Designing a pedal board and signal chain

[erogenousjones17]

Just got a new pedal (E-H Number One Echo) and there's no more room on my pedal board, so it's time to go back to the the drawing board. Problem is, I'm not sure on the best way to string my pedals together.

Before buying the Echo, I was running Guitar--Crybaby--OC-3 Octave--BF-2 Flanger--DS-1 Distortion (for some boost on leads)--Noise Supressor--Amp (Peavey Valveking 112 combo). That signal chain works well for me, but shouldn't the Echo go in my amp's effects loop? If so, what's the best way to go about having some effects running between the guitar and the amp and others in the FX loop?

Also, any tips on assembling the actual board itself? The main things I'm not happy with are the wires running everywhere from my power supply and the fact that I don't have anything to plug said power supply into physically attached to the board (I'm still toting around a separate power bar). I'm not looking to spend huge amounts of money buying those pre-made pedal boards, mainly because I'm pretty sure I can build something plenty effective and sturdy for less.

I hope all of this makes sense, and I will try to get some pics up to clarify things in the near future. Thanks!

 

[Kostas]

Take only your echo pedal and play with it in front of the amp and into the loop. Decide where you like it better. If you don't like it in the loop I would put it before the drive pedal. There are no rules, just what sounds best to you.

 

[mayfly]

i've built a couple - i can give you some pointers on construction when i'm not holding my 8 week old 

regarding the ps wires, they are going to end up exposed anyway.  not much you can do about that - i assume that you already have a single supply - correct?

if you end up with the echo in the effects loop, the hot tip is to make a little snake so you don't end up with a bunch of cables between amp and board.

more later

 

[erogenousjones17]

Yeah I've got a Dunlop power block that powers everything. I realize that the wires will be exposed; I guess a better question is where to position the block (and maybe a power bar) on the board to have things as clean and efficient as possible.

*I will post pics once I find a friend to lend me a camera.*  :laughing7:

I tried it out, and the echo sounds rather tinny and awful in front of the amp, so it will be going in the FX loop. I'm not sure I follow what you meant by "a little snake," mayfly...I eagerly await additional input.  :icon_thumright:

 

[Rouse]

I like putting my delay 1st, making it more prominent, I tried putting into the effect loop but it lost lots of volume, maybe I just had a suckie effects loop?

 

[mayfly]

Hi EJ, sorry for the delay.

for a snake, I mean a three audio channel cable like those available here:

http://www.radialeng.com/rcs/bulk.htm

you set up a little box on the pedal board that accepts four 1/4 phone jacks, one for the cable from the guitar, one going to the amp, and two for the send/return of the effects loop.  On the pedal board, you wire one of the jacks to the input of the first pedal in the chain, one to the last pedal in the chain, and the other two to the delay you want in the effects loop.  The snake, you setup with three 1/4 phone plugs on each end - marked so you know which is which.  Then when you set up, you just plug the appropriate plugs into the box on the board, and then the appropriate plugs on the other end to the input and send/return of the amp.  Makes setting up the rig much faster.

Here's a snake that I made for a different purpose:

For the board itself, for a home made job the trick is to make a complete 6 sided box the dimensions you want, then cut it in half to make the lid.  Makes for a lid that fits perfectly on the board.  I used 1/2 plywood, I worked out the cuts ahead of time, and because I'm a lazy bastard I got home depot to make the cuts for me.  Then I just used screws and glue to put the box together.  Once the glue was dry, I got out a circular saw with a depth guard, and cut it in half.  The small side is the base, and the big side is the lid.  For the size, just make sure your inside dimensions are tall enough for your pedals.  It's also nice to make some space for your cables/snake so you can just coil them in there.

For the interconnect between the pedals, I used George L cables - it was just easier that soldering up the works.  The Power supply cables were just strung to each pedal; I stuck the supply itself up in a corner, ran the wires, and didn't really worry about the length of them.

 

[erogenousjones17]

Thanks Mayfly (and no worries  :icon_thumright. That all seems like a good idea. Just out of curiosity, how did you attach your pedals to your board? What I've done in the past is dismantle an old chain from a dirtbike, attachone end of a link to each of the screws on the underside of the pedals and then screw the other end to the board. It's sturdy and doesn't permanently affect the pedals in any way. It's just a pain to reorganize things.

Also, anyone else out there like to buy pedals but never really en up using them?  :laughing7:

 

[mayfly]

Hah!  I used mechanno pieces to attach the pedals to the board using the exact same method you describe  :icon_thumright:

I used to buy pedals on a whim, then end up not using them all the time.  I found that I just ended up with a few basic sounds that really worked live and stuck with that.

 

[clearerphish]

So I'm in the same boat, and there's no need to start a new thread, right?

Got 2 new pedals for my birthday and need to re-wire the pedal board. I have no effects loop on my amp (Blues Junior), so just keeping everything in-line for now. Here's what I am working with (not in order):

Ernie Ball Volume pedal
Dunlop Crybaby Wah
BBE Compressor
Visual Sound TS-808 OD clone
Boss RT-20 Leslie emulator
Boss/Roland space Echo
Visual Sound Angry Fuzz/Octave
EH Micro Q Tron

going to re-wire with a george l kit. What's my best pedal order, tone gurus?

 

[yyz2112]

If you're setting your amp clean, and getting distortion from pedals, the dela can stay in front. If you set your amp dirty, or switch between dirty and clean channels, you don't want a delay, especially a digital delay, in front. Analog delays can sound good in front of a dirty amp, but better in the loop.
I like phase and flange in front, chorus in the loop, any filters (wah, etc.), are flexible and can go either way.
As always, let your ears decide.

 

[clearerphish]

So I'm in the same boat, and there's no need to start a new thread, right?

Got 2 new pedals for my birthday and need to re-wire the pedal board. I have no effects loop on my amp (Blues Junior), so just keeping everything in-line for now. Here's what I am working with (not in order):

Ernie Ball Volume pedal
Dunlop Crybaby Wah
BBE Compressor
Visual Sound TS-808 OD clone
Boss RT-20 Leslie emulator
Boss/Roland space Echo
Visual Sound Angry Fuzz/Octave
EH Micro Q Tron

going to re-wire with a george l kit. What's my best pedal order, tone gurus?

OK, since no one's running up to me saying "let me help you!"  :icon_biggrin: Here are my thoughts:

Guitar >
Q Tron >
Wah >
Compressor >
OD >
Fuzz >
Volume >
Leslie Emu. >
Delay >
Amp

Does that order sound reasonable?

 

[yyz2112]

So I'm in the same boat, and there's no need to start a new thread, right?

Got 2 new pedals for my birthday and need to re-wire the pedal board. I have no effects loop on my amp (Blues Junior), so just keeping everything in-line for now. Here's what I am working with (not in order):

Ernie Ball Volume pedal
Dunlop Crybaby Wah
BBE Compressor
Visual Sound TS-808 OD clone
Boss RT-20 Leslie emulator
Boss/Roland space Echo
Visual Sound Angry Fuzz/Octave
EH Micro Q Tron

going to re-wire with a george l kit. What's my best pedal order, tone gurus?

OK, since no one's running up to me saying "let me help you!"  :icon_biggrin: Here are my thoughts:

Guitar >
Q Tron >
Wah >
Compressor >
OD >
Fuzz >
Volume >
Leslie Emu. >
Delay >
Amp

Does that order sound reasonable?

It's subjective, but common practice is higher gain pedals before lower gain so it would be fuzz>OD. Also, while I agree with comp first, filters and wah don't necessarily go before distortion, many players like them post-gain, same with any modulation. Volume should probably be earlier in the chain, right after comp,

 

[Rick]

I put the volume pedal before delay and reverb, but there are really no rules  
For me it goes:
1)Filters (wah) (which I've gotten rid of)
2)compressor / limiter (which I've gotten rid of)
3)OD, Dist or Fuzz (Put them  in the order you want, mine are BBE GS, Tech 21 GT2, Proco YDR)
4)EQ's (Don't need it)
5)Phaser Flanger or Chorus (EH Small Stone, don't need the others)
6)Volume Pedal (May get a new one, used to use an Ernie Ball)
7)Reverb / Delay (Delay before reverb, and I use the amp reverb)

I use an aluminium gun case I bought on ebay.  Since I never have more than 7 pedals it's not an  issue for me to have them attached to a board.  I just put 'em back in the box when I'm done.  But I like that idea of making my own box out of plywood ....

 

[Justinginn]

I always put my delay before my amp (which switches between clean and overdriven) and after my drive pedals. That gives me the choice of clearer delay or the crazier delay through distortion. Not that I ever really pay any attention to which overdrive I'm using in conjunction with the delay. Whatever sounds good.

 

[the7can6pack]

Lincoln Logs, dude.

 

[notafatboy]

so one good solution that I have found is to have your pedal board with two tiers. I only build my own because most commercial ones would be way too small.    I put my power supply under the stair and it hides some of the wires. plus you could have your loop pedals in the second row to make that simpler.