What’s on ya board

I only have one gripe and that's the load time between boards. A new firmware just dropped a few day ago which is supposed to drastically reduce the loading time as well as adding the Alter Ego delay pedal and some other things. Can't wait to try that out today. The Plethora has reinvented my rig.

It's wonderful sounding and I have a ridiculous level of control over so many parameters between the pressure sensitive foot switches and the expression pedal input. For example, in one patch while the exp is heel down, the delay mix and decay are fairly low and the compressor is too. As I go toe down the delay mix and decay time increase to max and drone out as the compressor starts to kick in and at full toe down there is no more input on the delay and the compressor is cooking. This leaves the delay droning infinitely just below the level of the live signal which is now only passing thru the compressor so I can solo over the top. That's my favorite patch I've made so far. I will try to make a demo of this while I'm messing round with it today.

Another thing I like is how you can place the external loop anywhere you want in the chain. This works well with my amp modeler pedal and I am essentially using the four cable method with that as the amp component. I really like the Plethora a lot.
I've been looking into it a lot, it would certainly free up space on my board and save me some tap dancing..........
 
It's been like this for over a year, and maybe two. I have no desire to change anything. Everything works perfect, and I only need to make very minor tweaks between switching between my DST, Fender, Hiwatt, and Marshall amps. Maybe someday need to get a real pedal board, and not just my DIY box that weighs in at about two tons.

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Hey I have that exact board! I changed it out lately for a large Voodoo board so I can hide cables underneath. But the big SKB guy there is good when I want to use larger toys like the EH Micro Synth etc.
Ditto on the board. This is from 2003, I’ve moved on to drinking the Rockboard Kool Aid and will be donating this to Robert’s music academy.

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Updated board layout.
I built this board myself on my tailgate. It has a handle screwed on to carry it with. Pedals are locked down by screws and bent washers.

Unlop Crybaby from Hell Wah > Korg Pitch black tuner > Ehx East River Drive OD > JHS Bonsai OD > SD 805 OD > MXR black label chorus > ISP decimator noise gate > EHX Memory toy delay.


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I'd say over 95% of the time I just use 1 Overdrive and my gate.
 
This is my budget board project. Or you could call it an Afford-a-board.
The object was to find pedals which sound good and still keep it under $50/pedal. This is my remote rig which is parked at my son’s place.
Now the only thing I have to tote with me is my guitar.
I built it with the essentials. These are what I consider the essentials.
Here is the chain.
Front of amp: Donner tuner - Joyo classic OD - Joyo Tauren - Donner Noise killer
Fx loop: Behringer EQ - Joyo Aquarius delay - Joyo Atmosphere reverb.

I don’t have any modulation effect although the Joyo delay and reverb have some weird setting which sound kinda chorus and flange like when you you mess with them.
Also worth noting. The delay has a half decent looper which can be used while you use your delay fx. Most delay pedals with a looper feature don’t allow that.
The set up here averaged just under $43 with tax, shipping and Donner power supply included.
I have found when it comes to timing effects, you can’t take the cheap way out.
The Joyo Aquarius and Atmosphere are the cheapest multi effects reverb and delay I could find that sounded good. They pumped up the average cost a bit.
I tried Donner’s version of these two pedals which came in way cheaper and they sounded crappy.

Everything you see here including the EVH 5150 112 cost a hair over $900 (more than half of that was the EVH)
Skull salt and pepper set not included
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The Board of Misfit Pedals #s 1 and 2:

I gathered up some of the oddball, orphan pedals I have accumulated that are unfit for the main boards and haven't been used in awhile. They're separated into 2 individual boards. One is made up of drive pedals and those that I use before the amp. The other is intended for the FX Loop and also has the amp switch aboard. I guess you could say this is the pedalboard equivalent of the "B Team". Also, no more than one pedal per brand per board allowed! They are oddball, misfit, orphans.The Board of Misfit Pedals part 1 [FX LOOP].jpgThe Board of Misfit Pedals part 2 [DRIVE].jpg
 
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Redid my small board recently. Packed in pretty tightly now but it all still fits on a little Metro 20, very portable.
Been using it this way happily for a month or so. Actually kinda surprised I hadn't posted here about it already.
[Not using the two back-row character drives; they're only there in case of clean backline amps]

signal path:
Lovepedal Fuzz 50
Lovepedal Bonetender (Tonebender variant)
Lovepedal Pickle Vibe
VFE Pale Horse (TS variant)
Rowin mini tuner
Lovepedal Beardsman bi-chorus
Lovepedal JMP Eleven (British-flavored dual OD)
Joyo Blue Rain (Bluesbreaker clone)
Lovepedal Echophonic
[Lovepedal Blackface Deluxe]
[RambleFX Marvel Drive]
Henretta Emerald Prince (tiny green EP preamp sweetener)
Bearfoot Pale Green (soft compressor/EQ)

Also a Deadbat voltage box starving the Bonetender to 7.5 Volts.
There's a OneSpot Pro CS6 underneath powering it all.



Two fuzzes are set very differently (normally, but not in this pic): Bonetender for unruly fuzz madness as a momentary special effect.
Fuzz 50 gives me classic 60s Fuzzface tone* with iconic Jimi-style cleanup. It can stay on through a whole tune or jam.
Fuzzes are up front, of course, then vibe - I prefer vibe before drives for that old school Trower-type tone.

Pale Horse runs just at moderate gain, for smooth blues leads or for pushing other drives with its liquid mids.
Tuner is kept well downstream from the fuzzes; vintage Bender circuit doesn't like a buffer nearby, even after it.
Chorus before most gain, I like the wild organic whorl that way. But it's after the TS in case I want 80s style drive-before-chorus.

First half of the JMP Eleven is low-gain, the Church Of Tone. Stacks beautifully for a bit of extra smoothness through certain sections.
Second half is my hot-button drive for solos and/or feedback, serving in place of an amp's lead channel.
Blue Rain is right next to the echo, where I can kick both on at once for pick drags. But that's really the only time I use the Joyo..

Echophonic is warm & vintagey sounding. Adjustable modulation for some warble, and it can do the spaceship runaway effect.
Two character drives - one Fender-voiced, one Marshall-voiced - available just in case I have to play through a totally clean amp.
They don't get used under normal circumstances. But either could serve as a spare if one of the other drives died.

Tiny little Emerald Prince adds richness and a special 3D quality to the mids. I have a Chase Secret Pre in this slot on the big board.
Pale Green last in line, sweet gentle compression to give high-volume tube amp feel even when playing at low volumes.
Also offers nice musical treble & bass EQ for tweaking the overall tone to suit various different amps.

On the big board it's a Unit 67 for end-of-the-line compression, with another comp (Tone Press) earlier in line for audible squeezing.
The big one uses Neunaber Immerse reverb, Inspire chorus & a Strobostomp as tuner. Also has a FreQout and an extra character drive.
But I like this small board so much that the big one remains partially disassembled; it's getting a revamp too. Eventually.

*I love the Fuzz 50; it has the wonderful cleanup of a Fuzzface without the FF's major handicaps: Fuzz 50's bass doesn't get woofy, and it also has enough mids not to get lost in a mix. I have different variants of several classic pedals (FF, TS, Bender) made by various builders. Fuzz 50 is the only instance where I've bought another of exactly the same circuit for the small board.
 
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