Is there such a product? Two board signal routing.

fretmeister · August 2023

I had a bit of a mad idea in the shower.

My gigging board is a Nano+
It has a simple signal path

SA Spectrum Envelope Filter
EBS BS Ultimate Drive
Boss BC-1X compressor
Boss OC-5 Octave
Boss EQ-200
SFX Micro Thumpinator HPF.

It's small and easy to carry.

I am in the process of building a large board that I won't be taking anywhere - strictly home noise fun. It will have a lot of other pedals on it. My original plan was to take apart the Nano+ and stick everything on the big board. But despite me leaving my band I might want to go out and play sometimes.

I don't have any duplicates of the pedals, and I really cannot be arsed to continually remove and replace pedals.

So I started to think about 2 boards with the Nano+ being the core and the bigger one being the fun stuff. The problem is that the fun stuff cannot just come before or after the Nano+ so I can't just have a simple connection between the 2 when I want it all. There are some pedals I would want before the Nano and some would be slotted into the Nano chain. The EQ200 and the Thumpinator would always be last. But I would want somethings after the Octave, and some things before it but after the drive.

So is there some sort of patch box that uses socket switching to achieve this?

So on the Nano+ each pedal is plugged into the magic box and when it is used alone it allows the signal to go straight through as normal. But if other cables were plugged into the magic box connecting the larger board that new pedals are slotted into the right place? Probably another magic box on the big board and then a multi-core between them?

Is there anything at all designed for use with 2 boards in this way?

I suppose it sounds a bit like a pair of Boss ES-8 but being linked together so both units can see all the loops when they are together. But I don't need a switcher unit and I don't need to change the signal chain order.

Any ideas?

Or is this a "lay off the disco sweeties" type idea?

stickyfiddle · August 2023

I've thought about this a few times but never quite done anything with it. The closest I've ever found would be a passive insert loop using switching jacks

Basically you'd have 4 jacks in a box - In/Out and Send/Return. In/Out would be connected at the insert point to your primary pedalboard, and Send/Return would be switching jacks to route signal through the loop out to some other pedals(s) when connected. Basically like a loop switcher but without the switch, and you could use more than one as & where needed

I've never quite had a strong enough use-case to build any, but someone like Bright Onion could do it easily I'm sure (if they don't already)

Sporky · August 2023

stickyfiddle said:

The closest I've ever found would be a passive insert loop using switching jacks

Yup. Basically a normalled patchbay in a pedal board-friendly format.

Jonathangus · August 2023

I'm not sure if it's sophisticated enough to do quite what you want, but:

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/251117/fs-mxr-smart-gate-bright-onion-shifter-switch-patch-box

AntonHunter · August 2023

Probably shouldn't be taking your pedalboard into the shower tbh

digitalkettle · August 2023

Jonathangus said:

I'm not sure if it's sophisticated enough to do quite what you want, but:

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/251117/fs-mxr-smart-gate-bright-onion-shifter-switch-patch-box

That's what came to mind for me...I use one on my gigging board mostly for cable management...might need a couple for this though!

CarbonCopy · August 2023

I have made something similar that allowed me to use a single board or two boards. I used a multicore cable connected by computer serial plugs. The sockets were built into metal Hammond boxes which also had multiple 1/4" jack ins and outs and a few switches to re-route the signal.

I don't think it was quite as complex as what you are after, but it was complex enough!

If I remember rightly, the main board had some pedals which went in front of the amp and some in the effects loop. The extra cable and switches allowed more effects in the loop and more in front too. I think I had 9V power going through the cables to power the other board.

There was also another multicore connected to 7 pin XLR plugs which went between one box on the pedal board and another which was permanently attached to the amp. The amp box had cables going in and out of the effects loop and into the front of the amp. This meant only 1 cable was needed between boards and amp. I think the same cable could be used to switch channels too but can't remember!

Gulliver · August 2023

fretmeister said:

So is there some sort of patch box that uses socket switching to achieve this?

Yes.

digitalkettle · August 2023

Gulliver said:

fretmeister said:

So is there some sort of patch box that uses socket switching to achieve this?

Yes.

Bzzzzzz...repetition!

prowla · August 2023

I have a board with a GigRig Quartermaster loop switcher and one of the loops can be used to run to a second board.

Cranky · August 2023

I have this signal blender. https://oldbloodnoise.com/pedals/p/signal-blender

I don’t make the best use of it, but basically I use it as you describe. I have one amp that I prefer to use for only clean, ambient or synth kinda stuff. So after the main buffer (wah, envelope, compressor, tuner) pedals, the blender sends one signal back to the clean amp and another into the pre-amp drive pedals that push a different amp.

ewal · August 2023

Could an EQD Swiss Things be part of the solution?

fretmeister · August 2023

digitalkettle said:

Gulliver said:

fretmeister said:

So is there some sort of patch box that uses socket switching to achieve this?

Yes.

Bzzzzzz...repetition!

And it doesn't do what I want.

I don't want to have to change a single patch cable when connecting the 2 boards together even though some of the pedal order will have changed.

Sporky · August 2023

This is exactly the sort of thing I built most when I did MonkeyFX. I've still got all the bits to do it. If you can do a little drawing of each pedal board and how they connect I can work it out.

fretmeister · August 2023

Sporky said:

This is exactly the sort of thing I built most when I did MonkeyFX. I've still got all the bits to do it. If you can do a little drawing of each pedal board and how they connect I can work it out.

I'll have a go at that on the weekend!

Sporky · August 2023

Coolio. Doesn't need to be fancy, just show how the Nano gets broken into bits, and where the bits slot into the big board.

Does the big board get used without the Nano?

digitalkettle · August 2023

Sporky said:

This is exactly the sort of thing I built most when I did MonkeyFX. I've still got all the bits to do it. If you can do a little drawing of each pedal board and how they connect I can work it out.

MonkeyFX is back!!!

RaymondLin · August 2023

It sounds like a reverse of my big board.

Basically, there is a straight through signal if I just use in cable in and 1 cable out, but the right side of the board (Volume pedal and everything to its right) can be "detached" and put in the front of the amp, and then the left side can be "pulled" and put into the Effects Loop of the amp. All done with a little patch box inside the board.

I guess you will need a box like this in one of the boards, so you can blend in the other pedalboard into the "larger" one.

Image: https://i.imgur.com/4OTUwkE.jpg?1

fretmeister · August 2023

Sporky said:

Coolio. Doesn't need to be fancy, just show how the Nano gets broken into bits, and where the bits slot into the big board.

Does the big board get used without the Nano?

I'm hoping to not use the big board without the Nano.

Nano for sensible gigging stuff. Big board for home + wine + kebab fun.

Sporky · August 2023

Even better.

I don't like the multicore thing much though. Better with normal (or TRS) jacks where it can switch based on how it's plugged in.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

Is there such a product? Two board signal routing.

Comments