BJFE / BearFoot fx Guitar Effects Community

I got to thinking. I hate changing around my pedalboard. Why is that? It's because for every pedal I want to move, I have to unplug two cables and a power source cord (at a minimum) and more often then not, my cables short out or need tightening or there's a user error (me) and I screw something up. Does it need to be this way?

Observation - It seems like pedals where designed before pedalboards.
Question - If we had to do it over, would we do it the same way?

My idea - why can't we make a "pedalboard version" of pedals with the input, output and power source on the BOTTOM of the pedal in a standardized layout (think three prong plug)? Then, if you have the pedalboard that has the cables and cords inset into the surface of the pedalboard in the same manner, all you have to do with the pedal is plug it in and unplug it --- nothing else moves. You'd have to make the pedalboard flexible to accomodate different sizes of pedals, but that seems like something that would be possible.

If you wanted to make the pedals universal (pedalboard or not), you could apply the same idea to the top side/head of the pedal instead of the bottom.

Am I crazy? Wouldn't that be a lot more user friendly?

Yeah that would be cool,,,, except for having to rebuild all current pedals

A related way is the Module/Dock version the Line6 ToneCore uses..... where the pedal part stays and you can just pop modules in and out - so say position 2 stays put but its now changed from phaser to trem....

And I remember someone trying to switch pedals to phone cable, - it w as actually cool as the multi strand phone cable could carry in/out and power all three on one plug........ never took off tho

Donner wrote:Yeah that would be cool,,,, except for having to rebuild all current pedals

You may have a point there.

And for those of us that don't use a pedal board you'd still need the standard version, so you'd need two versions of your whole pedal line up! See if it was up to me though, I'd switch all the inputs and outputs round the other way - maybe it's cause I'm left handed but the standard way drives me nuts!

ive always wondered why its right to left as well for input/output,,,anyone know why?

I presume because most of us are 'rightys' and if we had to run the guitar cable to the left side of the pedal it would be crossing our feet and generally getting in the way.

The Timefactor's inputs and outputs are curiously reversed, but then being on the top of the pedal, it's more of a compromise I suppose.

teahead,,,that would make good sense..
I did have a few reversed positioned top jacks now that I think about it,,the rotosphere was reversed. and so is the boomerang.