Here are a handful of options for players looking for a tiny board with big features.
As much as we love the idea of expansive, all-encompassing boards, having a minimalist outlook has its advantages. If you need portability above all else, here are 10 pedalboards that combine an on-the-go vibe with pro-level features.
Schmidt Array SA350
This double decker setup offers pro-level features within a road-worthy enclosure that has a hinged upper deck, IEC power socket, room for two custom patch bays, LED lights, and a USB rechargeable power pack.
Blackbird Feather Board
Available in a few different Tolex options, this barebones setup can carry about five regular-sized pedals. It also has two power bays for easy access and has a built-in loop top to keep your stomps secure.
MONO Pedalboard Small With Club Accessory Case 2.0
This sleek board that’s crafted entirely out of a single piece of lightweight aluminum offers a ton of flexibility due to the cutouts. The comfortable incline allows plenty of access to the back row of pedals and room to mount a power supply underneath.
Gator Small Pedalboard with Bag - 15.75"x7" Black
If you only need to pack a few pedals, this rugged setup might be the way to go. It has several cutouts for cabling, a mount underneath for a power supply, and it comes with a deluxe gig bag.
SKB 1SKB-PS-8 8-Port Pedalboard with Gig Bag
This low-profile setup contains an integrated power supply that can fuel up to eight pedals, plus it includes all the various cabling you’ll need to get up and going. Bonus: It also comes with a nylon gig bag with a shoulder strap.
SKB 1SKB-PS-8 8-Port Pedalboard with Gig Bag
This low-profile setup contains an integrated power supply that can fuel up to eight pedals, plus it includes all the various cabling you’ll need to get up and going. Bonus: It also comes with a nylon gig bag with a shoulder strap.
Voodoo Lab Dingbat Pedalboard - Small 18" x 7.75"
Crafted from aircraft-grade aluminum, this board weighs less than 3 pounds, is custom designed to work with Voodoo Lab power supplies, and comes with hook-and-loop mounting fasteners.
Pedaltrain Metro 20 20-inch x 8-inch Pedalboard with Soft Case
This three-rail system comes in at 20", which can likely handle up to nine pedals comfortably. Its durable, low-profile frame offers plenty of room for a power supply underneath and comes with both hook-and-rail tape and zip ties.
Boss BCB-30X Deluxe Pedal Board and Case
An ultra-portable board that is integrated with a hardshell carrying case and comes lined with high-density foam. You can even cut the foam to create a customized fit for your pedals.
D'Addario XPND Pedalboard - Small
Not sure how much space you'll need? This fully adjustable pedalboard can be customized to your current needs by simply expanding the available real estate. It stretches from 13.75" to 24.75" and comes with an inventive cable management system.
Temple Audio SOLO 18 Templeboard
Designed with an entirely modular approach, this board uses the company’s quick-release mounting system to keep your pedal secure and offers different modules to keep the inputs and outputs as streamlined as possible.
See how Doyle Bramhall II maximizes his stompbox real estate, firebrand Eric Gales adds bling to his setup, Jonny Lang upgrades to “spaceship” lighting, while Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Samantha Fish can’t let go of irreplaceable favorites.
How first-generation DSP pedals from Line 6, Eventide, and Strymon forced a power-supply revolution.
In my June 2020 State of the Stomp, we talked about the evolution of pedal power, from the days of disposable batteries to integrated, isolated supplies. These were linear supplies equipped with large transformers, taking mains power, converting it, rectifying it, and regulating it to make noise-free-and-stable 9V outputs. However, over time batteries and the supplies designed to replace them went from being more than enough to woefully insufficient. How?
Let’s talk about battery capabilities. Batteries deliver energy with a specific potential (volts) and capacity (amps). Batteries can propel cars at ludicrous speeds or barely keep your wristwatch ticking. If you were to autopsy a typical 9V battery, you’d find six little 1.5 volt batteries inside, wired to make 9V at the battery terminals, ensuring your favorite effect has enough electrical headroom to function. Unfortunately, those tiny batteries don’t hold much energy and can’t deliver that energy at high rates. This means they do well powering a fuzz that draws little current (~1 mA), but as guitar effects became more power hungry, the venerable 9V and the linear power supplies that mimicked them were outstripped. An arms race between pedal effects manufacturers and power-supply makers had begun.
The advent of digital signal processing (DSP) quickly caused an increase in the power requirements of effects. The first guitar DSP products drew whatever they needed from their own 120 VAC mains power supplies. Refrigerator-sized collections of primordial digital reverbs and delays consumed enough power to spin electric meters wildly and dim every light bulb on the block. Companies like Roland/Boss eventually made digital delays that drew less than 100 mA from a 9V battery, putting DSP at your feet! While many players were content to stomp on these little marvels, others wanted more—more features, more functions, more algorithms, more power.
Companies like Line 6 started making effects that weren’t just one effect but modeled many effects and did so with more fidelity than had been previously available in digital stompboxes. Internally, these devices had complicated power subsystems of their own, powering analog circuits, processors, memories, and converters. A 9V battery’s capacity just couldn’t cut it. Companies like Voodoo Lab modified existing power products to appease these power pigs. They even labeled ports “L6,” identifying the responsible party. Things were peaceful for a period, but others developed effects with voracious power budgets. Eventide released their Factor pedals, and while available integrated supplies could power one of them, their introduction heralded that power supplies were coming up short. Pedals with high current needs became ubiquitous. High-wattage pedals from Line 6, Eventide, and Strymon began to show up in multiples on single boards. To cope with a marketplace dominated by linear supplies that weren’t totally ready for them, these high-power effects started shipping with their own switch-mode-style supplies.
The “switch” in switch mode comes from the switching transistors that chop the wall voltage at high speed to make use of smaller components at higher efficiencies. While smaller and more efficient means big power in small packages, switch mode has a bad rap with some, due, in part, to its typical noisy performance. Since consumer products are often built to a price, and designers may not prioritize noise performance to save cost, many output a DC voltage with switching-related noise tagging along for the ride. Power supply companies like Truetone and Strymon got clever and mashed together the benefits of switch mode and linear supplies. These internal switch mode supplies do the heavy lifting, and their outputs are polished up with a linear regulator. Almost every integrated supply company has moved or is moving to these hybrid supplies, because we’ve demanded the power outputs of highly efficient switch-mode supplies with noise performance like old-school linear supplies and batteries. With both terms met, there is peace again on our pedalboards.
It’s easy to take for granted the amount of innovation required to have as much fun as we do playing music. Whether it’s flashy effects or the modest supplies that keep them twinkling, an army of engineers and artists has been working for decades, keeping us in marvelous technologies that ultimately go unsung as we sing the songs they helped create.