Minor Pedalboard Rant

[famousbass]

Really?!
Interesting rant though...

[Bill@WelcomeHome]

Well, the other answer, which i have employed in the past, is to pull the bottom covers off, mark and drill the pedalboard, go to the hardware store and get longer screws, and screw the pedals on from the bottom. Works a treat. But frankly, as i have not nailed down exactly which pedals I'm always going to use and how I always want them laid out, I've gone the industrial Velcro route... no glue, just the heavy duty adhesive that comes with the heavy duty Velcro.

[famousbass]

The simple solution to destructive velcro glues is to put masking tape on the bottom of your pedal and stick the velcro to that.

[Winny Pooh]

I use a wooden board then a small screw in hook (closed) on either side. A long cable tie goes across the pedal through the hooks and connects to itself on the top of the pedal. Quick release and no harm to the pedal.

[Dervish Riff]

It seems the only thing the musical instrument industry has standardized on is to make things difficult for musicians--connectors, footswitches, control layout, etc.

Something simple like a 1/4"-20 insert on the base plate would make a pedalboard a very straightforward approach--you could just go to a hardware store and get the screws and washers--oops!

[Bristol Posse]

Originally Posted by Dervish Riff

It seems the only thing the musical instrument industry has standardized on is to make things difficult for musicians--connectors, footswitches, control layout, etc.

Something simple like a 1/4"-20 insert on the base plate would make a pedalboard a very straightforward approach--you could just go to a hardware store and get the screws and washers--oops!

Unless you like velcro in which case it would just make things harder. If it was easy, it wouldn't be worth doing

[lame pseudonym]

Some smokin' ideas here!

"I use a wooden board then a small screw in hook (closed) on either side. A long cable tie goes across the pedal through the hooks and connects to itself on the top of the pedal. Quick release and no harm to the pedal."

"The simple solution to destructive velcro glues is to put masking tape on the bottom of your pedal and stick the velcro to that."

"Well, the other answer, which I have employed in the past, is to pull the bottom covers off, mark and drill the pedalboard, go to the hardware store and get longer screws, and screw the pedals on from the bottom."


Nice !!

...I just got back from Hillbilly Hardware, "Where We Always Have Some Of What You Need" with my longer screws for the DI box....

LP

[famousbass]

Originally Posted by Dervish Riff

It seems the only thing the musical instrument industry has standardized on is to make things difficult for musicians--connectors, footswitches, control layout, etc.

Umm, err, except MIDI... still at v1.0.

Cheers

[Bill@WelcomeHome]

Originally Posted by lame pseudonym

"Well, the other answer, which I have employed in the past, is to pull the bottom covers off, mark and drill the pedalboard, go to the hardware store and get longer screws, and screw the pedals on from the bottom."
[/I]

Nice !!

...I just got back from Hillbilly Hardware, "Where We Always Have Some Of What You Need" with my longer screws for the DI box....

LP

Over-drill the holes, to give yourself some wiggle room.

[rkopald]

Have to agree with original ranter. Pedal makers could help us out a little...
Another solution I've seen, (I thought on this board..) is to put a bike chain link between the pedal base and the screw. Then you have a flying attachment point. Still need a board you can non-destructively attach it to, but at least you're not gumming up the back of your pedal with idiotic velcro.
My Boss pedals I don't friggin care if they get gummed up, but I feel differently about my Voodoo Vibe...(even though I now currently have Velcro on it)
Not to mention any of my Z Vex stuff...that s&*t was spendy...

[tfbattag]

Originally Posted by lame pseudonym

Every camera that you ever see, not counting things like Brownie and Instamatics and sundry telephones, has a 1/4"/20 threaded socket on the bottom for when you want or need to use a tripod.

So putting pedals on a board is such a common thing to do, and you have to put them on a board if you have more than one or two pedals, ... why don't all pedals come with some kind of pair of threaded sockets on the bottom, or optional bottom plate that extends from the sides to use as mounting flanges?

I think that it's crazy that every pedal manufacturer proceeds as though every one of their customers is going to use just one pedal.

LP

PS Glue Velcro to the pedal? Uh, no thanks.

If I recall correctly, my Kodak X-15 instamatic had the threaded socket too! I like your idea!

[lame pseudonym]

Originally Posted by rkopald

My Boss pedals I don't friggin care if they get gummed up, but I feel differently about my Voodoo Vibe...(even though I now currently have Velcro on it)
Not to mention any of my Z Vex stuff...that s&*t was spendy...

Yeah, some of us just don't like to trash, deface, or vandalize our stuff.
Besides, some of those pedals nowadays are a significant investment.

LP

[litepipe]

I don't know... I buy gear to use. There is a testing period until I decide if I like it, but after that I don't care if it gets a little beat up no matter what I paid for it. You can get Velcro glue off pretty easy without damaging most pedals.

[rkopald]

Originally Posted by litepipe

I don't know... I buy gear to use. There is a testing period until I decide if I like it, but after that I don't care if it gets a little beat up no matter what I paid for it. You can get Velcro glue off pretty easy without damaging most pedals.

True enough...but I've had pedals that have delicate certificates of provenance on the back that tape ruins..
Keeley, for example; and Teese wahs...
This crap shouldn't matter, but alas it does..

[darkhorse]

I have used cable screw downs by cutting them and drilling a second hole, this worked w all bottom mounted pedal screws and by manipulating the piece you could screw it to difficult pedals that had screws up on the sides like my Whammy. It worked, but the issue I got with screwing down pedals was a board that looked like it was attacked by a woodpecker as I tend to change pedals out every few months or get new ones and have to reorder them.

Velcro can be a pain but the better disk Velcro pads can come off the pedal easy enough. I've been using those Velcro disk lately and they are doing well.

Some make metal tabs for ties but not all pedals have the screws on the bottom corners. I've thought about finding some slotted hook sliders and mount the disk slider on the pedal attach the hook to the board and just slide them on, would they stay, maybe a piece against the top of the pedal, again those small cable ties come in handy.

[Joe Porto]

These are links from a bicycle chain. You attach them to your pedals with the screws from the bottom plate with the second ring protruding from the pedal in each corner, then simply screw down to your pedalboard.

[Red Black]

Originally Posted by Joe Porto

These are links from a bicycle chain. You attach them to your pedals with the screws from the bottom plate with the second ring protruding from the pedal in each corner, then simply screw down to your pedalboard.

That's clever! :]

RB

[darkhorse]

Works on a lot of pedals but not all pedals have screws on the bottom (Whammy, etc.) I also ran into some pedals where the screw was just not long enough to go through the tab and back into the plate bottom.

[lame pseudonym]

Way cool idea with those links. Especially since I'm looking at an Ernie Ball volume pedal...

(Compliments on the beautiful photo too. The poor guy who has to write all that stuff on each one must have an awfully tedious job)

I was gonna cut a pair of straps that would pick up the foot holes and extend past the sides...but the pedal isn't going to go on after all. Watch ebay for it.

LP

[foldback]

It's too late to change the industry and there are too many old used pedals out there that I must interface with.

A single mounting hole on the bottom would have been an elegant cure but getting M.I. companies to cooperate is virtually impossible (ie, how long it took for the industry to decide on which XRL was used for mics and was pin 2 or 3 positive?).

I've built dozens of pedal boards and have found glue and adhesive based solutions to be unacceptable for working/traveling professional musicians. The temperature in a road case in the belly of a tour bus can easily get over 130 degrees F and with the humidity in the southern states I've never found any glue or adhesive based solutions that did not fail and leave sticky goo to contend with.

My favorite way to mount a pedal in a touring rig is to remove the bottom, drill a single small hole through it (typically .125"), put a small machine screw through the hole so it sticks out off the bottom of the pedal and put on a lock washer and nut to hold it in place. The threaded bolt sticking out from the bottom of the pedal goes through a matching hole in the pedal board and I nut it on from the bottom. This kind of setup is not hard to do and it stands up to world touring and stagehands.

On bigger heavier pedals like Morley and Whammy I bump up to a 1/4-20 threaded bolt sticking out the bottom.

If you decide to take the pedal off the pedal board it's easy to remove the bolt, put a piece of tape over the tiny hole to keep dust out and no nasty glue to deal with.

Naptha or lighter fluid is the chemistry that can get that glue off the bottom of a pedal but be careful, these are extremely flammable chemicals and they burn with an almost invisible flame. If you mess with them do it in a well vented area and don't have any flame, fire or cigarettes burning in the area. Dispose of any rags safely too.

Good luck and good music to all.

[darkhorse]

Seems like a hard core method to be sure. So does the bolt go through the board itself and a nut holds the pedal on the board?
What is the clearance of the bolt head and the usual length. I know some pedals have the inner board pretty close to the plate bottom.

[gouge]

this got me thinking, we made all our mic cases by using left over sheets of acoustic foam and cutting out areas for the mics to sit. then put that in cheap aluminium brief cases.

so why not do the same on your effects board. glue a sheet of acoustic foam to a board. then cutout rectangles/squares to tightly hold the pedal.

you get an instant secure travel board as well.

[darkhorse]

That could work. Glue the foam sheet to the board or mount in a shallow road case?

Drill mount is heavy duty.
I lack a proper drill press to hope to drill through the heavy plate on most pedals.

[gouge]

i guess it depends on how you like your board setup,

i'd make a board that could be placed in a case so i had the option.

i'd think 1-2" thick foam would do. with the mic cases we used 2" because that's what we had lying around. the foam was the smooth face type so didn't have the grooves you see in a lot of acoustic foams.

[drbob1]

The problem with the acoustic foam thing is changing pedals...

Zip ties are always a decent solution, but not very elegant.

The standard "bud" boxes that MXR, Zvex and a host of others use are a standard size-you can get replacement bottom plates that you can cut and drill to your heart's content... doesn't work for other sizes/shape.

[fastlanestoner]

It's not that big of a deal to me. I just use gaffer's tape b/c I change up my board often. Keeps things in line and is easy to swap them out if need be.

[Faderjockey]

I know we don't think people use only 1 pedal.
We have a new unit coming out sized down because of the demand for smaller space needed on boards..

I've used tons of pedals on my board..But we can not mount threaded devices like your saying cameras have because there is not room internally.
For years we've offered more internal trim pots for tweaking then anyone it seems..

But with these newer smaller units there are no trim pots inside now because there just isn't room and we want to keep it hand built and not go surface mount with these.. So if there is no room for trim mounts (and battery clip on these smaller units since they are only used on boards) Then there really isn't room left for a hole to a have a threaded adapter placed on the back lid.

[Eiko]

I found the easiest way is using long cable binders. My board is cheap but sturdy plywood, so I just drill holes wherever I need to fix a pedal. Just takes a coupla minutes.
Side effect: the board get lighter the more holes I drill

[Jazz Noise]

Just be thankful we managed to wrangle centre-negative PSU's as a standard, as silly as that may seem. A mark on the industry left by Boss, no less.