Going to pedal board

[catzodellamarina]

My old TC G-Major is on the fritz again. Maybe it's the Midi-buddy with years of beer and Jager spilled on it. I've had the same fx setup since 2003? Anyways.. time for a change.

So I've been collecting/testing pedals for some years. I've got it narrowed down to what I like: tuner, phaser, OD, and 2 delays. Now I need to add my channel switcher f/c too. How do I build this thing as simple as possible - like one cable snake solution. I hate the thought of confusing fx loop cables, power, amp switcher. Drives me nuts when I have more than a couple cables on the floor.

Any pics would be helpful too.

[straycat]

My pedal board I try to keep simple nothing on there I don't need.
My board consists of :
Tuner, delay,reverb,BBE sonic maximizer,phase 90, tube overdrive of some sort, a line boost and noise suppressor.
Sounds like a lot but its only the essentials.
I don't go with high dollar boutique pedals either I go with pedals that work and that are pretty much bulletproof.
My board I have had loaded with high end boutique items in the past and to be honest my board now sounds better.

[paranoid]

Fx-8!

[roodyrocker]

You may want to look into one of the various pedal loopers. That way all your pedals plug into it on your board then you have various footswitches for turning on/off different pedal combinations. Most of them also have a tuner mute function. Some are even capable of switching amp channels depending on the amp. You avoid tap dancing if you want to turn on your OD, Phaser, and Delay pedals that way.

[catzodellamarina]

I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible. No added pedal controllers. At most, 5 or 6 pedals. I wouldn't mind getting a tc flashback x4 instead my 2 delays. Has anyone tried one of those custom all-in-one cables? Can't remember what company makes them.

[MetalMedal II]

I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible. No added pedal controllers. At most, 5 or 6 pedals. I wouldn't mind getting a tc flashback x4 instead my 2 delays. Has anyone tried one of those custom all-in-one cables? Can't remember what company makes them.

Pedalsnake is the all-in-one that I have.

I have a small pedalboard carry case for many years holding mainly a wah, boost and tuner all in front. There was no room for other effects even though I slowly have accumulated pedals that would sound best in the loop like delay. Anyway, I finally got a decent sized board for effects in the loop and decided to go with pedalsnake to connect everything since I didn't want all the cables criss-crossing and honestly didn't have enough long cables for the effects loop.

Pedalsnake uses a modular format using MIDI-type connectors for regular instrument ends and others for delivering power to the pedals. It wasn't cheap though. It cost about $200 for the main cable and all the ends I needed, but it saved me the need to buy a separate power supply, like a Voodoo Power Plus, which itself can be pretty pricey. So the single cable delivers both signal and power to the board.

They say you can only get them from their website, pedalsnake.com , but I found a vendor that sells the base snake and a couple other connectors on Ebay that were cheaper, just search "pedalsnake" in Ebay. I went with the 7 channel 18-foot base snake and ended up using 5 channels, 2 of which I use for deliver power to the pedals. I bought one of the 500 mA snakepower to power for the pedals in the loop and another lower wattage wall wart (Boss) for the effects in front. I did this in case there was a ground loop hum...and there was one, until I split the power.

I just recently got it, so I can't comment on durability, though reviews on the web say they hold up despite lack of bulky metal connectors.

[DonP]

I was thinking of getting a TC type of thing like a G-Major. Bad idea? I think I was interested in the Nova.

[straycat]

I forgot to mention I run a bypass box to bypass all pedals except the tuner to get just the amp.
The bypass box was made by Billy Compton at RSguitarworks in Winchester Ky.

[catzodellamarina]

Well I tried out the pedal board this weekend. Not comfortable. First off, the cable length (25 ft) is too short for a big stage. A small bar = OK. If I did decide to go all pedals, I would need quite an investment in cables. Secondly, I really missed the one-button convenience that the G-Major and Midi FC gave me. One button to activate multiple fx and level controls. I was hopping on pedals and making knob adjustments too. Really took away from my focus on playing.

I plan on using the pedalboard with my combo rig I use at home for occasional small shows.

Now I am looking into upgrading to the G-Major 2 and/or a new Midi FC. I will start with a new FC since I suspect mine is suffering from 15 years beer, Jager, and bodily fluids.