The Steel Guitar Forum

Looking to buy a small ultra-lite plywood:
25-3/4" x 13-3/4" x 3/4"

Making a pedal board- anyone??

Hi Hiro
I don't have a piece of ultra-lite plywood for you... but I work with homebuilders all over the US/Canada. A 3/4" thick piece of anything used for subflooring works good for pedalboards (I've built a bunch of them). Many of our clients are using something called "Advantech" which is waterproof OSB - it sands smooth, you can tool the edges with decent results, you can laminate it with any kind of laminate/veneer and it looks good painted. Like "Ultralight" it's flat and stays flat. Its claim to fame is water-resistance. It does not edge-swell like plywood or regular OSB. Edges stay dense/tight.

2 SF of 23/32" (3/4 nom.) Advantech weighs 4 lb approx. 2 SF of Ultralight 3/4 ply weighs 2.5 lbs (PS- "Ultralight" is actually a brand name by Moreland Co.). So same pedalboard would weigh 1.5 lbs more.

If you go to any subdivision around your area where they're framing houses you're apt to find plenty of plywood/OSB off-cuts being thrown away in the dumpsters. Show up 2 days after a foundation is in the ground and the framers will prob. be using subflooring. Always good to get permission (if you don't - you're trespassing) but there are tons of people who dumpster-dive at new home sites for off-cuts to make wooden toys and other projects. Much better use of scraps than burying at the landfill.

And if you really want to wait for the Ultralight- that, or similar furniture-grade products are used by cabinet and pro-woodworking shops. Some higher-end builders actually still site-build cabinets or built-ins so look for houses at the other end of the construction cycle and I'd bet you could find an offcut of that.

Hope this is helpful in some way.
/JLS

Joe, thank you so much for such detailed info. about plywood!
I still have a Duanne Marrs speaker cabinet which was constructed with foam lined braced thin plywood- unlike solid birchply of 3/4" stock, it's so much easier to handle( lite!!). That's where I got an idea to make pedalboard liter- today, we have pretty decent "mini" size effects, and though they may not be an exact match to their bigger brothers,
But I tell ya, every pound counts !!

Hiro Keitora wrote:..very pound counts !!

True that! I've been doing more with 1/2" baltic birch and ditching the 3/4" altogether - You can buy small pre-cut quantities of Russian Baltic Birch from these guys- it's good enough that you can route or dovetail the edges - pretty much void-free.

http://www.woodworkerssource.com/shop/c ... ywood.html
(Rockler.com is another source -just generally more $$$)

JLS

Hey Hiro!

Hi Buddy! Are you looking for lightweight Italian poplar plywood?
I hear its trending for jazz guitar cabs...I'd maybe like some too if you have to buy/order more than you need..and its not too too pricey.