Members Y0UNGBL00D Posted December 20, 2012 Members Share Posted December 20, 2012 How far do you go to idiot proof your pedalboard? I've done quite a bit to prevent lessons learned live from repeating themselves, but it always seems the one thing I don't do bites me every time. Last show I was situated closer than usual to the input side of my board and I stepped on my guitar cable twice. I move around a lot. So next step is to make my guitar cable a right angle connector at both ends. Pics later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 When it comes to idiot-proofing, never underestimate the persistence and ingenuity of idiots. IOW, IMHO, it's pretty darned hard to make anything idiot-proof. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try to refine and improve things... but don't be surprised if Murphy raises his head and something goes wrong anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stazinish Posted December 20, 2012 Members Share Posted December 20, 2012 I just keep it in my car when I'm not playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jw10 Posted December 20, 2012 Members Share Posted December 20, 2012 Mark your settings especially on those overdrives that have way too much volume potential.keep it away from the edge of the stage as much as possible. hate to say this, but coily may be the way to go from guitar > board. cant tell u how many times ive yanked the cord out by stepping too far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pewtershmit Posted December 20, 2012 Members Share Posted December 20, 2012 Originally Posted by Stazinish I just keep it in my car when I'm not playing. Do not ever leave anything of value in your car. EVER. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hooya Posted December 20, 2012 Members Share Posted December 20, 2012 What's going on today, first I agree with Goodhonk in a thread, now I'm agreeing with Pewt!?;-)But yeah, what he said. Unless your car is ALWAYS only in your own locked garage. But I know people that have had instruments stolen out of their car in their own driveway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members christianatl Posted December 20, 2012 Members Share Posted December 20, 2012 My decision to downsize my board was largely based on the idiot-proofing idea. I still need to work on the layout a bit, but I'm zeroing in on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Y0UNGBL00D Posted December 20, 2012 Author Members Share Posted December 20, 2012 funny, i used to use a coily cable. the vox one. it failed, which led me to another new ruke: no molded cables. when they fail, you are screwed. to circumvent that rule i would have to get a bullet coily, i think. may happen. my cable is long enough, i actually stepped on it right where it connected at the board, pulling it out just enough to kill signal, which sucks to troubleshoot mid song.and im not talking about theft or damage from drunken fans. im talking about me being the idiot. so far my efforts include:--keeping pedals as close as possible on board, not only for real estate, but to keep the patch cables from coming out of thei jacks--ziptying underboard connections (stemmed from the days when i had a lot of underboard power connections that were attached mid-wire, those barrels slide out too easy --snaking the 4CM and power cables together. no hum so far, and its a quick and foolproof setup--the snake is rigged so that none of the cables can be pulled from the board at all.--labeling snake cables at both ends with easy to read in darkness fluorescent labels--loctite on straplock nuts. have backed off and had to hold the guitar against hip for a song--spare patches abound, duh--test routine upon rig setup==need to work on this--picks everywhere--spare guitar in same tuning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Y0UNGBL00D Posted December 20, 2012 Author Members Share Posted December 20, 2012 Originally Posted by christianatl My decision to downsize my board was largely based on the idiot-proofing idea. I still need to work on the layout a bit, but I'm zeroing in on it. much prefer the new avatar. the other one disturbs me. sexually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members christianatl Posted December 20, 2012 Members Share Posted December 20, 2012 I figured it was time to let her go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 Originally Posted by Y0UNGBL00D much prefer the new avatar. the other one disturbs me. sexually. And the new one doesn't? Seriously, I really like his new avatar too. Very nice Christian! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pewtershmit Posted December 20, 2012 Members Share Posted December 20, 2012 Originally Posted by christianatl I figured it was time to let her go. She'll be back, she always comes back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members King Rat Posted December 20, 2012 Members Share Posted December 20, 2012 haha you gotta idiot proof it. just gotta. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members notjonahbutnoah Posted December 20, 2012 Members Share Posted December 20, 2012 Originally Posted by Y0UNGBL00D funny, i used to use a coily cable. the vox one. it failed, which led me to another new ruke: no molded cables. when they fail, you are screwed. to circumvent that rule i would have to get a bullet coily, i think. may happen. my cable is long enough, i actually stepped on it right where it connected at the board, pulling it out just enough to kill signal, which sucks to troubleshoot mid song. and im not talking about theft or damage from drunken fans. im talking about me being the idiot. so far my efforts include: --keeping pedals as close as possible on board, not only for real estate, but to keep the patch cables from coming out of thei jacks --ziptying underboard connections (stemmed from the days when i had a lot of underboard power connections that were attached mid-wire, those barrels slide out too easy --snaking the 4CM and power cables together. no hum so far, and its a quick and foolproof setup --the snake is rigged so that none of the cables can be pulled from the board at all. --labeling snake cables at both ends with easy to read in darkness fluorescent labels --loctite on straplock nuts. have backed off and had to hold the guitar against hip for a song --spare patches abound, duh --test routine upon rig setup==need to work on this --picks everywhere --spare guitar in same tuning This is a really good list. I do nearly all this. I'll add that I keep a really long (25ft) board>amp cable, and board power cable so I can always route it all the way around and out of the way so I never step on it. Also, a pull probably wouldn't rip a cable out. If you look at the board in my sig, the guitar>board cable plugs into the top on the left side at a right angle (which I generall run under the board and out the right side), and the board>amp cable plugs into the tuner at a right angle so it saves space and makes it so if you yank at either one, it will either break the cable or rip a pedal off, but not pull it out. It would take a really really hard tug to do that though. Gotta watch out for drunken bass players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members christianatl Posted December 20, 2012 Members Share Posted December 20, 2012 Originally Posted by Pewtershmit She'll be back, she always comes back. prolly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DannyDedalo Posted December 21, 2012 Members Share Posted December 21, 2012 After our first show with the new band (and the first time i play live with more than pedlolz) i realise that i have to put tape on the knobs of my first row of pedals How the hell can i hit the fuuu knobs with a 7 size feet??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Y0UNGBL00D Posted December 21, 2012 Author Members Share Posted December 21, 2012 i never have problems changing or remembering settings. still need to label my loops on the RC and better organize my M5 presets though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Prehistoricpain Posted December 22, 2012 Members Share Posted December 22, 2012 This thread has given me a lot of good ideas! Thanks guys! As far as idiot proofing my board, I try to avoid purchasing pedals I can't replace... I've also changed out all of my george L cables for hosa, as the hosa are much more reliable and I dont have to baby them to keep them working. I build the board myself to pedaltrain pro specs, and then sprayed it with truck bed liner, so I'd say that part is pretty idiot proof as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sparkfriction Posted December 22, 2012 Members Share Posted December 22, 2012 i am the only idiot in my bedroom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mutbrain Posted December 22, 2012 Members Share Posted December 22, 2012 You never know. A couple of months ago I began having troubles, suddenly loosing signal from time to time. I revised all pedals and jacks. I began to suspect of my 95 wah, my rc booster (!!)... I took my strat and amp to tech to revise input jacks. All ok.After one month testing different pedals (normally I use from 6 to 10, depending on the band), patch cables, etc, the input jack in my Schecter seemed to be loosen too. Finally, I discovered two instrument cables were broken, one of them, a NEW Planet Waves that I've just bought a couple of weeks before the whole mess began. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Max Factor Posted December 22, 2012 Members Share Posted December 22, 2012 Wore my old combat boots to a gig this year. Didn't realize how much wider the toes on those things are than my other boots. I hit a few wrong buttons! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eti Posted December 22, 2012 Members Share Posted December 22, 2012 "Make it idiot-proof and someone will build a better idiot." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Y0UNGBL00D Posted December 22, 2012 Author Members Share Posted December 22, 2012 i like to think my idiocy evolves with my idiotproofing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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