How to build a pedal board.

by Jack Roan


Building a basic pedal board is surprisingly easy, and will save you time, money, and wear and tear on your pedals. Having all your pedals prewired on a board helps keep setup and set change times to a minimum, and the on board power supply sets you free from the hassles of 9V batteries. I built this small board for Haley in an afternoon, for under $50 (not including pedals).


The first step is actually the last thing most people think about - you need to find a suitable carrying case for the board. This doesn't have to been anything fancy, and old suitcase, a toolbox, etc. We used a cute little toolbox from Sears for Haley's board.



It helps to have a general idea of how your board will be laid out when selecting your case. I like to mock the pedals up on a piece of cardboard to ensure a fit before cutting any wood. Don't forget to allow room for connectors, both 1/4" and for 9V power.


A piece of plywood is all you need for the board. I used 1/2" but 3/4" works as well. Keep in mind that it will need to be thick enough for you to screw into for your rubber feet or any serious cable clamps. Painting the board makes it look nice; I chose black since most of the cables and wiring are black as well.



A few other tricks of the trade are wide industrial velcro (this will attach your pedals to the board) and various zip ties. I'm especially a fan of the small 4" black zip ties for keeping cables and wiring nice and clean.


I prefer to put the hook side of the velcro on the pedal, and the loop side on the board. This is a personal preference, but many of the pedals I've bought on eBay have it done this way as well. It seems to be a bit of a standard.

The final thing to tackle is the 9V power. The easiest way is probably to buy a OneSpot or similar AC adapter and wire it to your pedals. If you've got a lot of pedals, something like the Voodoo Labs or Dunlop power supplies might be your best bet. These usually come with plenty of patch cables to connect up all your pedals.


If you or a friend are handy with a soldering iron it's very easy to make your own 9V power supply. For example, I bought this 9V adapter at Sears for $3, and it even came with a 1 million candle power flashlight! (ok, it was on clearance)

When choosing an AC adapter there are three things you want to pay attention to: the voltage, the current rating, and the polarity.

* The voltage part is easy - you want 9V DC. Sometimes instead of saying DC it will have a symbol like this: - - Don't use an adapter that says AC or has a squiggly symbol like this: ~

* The current is the next number you'll see. In this case 300mA. Most guitar pedals take between 10mA and 100mA. The important thing to recognize about the current rating is that this is not the maximum current the power supply will put out. Rather, it is the rated current at 9V, meaning when you pull 300mA out of this power supply, it will be at 9V DC. If you pull less than 300mA, the voltage will be higher, perhaps 10V DC. If you pull 0mA from the power supply, for instance if you just plug it into the wall and not to any pedals, the voltage could be as high as 12V DC, even though it says 9V DC on the supply. Try to match the load your pedals will pull to the number on the supply. An adapter with a higher current rating will likely have a higher voltage for your pedals. Up to 10V DC is probably ok for most pedals, but I wouldn't go higher than that. You may have to experiment with a few before you find an AC adapter that will give the right voltage for your pedals.

* The final thing to look at is the most important and where many people go wrong. Polarity. You'll see a little + and - and a symbol indicating which one is "tip" (inside) and which is "ring" (outside). Most AC adapters, like the one I picked up at Sears, have the + in the center of the plug and the - on the outside. Most guitar pedals are not set up this way! Check your pedals and you will probably see that they expect the - to be in the center, not the +. Reversing the voltage to your pedal will damage it! If you are building your own power supply out of an off the shelf adapter like I have done here be certain you have the polarity correct for your pedals.


After you get that sorted out it's very easy to cut the wires to the correct lengths and build a little daisy chain for your power supply. Building your own supply as I've shown here is the cheapest and usually the neatest way to power your pedals, though be sure you understand the issues above, and always check your work with a volt meter before plugging into any of your pedals.


Once you've got the power and 1/4" cables ready to go, wire up the board, slap the pedals down on the velcro and rock and roll!