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Straight to it.
Pedalboard Build #2/NPD Catchup
- Thread starter DrewJD82
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Straight to it.
metropolis_4
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Weird, something’s not right (or broken).
When I did mine I programmed my whole show order Scene style with 1 bank per song. I used the SysEx and Set and it was really fast and easy and everything worked perfectly after I was done. Just checked the boxes for the loops I wanted ON for each preset and I was done.
Mongillo19
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I don't think Drew can take more gear issues this month
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Precisely why I think something was up with my cable. Did you have to do anything physically on the ML5 after making the selection in the editor? I tried 3 different things after loading the function in the editor- waited to see if it auto-saved, gave all 3 buttons a single press and also held all 3 buttons down. Note- each time I tried something different, I powered the ML5 down and returned power then re-selected the function in the editor before trying something different.
All the while I’m seeing flashes of my past posts…..”I don’t think anything confusing about Fractal units….”, “remembered how to program my GCPro from memory!”…..”Figured out how to turn effects on and off in my G-Force without the manual” as I’m sitting there staring at an editor that literally does the work for me but isn’t actually working.
metropolis_4
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Precisely why I think something was up with my cable. Did you have to do anything physically on the ML5 after making the selection in the editor? I tried 3 different things after loading the function in the editor- waited to see if it auto-saved, gave all 3 buttons a single press and also held all 3 buttons down. Note- each time I tried something different, I powered the ML5 down and returned power then re-selected the function in the editor before trying something different.
All the while I’m seeing flashes of my past posts…..”I don’t think anything confusing about Fractal units….”, “remembered how to program my GCPro from memory!”…..”Figured out how to turn effects on and off in my G-Force without the manual” as I’m sitting there staring at an editor that literally does the work for me but isn’t actually working.
Yeah, that’s not right. I actually never even touched my ML5. I plugged all my cables into it, connected the MIDI cable from the MC6, and connected power to it. I’ve never even touched a button on it.
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Well, I’m going to dive into programming my VP4, ML5 and MC6 to work together today, hopefully any additional nonsense is avoided.
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Man, it’d be REALLY cool if sellers on Reverb or Ebay would just ship the fucking shit they sell after someone pays for it WITHOUT ME HAVING TO ASK. This is 3 sellers in a row who have waited 5 business days for me to message them and ask them to send the fucking product.
I ordered the breakout/patchybay and tap tempo switch earlier this week, Sunday or Monday night. I cannot wire this board up without them due to the placement of the VP4’s Output jack, I might have a 20’ cable with a right-angle end that’ll fit in there and I can drape across the rest of the board like a mongrel….
The signal chain is going to go-
Guitar-Wah-VP4-ML5-AMP with the other side of the VP4 staying in the amp’s loop. Shit, that’s 2 fucking cables I’ll need to stick in there and I definitely don’t have them. This is the longest it’s taken me to build a board and it’s entirely a result of other people’s inability to go to a post office.
Last gripe- Cioks Flex cables aren’t very fucking flexible and I hate the approach with the Crux and that tiny ass, stiff cable link between it and the DC7 that forces you to put the Crux in an awkward position.
I ordered the breakout/patchybay and tap tempo switch earlier this week, Sunday or Monday night. I cannot wire this board up without them due to the placement of the VP4’s Output jack, I might have a 20’ cable with a right-angle end that’ll fit in there and I can drape across the rest of the board like a mongrel….
The signal chain is going to go-
Guitar-Wah-VP4-ML5-AMP with the other side of the VP4 staying in the amp’s loop. Shit, that’s 2 fucking cables I’ll need to stick in there and I definitely don’t have them. This is the longest it’s taken me to build a board and it’s entirely a result of other people’s inability to go to a post office.
Last gripe- Cioks Flex cables aren’t very fucking flexible and I hate the approach with the Crux and that tiny ass, stiff cable link between it and the DC7 that forces you to put the Crux in an awkward position.
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It’s been a productive night and this is something I enjoy doing so much but rarely get to; building rig stuff. Once I stopped bitching I realized I could just take the patchbay off my FM9 board temporarily and then I realized I didn’t have enough cable ends to wire it all up (so I was running my mouth for nothing because *I* fucked up, too!) which brings me to a new idea-
I want to hear for myself how much cables have an effect on the tone, so I’m going to order one of Evidence’ longer cables and if I hear any discernible difference in tone I’ll use their pedalboard kit to re-wire the pedalboard. Right now I’m using those $35 solderless kits off Amazon that I’ve used in a few applications and I’m not hearing anything to bitch about yet. I figure if I were going to hear any issues, it’d be at band practices using my FM9 in 4CM with my EVH, blaring loud.
Anywho, here is what the final decision is-
I wanted to get power run just to see what that was going to look like before I get into audio. Everything is dry-fit, but maaaan it’s a tight fit in some places! Freqout Row in particular. There’s a lot of areas I’ll be able to completely avoid audio/power crossing over each other, which is always a good thing but I’m not overly concerned about it.
I’m going to keep the Comp+ on the board, but it’ll be after the VP4 and after loop switcher. Sometimes I dig compression after dirt and a lot of times I just keep it on the whole time, so fuck it. The Freqout will go in a loop. The Patriarch replaced the Vibronaught and now I got both Gilmour and EJ on this board, which was the original, original intent when I started buying pedals again. Hell, it was even the OOOOOGGGG intent 32 years ago!
I want to hear for myself how much cables have an effect on the tone, so I’m going to order one of Evidence’ longer cables and if I hear any discernible difference in tone I’ll use their pedalboard kit to re-wire the pedalboard. Right now I’m using those $35 solderless kits off Amazon that I’ve used in a few applications and I’m not hearing anything to bitch about yet. I figure if I were going to hear any issues, it’d be at band practices using my FM9 in 4CM with my EVH, blaring loud.
Anywho, here is what the final decision is-
I wanted to get power run just to see what that was going to look like before I get into audio. Everything is dry-fit, but maaaan it’s a tight fit in some places! Freqout Row in particular. There’s a lot of areas I’ll be able to completely avoid audio/power crossing over each other, which is always a good thing but I’m not overly concerned about it.
I’m going to keep the Comp+ on the board, but it’ll be after the VP4 and after loop switcher. Sometimes I dig compression after dirt and a lot of times I just keep it on the whole time, so fuck it. The Freqout will go in a loop. The Patriarch replaced the Vibronaught and now I got both Gilmour and EJ on this board, which was the original, original intent when I started buying pedals again. Hell, it was even the OOOOOGGGG intent 32 years ago!
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Chocol8
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I wouldn’t worry about power crossing audio with 9v DC. The 120v AC could induce some noise but the the low voltage DC with low current flow should be safe.
As for the cables, once you hit a buffer or pedal that is on, it won’t matter much, but I think most people could hear the difference with a higher capacitance 20 foot cable and a higher quality low capacitance 5 footer. It is like rolling the tone down a bit. Subtle but audible.
As for the cables, once you hit a buffer or pedal that is on, it won’t matter much, but I think most people could hear the difference with a higher capacitance 20 foot cable and a higher quality low capacitance 5 footer. It is like rolling the tone down a bit. Subtle but audible.
metropolis_4
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Glad it’s working out for you, it looks great!
Am I going crazy or did your Fractal Ex Pedal change colors?
Am I going crazy or did your Fractal Ex Pedal change colors?
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Glad it’s working out for you, it looks great!
Am I going crazy or did your Fractal Ex Pedal change colors?
I had the one from my FM9 board on it, which is black with the neon green gaff tape, but I actually use that regularly. The silver one is from my studio/III board and I rarely ever use that. That studio board is remarkably under utilized as it’s setup for live performance but I only use my III for recording, it’s an expensive tap tempo/tuner/wah/whammy controller with an FC6 stuck to it.
Chocol8
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Never rule out and!
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Took a chill today when I realized I didn't order the proper amount of cable ends, more will be here tomorrow. I put the 28 I did have on this morning and just finished getting power and MIDI properly put in place. I know I'm going to end up changing shit so I'm find different areas I can bundle cable instead of zip-tying, giving everything plenty of slack.
I couldn't totally avoid crossing audio/power but I'm not that concerned, everything is isolated.
Tomorrow I need to hack that TRS cable up to size and re-solder it for the expression pedal. I also order a right-angle IEC adapter for the DC7, so it turns upward immediately rather than pushing towards the spot the patchbay will be.
I think it's cool that despite only having 6 actual pedals on it, it can cover a looooot of ground.
I couldn't totally avoid crossing audio/power but I'm not that concerned, everything is isolated.
Tomorrow I need to hack that TRS cable up to size and re-solder it for the expression pedal. I also order a right-angle IEC adapter for the DC7, so it turns upward immediately rather than pushing towards the spot the patchbay will be.
I think it's cool that despite only having 6 actual pedals on it, it can cover a looooot of ground.
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Somehow the smart part of my brain kicked on and without thinking about it beforehand, I’ve been taking my time with the wiring instead of rushing to get it done so I could play through it. Finding the right balance between “I want this shit strapped down and not going anywhere” and “What if I want to swap something out down the road?”
Overall, everything has slack built in and stashed in case I need more length. At most cutting one zip tie should be all that’s needed to swap something out, unless it’s oddly sized.
One thing that’s been a MAJOR help is my little Danelectro battery powered amp, for every cable I make it gets checked twice; once after I attach both jacks and then again after it’s placed in the loop switcher. Just having that amp there so I can plug a cable end in and tap the other side has saved a ton of work.
I’ve got the amp-input side wired up, just have the effects loop to wire this evening, which is just two patch cables, then I start programming.
Where I’ve sat for about 16 hours this weekend-
These solderless patch cables, they’re definitely cutting the time down by not having to solder and I’ve only had one instance of one not working after I made it, which presented the issue immediately. Basically, if you push the wire into the jack and go to screw the cap on, if the screw doesn’t screw in with ease then it’s fucked up and ya gotta start over (cut a quarter inch off the wire and start the process over). I think the aluminum tape inside the sleeve is getting bunched up and not allowing the screw to penetrate.
I’ll be testing the integrity of both the wire and the jack via my Fuzz Face as I can only pull the jack out to shut battery power off, we’ll see how many times I can yank on it before it fucks up.
Also made my last bigger purchase for this board and ordered a custom loom for it. I made my own loom (seen in the bottom of the pic above) but I wanted a legit one so I can see how they make them. 30’, three 1/4” jacks and 1 MIDI jack, laser-engraved leather labels on each jack, $320. Rattlesnake Cable Co is making it, I need to shoot them a forum invite.
Overall, everything has slack built in and stashed in case I need more length. At most cutting one zip tie should be all that’s needed to swap something out, unless it’s oddly sized.
One thing that’s been a MAJOR help is my little Danelectro battery powered amp, for every cable I make it gets checked twice; once after I attach both jacks and then again after it’s placed in the loop switcher. Just having that amp there so I can plug a cable end in and tap the other side has saved a ton of work.
I’ve got the amp-input side wired up, just have the effects loop to wire this evening, which is just two patch cables, then I start programming.
Where I’ve sat for about 16 hours this weekend-
These solderless patch cables, they’re definitely cutting the time down by not having to solder and I’ve only had one instance of one not working after I made it, which presented the issue immediately. Basically, if you push the wire into the jack and go to screw the cap on, if the screw doesn’t screw in with ease then it’s fucked up and ya gotta start over (cut a quarter inch off the wire and start the process over). I think the aluminum tape inside the sleeve is getting bunched up and not allowing the screw to penetrate.
I’ll be testing the integrity of both the wire and the jack via my Fuzz Face as I can only pull the jack out to shut battery power off, we’ll see how many times I can yank on it before it fucks up.
Also made my last bigger purchase for this board and ordered a custom loom for it. I made my own loom (seen in the bottom of the pic above) but I wanted a legit one so I can see how they make them. 30’, three 1/4” jacks and 1 MIDI jack, laser-engraved leather labels on each jack, $320. Rattlesnake Cable Co is making it, I need to shoot them a forum invite.
SillyOctpuss
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Used 3 of these- GHOSTFIRE Solderless Pedalboard Cable Kit, 6.5ft Cable & 10 Nickel Plated Copper Tip Connectors for Guitar Effects & Pedal Board, DIY Custom Patch Cables with Cutter, Bolt Driver (SP-01) https://a.co/d/0xP5Fpy
I actually just semi-finished, I need the junction box for this board to show up before I ziptie the cables down but I made them for the loop, I just made them a little longer so I have room to adjust once the box shows up tomorrow, I wanted to test it all out tonight.
Turn everything on and immediately get a feedback loop giving me a high pitched squeal. It’s coming from the effects loop so I jumped on Amazon and got a cheap hum eliminator/DI box. It seems USPS has lost my Decimator because it just says “Arriving late” since Saturday.
I tested out the front end by itself and then the loop while going straight into the front end and everything works as it should. No noises or anything from the board, I kicked it around my floor a bit and don’t hear any crackling anywhere. My snake already shipped today, too! They built and shipped it in less than 24 hours.
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Damn that turned out killer dude.
I can’t wait to actually hear it! My nights are fairly booked up this week so I think I’m going to load the rig into my car and if I got some time during the day will fire it up in an empty suite. I’ve been telling my boss and staff they haven’t truly lived until they’ve strummed the strings of a guitar through a blaring amp!
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BAAAAAAHHHHHHH NOW I REMEMBER WHY I WAS SO HAPPY TO SWITCH TO MODELING!!!!
Hahahahah I just had like 45 straight minutes of troubleshooting shit and two of the 3-4 issues were something stupid I should have caught immediately, like the Fryette being on Standby and the whole rig buzzing while being LOUD AF…..and then barely any signal at all and a bunch of buzzing, because the Outputs on two pedals were low and the loops were active, but the fucking strangest one that I absolutely cannot wrap my head around is my snake, which I am absolutely perplexed about; after trying EVERYTHING I said “Fuck it, swap the Send and Return cables and see what happens” and it worked.
Triple, quadruple, octouple, infinity checked the connections at the pedalboard and everything is correct, but I’m still having to swap the Send and Return cables at the effects loop. Either I just died in another dimension and inherited the body in this one, where everything is exactly the same except how we remembered to plug our effects loop cables in, or someone came in my apartment and swapped the labels on the cables. That. Is. The. Only. Explanation. I’ve been plugging and unplugging those cables for the last 9 months, I labeled them how they’re labeled for a reason. I have never had to do this before.
Anyway….I test everything out with the new patchbay and everything is sounding great….except my Fuzz Face, which now sounds like a glitchy piece of shit. No clue why it sounded great the other day but now it sounds like dog shit, but I’m going to grab one of these-
Because it just so happens I am indeed using active pickups with a loop switcher. Damnit.
I barely have anything left to do on the board but I was a little deflated after hearing that Fuzz Face so I just shut everything off and hit the couch.
Hahahahah I just had like 45 straight minutes of troubleshooting shit and two of the 3-4 issues were something stupid I should have caught immediately, like the Fryette being on Standby and the whole rig buzzing while being LOUD AF…..and then barely any signal at all and a bunch of buzzing, because the Outputs on two pedals were low and the loops were active, but the fucking strangest one that I absolutely cannot wrap my head around is my snake, which I am absolutely perplexed about; after trying EVERYTHING I said “Fuck it, swap the Send and Return cables and see what happens” and it worked.
Triple, quadruple, octouple, infinity checked the connections at the pedalboard and everything is correct, but I’m still having to swap the Send and Return cables at the effects loop. Either I just died in another dimension and inherited the body in this one, where everything is exactly the same except how we remembered to plug our effects loop cables in, or someone came in my apartment and swapped the labels on the cables. That. Is. The. Only. Explanation. I’ve been plugging and unplugging those cables for the last 9 months, I labeled them how they’re labeled for a reason. I have never had to do this before.
Anyway….I test everything out with the new patchbay and everything is sounding great….except my Fuzz Face, which now sounds like a glitchy piece of shit. No clue why it sounded great the other day but now it sounds like dog shit, but I’m going to grab one of these-
Because it just so happens I am indeed using active pickups with a loop switcher. Damnit.
I barely have anything left to do on the board but I was a little deflated after hearing that Fuzz Face so I just shut everything off and hit the couch.
