The Art of the Pedal Board

Yes, there is an art to it. It's harder than it looks. Not rocket science, but you have to consider a lot of different factors while configuring the geometry, including order of signal/sound, will it fit in the damn case, what gets unplugged, what gets a battery, does that pedal eat batteries, is there room for all the input jacks, does the daisy chain of power reach all the input jacks, is there room for your foot to easily activate everything, will it all travel safely without banging around in the case.

So here's the latest in all its glory. I've learned over time, it's just a pain in the ass to have a boss pedal facing any direction other than straight on. Distortion before echos and swirls, and the latest addition of an LPB-1 signal booster at the end of the chain. ALL NEW felt-ish covering on the board itself. This stuff gets old and you have to replace it. Use super 77 and stretch it around the back with a staple gun. Then rip off the rubber feet on the pedals and slap industrial velcro on the back. Sticks nice, see

Then get your vintage hipster-approved case

Only recently noticed the pocket i can stick the cables in. Ahh, nice snug fit with the power strip inserted

Then top it off with a block of foam from the fabric store.

Here's the absolutely coolest thing about it. The cables near the tuner create a perfect little pocket for a small flashlight (a CRITICAL piece of gear).

Most of the time you plug your crap in, no sound comes out of the amp and then you have to troubleshoot it in the dark with some impatient sound guy going, "guitar right. guitar right. guitar right." Yeah, flashlight.