The solution to this common problem is a pedal board – a board with all your pedals semi-permanently attached, with all the audio and power connections in place. A pedal board lets you transport everything easily and set up and tear down quickly and is usually a lot neater. Ideally you then simply pop the board on stage or floor, connect it to power, guitar and amp and you are ready to go.
Pedalboard features
When you are looking at buying or building a pedalboard, there are a few features to look at and decide on.
Size
Size is all important – you have to be able to fit all your pedals on the same board. More importantly – unless you have been using exactly the same setup for decades – you have to leave room for expansion. On the other hand, a huge pedalboard takes up floor space, which can be at a premium on many smaller stages.
Angled surface
When you have multiple rows of pedals, the ones in the front row can obscure or make it difficult to activate the pedals in the second or even third row behind them. Boards with an angled pedal surface, raise the rear pedals rows up higher than the front, making it easier to reach them. Angled boards usually allow you to run your cables underneath and even mount a power supply under the board (freeing up valuable surface space).
Case
A carry case or bag for your board is important to protect your board and the pedals on it when you are travelling. For travelling to and from practice a simple padded bag will do, but when you are gigging, a hard case becomes essential.
While hard cases can double the cost of your board, consider the total value of all your pedals and imagine an amplifier rack falling on top of it – which should put things into perspective.
Slatted surface
A surface made of slats makes it easier to route patch and power cables by running them underneath the board, making for a much neater pedalboard layout. The board must be raised or angled to provide clearance for cables.
Power supplies
Some commercial boards come with built-in power supplies for your pedals. This has the advantage of being convenient and usually makes for a neater pedalboard.
However, they usually only supply one voltage and don’t allow for upgrading the supply when you add in some power hungry or unusual voltage pedals, so usually they are not recommended for any but the smallest boards.
Inputs and outputs
A few commercial boards have built in sockets for plugging in to your guitar and amp. Not an essential feature for most players. It is important that they be in convenient positions with amp output at the back of the board and guitar input at the front or side. Rear inputs are problematic as they often mean the guitar cable will drag across the surface of the board as you move, which causes all kinds of chaos.
Attaching pedals
The single best way to attach pedals is with adhesive Velcro strips, and most commercial pedalboards come with Velcro included. The hook side of the Velcro is stuck to the bottom of the pedal while the loop side is fixed to the board and pedals are attached simply by pressing them down.
Most importantly, this allows you to remove and move your pedals as your board changes (or you need to reconfigure the layout for a specific gig).
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