Si600 Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Here is my pedal board build. It's made from bits and bobs, mostly 19" rack parts liberated from work with sides made from MDF. I'm not a great fan of sticking velcro to my pedals so I've gone down the bicycle chain route, with a twist, which will be seen later. Comments and a critique at the end... I've just realised that there are a few bits that didn't get photographed, but they're only triangles made of 15mm MDF, so I'm sure that you can imagine them Aquire some pedals... Aquire some 19" racking blanking plates and play with layouts... Get distracted by finishing the kitchen floor... Draw the sides... Take the bits and a lump of MDF to what I laughingly call my workshop... To be continued... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si600 Posted September 26, 2012 Author Share Posted September 26, 2012 (edited) The final push... Finished, and this is where pictures of MDF triangles with holes drilled in them should be PSU mounted underneath, MDF triangles in all their glory... Pedals on board, but not mounted, i need some bolts for the TC and the tuner... Brush strip across the back to help hold it all together... My twist on mounting pedals. A bicycle chain sideplate with a neodium magnet glued to it. Not glued yet though, but as a proof of concept it's looking good. That's it. I was hoping that it would be Bash Ready for Saturday but I don't think it will be. It's OK as it is, but I need to get some bolts for the permanent pedals and glue the magnets onto the chain plates. The MDF is splitting rather nicely as well, so I either need to use a slightly larger pilot hole for the screws or a decent bit of timber for the sides. I'm also not that happy with the big 3U plate and how it's been drilled. Hopefully the box full that was being chucked out at work hasn't gone yet, so I can redo it with a proper drill press and a countersink but I'm not holding out much hope. I'm also thinking of moving the PSU. It's OK where it is, but the back is a bit close to the brush strip and the plugs at the front get in the way of any leads that get pushed into the gap above the lower rank of pedals. The screws will be capped with snap on cups to make it look nice, but as a first attempt that was more than a little bit made up it's not too bad. Edit - 27/09/12 - I've been thinking about it this morning and I think that rotating the top plate 180 degrees will push the ouput power to the back so that it will be easier to get to the mains lead and the fuse. Or I can put the PSU on top to show the pretty status lights, but that means leads everywhere. I'm also going to replace the beige bottom plate with some more 1U strips as they have curled edges and the big plate is very flexible. Using another 1U strip means that I can put two more magnets per pedal as well. Two magnets hold them on, but it's quite easy to move them with a foot. Thanks for looking. Edited September 27, 2012 by Si600 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si600 Posted September 28, 2012 Author Share Posted September 28, 2012 (edited) Update - If anyone is thinking of using magnets and chain links to mount pedals, don't. It's not working at all. They stay put, but as soon as you operate the pedal it moves a little. The method may work if you use a decent bit of steel for the cross plates, but I'm using 1U rack parts that were being disposed of from work so they're not exactly quality metal. However, they are U shaped underneath, so my current thought is to turn them over, insert a length of timber in the exposed channel and screw the pedals to that. Then when the insert gets really tatty from board movements/refreshes I can replace it I also spun the top plate around so that the PSU is facing the other way, it's too close to the brush strip so it needs moving as well. Apart from that, and the other previously mentioned issues, it's perfect! It'll get there in the end Told you I was making it up as I went along! Edited October 11, 2012 by Si600 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si600 Posted October 11, 2012 Author Share Posted October 11, 2012 (edited) Haha! After a quick visit to my engineering supplier (my dad ) last night the PSU and the permanent pedals are now mounted on the top grey plate. Fortunately the pedals hide most of the holes made by previous cock-ups but underneath it looks like it's been shotgunned! I need to make some new side plates due to the old ones splitting, fit the timber to the 1U channels and then it can be called finished Pics when it is actually done. I'm going to make a flightcase for it as well, but I'm not going to diary that as there are enough of those out there already. Edited October 11, 2012 by Si600 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L_Bass_Dog85 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Nice! I am currently blueprinting my pedalboard in my head. I echo your thoughts on the velcro, I will screw them in. Be best if I ever needed to sell/replace pedals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt P Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 sir i owe you a beer! the use of bicycle chain links as pedal mounts is inspired, i have looked at the ones that jonnyshreadfreak sells and thought about buying some many times, i never made the connection to bike chains, 5 minutes work with a bit of spare chain and my chaintool and i now have all the mounting parts i need to start my pedal board project. matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si600 Posted November 6, 2012 Author Share Posted November 6, 2012 I'd like to take credit for it, but it wasn't my idea. I got it from the 'net somewhere. I'll accept your plaudits and beer though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rk7 Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Nice build thread! I hadn't seen this before. There are some great ideas here. The 19" rack parts are inspired! Never seen that before. RK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si600 Posted August 14, 2014 Author Share Posted August 14, 2014 It's evolved, as these things do! I'm going to call it finished and sit back and admire it. Structurally it's much the same, except that it's now got a case which meant rebuilding it to fit the case height. The PSU has moved out from underneath and the triangular sides have gone in place of 15mm x15mm batons. Overview [url="http://s1118.photobucket.com/user/SOrchard6/media/DSCF7927_zps0576cc9a.jpg.html"][/url] PSU and Input, Output and Footswitch jacks [url="http://s1118.photobucket.com/user/SOrchard6/media/DSCF7929_zps245140cc.jpg.html"][/url] Pedals [url="http://s1118.photobucket.com/user/SOrchard6/media/DSCF7928_zpse3012485.jpg.html"][/url] Lights Out! The dark corners are where the GE-7B and the footswitch are. The LED on the EQ has failed and the footswitch wasn't plugged into anything! [url="http://s1118.photobucket.com/user/SOrchard6/media/DSCF7930_zps9c524fd1.jpg.html"][/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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