Ultimate beginners guide to building a pedal board

In this lesson we're building a mega pedal board from absolute scratch! We've got a bunch of pedals, a blank pedal board, an array of cables, plugs and velcro strips! Essentially, we have everything we need to make an awesome board, and I'm going to walk you through every single aspect of it, for the most detailed guide ever! So, if you're looking to start your pedal board journey, you'll love this!

The video

This whole bog post is based around the video we released on YouTube, which gives you the visual you need to go alongside any written work here. Check out the video here and then follow along with the rest of the write up:

Step 1 - What you'll need

To build your first board there are a lot of elements you will need to bring together. We've done our best in detailing every single one of those elements in the video, so let me also write them out here.

A Pedal Board. We're using the Pedaltrain Classic Jr board, but you can use whatever board you like.

A Mounting Kit. To get that power block mounted to the back of the board, you'll need a mounting kit like this one.

A power block. We're using the Pedal Power 2 PLUS but again, you simply need a power bank that can power how ever many pedals you have.

Some pedals! This is obvious, but you're going to need some pedals! We're using the Walrus Audio Fundamental Series Pedals in general but also the Ditto Looper and a tuner pedal. We also have the Tonex, but more on that later.

Cables. You're going to need a rage of short jack to jack cables to connect the pedals.

Power plugs. You're going to need some power connectors fro the pedal to the power bank (they may come with the power bank) as well as a kettle lead to power the bank itself.

Drill and screwdriver. You're going to want to make a few holes in the pedal board to attache the mounting kit. Only do this if you have a bit of drilling experience and if you're a kid, please be accompanied by an adult.

Here is an image to help you reference all of these bits and bobs! I would get them all collected first, then start the process of building the board.

Step 1 - Adding the power pack

Depending on how you want to add the power pack to the board, this bit can get a little fiddly! You could, for an easy choice, simply attach it to the top of the board. However we choose to mount it on the back. To do this you need that mounting kit we talk about above, and your drill at the ready.

Once the mounting kit is added, you can get that pedal power pack on the back on the board. From there just check that you can easily add all the plugs, and you're ready to go!

Step 2 - Getting the board ready

Now we can start to add the velcro to the pedals and the board. The Pedal Train boards all come with more than enough velcro to cover the entire board and the pedals. Follow the video to see this step in motion, but all you need are some scissors and you're away. Once you have the board ready it should look something like this:

Step 3 - Adding pedals

Now for the fun bit! Let's get those pedals on the board. As I don't know what pedals you have in your arsenal, here is a general guide to the ordering of pedals:

So as you can see, this is the rough order you will want to set your pedals. Compressor, if you have one is first, then any drive or distortion pedals (in that order), then any modulation pedals (including chorus, revers, delays, flanger, phaser etc…) and final a looper if you have one.

This is a very generalised view, but a good guide to get you started. You can of course experiment with this as you go, and I highly encourage you to do so actually! This is the only way to find what you like!

Step 4 - Testing

In the video at this point, I take my time to test each and every pedal by plugging them in from the power supply, and connecting them all with the various cables. Don't worry about tidiness at this stage, simply focus on getting the pedals to work. Almost certainly you'll come up with a few issues here, I know we did! You may have to do a bit of troubleshooting at this point, and that's all good. Work through it, and at the end you may have something that looks a little scruffy, but you know it works. Something like this:

Step 5 - Tidying up!

Now it's time to tidy up that mess! Once you know the whole thing works, and you're happy with the sound of everything, you can confidently tuck it all in. Remember, your board will inevitably change over time, so you don't need to go too neat here, but it is a good idea to get some of those cables hidden! You can use the cable ties that come with the pedal train board, as well as the gabs in the board to hide a lot of this mess. At the end of it all, you may end up with something like this:

Bonus step - Adding the amp!

These days it is not uncommon to not have a physical amp anymore. Digital modelling is so good now that many musicians I know don't even bother with the amp. They bring the same set up to the gig that they bring to the studio! It's a single board with a digital amp that you carry everywhere, and these can be absolutely tiny too depending on your needs.

In our example we're using the awesome Tonex pedal to do that. By plugging it at the end of the chain you have the amp ready to go on your board. This is of course not for everyone, but if you want to hear how that Tonex pedal sounds, check this out. By the end of it, our finished board looked like this:

Finally

Hopefully you were able to follow along with this lesson, and build your own board! I would absolutely love to see your board, so if you are a Club member then head over to our community channel and tag me @dan to show me that board! Can't wait to chat to you about it then! Best of luck.