Now that I’ve got a basic layout for my two-amp modeler setup, I’m beginning the process of setting it up for fast, reliable load-in and tear-down. I started this weekend by painting the boards. Here’s what they look like with their fresh coat of red paint.

The pedal boards with their bright new coat of red paint
The pedal boards with their bright new coat of red paint

To transport each board and its load of pedals, I’ve ordered a soft case designed for a small keyboard. I considered a hard case, but at this point I’m not planning on flying around much with this rig, and a soft case is both less expensive and good-enough when you’re carrying your stuff in a car. (When I go on a plane, I just take the RP355–never mind the board.) I’ll test the case when it arrives later this week to make sure it’s snug enough for its cargo.

Finally, I’ve picked up another box of industrial-strength velcro, and I’m gonna velcro those pedals to those boards like nothing’s every been velcro’d to anything before. So by end of week I should have a setup that’s transportable and secure. The last step will be taking a close look at the cabling, and making every cable connection just exactly as long as it has to be (and no longer). Then I bundle the cables somehow so I don’t have to deal with dozens of loose cables at setup time.

At some point, I’ll probably swap out the Nady 4×1 mixer that’s at the apex of the two boards for a stereo mixer, so I can run the whole rig with a stereo mix. That’ll add two or three 1/4″ cables and a power supply to the complexity of the rig, not to mention a bigger chunk of mixer at the top. But that’s for later, and for now this setup is plenty good enough.

Where this all pays off is on the gig, when I can throw a complex setup down on the floor in a few minutes and have it work perfectly, and get it off the floor and into my car in a few minutes more. When all’s said and done, it’ll look good, sound good, and work good. And good is good.