If you’re like most electric guitarists, it won’t take long before you put together a sizeable
collection of effects pedals. This presents you with two problems: First, how much time are
you going to spend putting the pedals in the right order and wiring them up each time you get to
your gig? Second, how are you going to get them all to the gig with all your other stuff?
You could take the time to build a homemade pedal board attaching each pedal in its place or
you could have something professionally custom-made. A much easier way to go is to buy one of
the many pedal boards from companies like
Boss, Gator, SKB or other makers. Most of these are convenient ways to keep
you pedals together and may include carrying cases and power supplies for all your pedals.
When putting together your pedal board consider convenient placement of each unit for your
use and also consider how you would like the pedals to be placed within the effects chain.
There is no required order, but the order in which you place the pedals will give you different
sounds. Adding distortion after modulation gives you a different sound than adding distortion
before modulation. Experimentation will show you what is best suited to your tastes.
Gator has a complete line of pedal boards which present the perfect solutions to the problem
of dealing with multiple pedals:
- The
Gator
GPT-BL-PWR includes a power supply with eight 9 volt and three 18 volt outputs and can
handle 5 or more pedals depending on size. It comes with a handy carrying case, proving that
you can take it with you.
- The
Gator
G-Bone Series of pedal boards have models to accommodate up to ten pedals with a 9
volt daisy chain power supply to keep them all running without batteries. The G-Bone Series
includes carry bags (or for the top of the line model a rolling bag). The G-Mega Bone models
are curved so it’s easier to operate multiple pedals on stage, and have two larger surfaces to
accommodate Wah Wah pedals or other large units.
The
SKB PS-45
Professional Pedalboard gives you patented protection for your pedals plus everything
else you need in a professional pedal board. It includes a built in power conditioners with 8
protected 9 volt outlets and 3 AC outlets (with enough space to plug in “wall warts” for pedals
with unusual power requirements) to assure that your effects will operate consistently and without
trouble. The whole thing seals up tight with the included hard case cover to protect your
precious collection.
