When to Use a Pedalboard With Your Guitar Rig

I checking out GEAR 411 last night and found this question posed to Tony Pasko interesting. The reader asked, "I was wondering what the advantages and disadvantages of using a pedal board, and how many pedals really requires a board?

Pedalboards are totally the way to go if you gig a lot or you have a complex pedal set-up. They just make your life easier, but your right there can be drawbacks as well.

When you plug anything that passes audio into an outlet, you are going to open yourself up to potential problems: power surges, signal interruption, poor pedal performance etc...

The alternative to this is running batteries, but again your having to buy in bulk and hope the batteries don't go out on you during your gig.

There are a bunch of companies that make pedalboards now and most of them seem to be pretty good, giving you all kinds of flexibility and power protection etc...

But I have to confess that I am also a fan of Zakk Wylde's Home Depot pedalboard.

That's what I've been using for years. You buy a pre-painted shelfboard, rubber feet, velcro, a power strip, and plastic ties, so for like 20 bucks you have everything you need.

I would recommend you buy a power block that is made to power multiple pedals, and attach that to the board. It's not pretty, but it works.

Note: Make sure you check the voltages on your pedals before you plug in power supplies, if it's not the right adapter, you could pop your pedal. Trust me I have done this manytimes and it's not fun trying to get a pedal repaired, it usually costs more than the pedal itself.

You can pose your own question to Tony Pasko by going to GEAR 411 @ http://www.rockhousemethod.com/gear411advice/gear411.aspx