Buying a Guitar Pedal Board

A guitar pedal board is a way to keep all your effects in one place and accessible for quick access on stage. The guitar pedal market has expanded in recent years and there are now lots of different choices to make, from simple analog pedals with basic effects like distortion or wah wah, to multi-effects units that offer dozens of effects and state-of-the-art modeling systems that emulate classic stompboxes.

The first thing to consider is how many pedals you want to use and the kind of sounds you’re going for. Then you need to figure out how big a board you’ll need based on the number of pedals and their sizes. You can buy pre-made pedalboards or you can build your own, which is often a cheaper option if you’re not picky about how the setup looks.

Next, you’ll need to decide how to organize the pedals on the board and in what order. Some players like to put their most used pedals on the front row for easy access. But there is no set rule – experiment with different orders to find what you like best.

If you plan to daisy chain your pedals together, be sure to get some patch cables that are made for the job. These are usually pre-assembled with special plugs that fit into the “output” jacks of each pedal and then a single cable that connects to the input jack on your amp. Most pedals require very little power – a simple analog pedal such as the Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer draws around 7.5 mA and a tuner pedal will draw about 40 mA. Digital pedals such as delays and reverbs tend to draw more power than analog ones.

You should also consider getting a power supply for your pedals. Dedicated pedalboard power supplies provide regulated and isolated power for each pedal, which reduces the chance of noise and hum when you’re using multiple pedals together. They’re usually made to be small and compact, so they don’t take up a lot of space on your pedalboard. Look for options with several ports that are individually isolated (the cheapest ones don’t).

Lastly, you’ll need to think about how you’re going to transport the pedalboard and what sort of case you’ll need. If you’re just playing gigs in your local area a soft lightweight case is probably fine. If you’re traveling far, flying or you have a lot of pedals that are more prone to damage then something like an ATA case is a better choice.