Pedalboard Mk. II

So I sold my hockey gear and bought a Pedal Train  PT-3. I picked up a used Voodoo Labs PP2+ off of CL, and here I am. This is so much cleaner, better looking, and easy to use than my homemade board. That was a good learning experience; now I'm playing a lot more and needed something a little more cohesive.

I have (or will) review the pedals individually, but, as for the board, let me say a little about how it is routed.

The signal chain: Fuzz Factory>>>Rainbow Machine>>>Morley Dual Bass wah>>>true bypass looper (which loops through the Dyna Comp>>>rehoused Big Muff>>>Micro Synth) >>>POG2>>>TU-2>>>Holy Grail>>>TS9>>>Shape Shifter>>>Memory Boy Deluxe>>>Memory Man.

I tried to keep my "pitch" pedals as early in the chain as I could, but, between the POG, synth and Rainbow Machine there's a lot of work to do there. Also, I like having my wah with some dirt both before and after it, which is why it's situation kind of strangely.

The Big Muff is susceptible to volume drops, and, though it is true bypass, I like to be able to use it with a line driver for leads. That's why it is in a loop with the Dyna Comp--I can crank the compressor (while keeping the sensitivity pretty low) and run them in sequence with only one stomp. The Micro Synth finishes up that loop because it is one of the worst-bypassed pedals of all time. I kind of like what it does to my tele, frankly, but now that I'm running in stereo, the tone loss is simply too much to bear.

Most other stuff is pretty straightforward, with a couple exceptions: I like my tuner late in the chain (after dirt) because I can use it as a kill switch. When things get ugly with fuzz pedals, I like to have a mute switch. This happens before reverb and delay so that I can still get trails, however. And what people say about your tuner needing a "pure" signal to tune--I've never had any trouble with this arrangement.

I have the Holy Grail feeding a TS9 (which will probably be gone soon) because I like overdriven reverb. Most people put 'verb last in the chain; I say there's a lot of fun to be had putting it earlier. I can also chop up a reverberated signal with the Shape Shifter, which is pretty durn fun.

Finally, the Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai is stereo I/O, so I run that to two amps. Ping-ponged delays=very tasty.

This board is a beast to put together. I've rebuilt it a couple times, but everything just barely fits in the case. I'm sure I'll change some stuff next week, so it won't matter. I'm pretty happy with this for right now.