in input and output buffer circuits
- Rise between rows of pedals
- Built-in light (led?) to see pedal settings in dark area
- Container/drawer to hold picks and capos
- Threaded hole to double as music/mic stand base
- Jacks to connect to more than one board (multiple modular boards)
- Handles & rubber feet for better overall quality
I like a slight tilt up. Not much, maybe where the back of the board is an inch or an inch and a half high than the front of the board.
A light. So that I can see the settings on pedals if I'm in a generally dark area.
Depending on whether or not you ever use sheet music; a threaded hole that allows you board to hold a music stand. IN fact, you could also use that hold for a mic stand too.
Container for picks and capos.
Also, I like to have my back row of pedals on a riser/booster so I can get to the footswitches with out trampling on the first row of pedals.
Cody
Awesome ideas! I don't know that I'd personally use the threaded hole for the music/mic stand, rather than just a separate music or mic stand, but who knows... I might if I had it!
I especially like the idea of a small drawer/container for picks and capo storage. That way they're not always floating around somewhere in my various guitar cases.
Keep 'em coming!
Like the idea of an angled/curved board but a case becomes a problem. Maybe two separate boards. Picks drawer is cool but just adds unusable space. Better off with a separate case for cables and other stuff. Separate mic stand makes for more pedal space. USB lights or LEDs are good for lighting and cheap.
I think a modular set of boards is better than one big board. If I were building, and needed room for lots of pedals, I'd build multiple smaller boards that worked together, maybe even two medium boards rather than one big one.
Jacob
I used drawer pulls for handles on my most recent DIY pedalboard, and little rubber feet that screw onto the underside. I've found these things to greatly improve the experience of lifting and setting down the pedalboard. I like the raised back layer as well. There's space underneath to hide a powerbar/power supply etc. Also, if you're going to go the velcro route, I got a spool of it on eBay and reinforced the stickiness by using a crapload of staples and a staple gun. Solid as a rock. So far this incarnation of my board has been pretty good, but I built one or two crappy ones before finally settling on this design.