January 2016

One of my pet peeves is the sloppy, low-tech way we guitarists tend to mount our pedals onto our pedalboards. It appears the most widely-used method is to secure the pedals to the board with hook & loop (Velcro) fasteners, followed closely by strapping them down with cable-ties. I've tried the Velcro solution and have always had difficulty getting the strips of this material to adhere to the pedals over time. If I choose to store my pedalboard vertically, I always seem to come back to it with the pedals sliding away from their original locations. Repositioning them works in the short-term, but each time I do this the Velcro's adhesive becomes less aggressive and fails even more.

I'm sure the cable-tie solution would prevent this migration, but to me it looks pretty tacky (yeah, I know, I know...).

As a long-time computer hobbyist, I've really come to appreciate standardization with regard to hardware; -I can swap out a DVD-drive with that of another manufacturer and I know it's going to not only fit in the bay, but also will accept the interface cable without hassle. Same is true with PC power supplies and hard drives (with some exceptions), etc. Why can't the guitar pedal manufacturers get together and adopt a uniform pedal mounting standard?!?!?! This could be as simple as placing screw-hole ears in an identical pattern, or adding a rail at the top and bottom of each pedal that would clip into a locking mechanism in the pedal board. It's not rocket science, it just takes industry leaders with a desire to work together for a short period of time to create and adopt a mounting standard (in my opinion this also applies to the manufacturers of car stereos... the mounting of each device should be uniform, as well as their accompanying cable harness. We shouldn't have to modify the existing harness, drill holes, or otherwise modify our vehicles simply to replace the factory stereo with an aftermarket upgrade!).

Anyway, here's my solution to the problem...

As a former cyclist and amateur racer I've spent my fair share of time with bicycle chains. As I thought about how to securely mount my pedals I remembered the simple link design on my bike's chain. Seemed like a perfect solution. I had all the necessary components... a spare chain from my racing days, and the tool known as a "chain breaker" ( a simple hand-held device that's kind of a miniature vice in combination with a link pin extractor, etc.).

Here are my steps;

  1) Separated the individual links from the chain using the cyclist's chain breaker

  2) Removed the screws holding the respective back covers of each of the pedals

  3) Reinstalled the screws to the pedals, but with a chain link under each

  4) Drilled holes in the pedalboard aligned with each pedal's new link

  5) Secured each pedal to the pedal board using M3 hardware

Here are some photos of the process...

Photo of a typical bicycle chain breaker:   Individual link following removal from its chain:   Simple Gator pedalboard (most any brand should work):   Pedalboard ready for modification:   My trusty CS-3 ready to accept its new mounting "ears":   Screws removed from the bottom of the pedal(s)   Reassembly, with the chain links installed:   Place the pedals in their desired locations (be sure to leave room for their interconn cables). If needed, stagger the pedals a bit to allow better use of the real estate. Once satisfied with the placement, mark the locations to be drilled with a permanent marker or center punch:   Drill-away!:   Mount each pedal with appropriate hardware (I used M3 x 12mm screws, and nuts). (the power supply in this underside view is a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power ISO 5):

Completed assembly -Nice, clean and solid!:
 

Follow-up... The board has evolved somewhat over time. Here's what it looks like today: