Pedaltrain-Inspired DIY Pedal Board

Pedal Board Mid-2012

This was my old SKB PS-25 pedal board, mid-2012.

After the pedalboard power supply died last year, I purchased a Visual Sound 1 Spot, and continued using the old SKB just as a convenient velcro surface to hold my pedals.

Pedal Board Mid-2013As the Drop Daddies’ repertoire of cover tunes has expanded, so has my need to produce an ever-increasing variety of sounds.  So my complement of pedals has gradually been expanding.  I’m generally not a big fan of modelers, but I added the Zoom G3x for flexibility with delays, choruses and phasers, etc.  It has a fairly sizeable footprint, so I pulled off my Ernie Ball volume pedal, since I could use the G3X for volume if necessary. 

Pedaltrain Pro

Even so, I needed more space.  I have been intrigued by the Pedaltrain Pro– but the price is high for such a simple thing.

Time for some creative woodworking!  I rarely get a chance to combine my woodworking and guitar hobbies.

How much more black could it be?Assembled, and ready for finishingI was planning to paint it black, so the wood didn’t need to be beautiful.  I chose poplar because it’s a strong hardwood, and  it’s relatively inexpensive since it tends to be an ugly shade of greenish yellow.

I had some rough poplar lying around from another project, so I thickness-planed it down to a bit under 3/4”.  I cut five 32” long strips, around 2.5” wide on the table-saw.   Then I cut 3 triangular leg supports, 16 1/4″ in length, and tapering form 2 1/4” to just 1/4” (more on the taper jig below).  Wood flexes more than aluminum, so this approach with 3 leg supports will provide a sturdier base in wood, than the PedalTrain’s single back-edge support. Avoiding flex is important when you consider how much force is required to kick on a wah pedal, etc.

Drilling countersunk holes to attach the strips to the legsAttaching the rails to the legsOn the drill-press, I drilled three countersunk holes in each strip- to screw into the leg supports.

I’ll come back and add a few more holes later, for stability.

Spacer size calculated to evenly space the strips across the legsUsing a spacer to mount the rest of the stripsThen I laid the top and bottom strips over the legs and screwed them into place with drywall screws.  Next, I did some math, based on the space between these boards, and the total width of the rest of the strips, and cut a couple of spacers.


Once the pedal board is fully assembled and loaded up with pedals, there will be wires running everywhere.  So to give a little more space for routing the wires through the gaps in the center leg, it’ll be helpful to cut some notches.

Marking notches in the center legMarking notches in the center legWith all the strips in place, I used a pencil to mark the gaps onto the tops of the center leg, and then removed the leg and extended the lines down.

I marked X’s in the notches to remind myself where the waste would be. 

Cutting notches in the center leg at the bandsaw Center leg notches cut, ready to reinstall

Then I used a bandsaw to cut the notches in the center leg.  A jigsaw or handsaw would’ve worked fine too.

Finished assembly

For good side-to-side stability, to avoid racking, I  drilled an additional 2 holes at the top and bottom of the two side legs.

Should’ve done this earlier at the drill-press, but better late than never!

Spraying it blackReady for finishing!  I laid out the project on a big piece of cardboard, resting on a couple of thin strips.  This doesn’t need to be perfect- so I didn’t bother priming.  Just a quick sanding, and then a can of semi-gloss black spray paint.

As is inevitable in quick projects like this- only after finishing did I realize that the whole thing was a bit too tall.  With a few pedals resting on the back of the pedal board, I felt like I was having trouble balancing, while raising my foot so high in the air.

Cross-cut sled with clamped taper jigTime for a minor adjustment!

I removed all the screws and took the legs back to the table-saw to down-size a bit.  I clamped a couple of spacers to my cross-cut sled to make a simple taper jig.   I had originally made them 3” tapering to 3/4”- here I’m reducing them to their final size of 2 1/4” tapering to 1/4”.

Velcro with holes for screws in center legTo finish off the pedal board,, I bought a pack of heavy duty rubber feet at the local hardware store.   And I ordered 10 feet of Pedalboard Carpeting from LYT Pedalboards.   I cut this into strips sized to fit the wood strips of the pedalboard.  I cut a hole in the center where the screw fits into the legs, just in case I ever need to disassemble this thing.   After cutting strips of velcro hook for all my pedals, I ended up ordering an additional 6 feet of Velcro Hook.

2014-05-08 Pedalboard 009A few days after completing the project, I used it at a local bar gig, and it worked out great.  But I quickly realized that I needed a case.   What could possibly work better than the soft case made for the pedal train pro itself?  I lucked out and found one for a reasonable price, but if I had to pay full price for that case plus the cost of the wood, and the velcro, it would only be a bit more to buy the actual pedal train pro with gig bag.

I enjoyed the project, and it’s rock solid.

In the last year, I’ve used this pedal board at dozens of rehearsals and gigs, and it has held up great.  Here are a couple shots of my current pedal board:

Pedalboard May 2014 Pedal Board May 2014