We all wish we had that roadie to drive from gig to gig and set up our 5 x 3ft board with every pedal we could ever imagine on it, right? Unfortunately this isn’t gonna happen for most of us. So, what can you do to keep your pedalboard at a manageable size without giving up the tones you love? Here are a few things to consider...
The Right Sized Pedal
There are so many different shaped tone boxes out there for every purpose under the sun. Check out a few of these space savers that will keep your sound huge:
Henretta Engineering - all of these super small units are full of killer tone. Internal trim pots help keep the Henretta pedals adjustable while maintaining a super small footprint. Drive, Fuzz, Trem Verb.... this line has it all.
Xotic Triple Threat- 3 compact killers:
EP Booster - Never before have we seen a pedal that keeps giving as much as it is demanded. probably one of the industries greatest tone tool secrets. Run this puppy at 9v for classic sweetness or 12-18v to make your pick dynamics and amp pop.
SP Comp - Transparent, full and tight; the SP comp from Xotic will blow your mind while maintaining your clean tone with the "blend" knob.
SL Drive - This is just what you think it is, a super lead in a box and a super small box at that. Incredibly responsive to pick attack and your volume knob. Internal dip switches help tailor your SL tone.
Toneprint Minis - this is a whole line of sound sculpting goodness. The boys at TC Electronic blew our mind with their innovative Toneprint Technology and the ability to have tone sculpting power right at your fingertips.
Where’s The Power?!
The right pedalboard can help you save space too! The guys over at Recycled Pedalboards, along with some other top notch board makers, provide a sturdy platform with side-mounted jacks and storage underneath for your pedal power. Keeping the power off the board is a great way to save that prime real estate for our tone tools.
Can’t fit anything under your board? here are a few options to stay powered and still save space - Walrus Aetos, Free the Tone PT-3D, Mooer Micro Power .
Make Your Tuner Work For You
TC’s Polytune 2 and the Boss TU3, among other tuners, have a great "power out” feature. If you only have one power jack available on your power center and still have a tuner and 1-3 more 9v DC neg center pedals to power, try powering your tuner from the power center and then daisy chaining the other pedals from the “power out” on the tuner. Sure, those units are no longer isolated but you got them on your board and working for you!
We hope this has helped you with your pedalboard issues! Still have questions? give us a ring at 1-844-447-6483. Or send us an email if you prefer. We are always here to help complete your sound.
RGS