Thursday, April 30, 2009

The Saga of the Pedal Board (pt.1)

So, this past weekend while lounging around town for gear, I was thinking a lot about how I want my home made pedal board to be designed. I don't like the idea of all the pedals being in a straight line because it'll make it that much more difficult to stay center with the microphone. Two rows is a must but three rows is pushing it. Sunday, after having an awesome jam, I layed all of my pedals (and Greg's pedals)onto the floor to start the measurments:

I meant to rotate this picture but I forgot, and now I'm too lazy

This board needs to comfortably hold:

1 Digitek Jamman

1 Digitek Footswitch (optional)

1 Boss DD-20

1 Boss Tap Tempo

1 EH Holy Grail

1 EH Small Stone

1 Digitek Whammy

1 Akai Headrush

1 EH Big Muff

1 Boss OD-20

1 Boss TU-20

With my current board, I have problems accessing the 2nd row of pedals. I knew that I'd have to elevate the 2nd row some how to solve this problem. But which would be easier for me to figure out and measure? Making "stairs" or making a slope...SLOPE!!! Now that I've decided I want the slope, how much of an angle do I want? And this design will most definitely effect the box...so the box must be cut in a slope too? Does this sound right to you all? After about an hour and a half of thinking I came up with these measurements and this drawing...
Another problem with my current board is storage. I thought it'd be cool to store the power strip/cables and any other stuff I might need for the stellas or for this project in the board. So I decided to add hinges one inch from the top of the Box #2 to the top of actual board holding the pedals. The bottom of the pedal board will rest on a 1/2 inch strip 2 inches from the bottom of Box #2. I will also leave about a 1/2 inch of space on either side of the pedal board from the the sides of Box #2 to flip the board up when needed or to even feed cables through. (I haven't really figured the cable acess part out yet: But I could always drill holes later...right?)
So I believe phase one is complete. Just the basic measurements and ideas for the board. I'll probably head to the hardware store and look lost as hell this Friday to get large sheets of ply wood. I'd like to laminate it as well. But we'll see. I should also go ahead and get a handle, hinges, rubber stoppers, and more hinges to make sure my measurements work before I cut and screw everything up. Wish me luck! ...that is all... ~Syrhea