Dood Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 Hi everyone! Well here's a bit of fun for you! - Here's is my gift to you, in viewing pleasure! As a few of you may know - I have a G.A.S affliction that unfortunately makes me want to chop and change my gear all the time - far too often I think! This time it appears to be for pedals! Or at least - I've decided I am fed up with carrying a rack system around with all sorts of 'stuff' in. I thought I'd have a go at the pedals route! I've always had an M80 in the case anyway, so I wondered if it were possible to make my whole rig as small as possible, so that I can turn up and plug straight in to ANY power amp and cabinet OR PA alone and have as much control over my sound as possible. I guess, this is an all analogue version of a POD, minus all the stuff I don't need! However - this being no different from what everyone else does with their pedals (kinda) I still had one niggle that I still couldn't shift. Pedal Boards. Yup, I can't help thinking that I am undoing all that work to find small light easy to carry pedals by strapping them on to a dirty great pedal board.. Ok Ok.. I'm not taking in to account the whole 'safety whilst in transport' thing here - it's just for fun - so bear with me! My plan was hatched! To find a way of building a super light frame that is strong and has the flexibility to mount pedals in different configurations to. I definitely didn't want to use Velcro. I needed something stronger so the pedals couldn't move at all. ************ Sometime between having this idea, scribbling thoughts down on a piece of paper and mixing a little Rush live with one of Speyside's finest single malts - I had a brilliant idea! Indeed, Geddy was stood there in front of his backline of Washing Machines: [attachment=47065:geddy.jpg] and obviously, kitchen goods are the way to go!!!!! A lightweight framework - A heavy duty refrigerator shelf!! Unfortunately I don't have any 'before' shots of it - but I'm pretty sure you know what they look like! ha ha! - It just so happens I had one laying around, having just dumped my old fridge freezer. It was perfect and below you'll see why! [attachment=47062:Rack.JPG] By luck, the size of the rack was exactly the right size for my pedal layout after I had folded it in to shape. I wanted to make the classic wedge shaped pedal board so I simply offset the halfway point at which I bent the frame over as you can see in the underneath shot below! The hardest bit was actually bending the shelf over! I had to use a couple of sheets of MDF I had spare for added leaverage to make sure the fold was uniform and neat. [attachment=47063:RackBott.JPG] Underneath - You'll see that like any other pedal board, all power and signal cables travel underneath the pedals and conveniently between the 'folds'. There are plenty of places to anchor cables with the all important cable ties!! It's neat - tidy and easy to trace through. Power is provided by a daisy chain cable and the TC Electronics PSU is more than man enough to provide power for all the pedals. I connect directly to the rest of my gear with a home made snake. Andy 'Alien' will recognise this as he very kindly provided me with the sheathing at the very first Bass Bash all that time ago. Still going strong mate! Thanks!! [attachment=47064:SnakeCrop.JPG] Finally - the geeky bit. The Signal chain is a simple one at the moment. Korg PitchBlack > MXR M80 > TC Electronic Nova Dynamics > Sansamp Paradriver > ISP Vector powered cab (or out to a power amp/PA/recording device). The Sansamp stays ON all the time as it is providing all the necessary 'amplifier tone controls' and thus does not need to be at the front of the board - infact, out the way, where it won't get bashed. The TC is actually 4 compressors and 2 noisegates in one box. I use one half as a multiband compressor - much like the one in the RH450/Classic/Stacatto etc heads. The other half set up provides a fullband compressor as a boost for soloing. The M80 has it's own noisegate and I find that this is sufficient. The M80 adds dirt to my signal and additional fat bass in the clean setting. The Korg is at the start of the chain so I can mute everything when I pull my guitar lead out. Simples! That's it! Whaddya think? ;o) Note my nod to Geddy with the Sansamp, Spoon and Whisk!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorick Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 Looks good.... any flex? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutToPlayJazz Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 Heh! Just needs an old gramaphone and a telex keyboard and you'll have the new Tardis console! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted April 12, 2010 Author Share Posted April 12, 2010 or a bottle of Barry Scott's finest kitchen cleaner!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deksawyer Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 Dood, a couple of quick questions which I hope you can answer.... Will the Nova Dynamics work ok running from a 9v supply? I know some of the other TC pedals work ok this way but if you could test for me I'd appreciate it. Also, how does it sound..? cheers D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sk8 Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 [quote name='deksawyer' post='803577' date='Apr 12 2010, 12:02 PM']Dood, a couple of quick questions which I hope you can answer.... Will the Nova Dynamics work ok running from a 9v supply? I know some of the other TC pedals work ok this way but if you could test for me I'd appreciate it. Also, how does it sound..? cheers D.[/quote]apaarently my Diago 9volt can power the nova dymanics but not ever put this to the test. Thats what James said Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted April 12, 2010 Author Share Posted April 12, 2010 [quote name='deksawyer' post='803577' date='Apr 12 2010, 12:02 PM']Dood, a couple of quick questions which I hope you can answer.... Will the Nova Dynamics work ok running from a 9v supply? I know some of the other TC pedals work ok this way but if you could test for me I'd appreciate it. Also, how does it sound..? cheers D.[/quote] I ran it on a 'higher' current 9v regulated supply and it seems to work ok, but you can tell the LEDs at least are a little dimmer. Sound-wise - there wasn't a great deal of difference in my testing - but I have to say I only tried a few settings before I decided to try the TC's 12v supply on my other pedals instead - which seemed to make far more sense. Interestingly, you will find that if you read the voltage off a great deal of unregulated DC supplies - the output is a lot higher than it's suggested rating. For example I have an old 9v 1A supply in a box - it's output is actually 14v. I have a 5v as well - and that comes out at around 8v. Most pedals have some sort of regulator in anyway - so if you pushed 12v in to them, the circuit still only gets 9v anyway. Though I wouldn't state that is read across the board, so don't take my word as gospel for every pedal. - As I said above - I'm running all of those pedals from the TC 12v supply and they sound great together - probably better than on a 9v supply, if electronics theory ref: headroom pans out here. How does the TC sound? Well - I loved my C300 and I expected to take a step back in quality with this pedal - but it is just ace! The multiband settings is fantastic for chords and tapping - and the fullband settings are great for getting squishy when pushed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted April 12, 2010 Author Share Posted April 12, 2010 [quote name='sk8' post='803580' date='Apr 12 2010, 12:05 PM']apaarently my Diago 9volt can power the nova dymanics but not ever put this to the test. Thats what James said [/quote] just test my little 10v SMPS on the TC and I saw very little difference in LED brightness if at all.. and the sound seems unchanged too - so I guess YMMV with respect to what PSU you use. But i'd recommend a regulated one for several reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted April 12, 2010 Author Share Posted April 12, 2010 [quote name='yorick' post='803446' date='Apr 12 2010, 09:58 AM']Looks good.... any flex?[/quote] flex? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDM Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 (edited) I love the spoon and whisk. Edited April 12, 2010 by thedonutman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steviedee Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 Looking good man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peted Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 You should be locked up. Oh, and it's brilliant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stag Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 Spoon and whisk! Lol you are a funny chap some times DJV!!!! bring this to the next mini bass-bash! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 I like this but it looks like you might have room there for more dirt or a delay. Sort it out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clauster Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 You do realise you've missed the pedal that every fridge shelf pedal board needs.... The DOD [b]ICE[/b] box I'll get my coat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 This is an awesome idea dood. Very ingenious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted April 13, 2010 Author Share Posted April 13, 2010 Heh heh ! Thanks for the replies! - It was all a bit of a laugh - but the more I look at it - it's really functional, light weight and the frame is so strong! It wont bend if you stand on it, it just springs back again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Is this the point when you change from Dood to McGyver..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted April 21, 2010 Share Posted April 21, 2010 [quote name='dood' post='805186' date='Apr 13 2010, 06:54 PM']the frame is so strong! It wont bend if you stand on it, it just springs back again![/quote] But there's only so many times you can bend a bit of metal isn't there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MythSte Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 [quote name='cheddatom' post='813437' date='Apr 21 2010, 09:42 AM']But there's only so many times you can bend a bit of metal isn't there?[/quote] All metal has a certain amount of elasticity, I suspect that it hits the floor before it exceeds that limit and goes from elasticity to stretch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted April 23, 2010 Author Share Posted April 23, 2010 [quote name='cheddatom' post='813437' date='Apr 21 2010, 09:42 AM']But there's only so many times you can bend a bit of metal isn't there?[/quote] Like a spring? ;o) [quote name='MythSte' post='816036' date='Apr 23 2010, 11:56 AM']All metal has a certain amount of elasticity, I suspect that it hits the floor before it exceeds that limit and goes from elasticity to stretch.[/quote] There really is very little gap between the top and bottom of the wire rack, so yes, you are spot on Ste'. But I guess a point to make is that this 'homebrew' will never go on tour with me - it's not expected to handle mass strain - just a wee bit of fun for you guys on BassChat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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