Features

• Guitar effects pedal boards come with a variety of features to cater to guitar players of different styles. For instance, most pedal boards feature small cutouts near the pedal mounting panel so that the pedal connection cables can be fed underneath to simplify use. Additionally, pedal boards come with several transportation options. Some boards come with lightweight, fabric cases for easy toting whereas others come with a heavy-duty plastic case. Some pedal boards also have mounts for connecting your pedals to external power sources whereas the more affordable options do not.
  
  

Determining What Type of Pedal Board You Need

• To determine what size of pedal board would best suit your effects pedal setup, consider placing your pedals in a rectangular fashion of two rows; then, measure the length and width of the setup. Pedal boards range in size from 14 by 5 1/2 inches to 32 by 16 inches. Even the largest pedal boards, however, are designed to accommodate no more than two rows of effects pedals. Once you have determined what size of pedal board you need, you can begin to consider cost, construction material and additional features. For instance, if you are a musician who gigs a lot, you may want to consider purchasing a board with a hard shell case.
  
  

Effects Pedal Chain

• Connecting pedals to a pedal board requires a chaining system and various small quarter-inch cables. To preserve the sound quality of a guitar, most pedal board chains are formed in a particular order. The first pedal, the tuning pedal, plugs directly into the guitar. This pedal is then connected to any filter pedals, followed by compressors, overdrives, modulators, volume pedals and finally reverb and delay pedals. Connecting the pedals to one another in this order limits unwanted distortion caused by an overly processed guitar sound.
  
  

Setup

• Once the pedals have been ordered based on their types, they can begin to be attached to the pedal board. Most pedal boards come equipped with Velcro that adheres to the effects pedals and the pedal boards, as one strip of Velcro goes on the center of the pedal and the matching strip attaches directly to the board where the pedal will be placed. The pedals are then attached to one another in the chain order, using small quarter-inch cables, generally fed through the slot to the underside of the board to make playing easier. The pedals can then be connected to an external power source, if you are using one, and finally to the amplifier.