Menu
There’s no better pedalboard than one that you customize yourself, but designing and building your own custom pedalboard can be a daunting and time-consuming task. There are so many different things to consider, and you might have trouble coming up with a design that addresses all your needs as a guitarist.
Still, if you want to design and build a custom pedalboard and aren’t sure where to start, we have you covered. Here are five tips and things that you should consider when designing and building your perfect custom board. 
The first thing you should think about when building your custom pedalboard is the size. You’ll need enough room to comfortably fit all the effects pedals you plan on using in your rig, but while choosing a size that’s too small is a sure-fire way to end up disappointed, you probably don’t want to have one that’s too big and leaves tons of empty space on your board either.
The best thing you can do is take all the pedals you plan on using on your board and set them up next to each other to see exactly how much space they take up. This will help you get a better idea of how much space you need.
Another thing to consider is if you plan on adding new pedals to your collection that you’ll want to include on your board. If you don’t plan on adding more pedals, then you’ll be fine going with a size that has just enough room. However, if you do think that you’ll end up adding an extra pedal or two, you would be wise to choose a size that’s slightly bigger so that you have room to expand.
Another essential thing to consider is how you plan on powering your pedals. Do you want to have a long daisy chain that you’ll need to plug into the wall, or would you rather try to store a power supply below the deck to power each of your pedals individually and keep things a bit simpler?
Either way, you’ll want to choose a method of powering your pedals that makes it as easy as possible to set up and tear down your rig and then plan accordingly. While daisy chains don’t require you to have much space below the board, power supplies need more room to breathe.
You may even want to think about including power inlets/outlets on the board so that you can attach your power supply below the board deck and keep it plugged into the board itself. Then, all you need to do is plug your board into a wall outlet and start playing.
It’s always a good idea to carry around a few replacement parts to make sure that if something on your board breaks, you have precisely what you need to fix it as quickly as possible. The only problem is that you’ll need to have the room to store them.
From extra cables and zip ties to an extra pedal or two that you want to keep close by just in case, you should always think about what extra gear you’ll want to carry around with you and how much space you’ll need to store it.
The biggest advantage of designing your own custom pedalboard is that you are restricted to the limitation of all the standard stock boards that flood the market. With a bit of creativity, you can include anything you might want or need.
Do you want to add input and output jacks to your board to make setup even easier, or perhaps you want to add some fancy LED lights that can add an extra touch of style to your board? The choice is yours.
There are endless possibilities when it comes to the features that can be included on custom boards, so make sure that you take them all into consideration so that you don’t miss out on any key features that you won’t be able to add later.
Another big appeal of building a custom pedalboard is being able to design a board that looks unique and won’t ever get confused with someone else’s. A pedalboard can be a mode of self-expression just like anything else, so you should do your best to come up with an idea for a design or color scheme that makes it stick out.
From custom finishes like leather and snakeskin to unique colors and one-of-a-kind logos and designs, you’ll want to ensure that your board has a distinct look and feel that sets it apart from all the rest. 
If you want to get a high-quality and unique custom pedalboard without all the hassle of building it from scratch by yourself, Pedal Pad is here to help. We build one-of-a-kind custom pedalboards built to our customers’ exact specifications and then ship them out so that you can get the dream board you’ve always wanted without any of the hard work.
From custom sizes and finishes to unique features like built power outlets and audio jacks, when you order a Pedal Pad custom board, you know you’ll get a high-quality handmade board, complete with everything you need to dial in your tone, all at a reasonable price.
With multiple shipping options and free price quotes, there’s never been a better time to build your own custom board, so contact Pedal Pad and start designing your new custom board today!