Top 5 Pedalboard Mistakes 

Point 6: don't get pedals cuz they're trendy or you want to impress people on the Internet. Get pedals you genuinely like, don't get them for internet points or for show. You'll end up regretting it and selling it.

This video was so no nonsense good I decided to subscribe immediately. Now, I am off to see all of the other great content that I have missed from Goodwood Audio!

A video on troubleshooting pedalboard issues/understanding your signal chain feels like a must. It would be great to get your insight into how to go about fixing an issue, and also some best practices when designing a board to minimize the chances of them occurring, or with failsafes built in to minimize the down time.

Me: Laughs in Boss GT100

Another one I would mention is what you're using to secure your pedals- Velcro works for most, but some are heavier with awkward bottoms or screws or feet in the way. Something I've run into is having my MXR stereo chorus on the board. The bottom is just a big, dual battery compartment (18v pedal). Im somewhat aware of the risers and things out there but have never explored that, and velcro isn't always the best. Also, I mount a Voodoo Lab Mondo on the bottom of a homemade pedaltrain-style board with 10lb velcro and I feel like it still needs a couple zipties. I'd be interested to hear what you'd recommend. Maybe do a whole video on pedal mounting and dealing with battery compartments and all of that annoyance. Thank you for these awesome videos! I feel like you've definitely touched on the essential points of building a rig. You're approach is easy to understand and quick to the point. Keep up the good work! 🤘

Lots of great advice; thanks for posting and sharing....I would like to see more visuals paired with your advice.

Oh man...point no.4 about understanding your signal chain has gotten me through so many issues on stage!! When I do experience pedalboard issues, it's during soundcheck, and I always carry extra patch cables, power cables and a multimeter to check for stuff that might have gone wrong. It's almost always a bad patch cable.

I'd love an in-depth on point 4! 'm always carrying a few spare patch cables, power cables of various lengths with me. And, since I moved to using (and heavily relying on) the HX Stomp for amp modelling and most of my modulation/drive, even keep a couple of spare pedals (overdrive and a simple delay/verb) in an old flight case!

Great tips. I agree with all of them. I'd only add that if I have an issue with my board playing live, and I can't solve it in 10 seconds, I plug straight into my amp. Have a spare Snark tuner sitting on your amp if you need it. I had to do one show like that, and no one noticed - which also raises the point of how important the boards really are... :)

Oh man, option paralysis is a real thing. Great tips!

I make pedalboard layouts by taking high resolution product images and dropping out the backgrounds and resizing them to life size in Photoshop. Then I use a a diagramming program like Microsoft Visio to lay out my pedalboard at life size with near-perfect accuracy. Visio also has the ability to create signal chain routing.

I find it much more convenient to keep my tuner pedal separate from my pedalboard. That way, my board can go on stage, and I can tune backstage, or I can tune my guitar at home without firing up the whole pedalboard. And then I get to fit another pedal on my board. I can always leave an extra power lead on the board to power the tuner once I get on stage. Biggest pedalboard mistakes, according to me: 1. Placing pedals too close together. 2. Placing pedals in an illogical order unrelated to your signal chain. 3. Using loop switchers when they aren't needed. 4. Using isolated power when it isn't needed. 5. Using too many pedals. 6. Not thinking about the ultimate size of the board and how it is going to be transported. I have made the decision that all future boards must fit inside a standard airline underseat flight tote/personal item, and still fit a change of clothes and toiletries for a weekend, personal electronics (iphone, ipad, chargers, headphones), and in-flight snacks. That way, I can fly with my instrument and everything I need for a weekend fly gig as cabin baggage. My pedalboard design is 390 mm x 290 mm, or about 15.5" x 11.5", a flat board only.

These are great tips. My concern would be more of what my amp backup situation is if my amp fails? I usually carry extra power and patch cables for my board but if that doesn’t work, I’ll just bypass it completely into my amp. Now, an amp not working is a bigger issue. Whether I take an amp sim pedal or extra power amp (44 magnum) or both, I’ll always have a backup. I’ve never had to go DI at a live show but my 44 magnum has saved me before and did a great job. Guitar is also important. Always have a backup guitar. My other guitarist and I share a backup guitar in case strings break, etc.

A couple of things I suggest on this subject are: 1) Consider the weight of your pedalboard. There are many kinds of boards made of all sorts of materials, some heavy and some light. Go for the lightest, best-made one that can hold what you need. 2) Always carry a good clip-on tuner, extra distortion pedal with power cable and extra instrument cables in your guitar case. If you do this you don't even need to worry about your pedalboard having problems because you can just switch to using that extra pedal and clip-on tuner and you'll be able to make it through with the bare minimum needed to finish the set. You can worry about fixing the board later when it's actually convenient. You could even pack a multi-effects pedal in case you absolutely need delay and other effects in the songs you're playing.

You mentioned setting up your board and signal routing for playing live. Can you do a video expanding on the situations that one may encounter playing live and how to set your pedal board up for that, to be able to handle any house situation? Thanks.

bruh the first part about the tuner. i subbed instantly. way too close to home lol

What about remembering where the input and output jacks are, for signal flow, if you're going to run two rows. You need a longer patch cable to connect the pedal on the bottom left to the one on the top right, if you're going right to left (the only way that makes sense).

I can't reinforce enough thinking about your feet. I didn't do this and lived with my volume pedal on the wrong side of my pedalboard for 8 years because the board was wired and drilled that way. Finally rebuilt the board with it on the other side

LOL none of my pedals will need updates...didn't even realize that was a thing

Always have a cable tester with you. The $30-50 is so worth it. Makes trouble shooting a breeze. Also, If you patch cable shows anything intermittent, fix it if possible or right in the trash.

Question on "Interfacer", Is the tuner out also a buffered out? Reason, considering using Interfacer buffered out AND tuner out for parallel signal chains ( lots of ambient noises with less mud, possibly one more "dry" for clarity). If both outputs are buffered, you may consider promoting this option!

Point No.6 - Carry some sort of amp sim pedal as a backup to your real amp.

Love this video! Can you do one on how to plan out a pedalboard using virtual pedalboard planners?

Funny... I always forget the tuner in favor of an actual "sound" pedal on my limited space pedal board, and use a snark, or other "Y".

Keep a backup, keep it simple and know your gear inside and out.

LOL. "I'm not changing this setup for the next two years." [ Two weeks later - completely rearranged ] Good talking to you today! -Danny

I've spent a month working on my new layout... I may have lost my mind yesterday

"If you use a volume pedal that could break, maybe it uses a string..." If I had a dollar for every EBVPJr user that posted "Well, I thought it would never happen to me" I would be independently wealthy.

What do people use to label their cables?

Mason sent me. So glad he did.

2 delays, 2 reverbs, 2 compressors, chorus, phase, 8 gain stages

also- if you're making your own cables, test every single one (no matter how small) by plugging into your guitar and amp...having one bad cable and having to re-assemble your board once you find it is very annoying...

Don't use solderless cables. Keep it simple- omit the pedals you only use once in a blue moon or consider good multi-effects. More gear + more cables can lead to more obstacles. Don't cheap out on the essentials, but don't feel it necessary to mortgage your house for that new gear. Plenty of really good options don't cost a lot.

Option paralysis is real

So glad I'm not a pedal guy. Sounds like a pain in the ass.

X🤘🏻X

who wants a chase bliss pedal, overhyped;-)

The pedalboard in the thumbnail is one of those horribly overcrowded, the guitarist would be lost without it types