Pedalboard builder's checklist

Even though every pedalboard we have made is different and tailored to the needs of our customer, we always use the same system we have developed and the same working order.

The correct working order

Sometimes staying in line is difficult, because there is so many things to take into consideration. You may want to jump back and forth between different stages of building and do them in a different order. When you go through the detailed stages in this guide and do them in the provided order, a complete pedalboard will be created in the process almost as by accident.

There are many kinds of players with individual needs – only by taking into account every detail you’ll make sure you’ll reach a desired end result. Without any system you will risk forgetting some small but important detail.

Our guide has been divided into themes, so that you can delve deeper into the area that you need the most help with. This article on the other hand focusses on the systematic process of building a pedalboard. Print it out and cross out the stages as you move along the process. This way you’ll make sure you won’t forget anything making the process more difficult by doing things in the wrong order.

The stages of building a pedalboard:

We’ll start from the point where the pedalboard, the power supply and the pedals that will be on the board have been chosen. Also the order of the pedals on the signal chain has been decided.

The initial layout of the pedalboard

Insert the patch cable plugs in the pedals to make sure there is room for them on the board
Lay the pedals out on the board in the desired physical order
Mark the signal chain order on the pedals with masking tape
Take a photo of the layout

Pedal maintenance and troubleshooting

Clean the connectors with PRF 6-68 (the blue PRF).
Test the pots and other controls with a test cable and a signal generator
Switch faulty components, such as footswitches or jacks, if needed
Clean scratchy pots with PRF 7-78 (the brown PRF), tighten the screws and nuts of the pedal
Test the induction sensitivity of your pedal by placing it on top of the power supply
If you are going to split the outputs of your power supply, test out your splitting plans at this point
Clean the bottom plates of your pedals with PRF Label Off
Remove the rubber feet of you wah pedals and replace them with the metal washers in the Custom Boards Wah Kit, if necessary
Place the cleaned pedals back on top the board according to the layout for the preparation of tapes and cables

Preparing the pedals for fastening on the board

Measure, cut and attach 3M Dual Lock to the bottom of the pedals

Preparing the patch cables

Measure and cut the required patch cables and mark their order with masking tape
Prep the ends of the patch cables and assemble or solder their connectors

Preparing the guitar cable and the cable snake

Cut the guitar cable and the cables going in the loom to length
Thread the cables for the snake through the cable sock
Solder the connectors in the cable snake and the guitar cable
Assemble the connectors in the cable snake AC-cable

Testing the cables with a multimeter and a capacitance meter, marking the cables

Measure the resistance of all cables with a multimeter
Measure the capacitance with a capacitance meter
Mark the cables with colored gaffer tape and a marker

Attaching the power supply and other things underneath the pedalboard

Clean the surface of the pedalboard with PRF 6-68 (the blue PRF)
Attach patch panels to the board, if you use those
Attach the power supply underneath the pedalboard
Attach other devices to the bottom of the board, such as DI-boxes or dedicated buffers
Mark the output distribution plan on the power supply with masking tape

Preparing the pedalboard for testing

Connect the power supply cables to the power supply and the pedals
Next, connect the patch cables to the pedals
Next, connect the MIDI cables and other special cables, such as expression pedal cables to the pedals
Finally, connect the instrument cable and the cable snake

First testing phase

Test and listen to your board, making sure that everything works as it should
Work your way through every pedal testing them individually
Listen to the bypass-signal of your board and compare it to connecting your instrument straight to the amplifier with the same instrument cable. Does it sound healthy or are buffers needed in the signal chain?
Listen to the rig with lots of amplifier gain with the instrument volume off and compare it to the base hum of the amplifier. Does adding the board in bring about additional noises? Do the pedal footswitches pop too loudly?

Attaching the pedals in the board

Mark the order of the pedals on the side of the pedals with Dymo-tape
Remove the protective film from the strips of 3M Dual Lock on the pedals and attach the pedals to the pedalboard

Fastening the patch cables to the pedalboard

Remove the masking tapes from the patch cables
Fasten the patch cables and power cables to the board with Safety Clips and Safety Anchor sets
Mark the power supply outputs with Dymo-tape

Attaching the cable snake and the instrument cable in the pedalboard

Size the board end of the cable sock on the snake and tape it with electrical tape
Fasten the cable snake to the pedalboard with the Safety Anchor set or the Safety Carabiner set
Finalize the amplifier end of the cable snake with Safety Strap Set
Fasten the instrument cable to the pedalboard with Safety Carabiner set

Finalizing the pedalboard and final testing phase

Attach Barefoot Buttons on the switches and make markings on the pedalboard and the pedals with Stagetrix-marker and fluor gaffer tape
Insert the test cable and a signal generator in the input of the board and test each connection by hand
Play through the pedalboard one more time and try to note if something has changed after the first test phase
Weigh the pedalboard with its bag or case and mark the weight on top of the bag with tape

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If you have purchased all the parts and components but get a feeling that you might not be up to the task after all, we can make your pedalboard for you, using the components you have bought from us. Don’t worry, we won’t let anything go to waste.