Attaching pedals to a board. New way?

[stallik]

Forgive me if this has been mentioned before. I use Eddison boxes from Maplin in the UK for convenience. The screws holding the bottom plate are M3.5. This is the same thread as the screws which hold light switches and electrical sockets and extension studs are available for these. eBay job.

They're too long for an enclosure but as they're made of brass, it's easy to cut them down. They fit perfectly into the countersunk recess of the bottom plate and extend about 1/2 inch. Drill holes in your board and the pedal slots straight in. I chose to use only 2 screws but of your boot is heavy, you might want all 4.

Nice thing is that the pedals are very stable, lift off instantly, the bottom plate can be removed by hand with no tools for battery replacement and everything lines up nice and neat to satisfy my CDO (that's OCD but in alphabetical order like it should be)
This has helped with my board as it's made of slippery acrylic. The gaps are for commercial pedals that haven't gone down yet

And yes, there are lights -sound to light courtesy of DeadAstro but that looks REALLY pretentious.

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Now THAT is AWESOMENESS personified!!!     

[stallik]

Thanks - hope its useful to someone, my electronics knowledge ain't good enough to create any thing new (different) so this all I can give back

[mth5044]

Or you could keep them on the ground and if your basement floods... like a little Venice of pedals!

That's an awesome idea, not to mention your board and pedals are fantastic. Would really like to see the board light show 

[stallik]

@Matt 
Incidentally, as the stud has a screw hole at the bottom end, you could use this to permanently attach the pedal to the board... Or add another stud to increase the height... How deep is the water in Venice?

[pappasmurfsharem]

Sigh...

I wish those Eddystone boxes were cheaper in the US.

They look so nice.

[rocket8810]

Oh man that is a great idea. I use the tayda boxes, got to see if I can do something similar. I think this is the best thing I've hear/read all date. 100% awesomeness.

[stallik]

@Nick. That's really weird. In the UK it's the Hammond boxes which are more expensive but I perceive them as being higher quality. I know that Hammond now own Eddystone but there's still a difference.
When I sand back to polish a box, the casting is full of swirls and other artefacts so mostly, I end up painting them.

@Zach what size are the screws on the Tayda boxes? I was tempted to try some

[Processaurus]

Wow, I love it!  And if you're touring or playing a lot of shows, you can just put screws into the brass countersinks from the bottom, and the pedals would be stuck down bulletproof.

For commercial pedals of smaller sizes, one solution would be to attach a little plate on the bottom of them that has the standoff pegs in the bottom, in the eddystone spacing.  The pedals screws would go up through the plate into the pedal, and the pegs could be normal standoffs, with a countersunk screw going through the top of the plate down into the standoff.

Or, if they are the same size or bigger than the eddystone, you could just attach standoffs to the bottom of the plate in the eddystone spacing.

[aron]

Wow, how heavy is the plexiglass? I was thinking years ago of using it, but always wondered if it was too heavy.

[PRR]

> how heavy is the plexiglass?

Lighter than glass. A bit heavier than wood. However you can't afford plexi as thick as wood boards.

Typically a non-issue.

[stallik]

Acrylics are now very commonly used for signage. Despite the cost of a large sheet, there's always going to be off cuts. Which is what mine are. I was lucky to get mine free but these little bits can often be found on eBay though you might have to wait a bit to get what you're looking for.
The holy grail is probably Lexan polycarbonate. Man that's tough

[CodeMonk]

Acrylics are now very commonly used for signage. Despite the cost of a large sheet, there's always going to be off cuts. Which is what mine are. I was lucky to get mine free but these little bits can often be found on eBay though you might have to wait a bit to get what you're looking for.
The holy grail is probably Lexan polycarbonate. Man that's tough

Agreed.
I don't even used Plexiglass anymore. IMO, its to damn fragile.
I only use Lexan these days.

[amptramp]

Instead of the basic Hammond enclosure, use the flanged lid version.  Then you have room for four bolts to hold the enclosure to the pedalboard.  Makes it somewhat theft-proof as well.  You don't have to open the unit up to mount the pedal to the board.  Check it out:

http://www.hammondmfg.com/dwgfl.htm

[G. Hoffman]

I mostly use the flat links from my old bicycle chains (I think I got the idea from someone on this board).  They attach to the pedal with the screws that hold the box together, and then I just use some #6 wood screws to hold them to the board. 


Gabriel

[bluebunny]

There's got to be a Nobel prize or an OBE or something coming your way, Kevin.  Brilliant idea.

[deadastronaut]

awesome board kevin...

i would definitley have to have them boards lighted up so the borders pop just for total bling too..

[stallik]

Thanks Rob, Yup, using your sound 2 light circuit. Looks crazy - anyone would think I could actually play 

[deadastronaut]

 who cares when it looks cool...  

i came across another great sound to light thingy..

this uses a dual opamp and 1 x 4.7M resistor..and will drive '9' leds...haven't tried it myself yet but might be a goodun...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1O6W7qxudY&list=UUbqIgvrBXXzZr5MfjYulZ1A


http://www.diyribbonmic.com/ledfretboard/

http://www.diyribbonmic.com/ledfretboard/fretboard_circuit.jpg



if anyone tries it let us know...cheers..

[stallik]

Popped to on a breadboard, ran out of LEDs. Tried it with 3 & 2. It sort of worked bit with a long decay time. Interestingly, it worked quite well when I just tapped the insulated earth wire. Will visit Maplin at the weekend.....