Author: Delay Dude

Who hasn’t experienced the following: after a lot of work, you finally finished the composition of your pedalboard but when the pedalboard has to be transported, the question arises how to attach the small treasures to the board.

Here I would like to introduce diverse ways how to solve this problem.

Drilling and bolting

To drill holes into the bottom of the pedal and bolt them to the pedalboard is a cheap way to attach a stompbox to the board.
But this method makes it pretty cumbersome to change the pedals and, furthermore, the pedal will be destroyed.
Everyone who ever found a popular vintage pedal with a bottom that looked like swiss cheese knows what I am talking about.

Bike chain links

Another possibility to attach your pedals to the pedalboard is, to disassemble a bike chain and use the bottom cover screws to fix one part of a chain link to the pedal. The other side of the link can be bolt to the pedalboard.
This method is quite low-priced, space-saving and lasting.
But you will always need a screwdriver to change a pedal on the board.
And those, who are not willing to disassemble their bike, can also buy the small links which are offered by various manufacturers (f. e. Harley Benton Mounties).

Cable ties

If you use a pedalboard with holes you can also attach the pedals with cable ties to the pedalboard.
This solution is also offered by different manufacturers (Chemistry Design Werks).
But in my honest opinion, the visual appearance is somehow strange and you will always need a side cutter and new cable ties to change a pedal.

Velcro

Velcro has become the standard for the attachment of pedals to a pedalboard.
For this technique you have to remove the rubber feet and fix one side of the Velcro to the bottom of your stompbox.
The counterpart of the Velcro has to be fixed to the pedalboard.
Velcro is quite inexpensive, easily obtainable and you will find different sizes.
Although the pedals can be removed/ changed pretty easily, this kind of attachment is relatively solid.
The great disadvantage is, that it is almost impossible to remove the Velcro residue-free and sometimes you also tear off labels or the coating of a pedal.

The second part of this series will be about special items which promise to keep every pedal in place.