Pedal Board Build
Build Log: Pedal board build
Terry Relph-Knight copyright reserved.
The commission for this guitar effects pedal board build was to build a fairly compact, rugged and portable effects board based around effects pedals the client already owned and regularly used. Both the sequence of effects connections and the layout was to be optimised without the physical order limiting the connection order.
A Pedaltrain Pro Junior was chosen for the base, being both light and strong and available with a tough nylon carry case. Nine volt power is provided by a small and economically priced switching supply, the Diago Powerstation. Rather than rely on plugging the mains power lead into the small two pin figure of eight connector on the side of the Diago, the mains lead from the Diago was wired to a standard 3 pin IEC connector, mounted on a bracket at the back of the Pedaltrain base. Nine volt power distribution is via a 6 way Diago daisy chain cable. For the original board layout with seven pedals the seventh power connection was provided by an extra cable that plugged in to the auxiliary power output on the back of the BOSS Chromatic Tuner.
The pedals were attached to the Pedaltrain base using conventional hook and loop self adhesive Velcro with the hook tape fitted to the Pedaltrain and the loop tape to the pedals.
The only pedal modification was to the VOX Wah Wah. This pedal had been previously restored – cleaned, pedal polished, base re-painted and a new control pot fitted. For use on this pedal board it was fitted with an external 2.1mm power jack, having previously been battery only.
Pedal connection order
Pedal Board Build
Right to left – Guitar in to ….
Crowther Audio Hot cake …………….. white to Tuner in
VOX Wah-wah ……………………….. green to Tremolo in
BOSS Chromatic Tuner TU-2 ………… blue to Compressor in
BOSS Compression Sustainer CS-2 ….. black to Wah in
BOSS Tremolo TR-2 …………………. yellow to Delay mono in
BOSS Digital Delay DD-6 …………… red from mono out to Reverb in
Electro Harmonix Holy Grail Nano Reverb …. to amp
Hot cake eventually replaced by BYOC Tube Screamer and Boost
Diago Powerstation 9V switching power supply
Pedal board components and costs
Pedaltrain Pro Junior frame & soft case £86.99
Diago Powerstation 9V switching power supply £61.88
9V power extension cable £05.50
Postage returning the faulty Powerstation £04.10
Patch cables £04.99
1 x IEC mains cable £05.00
IEC socket and custom mounting plate £03.90
Cable tie bases £05.00
£177.36
10/02/18 In for a clean up
As received –
Guitar to Uber Scream Tuba
Tuba to BOSS Tuner
Tuner to Cali 76 compressor
Compressor to Viscous Vibe
Vibe to EP Booster
Booster to BOSS DD6 Delay
Delay to Holy Grail Reverb
Reverb to amp
Delivered with the VOX Wah to be restored to the board.
The Hot Cake is an always on buffer pedal. With the Hot Cake missing the pedal chain is no longer fed from a buffered signal. It seems the BOSS TU-2 may also have an always on buffer.
New connection order
Guitar to Tuner
BOSS Tuner to EP Booster
Booster to Uber Scream Tuba
Tuba to Cali 76 compressor
Compressor to Wah Wah
Wah Wah to Viscous Vibe
Vibe to BOSS DD6 Delay
Delay to Holy Grail Reverb
Reverb to amp
