The Steel Guitar Forum

This is probably a stupid question because it hasn't come up in my search of the forum. Where do you put effects pedals in relation to your steel?

I haven't had to think about getting easy access to effects pedals before, mainly because I don't use many and those I do have are usually engaged between songs rather than during them. However, I am starting to use PSG in different types of music and would like to be able to change effects mid-song.

At the moment I have a small pedalboard (three effects and an A/B switch). It sits on the floor to my right, but I can't reach it easily whilst playing. Do most people lift the pedals off the floor and activate them by hand?

Hi Chris, I use a pedaltrain jr. board for my pedals. I too find it uncomfortable reaching down to the floor to make changes. Currently, I just have it propped up on an old milk crate so it is level with my seat.

I have seen some of the steel seat makers that offer side-car like attachments for holding pedals right on the seat. That might be a better/easier way to do it. Perhaps someone will chime in with pics of their setups...

I put those that don't attach to the guitar on the open lid of the sidekick of my seat. And I prefer to keep them out of the chain when not in use.
Each box gets its own input cable, and when we're getting ready to do a song that uses that box (there are often three right there), I'll pull the cable from guitar to volume pedal, plug it into the output of the box, and plug the input cable into the guitar.

On the floor, next to my volume pedal.

I use the pre-eq patch for my delay and the post eq patch for my digital reverb. Superb sound. NV112

A little removable shelf I built from extruded aluminum. Lots of room for pedals and strong velcro to keep them in place.

I just place my steel case on the right hand side, and put my pedal board on top of the case. I have a Pedal Train JR board.

I also have my steel hit a couple pedal before the volume pedal.

Here's my latest setup, I use a Zoom G3 and love it. It is a lot cleaner than all of those old individual pedals, and a lot less potential for cable failures. It's easy to take my foot off the volume pedal and switch the effects without having to take my hands off the strings.

Chris,Good question I set my steel guitar case to my right and I have my tuner distortion and what ever else I am using at the time on the case I also turn the effects on and off with my hands,I've never been comfortable have my effects pedals on the floor?

I just bought the SKB 9v powered pedal board. $100 from Sweetwater. I'm using an old speaker stand to raise it. A plastic milk crate would work, too.

Three of my devices don't use 9v, so I have 4 separate power supplies. I'm thinking that with a milk crate, I could have a power strip in the crate with everything plugged in, and get rid of all that mess.

I've always had my pedalboard set up on my right on a folding type "camp" seat or set them on my SKB case for my electronics/mics etc. it's just the right height. Most my pedals were bought in the late 70's/80's and I have also used my right hand, so the pedals aren't all beat up & kicked around. Here's a photo from a few years ago...my board has changed some however.

Shameless plug alert...
I just so happen to have this for sale on the forum

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... highlight=

Gordon Hartin wrote:I just place my steel case on the right hand side, and put my pedal board on top of the case. I have a Pedal Train JR board.

I also have my steel hit a couple pedal before the volume pedal.

whats the red pedal (bottom left) ? klone ??

When I'm not using my rack effects unit and just want to travel light with one reverb/delay/chorus unit, I made a little platform from a mic clip.

I had found when the stompbox was on the floor, I couldn't see it well enough to adjust it. Now it is close to me.

Pretty nifty, Ron. I like it!

wow bOb, I used to have a Tube Rotoshere. I loved it. A great way to avoid hauling around a Leslie 122.

Bobby Nelson wrote:wow bOb, I used to have a Tube Rotosphere. I loved it. A great way to avoid hauling around a Leslie 122.

It emulates the cabinet and tube overdrive as well as the two rotating elements. Plus it sounds good in mono. I like it a lot!

I built this switcher box to address the effects issue as a pedal steel playing utility musician. The Hammond enclosure's top 3 switches toggle between different instruments (psg, guitar/lap steel and dobro/banjo depending on gig, etc. The bottom 3 switches are 3 true bypass loops; I find one delay, one distortion and one modulation (plus ebow and some extended musical techniques) give me enough textural variety to make for good tonal building blocks in my live music production. The box clips to my right rear leg with two heavy duty broom clips.

Best,

Julian

I use a Boss GT-001, and because of its weird size, I've had trouble finding a convenient place to put it. I made this nice little table that slides in at the top of the legs, then grabs as it drops down.

I just replaced my Rotosphere with a Strymon Lex. Wow - what a great sound! I'm in heaven. Here's what my pedalboard looks like now:

I've regressed considerably over the last year... this is it, one DD-3 on the amp, and the Quilter has a DC jack on the back, so not even a wall wart.

Bill Terry wrote:I've regressed considerably over the last year... this is it, one DD-3 on the amp, and the Quilter has a DC jack on the back, so not even a wall wart.

Bill, I like your thinking. All I use in the way of effects other than the amp's onboard reverb is a bit of delay on some songs. And like yours, mine sits on the amp where I can easily punch it in and out or tweak it as needed.

All I use in the way of effects other than the amp's onboard reverb is a bit of delay on some songs.

Same here, and I'm really fond of the Quilter verb. The 3 control setup with Dwell and Tone added make it really flexible.

After a lot of effects processing experiments, I've decided that I'd be better off to spend the time and money on lessons..

I use a small pedaltrain board. I just put the board on top of the case and my tuner on the steel leg.