Locking 1/4" jacks & DIY pedalboards

rikus

Does anyone have an idea where I should be looking for locking 1/4" jacks in CT?

I want to mount them on my pedalboard that I'm busy building...

Also, would any normal plug work with the jack or do you need an accompanying plug to go with the jack?

AlanRatcliffe

I'm doing the same ATM (building my BIG board). I just ordered four from Ryan at Bothner's Plumstead and he said they have stock. Otherwise Wilde and Marr are the distributors.

How are you building your board?

FruitarGeek

Alan Ratcliffe wrote I'm doing the same ATM (building my BIG board). I just ordered four from Ryan at Bothner's Plumstead and he said they have stock. Otherwise Wilde and Marr are the distributors.

Ooooo Alan. How soon will your board be ready? Pics are expected of course ?

AlanRatcliffe

rikus wrote Also, would any normal plug work with the jack or do you need an accompanying plug to go with the jack?

Any 1/4" plug will work BTW, but the Asian cheapies tend to be metric sizes, which are a fraction smaller. So while they work, they are more prone to problems in the long run. The Proels seem a nice balance between cost and quality and are 1/4 of the price of the Neutrik NP2C. In the long term the Neutriks are worth the extra money because they last so long.

Adrian Rogowski wrote Ooooo Alan. How soon will your board be ready? Pics are expected of course ?

Natch! I've got my pedals laid out on it now to double-check positioning and size - I'll take a pic of progress so far. Far from finished though, must still fit the back panel then take it all apart to finish it (still deciding on the finish too).

rikus

Alan Ratcliffe wrote I'm doing the same ATM (building my BIG board). I just ordered four from Ryan at Bothner's Plumstead and he said they have stock. Otherwise Wilde and Marr are the distributors.

How are you building your board?

Thanks Alan! I'm using all Amphenol for my plugs, so hopefully that would be fine.

I'm doing nothing special at the moment. Ultimately I'd like some sort of hardcase/travel case solution, but for now I'm doing something like this:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/stomp-box/153763-my-do-yourself-ikea-pedalboard-build-thread.html

I bought a single 400 x 900 shelf at builders like so:

The four slats that make up the 400mm are perfect for two pedal above each other. I cut 300 from the width, so it's now 400 x 600.

I've sprayed it a flat black and I've stuck strips of nice heavy duty velcro along each of the strips. I've also fixed kitchen cupboard handles on either side.

Once I receive my power supply I'll attach a backplate section at the rear to tilt and lift the board to accommodate the power supply underneath. I want to fix the jacks to that backplate.

I'll take a picture or two tonight. Very basic, but functional.

Edit: Please do post some progress pics of your big board. Would love to see that!

AlanRatcliffe

Here ya go:

The power supply will go underneath and I'll mount an IEC socket (kettle plug) on the backplate. Two locking jack on the right side panel for inputs, two on the back for outputs.

rikus wrote I'm using all Amphenol for my plugs, so hopefully that would be fine.

Amphenol are great and very compact.

I bought a single 400 x 900 shelf at builders like so:

Nice! I saw the "Ikea pedalboard" thread at TDPRI a while ago and wondered if a similar shelf would be available locally.

I want to fix the jacks to that backplate.

Consider putting the input on the side. Plugged into the back, the guitar cable tends to pull over the top of the board and mess with the knobs.

rikus

Nice! That is an impressive board!

I didn't plan on have any side panels to try and save some weight, but I does make sense to put the jacks on a side panel rather than at the back. I'll have to consider that some more.

rikus

Alan Ratcliffe wrote How are you building your board?

Here is the WIP

As you can see there is a wee bit of space for expansion! ?

Next up in cabling.

I'll finish up the board once my power supply arrives.

Silver box is a diy buffer I'm trying to build. If it works I'll try and shrink it down.

Order will be Guitar -> Tuner -> OCD -> Buffer -> Volume Pedal -> Nova Delay -> Amp.

AlanRatcliffe

Lookin' good!

The way you have the handles, you could always thread your cable through the right hand one to avoid any problems and keep your jack sockets on the back.

Do you even need a buffer with such a short chain? Or is it because of a Low-Z volume pedal?

BTW - renamed the thread and moving it to Effects.

rikus

Alan Ratcliffe wrote Lookin' good!

The way you have the handles, you could always thread your cable through the right hand one to avoid any problems and keep your jack sockets on the back.

Do you even need a buffer with such a short chain? Or is it because of a Low-Z volume pedal?

Thanks! Great idea on using the handle!

I'm always going to use the volume pedal in the chain, so I went with a low-z pedal... it sounds great with the OD engaged. I want to also be able to use the amp's natural slightly cranked tone, but there is a bit of tone suck through the volume pedal when the OD is disengaged... the buffer will hopefully sort that out. Probably overkill, but I've got the space on the board and soldering is fun!

Alan Ratcliffe wrote BTW - renamed the thread and moving it to Effects.

Cool, no problem! ?

shadow1

FANTASTIC BUILDS guys!

I am still in the process of deciding whether to build a board or order the pedaltrainpro softcase version. This thread makes me tempted to DIY ?

Riaan

Oh boy...here I go itching to build another pedalboard...it never stops does it ??? ???

rikus

shadow1 wrote FANTASTIC BUILDS guys!

I am still in the process of deciding whether to build a board or order the pedaltrainpro softcase version. This thread makes me tempted to DIY ?

Thanks. I'm a big fan of the pedaltrain stuff and I think long term (once my board's size has settled) I'd probably go for a pedaltrain solution.

Riaan wrote Oh boy...here I go itching to build another pedalboard...it never stops does it ??? ???

Lol. This is my first one... we'll see how long it takes for the itch to set in again.

josh

Hi Rikus
Nice board. I used the exact same handles on my pedal board and they work great! ?
I think you should post your pedal board in the "Your Pedalboard" thread. ?

rikus

Opeth wrote Hi Rikus
Nice board. I used the exact same handles on my pedal board and they work great! ?
I think you should post your pedal board in the "Your Pedalboard" thread. ?

Thanks man! Any the moment it's just a board with pedals on it (i.e. no wiring). Once everything is wired up and working I post it in the pedalboard thread! ?

Danny-B

Alan - what are the dimensions of your board? I'm going to be building myself a new pedalboard this holiday. Also, what materials did you use, and if you don't mind me asking, what was the cost?

AlanRatcliffe

Danny B wrote Alan - what are the dimensions of your board?

Pretty big - 840 (W) x 460 (D). Gotta leave room for expansion. ?

Also, what materials did you use, and if you don't mind me asking, what was the cost?

Made with some old pine tongue & groove flooring I had lying around - I just planed off the tongue & groove part. ? About 30 years old, so nice and stable. Aside from the four locking jack sockets (about R90 ea retail), it's all just stuff I had lurking, so cost was negligible. I must still get the velcro too.

An easy build too - the hardest part is getting the angle right on the front edge and at the top of the back board. The only tools used were circular saw, plane, hand drill and screwdriver.

I haven't had a chance to take it further than the last photo, but looks like I'll have some time this weekend, so I'll take it apart, cut the 24mm holes for the sockets, stain it, finish it and reassemble with glue. I'll take some pics as it progresses too.