Putting together my first pedal board. Questions.

[Shockwave]

Heya gents.

I have had a love hate relationship with pedals. The only major love being my Tech 21 VT Deluxe Bass, which I have had since release. I have dabbled in the past with others, but never ended up using them too much.

I would like to start using them more in heavy styles of music. Stoner rock with some clean bits, playing 4 string in drop C. I have done a little bit of research and hopefully so far I have bought some fair gear.

Yesterday I purchased a IdiotBox Blower, Boss Chorus Ensemble CE-5 (Digital) and a Digitech Bass Whammy Reissue. This is to add to the VT Deluxe bass and Korg Pitchblack. I am looking to buy a compressor once I work out what to buy, Also looking at Delays/Reverbs and Flangers. I am trying to keep my purchases under £65 second hand per pedal. (May spend more on the compressor because of standard Stingray Quiet G problem).

I am looking into powering it all in some sort of pedal board. With room to spare, the VT Deluxe is pretty giant, the Blowerbox is the newer smaller version and the Digitech Whammy is fairly big too.

I believe all the pedals I have are running 9volt.

What sort of considerations should I make when purchasing a pedal board and power supply? Do they come together or is better to buy separately? What if the connectors are different depending on the pedal? I am thinking a soft gigbag style would be my preference as I would like to sling it over my shoulder. Thinking something around the £50 mark for the case second hand is fine. I would have gone all battery if the Whammy wasn't mains only.

I was also thinking of running a line selector with a blend control. All I know of is the Boss LS2, what else should I be looking at?

Edited April 20, 2015 by Shockwave

[CamdenRob]

Until you pick up something decent, I've one of these stagg jobbies cluttering up the spare room if you wanted it? Mrs C is threatening to throw it in the bin so it might as well get some use.

[Shockwave]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1429530548' post='2752264']
Until you pick up something decent, I've one of these stagg jobbies cluttering up the spare room if you wanted it? Mrs C is threatening to throw it in the bin so it might as well get some use.


[/quote]

That is mighty kind of you. I may just well take up your offer if I have some spare time to go out to Camden

[elephantgrey]

I use the gigrig power supply system for my power needs, though i use a few digital pedals that get thirsty. A general rule for power supplies i find is to look at the back/manual of the pedals and note down for each pedal the voltage, current (how many mA) and if they are centre negative or positive.

Then a good rule of thumb is to add up all the mA and double it. That should give you a good idea of how big a power supply you need, allowing you plenty of headroom. I would highly suggest getting an isolated power supply.

Some popular supplies are: [url="http://www.thegigrig.com/acatalog/Power.html"]the gigrig system[/url](usualy a bit overkill), [url="http://www.t-rex-effects.com/power-supplies/"]T-rex fuel tanks[/url], [url="http://www.voodoolab.com/pedalpower_2.htm"]voodoo labs[/url], and [url="http://cioks.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=42&"]cioks[/url].
If you look at the for sale section on here (either the pedals or other music related sections) you see some go up for sale from time to time.

Edited April 20, 2015 by elephantgrey

[CamdenRob]

[quote name='Shockwave' timestamp='1429532866' post='2752293']
That is mighty kind of you. I may just well take up your offer if I have some spare time to go out to Camden
[/quote]

No worries... I've got two going spare actually,one larger and one smaller. I'll pop the dimensions up in the recycling section tomorrow, if they are any use let me know.

Edited April 20, 2015 by CamdenRob

[ambient]

I'm using a Diago power supply, it didn't cost a lot and powers everything you see in my sig with ease. You can buy extra daisy chain whats-its too for about £8.

[dannybuoy]

[quote name='Shockwave' timestamp='1429529049' post='2752237']
I was also thinking of running a line selector with a blend control. All I know of is the Boss LS2, what else should I be looking at?
[/quote]

If you just want to use it as a blender, get something else that has a phase switch, as some pedals you might want to blend could invert phase - which when blended with clean will cancel out some of the frequencies, mainly the low end. This is a good choice:

http://www.soundaffectspremier.com/effects-c1/controllers-switching-c35/one-control-mosquite-blender-v2-with-bjf-buffer-effects-pedal-p1843/

[Matt P]

if you want a cheap power supply then the Harley Benton Junior is a cracker, I'm using one for my board (actually using 2 but the other is the palmer version which is more expensive) 5x120mA outputs and they're isolated so you can do 18v or 240mA with the right cables. and they're under 25 quid!

Matt

[elephantgrey]

Wow i didnt think that the harley benton one was isolated, thats a cracking price to use for a small board then.

[Eater_of_Birds]

I find the LS-2 is fine, for the price you cant go wrong. You've won half the battle by getting the Blower Box anyway.

[Matt P]

the only small issue with the Harley Benton supply is that it has a fixed 2 pin European plug, very easy to chop it off and fit a male IEC (kettle) plug though,

Matt

[Shockwave]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/jkLiOUb.jpg[/IMG]

Here it is so far!

[0175westwood29]

checkout charlies pedalboards, really well made with levels to make it easier to reach stuff and lots of sizes.

so many awesome fuzzes to suggest, for proper heavy fuzz the heliotropic from fuzzrocious is wicked!

andy

[PauBass]

Pedaltrain pedalboard and Gigrig Generator with Distributors is what I used. Neat pedalboard with tons of power

[Shockwave]

Hey Gents.

CamdenRob sorted me out with a great case that should do me!

I am now looking for power supplies, Small ones that can power at least 7 pedals at 9Volt.

Also picked up a Mooer Bass Sweeper, lovely little thing!

[Shockwave]

Nearly done. Just awaiting a Boss BF2 Flanger (snarf). Maybe get a DD3 delay to replace the Joyo Delay, mostly for more options and it will give me a little bit more room on the board. Then it's on to looking for a power supply that will fit behind the Digitech Bass Whammy and power 9 pedals. I decided to ditch the Line Selector idea unless I get a second board.

Will need to work out pedal order and get some low profile cabling. First guess would be Korg Pitch Black Tuner/Mooer bass sweeper/Digitech bass whammy/Idiot box Bass Blower Distortion/ VT Bass deluxe/Boss BF2 Flanger/Boss CE5 Chorus Ensemble/Joyo Digi Delay then Budda Chakra Compressor.

Considering getting an extra layer of foam for the top part of case so that any pedals that come loose from the velcro sticker, won't move around as much.

Apart from the incoming Flanger it's quite a dull looking board! No massively lurid bright pedals which is dissapointing. Edited May 9, 2015 by Shockwave

[dmccombe7]

Have similar case for my TC pedals and i found the velcro supplied didn't really hold very well in fact not at all.
I'm looking at buying foam on ebay with approx 1" layer on bottom with cut outs for each pedal and a 2" layer inside lid of case to stop movement.
Will measure more accurately as only just had the idea this morning.
Bit of a pain when you get to rehearsal, open your case and its all in a heap at the back corner of the case. LOL

If you can think of a better idea please let me know how you get on with yours. This is all new to me too.

Dave

Edited May 9, 2015 by dmccombe7