countcoolout
New member
Hi all, long time lurker and learner, and first time poster. I’ve finally built up the courage to get on and ask about this little project I’ve been meaning to complete for a while now. Hopefully someone can have a peep at this and give me a few pointers. I’m pretty new to this and am starting with something so incredibly basic that many may well think is somewhat dumb - please go easy on me!
I have a whole bunch of cheap mini pedals laying around - so I thought that I would like to mount some into a 1RU 19” rack box. Why? I want to use these effects in a studio setup, and be able to patch them as required like the rest of my rack effects. These sound great on synths and I will be more inclined to use these little turds if they are all mounted, powered on and patchable. It suits my setup. Plus - I dislike clutter . Plus - it’s a nice little project that I just want to do. I may even call him FRANKENRACK. . or maybe RACKZILLA.
So my plan is:
1. SWITCHES - Remove the 3PDT switches entirely so I can switch all 4 effects on or off at once using the main toggle switch. (Bypass is not necessary as I want them always on when the rack is switched on, and to be able to use patch cables to route them in the order I require, whether using just one effect, or two or all three.)
Instead of trying to desolder the pedal 3PDT switches which could be troublesome I was going to carefully dremel them off. I read somewhere that it is probably a safer option to do that, then just have the new phono input/output connections soldered directly to the boards. All pedals are the same brand and all have very nice and clear markings on the boards for ‘IN’, ‘GND’ and ‘OUT’ which is lovely.
In order to achieve this, will I need to do anything to the 3PDT wiring once the foot switches are removed? Or can I just remove the switches and wiring and ignore what remains?
2. POWER: - I want to power them all from one 9V power source at the rear of the box, and add a toggle switch to turn all effects on or off from the front of the rack. I’m not sure if the way I have this wired in my layout is correct. They are all 9V DC centre negative - I would solder the new power wiring to the board where the existing DC connectors are. Will I need some sort of noise filter on the DC jack in case of an 'unclean' power source? Any other issues here?
I would maybe like to have just one LED above the toggle switch (each pedal already has an LED - but I don’t want a Xmas tree look - plus these cheap pedal LED’s are blinding!). I’m not sure whether to leave them there or remove them. Would that be ok to just cut them off?
I think that’s it - Thanks for listening - apologies if this is a little below the usual standard of projects going on here.
I’ll make sure I post up some photos if anyone is interested. I have the skills to at least make it look good.
Attached pics of my layout & the pedal guts.
Thanks a bunch!
I have a whole bunch of cheap mini pedals laying around - so I thought that I would like to mount some into a 1RU 19” rack box. Why? I want to use these effects in a studio setup, and be able to patch them as required like the rest of my rack effects. These sound great on synths and I will be more inclined to use these little turds if they are all mounted, powered on and patchable. It suits my setup. Plus - I dislike clutter . Plus - it’s a nice little project that I just want to do. I may even call him FRANKENRACK. . or maybe RACKZILLA.
So my plan is:
1. SWITCHES - Remove the 3PDT switches entirely so I can switch all 4 effects on or off at once using the main toggle switch. (Bypass is not necessary as I want them always on when the rack is switched on, and to be able to use patch cables to route them in the order I require, whether using just one effect, or two or all three.)
Instead of trying to desolder the pedal 3PDT switches which could be troublesome I was going to carefully dremel them off. I read somewhere that it is probably a safer option to do that, then just have the new phono input/output connections soldered directly to the boards. All pedals are the same brand and all have very nice and clear markings on the boards for ‘IN’, ‘GND’ and ‘OUT’ which is lovely.
In order to achieve this, will I need to do anything to the 3PDT wiring once the foot switches are removed? Or can I just remove the switches and wiring and ignore what remains?
2. POWER: - I want to power them all from one 9V power source at the rear of the box, and add a toggle switch to turn all effects on or off from the front of the rack. I’m not sure if the way I have this wired in my layout is correct. They are all 9V DC centre negative - I would solder the new power wiring to the board where the existing DC connectors are. Will I need some sort of noise filter on the DC jack in case of an 'unclean' power source? Any other issues here?
I would maybe like to have just one LED above the toggle switch (each pedal already has an LED - but I don’t want a Xmas tree look - plus these cheap pedal LED’s are blinding!). I’m not sure whether to leave them there or remove them. Would that be ok to just cut them off?
I think that’s it - Thanks for listening - apologies if this is a little below the usual standard of projects going on here.
I’ll make sure I post up some photos if anyone is interested. I have the skills to at least make it look good.
Attached pics of my layout & the pedal guts.
Thanks a bunch!
