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John Chandler from pedalboard manufacturer Pedaltrain suggests, “Before even considering a pedalboard size or layout, line all the
pedals out in a straight-line signal path and use
whatever power source you plan to use on the
board. Experiment by trying the various pedals out and seeing how they interact with each
other. The goal is to try to get the cleanest signal path with every pedal off, and then on, in
the order that sounds good to you.” Chandler
says to be sure to write down the ideal signal
path so it’s not lost once you inadvertently
move something in the arrangement.
“Next, lay the pedals out in an imaginary
pedalboard on the floor or on a tabletop,”
Chandler continues. “Keep in mind the pedals
you will be switching on and off more than others—you’ll want to keep tap-tempo pedals close to
your feet and spacey weird things you may not use
as much further from your toes.”
The Pedalboard Landscape
Once you’ve laid the stompboxes out in an optimal
arrangement, you can search for a board that will
accommodate that configuration. A good resource
for getting a visual sense of how things will fit on
a board is pedalboardplanner.com. This useful site
features virtual pedals that you can layout on virtual
boards—and all for free. Chandler has a useful analog method, too. “Cut a piece of cardboard that will
fit everything, and then research which boards have
dimensions that may work for your pedal setup.”
If you’re not a total pedal junkie but still
crave a pedalboard’s conveniences, the Boss
BCB- 30 (Street $39, bossus.com) offers three
pre-sized slots for Boss compact pedals (or those
with an equally diminutive footprint) and comes
in a self-contained, molded-resin case. However,
the most common pedalboards consist of a flat
surface covered with the “loop” material used in
Velcro-style hook-and-loop fastening systems.
The most basic examples of this type of pedal-
board include the Road Runner Pedalboard All-
in- 1 Gig Bag (Street $39.99, roadrunnercases.
com) and Gator GPT Pedal Tote Pedalboard
with Carry Bag (Street $59.99, gatorcases.com).
As you move up in price, you get features
such as a power supply and effects-loop patch
bays. The SKB PS- 45 (Street $249, skbcases.
com) features eight 9-volt DC jacks, three 120-
volt AC plugs for “wall-wart” adapters, and a
hardshell case, while the Furman SPB-8C (Street
$349, furmansound.com) includes eight 9-volt
DC jacks, four 120-volt AC plugs, a stereo
effects loop with amp outputs, and a wheeled
hardshell case with an extendable handle.
The tricky thing with these types of pedalboards
is that, because everything must fit onto one flat
surface, it can be hard to keep things tidy and
ergonomically practical. This is because the more
