Effects - Pedals, Multi-Effects, and Floor Boxes

[dkerwood]

Hi friends, Dkerwood here with a public service announcement. Have you ever gotten a new pedal and decided it needed Velcro? Who hasn't? So of course you head to the store and think, "I'm a pretty stout fellow; I probably need the strongest Velcro money can buy!" which leads to your purchase of that 2" industrial strength Velcro.

Friends, if you find yourself in that position, stop what you are doing, put the 200 lb test rating Velcro back on the shelf, and grab yourself some light duty 1/2" Velcro. I know what you're thinking- "But Mr. Random Internet Guy, don't I want the strongest Velcro money can buy? I'd hate for my vintage ToobYeller 888 klone to fall off my board!" Yes, friend, I'd hate that as well.

But friends, let me remind you your booteek boxes of joy and magic generally only weigh between 1 and 5 pounds! You're not trying to velcro an elephant in place (and let me tell you... don't try to do that, especially with the self adhesive velcro)! When you use the heavy duty Velcro and cover every square inch of your pedal, all you do is make it more difficult to reconfigure your pedals... or worse, more difficult for the guy you sell the pedal to down the road to configure HIS board.

Instead, friends, less is certainly better. A strip of 1/2" velcro along the top and bottom of each pedal is more than enough to keep your stompy doohickeys securely in place, unless you make a habit of letting The Three Stooges load your pedalboard between gigs. Then when you DO want to move the mystical mojo crates to a different spot on the board (the magic smoke in this one sounds better before the wah... just sayin'), you don't have to bust out a knife just to pry the darn thing off your board, taking half the loopside Velcro with it.

Again friends, join with me and help stop Velcro abuse. Pedals are like cats- hold them securely, and they will purr and stay with you forever. Hold them too tightly and they get hissy and start clawing at your face, so you hold them even tighter and tighter, and they keep clawing and biting until one of you dies... okay, well, the metaphor sort of fell apart there, but you know what I mean. Friends don't let friends over-velcro.

That is all.

[goodhonk]

I cut a thin strip and apply it to the raised edge of the rubber pad on the bottom of boss pedals. That's plenty.

[Lou Speed's Alt]

Cover the entire bottom of the pedal.

[echodeluxe]

This thread aroused me.

[brokenfixed]

I dont like having 1 strip because the pedal rocks back and forth when you step on them. At least an equal balance so theres no uneven teeter totter messing with my switch engaging

[Forrrest]

it also depends on how your board surface is covered. 

what we need to do is educate the fools that put the hooks (soft part) on the pedals instead of the hooks.  You're doing it WRONG!

[dkerwood]

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Forrrest wrote:

it also depends on how your board surface is covered. 

what we need to do is educate the fools that put the hooks (soft part) on the pedals instead of the hooks.  You're doing it WRONG!

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Baby steps.  Baby steps.  

[dkerwood]

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brokenfixed wrote:

I dont like having 1 strip because the pedal rocks back and forth when you step on them. At least an equal balance so theres no uneven teeter totter messing with my switch engaging

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I will often just put one strip on the top, especially if I don't plan to throw my board in the gig bag anytime soon.  But yeah, I like a strip at the top and the bottom, horizontally.

[BrentMpls]

any velcro is too much

[imbuedblue]

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Lou Speed's Alt wrote:

Cover the entire bottom of the pedal.

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This is what I do. With a jam-packed PedalTrain, I often end up with a pedal or two situated so that if I only placed 1/2" strips on the top and bottom, one or both of the strips would line up with the gaps, leaving my pedal unattached to the board.

I don't know.

[YerngBlerd]

hooks are the scratchy part.  loops are the soft part.

[Turd Furgison]

who uses velco now that there is gorilla glue?

*now made from real gorillas

[Nobody Told Me]

But, Mr. OP, Sir, teh toanz are so much better when I cover the entire bottom side of teh pedalz. If you think 2 little measly strips of velcro are enough to secure your Metal Zone in place, more power to you.

Not me. Nope. Uh-uh...   :cattongue:

[nomenclature]

cover the entire bottom with industrial Velcro, minus covering the serial if its on the bottom. much more of a theft deterrent needing a prybar to remove a pedal from a board than a thin strip graded to keep a child's shoe on when you're at a show.

[goodhonk]

Pedal thieves rarely in my bedroom.

[-W-]

If a pedal is truly cummy you dont even need velcro to stick it to your board.

[Faldoe]

the guy I got my eventide timefactor from covered the whole bottom which made it a bitch to lift off my pedaltrain whenever I needed to move it. not fun

[steelerboy329]

Yep, I used to cover the whole bottom, but now I just use little strips.

[Max Factor]

this thread is correct.

[inu]

I don't like to have any velcro on pedals... because, sometimes, I just need to have 2 or 3 pedals in my bag to go to a rehearsal/gig and not being bothered to carry my big Pedaltrain. Problem: velcroed pedals get slippy on normal flooring (wood, tiles...). That's why.

So, on my pedaltrain, I use wires to secure my pedals (which is simple, inexpensive and let's you move pedals pretty easily, even if not as much as velcro).