1. Where's the power supply? The power supply question is a good one, and it is the reason that the pedaltrain will always be available non-powered. There are as many ideas about what's the best way to power up your effects as there are guitar players. The best power supplies currently available do not come with a pedalboard. All the units described below work great with the pedaltrain, and until we make our own that will do everything, for everyone, at a price anyone can afford we will continue to recommend the following:
ONE-SPOT from Visual
Sound
PEDAL POWER 2 from
VooDoo Labs
POWERALL from Godlyke
DC-BRICK from Jim Dunlop
BIG JOHN from Carl Martin
FLATLINER POWER from Burkey
There are many others out there but these are units we've had actual experiences with. All have different features and prices so take your time and pick the one that suits your needs and not necessarily what someone says is the "best". 2. Can I mount a power supply underneath? Yes, all new Pedaltrain models (excluding PT-MINI)
will accommodate most any power supply available underneath with little
or no modifications necessary.
HOW TO MOUNT A VOODOO LAB PEDAL POWER ON YOUR NEW PEDALTRAIN JR, PT-2 AND PT-PRO 3. What is the best order to put my effects in? This is a huge question. We do have a few suggestions but ultimately it depends on how your particular collection of pedals all interact with each other. In our experience there are no formulas that haven't been disproved a time or two. Our philosophy is simple: Effects pedals are like children, some of them get along fine sitting next to each other and some do not. Any one of them may potentially be the problem child that disrupts the whole classroom if not put in the right place. The best way to start would be to lay all of the pedals out on the floor and first do a straight line patching of them together and powering them up with what you intend to use for power on your pedalboard. Then play, stomp, and listen. Don't be in a rush, the time you invest will pay off in satisfying tone. We've seen people insist on a certain order because someone told them "this is how it's done" only to have their tone suffer needlessly. Nothing will substitute blocking out a few hours of jockeying them all around in the chain to find the most quiet and tone pleasing order before you ever mount them to a pedalboard. Then write everything down! Keep in mind that you selection of pedals is unique to only you and what works great for one person may be horrible for the next.
Once you have everything all running as clean and quiet as possible then you can start to mount them. Occasionally you may need to mount them in an order that suits you foot stomping order than in signal path order. If that is the case you simply patch them together in the order they need to be, but mount them where it is the most comfortable. Are you confused yet? I hope not, good luck! 4. Dose everything stay mounted on the pedaltrain while inside the case? Yes, the pedaltrain case is designed with ample interior room to hold the fully loaded pedaltrain. You should not have to remove anything during storage or transport. Everything fits nicely and will be in place when you get to the gig. There is a 2.5 inch thick layer of egg crate type foam in the lid to conform to the shape and height of your set up. 5. Dose the Velcro really hold the pedals in position while being transported? Yes, and for a few reasons. One is that with the open frame design you will have at least two attachment points for each pedals and two separate velcro connections. This actually holds things in place much better than if it was one big surface area with one wide strip. Also we are very picky when it comes to velcro and we use the best and stickiest stuff you can get. Folks keep asking us to just sell velcro to them.
With the hard cases another feature is that helps keep things in place is that we actually leave a little bit of room around the board inside the case to absorb some of the shock if your case has a rough ride in a truck or bus. When a pedalboard is built rigidly into a case (as many are) they do not consider the fact that the shock has to go somewhere and it usually means pedals coming loose from the board. This took me years of frustration to figure out I was looking at the wrong thing as being the problem. We also have a thick 2 inch layer of eggcrate foam in the lid that conforms to the shape of all your pedals and helps
keep things firmly in place too. 6. My pedaltrain case has too much space around the board, why? In the flight cases of the Pedaltrain/JR and Pedaltrain/2 we added extra space to allow you to carry other things inside along with a fully loaded pedaltrain. Many folks who use large volume and wah pedals actually prefer to use them flat on the floor next to their pedaltrain and just patch them into their signal path with a small patch cable. So we have enough space to lay them inside the case too. You will also have room for all your cables, cords, tool bag, boxes of strings, dirty socks, etc.....
The amount of extra width space is by design and serves a purpose. One of the main problems with pedalboards that are built into a case, or one with a tightly fitting board, is that when the case takes a hit or is dropped during transport, whatever is mounted to that case or board (your pedals) is what receives the force of that shock. This is the primary reason that pedals come disconnected from boards during transport. The pedaltrain case affords the pedalboard frame the ability to move inside the case to act as a shock absorber. This may sound crazy but it actually works.
We guarantee that if you choose a pedaltrain, and ever open the case to find your pedals have come off the board, we will buy back your pedaltrain at your purchase price. We're proud to state that in 9 years no one has taken us up on this offer. 7. What should I do about rubber feet or pads on the bottom of my pedals? Take them off. To insure proper adhesion of the velcro to the bottom of your pedals it is best to stick the velcro directly to the metal bottom. It's OK if it's painted, but you will need to get any old adhesive residue off before applying the velcro to a clean and dry surface. This is especially true of Boss and Line6 brand pedals. Those rubber pads will require some effort to get off, but the end result is well worth it. Also, if your pedal board is exposed to extreme heat (like a car trunk in August) the adhesive compound on the velcro breaks down and rejects the bond if it's applied to a rubber pad.
For pedals with rubber feet that actually hold on the bottom plate of the effect, such as a Crybaby wah, You will need to remove the rubber feet and reinstall the screws. On some the housings on pedals of this type the holes will be tapped deep enough to do this. If the original screws will not go all the way in you'll need to go down to the hardware store and get some shorter screws of the same thread type to hold your plate on.
8. What is the Pedaltrain waranty? All Pedaltrain products carry a lifetime warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. This warranty does not cover incidental or consequential damage to persons or property caused by use, abuse, misuse, or improper storage or transport of the unit.
