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Pedalboard design and build

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DaevidJDaevidJ Frets: 414
edited March 2022 in Making & Modding
A few years back i made a pedalboard out of scrap wood with space to fit a power supply underneath for live use. It looked good on the surface, yet was pretty much a screwed together butt jointed affair. Surprisingly robust too with a carpet tile offcut for the pedals to affix to! Fast forward roughly five years to January 2022, a few more pedals in my collection and the need to build something larger/ nicer and hopefully not too heavy.

So taking my first pedalboard as the basis for my new build i laid out the pedals i currently use together with space for prospective pedals and draw out the dimensions of the cuts that i would need, together with other features. I bought wood from Leeds wood recycling, who have some rather nice smaller pieces of wood (a piece of what looks to be old mahogany from a table, maple from a kitchen fitting and some birch ply from an abandoned project) amongst the ply and mdf and started cutting the bits near to size.

So far i have created multiple jigs, learned how to use a plunge saw accurately and got familiar with use of a router. Also happy to report that it all fits together nicely despite having to de-drill dowel holes... So now i am the finishing stage of print transfer/ staining/ spraying. With luck this should be done by the end of March and ready for my bands next batch of gigs!

Build pics:

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzFGAN








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Comments

  • PeteCPeteC Frets: 409
    Nice!   +1 for Leeds Wood Recycling.  I got a load of old mahogany handrails from a public library from them which is enough to make about 10 necks - all lovely quartersawn stuff too.   
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  • DaevidJDaevidJ Frets: 414
    They are rather good! I bought what must have been part of a really old mahogany table which required a little levelling to sort out a warp, but once done it was perfect!
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  • DaevidJDaevidJ Frets: 414
    Yesterday i stained the underside of the board and the mahogany cheeks with Crimson Cherry spirit stain. If anyone is wondering what the channels are for, well it is twofold... One to partially lighten the board and two so i can mount the PSU and have a channel to help route cables :)

     



    Next job will be to spray paint the maple front and back, then clear coat before assembly :D
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  • DaevidJDaevidJ Frets: 414
    Progress! Insert holes for affixing the psu to the underside of the board and white lacquer for the front and back panels!




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  • DaevidJDaevidJ Frets: 414
    So... been a while... The final stages...







    and with power and pedals...



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  • paulnb57paulnb57 Frets: 3054
    Superb!
    Stranger from another planet welcome to our hole - Just strap on your guitar and we'll play some rock 'n' roll

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  • jasonbone75jasonbone75 Frets: 636
    Fantastic job!
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  • vasselmeyervasselmeyer Frets: 3672
    edited June 2022
    I can see the dimensions now. In the early shots it looked a lot bigger, but now it's got the pedals and PSU on it,that looks great. I was a bit worried about how much it would weigh, but that's a really good, solid bit of work. great stuff!
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  • digitalkettledigitalkettle Frets: 3251
    Thought this was a home-build when I saw it on the pedalboard thread...excellent work!
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  • DaevidJDaevidJ Frets: 414
    vasselmeyer said:
    I can see the dimensions now. In the early shots it looked a lot bigger, but now it's got the pedals and PSU on it,that looks great. I was a bit worried about how much it would weigh, but that's a really good, solid bit of work. great stuff!
    Thank you! Yeah, i can see what you mean! I have done some minor weight relief here and there and had debated not using carpet tile, however the carpet tile is very solid and i know with the pedals on the board will not be going anywhere. It is a little weighty, but can be fitted into a large laptop bag and passes the single hand lift test!
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  • Devil#20Devil#20 Frets: 1939
    That's a good bit of upcycling and look excellent. 

    Ian

    Lowering my expectations has succeeded beyond my wildest dreams.

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  • ZenOvertoneZenOvertone Frets: 234
    A very nice job, good plan to lighten it during construction too
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  • DaevidJDaevidJ Frets: 414
    edited June 2022
    ZenOvertone said:
    A very nice job, good plan to lighten it during construction too
    Took a while given i was learning to use a router at the same time! It has given myself the confidence though to work on other projects, like bookcases and such!
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  • DaevidJDaevidJ Frets: 414
    Devil#20 said:
    That's a good bit of upcycling and look excellent. 
    The upcycling was indeed part of joy in making it, especially finding wood which was not shop bought pine... The Mahogany and Birch Ply were great to work with. The Maple, not so much! 
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