Reasons not to put your pedals in a rack!

[TeleBlaster]

I only use a few pedals sparingly, so I don't bother with the loop, I keep everything out front.
I have a simple board using a Voodoo Lab Pedal Switcher, so I'm able to select from several amp/cab combinations to fit the style of music and the size of the venue for that night.
Plus, as mentioned, sometimes you show up to load in and find out you have to use the house back line, so in these unexpected situations I'm comfortable I can cover everything with my board.
Edit: The Pedal Switcher has a very good buffer built in that you can use or not use by input. If it's a small stage and I'm right on my amp I use a 10' cable out no buffer,
but for longer runs I use the buffer input.

 

[ttosh]

a board has too much cable. I need 20' from my guitar to the board. 20' from the fx send of my amp, then 20' from my board to the fx in of the amp. That's a total of 60' of cable. If I rack I have 20' going from the guitar to the rack, then only a few feet within the rack. I use about a third less cable with racked effects, that is enough reason for me right there not to use only a pedal board.

Everybody forgets that as soon as you plug your guitar into a pedal that's buffered, it's not as big an issue as you might think. For most people a tuner is their first pedal, most of which, if not all are buffered. 99% of gain pedals are buffered. and so on. Worst case put a clean buffer/boost pedal at the end of your pedal chain. Plus effects loops are buffer driven. If your cables are causing a problem, get better cables.

Or if you run EMGs. nothing to worry about.

Everybody thinks that when you talk about disadvantages of more cable you must mean loss of tone. I am not just talking about tone suck. I am speaking more about just physically having more cables running across the stage. More cables=longer to set up and break down, more cables to "fail", and more clutter on the stage. Now, back you your argument about "everything" being buffered, some buffers SUCK!.

You make great points. My initial post was in regards to one cable going to a amp and that was it, be it a small wattage amp or my fish. All my pedals out front are for in front of the amp anyway and the Eventide Eclipse in my rack is for after the preamp. So in my case the pedal board for me does not mean more cables. Every person has a different perspective but my initial intent of this post was if you wanted to go out and play without your rack say the club gave you a backline you had to use, I would still have to take my rack because the pedals are in there, not anymore they are on my board and this is a non issue. So many scenarios and ways to look at things got this thread moving LOL.

 

[Ventura]

I haven't ever built a rack, but I refuse to hide my precious pedals like that.

Agreed. Not to mention, I love stepping all over my precious little pedals!!

V.

 

[bj4rd]

i've tried pedals on the board, in the rack, and a combination of the two. i currently have everything on a pedalboard because it is easier to switch amps, adjust settings, and move things around. i also liked having all of my effects loop pedals in the rack and everything else on the board...that works pretty well but you have to find ways to power everything. with everything on the board i can power everything off of a pedal power 2+ and use a voodoo pedal switcher on the board if midi is needed.

 

[HottKarl]

Get two of every one of your pedals.

 

[EXPcustom]

I am running a rack table right now.

I was figuring out the layout of the pedal board by setting up all my pedals on a spare desk, now I just play and touch a pedal with my hand real quick.

 

[Phrygian]

I <3 pedalboards

 

[Gainiac]

I dont deal with pedals, except my Whammy for self-indulgent noises for the neighbors, but it seems to me that a set of pedals in a slide out shelf, in a rack, could just as easily be mounted to a tray that can be installed IN the rack shelf, with velcro, say, and dropped in and out of the slide out shelf depending on need, so you can take it with you for different gigs or re-cable it up for the 'rack' gigs, no?!? a flat 1/8th inch sheet metal plate with pedals, velcro attached, slightly smaller than the shelf, that gets pulled out an dropped onto, say, a Pedaltrain for small watt head gigs... Just a thought...

 

[glassjaw7]

I dont deal with pedals, except my Whammy for self-indulgent noises for the neighbors, but it seems to me that a set of pedals in a slide out shelf, in a rack, could just as easily be mounted to a tray that can be installed IN the rack shelf, with velcro, say, and dropped in and out of the slide out shelf depending on need, so you can take it with you for different gigs or re-cable it up for the 'rack' gigs, no?!? a flat 1/8th inch sheet metal plate with pedals, velcro attached, slightly smaller than the shelf, that gets pulled out an dropped onto, say, a Pedaltrain for small watt head gigs... Just a thought...

Wow, what a cool idea I'm surprised no one's thought of that yet.

 

[stephen sawall]

Well the benefit to racking them is that if you have them hooked into a switching system, your cabling is simpler. It'd be a pain to have them on the floor and the run all those cables back to a GCX or something.

This.
And you can just use dual lock or velcro them to the shelf and pull them off if ya want to use them somewhere else. I've got some racked and some on my board.

Velcro is what I do .... it is very easy to take pedals on and off of the rack. I do not always use the same pedals in the rack.
Most of the time I do not need a rack .... wa and phase/vibe is all I use most of the time.

 

[petejt]

I personally think pedals hidden in a rack looks ugly. Part of the appeal of pedals are their aesthetics, so that gets ruined if hidden in a rack.

Also I like having my pedals out in front so I can change their settings on the fly, and also I can re-wire the pedalboard however I want, since I am always changing the combinations.


And if you want MIDI control- it's not too difficult to build a pedalboard with an internal shelf to hold a GCX Switcher or equivalent, and then just connect a MIDI control directly to it. No need for yards upon yards of cable.

 

[nevusofota]

I personally think pedals hidden in a rack looks ugly. Part of the appeal of pedals are their aesthetics, so that gets ruined if hidden in a rack.

Also I like having my pedals out in front so I can change their settings on the fly, and also I can re-wire the pedalboard however I want, since I am always changing the combinations.
.

And if you want MIDI control- it's not too difficult to build a pedalboard with an internal shelf to hold a GCX Switcher or equivalent, and then just connect a MIDI control directly to it. No need for yards upon yards of cable.

Interesting, I have never heard of aesthetics being so important to some (especially for gigging musicians). I'm not saying that this shouldn't be a factor but it has never been with me. Also, if you put a GCX on the board you would still have yards of cable if you want some efx in the loop and some up front. (sorry to the op, kind of off topic again)

 

[Shark Diver]

I only use 3 pedals, and they are mounted in the back of my rack with my amp head and a GRX4. I never adjust at gigs. I find that I've dialed in my tone enough that any perceived needed adjustments are in my head. I like to just play and not be consumed with thinking something needs adjustment. I hate watching guys that are always fiddling with their gear on stage.

Plus in a rack they never get bumped.

I would just build a separate pedal board for a fly gig.

 

['63-Strat]

I hate watching guys that are always fiddling with their gear on stage.

^ Definitely. Guys that are noodling constantly between songs, taking forever to tune, messing with their settings rather than keeping the momentum of their set going? Really lame, IMO.

 

[Shark Diver]

Quick cell phone pic:

 

[lordriffenstein]

Some people have pedals in a rack, some people have them on a board, some have both, like me.
Seperate pedals for my rack and on my board. The rack with a 3-ch preamp needs different stuff than a vintage Marshall.

 

[stephen sawall]

I personally think pedals hidden in a rack looks ugly. Part of the appeal of pedals are their aesthetics, so that gets ruined if hidden in a rack.

Also I like having my pedals out in front so I can change their settings on the fly, and also I can re-wire the pedalboard however I want, since I am always changing the combinations.
.

And if you want MIDI control- it's not too difficult to build a pedalboard with an internal shelf to hold a GCX Switcher or equivalent, and then just connect a MIDI control directly to it. No need for yards upon yards of cable.

Interesting, I have never heard of aesthetics being so important to some (especially for gigging musicians). I'm not saying that this shouldn't be a factor but it has never been with me. Also, if you put a GCX on the board you would still have yards of cable if you want some efx in the loop and some up front. (sorry to the op, kind of off topic again)

I thought it was interesting also. That being said .... I have always been a "What is it ?" not a "What does it look like it is ?" kind of person. I could care less what something looks like in almost any situation.

 

[some dude]

I've been wanting to rack mine... mostly because I hate having to choreograph song changes like they're dance moves.

 

[Spaceboy]

If you're going to hide them away in the rack, why not just get a MIDI controllable effects unit?

 

[some dude]

If you're going to hide them away in the rack, why not just get a MIDI controllable effects unit?

Cost.