A Guitarist’s Guide To Setting Up A Pedal Board

There are several options when it comes to effects for your guitar. There are rack-mounted effects, multi-effect processors and even amplifiers with built-in effects. My personal favorite choice is the use of multiple effects pedals. They provide a kind of freedom when it comes to customizing your sound.

Lugging around a bag full of pedals and wires can be a real pain. It gets even worse if you have disorganized, individual pedals on stage during a live performance. The solution to this is building your own custom guitar pedal board.

Here’s a basic guide to pedal board setup for beginners with some tips and tricks for more advanced players as well.

Understanding the Basics

Once you’ve exhausted the sonic possibilities of your amplifier, it’s only natural to start experimenting with effects pedals to further tweak your sound. Effects pedals, or stomp boxes, alter the signal produced by your guitar before it reaches your amp. This place in the signal chain makes them particularly good for certain types of effects.

There are a wide variety of effect types. I’ll cover some of the most common and touch on some of my personal favorites.

The first important type is the gain pedal. This category can further be broken down into four sub-types.

Boost: These increase the strength of your signal before hitting the amp or preamp. They can give you a nice boost during solos or fatten up your sound with less gain and dirt than just using the amp itself.

Overdrive: These pedals can give you more distortion at a lower volume setting. They can also push or drive the signal harder to give you a nice fat tone while retaining your amp’s natural characteristics.

Distortion: The signal is clipped or distorted to give you that iconic hard rock or heavy metal sound. The Boss DS-1 is my favorite distortion pedal for delivering a powerful and versatile distortion that can be finely tuned to suit any style or genre.

Fuzz: Fuzz is really a specific type of heavy distortion that was used with great effect by Jimmy Hendrix. Fuzz is commonly used in classic rock and psychedelic rock.

Time-based effects pedals alter the timing of the signal from your guitar. They may change the signal by slowing it down, speeding it up or multiplying it. Here are some of the most-used time-based effects.

Reverb: Reverb provides an echo-type sound. It’s one of the most common effects and can frequently be found built right into your amplifier. A dedicated pedal gives you a better range and more control over this classic effect.

Delay: This one does exactly what its name advertises. It delays your signal and then plays it back, giving you a kind of doubling effect.

Loop: This pedal is useful for recording, playing live and practicing alone. It takes a sample of your playing and then repeats it in a loop, providing a type of backing track for you to play over.

Modulation effects alter the guitar’s signal by making changes to it over time and then adding it back to the original signal. These effects are hard to explain and really need to be heard to be fully appreciated. Here are some common modulation effects.

Chorus: Chorus gives you the sound of multiple guitars playing simultaneously but slightly out of sync with one another.

Tremolo: The best way to describe this effect is the sound you get if you turn your guitar’s volume knob up and down quickly as you play.

Vibrato: Vibrato pedals sound similar to Tremolo pedals, except they rapidly change the pitch of your sound while the Tremolo changes the volume.

Flanger: Flanger is similar to chorus but has a distinct sound of its own. Some good examples of this effect can be found in the songs “Barracuda” by Heart, “Are You Gonna Go My Way” by Lenny Kravitz and “Unchained” by Van Halen.

Phaser: Phaser gives you an otherworldly sound by creating peaks and troughs in the tone. Good examples of this can be found in “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” by Pink Floyd and “Just the Way You Are” by Billy Joel.

Dynamic effects control the volume in various ways. Here are the three types I use the most.

Noise Gate: Certain pickups create a lot of humming or buzzing sounds. The more effects you add to your pedalboard signal chain, the more noise you’ll get as well. A good Noise Gate pedal like the Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor can mitigate some of that unwanted sound. I use one anytime I want to play a guitar with single-coil pickups at a high volume.

Compressors: These pedals even out your tones to give you a more professional sound. They may not be as exciting as other pedals, but they’re fantastic for recording or playing live.

Limiters: A Limiter is basically a type of compressor that limits certain audio signals within a specific range.

Some EQ, Filter and Expression pedals are hard to explain from a technical standpoint. Basically, they alter the frequency range of your signal to produce different results. This can be as simple as adjusting the bass, treble and mid-range signals before they hit your amplifier.

This can also mean adjusting the frequencies while giving you a lot of control over the process so you can express yourself. One of the most famous examples of an expression pedal is the legendary Wah Pedal; however, expression pedals can also control various parameters on different types of effects beyond just wah sounds.

Naturally, you can’t fit every pedal in existence into these common types. Some really defy all descriptions or classifications. This list is certainly not exhaustive, and one of the joys of guitar effects pedals is the discovery of something new. Trying out new pedals at your local music store is a lot like hunting for treasure.

Here are a few more pedals that I can’t live without on my own personal pedal board.

Tuning Pedal: This is just a guitar tuner in pedal form. I highly recommend getting one with a bright LED display so you can easily tune your guitar on a barely-lit stage or in your bedroom at night.

Switcher Pedal: These pedals help you to manage your pedal board efficiently by turning on or cutting off sets of pedals all at once.

Octave/Pitch Shifter: These do what you would expect by shifting the pitch or octave. They can be used in short bursts for an effect or for long periods. If you find one with good tracking, you can even use it to change the tuning of your guitar. I often do this instead of re-tuning or using multiple guitars at a gig.

The choice between analog and digital effects comes down to personal taste. Analog pedals use old-school transistor based circuitry to produce warm, organic tones. But they can be inconsistent and prone to noise.

Digital effects use crystal-clear DSP chips for precise, modeled tones. But some feel they sound too “perfect.” Try both types to see what inspires you most!

For an all-in-one solution, a multi-effects processor combines dozens of effects so you only need one unit. But you lose the unique character of individual pedals.

The Essential Components

Before you get started building your board, you may wish to create a pedal board setup diagram. This will help you to arrange your pedals in a neat and convenient manner.

It will also help you position the pedals in the best signal-chain order for sound quality. You can also find a decent pedalboard planner online. Gather the following items before we begin.

1. Your pedals
2. The right-sized board
3. Power supply
4. Materials for attaching pedals
5. All necessary cables

A Step-By-Step Guide

Step-1: Planning and Arranging Your Pedals

Before selecting a board, it’s important to know the number and type of pedals you need. This will help you choose the right size and configuration for your board. First, consider the order in which you will place your pedals on the board.

It’s also essential to get the signal order right when it comes to the type of effects you use. As a general rule, you’ll want to follow this chain of signals:

Tuner > Wah or expression pedals > Overdrive and boost pedals > Distortion or gain pedals

Next comes the time and modulation effects.

Chorus > Delay > Reverb > Noise Gate

Though I place my noise gate at the very end of the signal, you can consider placing noise gates earlier in the chain, particularly after high-gain pedals. Some players prefer this method for optimal noise reduction at its source.

Step-2: Selecting a Pedalboard

Once you know how many pedals you’ll use, the next thing to consider is the right size, shape, and material for your pedalboard based on your needs.

Pedal boards come in a variety of sizes and materials. The size of your board depends on the number of pedals you use regularly. A compact board is ideal if you’re aiming for portability and simplicity, while a larger board provides more space for experimentation and additional effects.

Choose the shape that best fits your playing setup, whether flat or angled for easier access.

For materials, go for something light and durable such as aluminum or composite to reduce carrying weight. You will also want to consider getting a case for your board to protect it during travel and performance.

Step-3: Attaching Your Pedals

The next thing to consider is how to attach pedals to a pedalboard. There are a few different methods, but I prefer Velcro attachments that allow me to easily remove and add pedals. This way, you can experiment or set up the board with different pedals for different purposes.

Step-4: Connecting Your Pedals

To connect your pedals, you’ll need patch cables—short cables designed specifically for linking effects pedals. Opt for high-quality, low-noise cables to maintain a clean signal between pedals. Cable kits can be useful if you need multiple lengths or custom-fit options for tight spaces on your board.

Use cable mounts or zip ties to keep your wiring tidy, reducing the chance of tangles or accidental disconnections during performances.

It’s important to organize your cables neatly under or around the board to ensure easy troubleshooting and prevent damage. Keeping the connections secure and organized helps maintain consistent signal flow and makes adjustments smoother.

Step-5: Powering Your Pedalboard

Using 9-volt batteries in each unit can be a pain and will be disastrous if the batteries go dead at the wrong time. You can also daisy-chain most pedals together and plug them directly into an outlet, but this often leads to interference and unwanted noise.

You’ll need a good power supply that’s compatible with all of your pedals for the best results. The power supply needs to be able to get enough current to each pedal on your board. It also needs to be isolated and shielded so that you get clean power with little interference.

Pay close attention to your pedal’s voltage (9V, 12V etc), current draw (mA), and polarity (+/-) needs. Make sure each pedal’s current requirements match those provided by your power supply.

Supplying improper power can damage pedals. Thankfully most pedals are standard 9V DC negative polarity. Higher current digital pedals may need 12V or 18V however.

Step-6: Finalizing Your Setup

Once you’ve completed building your pedalboard, it’s time to test everything out. You can play with swapping the order around to hear the differences but try to stick to our general guidelines.

If you have an amp with effects loop, try running the board through this as well as straight into the front of the amplifier. See which one works best for you.

One trick I use is to run the tuner and boost effects directly into the amp with the modulation and time-based effects going into the effects loop.

Troubleshooting and Advanced Tips

If you have issues with the board working, check the pedal board power supply to make sure it’s compatible with all of your units. Make sure that the voltage ratings and polarity ratings all match up.

Next, check to make sure all of your cables are properly connected. It’s helpful to have extra cables so you can test each one and replace them as needed.

Unusual or excessive noises can be caused by the wrong pedalboard setup order. Check the instructions above to make sure you’re following our basic guidelines. You should also test pedals individually to get to the root of the problem.

Now for some advanced tips. In my opinion, you should use pedals that offer true bypass when possible. This will give you less unwanted noise as the pedals won’t affect your signal or tone when not in use.

Otherwise, consider using buffered pedals when true bypass isn’t feasible, as they may provide tonal benefits under certain conditions!

Experiment with various Wet/Dry setups to craft your sound. This means having an unaffected (dry) signal chain and a separate dedicated chain (wet) for your effects. You can even blend the two signals together for a unique tone.

Final Words

Don’t be afraid to continually evolve your pedalboard as your playing grows and you discover new effects you love. That’s half the fun! Just be sure to sell unused pedals to fund new ones and keep clutter at bay.

I hope this guide has equipped you with all the knowledge needed to develop your own killer pedalboard rig. Now turn up those amps and make some noise! Your tone quest awaits…