Tips for setting up your first pedalboard

Guitar pedals are a blast to use, and they open up a whole world of sounds that typically cannot be achieved with just a guitar and an amplifier.

So, you want to buy some pedals, or you have accumulated a couple of them, and now you want to mount them to a pedalboard. Here are some basic things to consider.

What size board do I need? We always recommend placing your pedals on the floor in a rough order to get basic measurements. Keep in mind if there are any pedals that are on your list to add down the line, in case you want to expand a little bit in the future. Add some extra room for those additions. Once you have some measurements, then you can purchase a pedalboard of similar size to mount them on. We stock boards from Palmer, Pedaltrain, and D’Addario. D’Addario just came out with two great boards that are expandable! Oh! And most pedalboards come with velcro for mounting the pedals, and a carrying case.

How do I power my pedals? The basic and most inexpensive way to power a board is with a One Spot power supply and daisy chain. We sell One Spot daisy chains that power either 5 or 8 pedals. We also stock the Dunlop power bricks that come in three different sizes.

What order should they be in on my board? OK, so you have all of these pedals. Now, what do you do with them? Well, there is a basic rule of thumb to ordering your pedals on a pedalboard. This info will get you started in the right direction and then you can move some pedals around based on your individual preferences. Keep in mind that there are no rules!

Pedal order from 1^st to last

• Tuner Pedal – I know that it sounds boring, but get a stage pedal tuner. It will be one of the most utilized pedals on your board.
• EQ & Filter Pedals – Next up are pedals such as EQ, wah, and auto wah.
• Compressor – You can play around with where you want the compressor but this is a good starting point.
• Distortion, Overdrive, Fuzz – Now add the drive pedals on your board.
• Modulation – These include tremolo, chorus, phase shifter, flanger, and rotating speaker.
• Delay
• Reverb
• Looper – It is a good idea to put the looper last because it will record your instrument with the other effects that you are using.

What is next? Once you get the basic layout on your board, make sure you have enough cables to connect them. If it is in your budget, splurge a little here and don’t buy the cheapest cables that you can find. We sell really great multi-packs from Boss and MXR.

And lastly, please stop in and let us know how we can help. We are an authorized dealer for Boss, EHX, Dunlop, MXR and Vox effects pedals. We always keep an extensive selection of new and used pedals in stock at all times.

Now, plug in and have some fun!