Pedaltrain Pedalboards

Sat, Sep 27, 2008

Guitar pedalboards are the most utilitarian tool in the guitar player's arsenal. The best kind of pedalboard is one that you typically don't notice, since its primary purpose is to transport and protect one's effects pedals. With the wide variety of effects available today, however, pedalboards are becoming increasingly larger, which increases both the bulk and the mess associated with the boards themselves.

Not too many people would think it possible to reinvent something so seemingly mundane. John Chandler is not most people, however. Chandler is the inventor of the widely-popular Pedaltrain pedalboard, a design that makes storing, transporting, and even rearranging effects pedals much more enjoyable.

The traditional pedalboard is generally a flat piece of plywood or composite material, typically covered with Velcro or other material to facilitate mounting of the effects pedals themselves. All of the power cables and audio cables lay on top of the board, contributing to the sometimes messy pedalboard arrangements.

The Pedaltrain effectively rewrote the book on what a pedalboard can do. Instead of a flat workspace, the Pedaltrain is angled to facilitate access to the back row of pedals. More importantly, the Pedaltrain uses rows of rails on which to attach pedals with spacing between each rail. So, you can route your cables underneath the rails and securely stow them underneath the board itself, making for a much neater system.

The Pedaltrain itself is made of a welded aluminum alloy tubing, so the pedalboard is at once light and sturdy, a useful combination for working musicians.

The Pedaltrain is available in three sizes: the Jr (17" x 12.5" x 2"), the "Standard" (24" x 12.5" x 2), and the Pro (32" x 16" x 3). All pedalboard are available with either a soft case or an ATA hard case.

Newer Pedaltrain models also contain space to mount a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 underneath. These new models contain mounting brackets that you can screw into the Pedaltrain using included sheet metal screws.

However, if one wishes not to use brackets, several users report success simply using Velcro to mount the power supplies underneath. Regardless of the method one chooses to mount a Pedal Power 2, this modification allows greater flexibility and saves valuable pedalboard space.

Furthermore, the larger Pedaltrain model will accommodate more than one Pedal Power 2 installed underneath. The Jr and Standard models will accommodate one.

It is difficult to reinvent something so seemingly simple as a pedalboard, but John Chandler has succeeded in doing so. The Pedaltrain's popularity seems to confirm his willingness to challenge convention.