I built this all out of scrap aluminum at work, the hinges and latches are from work. the only things i had to buy elsewhere is the velcro and the drawer pull knob on the front.
all in all, scrap prices included, i maybe spent 30 dollars to build this.
my current pedal setup fits inside with the powerstrip, if i needed to close everything up for traveling. but i don't play anywhere, it just sits here in my house. there's just enough room for the other two pedals i want, an OC2 and a nano holy grail.

so what do you think?

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~Dan

39 views and no one can say a thing? is it that bad?

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~Dan

Haha - it's not bad at all, L&C!

It does kinda look like the Mack Truck of pedal boards - that thing is built to last! Is it really just for home use?

Cheers - C

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Ceri, it's just for home use for now at least. I'm no where near playing for a crowd. I built this one as my prototype.... for myself. I do know a few "real" musicians that are interested in me building something similar for them.... I'm working on the first one now.
It'll be housing a line 6 m-13 and a volume pedal, plus some additional room in back for power supply. it'll just be a rectangular box that kind of resembles a brief case when it's closed, but the front and top will be a 3 piece hinge that will allow it to all fold around itself when you're playing. does that make sense? and the handle will be on the side so it's not in the way of the folding parts. it won't be so "mack truck", no diamond plate on his. just some mill-finish aluminum, and i'm probably going to powdercoat it black. i'll post pics of it when it's done.

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~Dan

I have a small AC balanced TIG machine at home (Miller Dynasty 200DX) and I have often thought of trying my hand at a pedal board in aluminium. Two things have always held me back. The cost of the material compared to wood and also the time it takes to work with the material compared to wood. Added to that is the fact I'm forever changing my idea of what my perfect pedal board should look like so I just keep working with wood. If the day ever comes that I finally build one that is perfect in my eyes and I know I'll not want to modify it or redisign it then I might invest the time and effort and money to break out the argon and tunsten and replicate it in aluminium.

In the meantime, here is the most recent one I've built. This particular pic doesn't show it very well but the board is built on a $lope but not as steep as yours. The lower level is raised 2" off the floor at the toe end of the wah and the upper level is on a parallel plane raised by 1.75".

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

Well, it looks ready for a battlefield. It reminds me a bit of a similarly brutal looking pedal board I saw Buzz Feiten using many years ago. There's a guy who understands the meaning of the words "road worthy".

As you gradually tweak your design be sure to keep us updated. I like the idea of powdercoating - but I do like the raw floortread metal too.

Cheers - C

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It's got balls!

I like it!

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Gary

thanks, everyone. BMW, I love how clean yours looks. and what kind of cables are those? they're sweeeet.
I guess that's the good thing about working with aluminum all day, you've got never-ending access to scrap materials, and the company i work for lets us buy any pieces we want for scrap weight. This one is mine, i'll be keeping it forever. but the next few i'm working on will be made specifically for other players and tailored to what they need.
i'll post pics as soon as i have another one finished.
my friend I'm making the next one for was concerned about people thinking he was "too metal" i think. haha. that's why it'll be smooth finish and probably powder coated.
cheers, everyone.

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~Dan

It is very cool and I like it too. Good work Bros!

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

I like it! It would be cool if you could come up with a metal bracket or something to mount the pedals. That would match the tough look you got going. Also, they make plastic hole trim for running wires through stuff, that might give it a cleaner look. I not criticizing, it's way better than mine. Did you weld the aluminum yourself?

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My ability to spell is in direct proportion to the amount of coffee I've had.

It's George L Cable in 0.155" diameter wire with brass plugs. They offer real brass and also gold coloured plating over chrome as well as plain old chrome. It's a system where you make your own cables to any custom length you want. Makes building a pedal board a snap. I bought a fairly large kit a lot of years ago, back when the George L stuff was almost affordable. They want an arm and a leg for it now. You can sometimes find it on sale in chain stores but that's pretty rare so don't count on it. The kit I bought came with quite a lot of wire so despite having made numerous boards I still have lots of spare cable left. 4 or 5 feet at least. The cable is the cheap part. The ends are what cost money.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

I was one of the early viewers, that didn't comment. I felt like I had deja vu.
Did you start making this pedal board a while back and post pictures, or am I dreaming? It looks great and I can tell you put a lot of work into it. I like working with aluminum myself. I used to modify race cars and replace iron parts with aluminum. Good job!

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'10 American Deluxe HSS Sunset Metallic
'10 JA-90 Thinline Telecaster
'15 Music Man JP-15 Blueberry Burst
'07 Les Paul Standard Faded LCPG #82
'14 Carvin ST300
'12 Carvin CS424S
'66 Guild Starfire IV w/Bigsby
'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue

Drew, yeah I think i posted some early pics of it a while back in a "show your pedal board" thread... but if i recall i didn't have any pedals on it and no one seemed to pay much attention. figured i'd give it it's own thread now that it's finally "done". I've been building this thing slowly for about 5 months... I'd do a little bit, take it home, play around with it, take it back to work, do a little more, and on and on... this last trip to work was just to add the thumb groove in the back door so i could open it easier.
Matt- yeah, I only play a rockstar on tv, I'm really a welder. okay, I don't play a rockstar on TV , either. I'm just a welder. ... and I'm not sure what you're talking about with "plastic hole trim" ... link? I had to make the holes that big for the 90 degree cables to fit through. are you talking about some trim seal like what's on the front surface the pedals are mounted to?
BMW - they look great, but I won't be spending that kind of money any time soon. awesome you got while the getting was good, as they say

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~Dan

i didn't comment because i was jealous.
there. are you happy now?

Here is what I was talking about:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/catalog/servlet/Search?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&keyword=hole%20cover&Ns=None&Ntpr=1&Ntpc=1&selectedCatgry=SEARCHALL

Not sure if it would work or not. I have use them in the past for running cables through desks. It goes in any of the holes and acts as trim.

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My ability to spell is in direct proportion to the amount of coffee I've had.