Pedal board shopping...

[frigid midget]

Those of you who've read one of my many threads in which I look for fresh BOARD FRIENDLY pedlols, may have seen this coming...

It was inevitable. I can't decide on just three dirt pedals, I gotto have both a versatile digital delay as well as something more analog sounding, I want at least two different types of modulation, plus some sort of noise maker as well as a volume pedal and tuner. If I ever decide to go with a router/looper thing and two bigger pedals, I'll need a board the size of a football field

Anyway, where should I look for a heavt duty flightcase style board, with a removable lit, butterfly lacthes, the works. Don't need anything fancy that'll only jack up the price. I can put some plywood in it and throw my power supply in it and call it a day, the case itself would already be more than I should be spending at this point. So far the best I can find would be a new 65Euro mixer flightcase 74X38 (cm, long/wide) or a used mixer/dj flightcase for 80, which is a little more solid as well as bigger (about 80x50cm). I'm tempted to stretch my budget and go with the latter, which would btw be the biggest I want to go. Anything bigger might be a bit unpracticle to lift, (un)load and carry around...

Any ideas how I can do better than those?

[Psyre]

Freakish Blues has a Pedaltrain clone

[01010111]

Have you looked at gun cases? Some of them are about pedalboard size, and if you're willing to make a board that'll fit inside a flight case, they're not a bad option. They're relatively cheap and well made, and if you're good with a dremel you can grind the latches in such a way that the lid will pop off when you open the case.

[spacelordmother]

Rondo also sells exactly the type you mention. Not sure how "heavy duty" they are.

[frigid midget]

Rondo also sells exactly the type you mention. Not sure how "heavy duty" they are.

They're cheap and all, but they acually look kinda flimsy compared to what I got now

[KaosCill8r]

Have you checked thrift stores for old suit cases and build a board that fits snugly in it. Good cheap option that has ready made character.

[Sparrow]

Freakish Blues has a Pedaltrain clone

[frigid midget]

Have you checked thrift stores for old suit cases and build a board that fits snugly in it. Good cheap option that has ready made character.

Yeah I did, that's how I did my first real board. But it's hard to find something that has both the right size and the durability of a flightcase type board. Plus, I've gotten used to just removing a lit, instead of having to lift a board out of a case. And believe it or not: With today's prices here in Europe, a piece of plywood, a couple handles, some spraypaint and an old suitcase...Would get mighty close to the price of a say, a DAP flightcase.

[Disarm D'arcy]

If you're willing to spend up to 80 euros, i say pedaltrain. http://www.thomann.de/fr/pedaltrain_junior_sc_bag.htm

I honestly have tried every method of making a pedalboard. The chunk of wood that fit in a cheap bag... Case that you can get the lid off... Stuff like that. Then i got a Pedaltrain 2. That was in 2010. I still rock a PT2.

[frigid midget]

I'd rather spend less than 80Euro, but if I do spend that much, there's no way it'll be on something in a softcase

Not that I play out that much, but when there's good used flightcases out there for less than what a PT goes for, the choice seems kinda obvious imo

I guess if the weight's an issue and you're extra carefull with your gear, the softcase route might make sense though.

[rfurtkamp]

The PT softcase was better made than I expected for my used PT2. I paid I think $55 US shipped for mine. It's still in use, and I'm very very happy with it versus the DIY alternatives.

I don't gig any more, but if I did, logging around a flight case isn't high on my list once I factored in the other stuff I have to have. I can't exactly throw around the amps (since I'm not using a flight case for those either) or the Space Echo, etc...so with same care I exhibited for guitars in bags etc for years, I wouldn't worry about pedals at all.

Only time I'd want a flight case is if I had roadies or actually flying not as carry-on.

[goroth]

Agree with rfurtkamp. If your packing your own shit the soft case is fine. Weighs waaaay less too. But I really only dropped in to say whatever you do don't get one of those Warwick rock case hard cases. They bend and buckle very easily and are a complete waste of money.

[frigid midget]

Yeah good point I guess. I'm just paranoid about breaking my shit. But the size I'm looking at loaded with the pedals I plan to put in there...Would end up weighing more than my back can handle. I'll give it some thought, but at the moment I'm leaning more towards a smaller flightcase instead a bigger softcase right now though.

I'll have plenty of time to think it over, I don't have the funds yet anyway...

[Wes Mantooth]

After having a giant, wooden home made board for a while I was happy to switch to a PT-2 with hard case. Found one used and it's just perfect, glad I sold a pedal for one. They are pretty damn strong, not too heavy and super convenient.

[frigid midget]

The thing is, I barely use/need enough pedals to justify a bigger sized board than what I'm using now. But now and than I'm forced to chose pedals based mainly on size, rather than anything else. And I can't throw on anything extra on it just for the hell of it, or even place everything on the board where I like it. Even when I restrict myself to bear necessities, my boards is so crammed that the reliability of my cables and power is affected:s

But the next size board would be heavy and f*cking inconvenient:s

So my options as I see it now:
-Go a little bigger, get a PT with one of those softcases.
-Get a second flighcase, a small one, for a seperate fx loop board.
-Keep the medium sized board I got now, and throw out my volume pedal and keep it off-board.