Musician Gear & Tech Discussion

I did the same as LJR when I was in the Beatles band - just used a plywood base painted black, with Velcro. We never got to the 'regular gigging' stage, so never had to worry about moving it around much. I didn't like the "stand on one foot and dance around to get to the top level of pedals" thing. I don't even like the double row of amp switches - because hitting two at one time activates the amp's looper - and that happened to me one time at practice, too!

Acoustic - I use my Radial all the time because it has 2 inputs, built-in mute, fx loop wich is switchable and has a built-in boost function, too. In the last 2 years, the most I have used at one time is the Radial, a delay and looper.

i thought you said this

Now you know why I'm staying acoustic for live work!

Mike, this is going to be used for an acoustic gig!!

hmmmm. well, gee, jook....it sounds like the only thing "acoustic" about this setup is the "acoustic" gtr that you're amplifying thru all that processing!!!

jook, as you know i have a '75 GUILD D50. when i got it, it already had a "CountryMan" (???) piezo p/u sytem installed in it. the one two discs mounted to the underside of the top....not the ribbon/strip that sits below the saddle.

and for some reason...unlike other piezo equipped gtrs, this gtr has zero "quack" when plugged in. it sounds great plugged right into the board (or an "acoustic" amp)...but when i use my PARA DI/Direct box/preamp....holy cowabunga, Batman! it's the sound of the gtr w even more detail....amplified.

when i've had "quacky" p/u systems i've been able to EQ a lot of that out w a ten band MXR EQ.

i'm guessing your Guild has the under the saddle piezo strip, yes?

Yeah, the under the bridge Fishman w/ parametric EQ, notch filter, phase switch, etc.

yeah, that quack is pretty much standard ( no UPcharge...quack INCLUDED!) w that kind of undersaddle p/u.

their advantage over the soundboard mounted piezos is they don't produce the "thump" and body noise... but they suffer from chronic quackery!

if you can, i'd try to beg borrow or steal a PARA DI (the one i mentioned above) as they're pretty good at taming quackery. maybe you can try one out at music store?


sounds like you've got some fun ahead of you trying out some different pedal combos!


you know i mentioned yesterday that i was waiting on a new JOYO Sweet Honey pedal, and you're probably dying to know how that went, right?????

well, since you asked....yes, it DID arrive before i had to leave for last night's gig.

and yes...it kicks ass!

i like it way more betterer than a Tubescreamer . much better low end definition and not as snarky in the mids. also pretty smooth and not spikey on the high end ( and this used w my thinline tele on the gig no less). it has a very useful tone control, too. true bypass, and at $38.....wowzah!

That's fine and dandy and I can appreciate your work but how do you transport these rigs w/o disassembling everything and putting it all back together again when you get to the venue??
I've been through that racket one too many times and this is the main reason to get the suitcase board. Put it together once, lock it up and your done for life.

Same as with any commercially made pedal board, everything stays on the board. The power cable comes with a daisy chain that disconnects from the power cable so the really nasty time consuming part stays on your board with your pedals for fast easy breakdown and set up.



They range for $29.99 to $33.00 depending on how may pedals you need the daisy chain to handle.

The board can then go in a gym bag or a small suitcase for travel.

Since I'm using pedals in front of my amp and in my effects loop I have 4 Instrument cables:
1) my guitar cable going to the board
2) The cable for any dirt pedals going to the front end of my amp
3) effects send > time based pedals
4) time based pedals > effects return

Yeah, I've got the PS and daisy chains for my 9v pedals, but to get a PS that had 15vdc too made it cost prohibitive, two power supplies - 9v and 15v wallwarts, but both are 'thin style' like in LJR's pic.
Back in the old days there were no pedal boards, no power strips, no daisy chain power supplies. It used to take me 15-20 minutes to set up my guitar gear, and I had a simple set up - compressor, boost, fuzz, flanger, wah/volume!

I have a big old Morley volume/ wah/ distortion (the wah quit working immediately) and a Morley nano volume. Both work fine for me with Boss, Danelectro, Ibanez adapters.