Boneyard Development

Today, guitarists are using more effect pedals as part of their tonal arsenal. This opens the door to creative new sounds and allows greater flexibility on stage. For guitarists, the challenge has been trying to find a suitable pedalboard that could at once be large enough to accommodate all of the pedals while providing easy access for quick changes on stage.

The Boneyard pedalboard is a simple device that cleverly addresses these needs by incorporating many innovative features. As with all good 'inventions' the Boneyard's development was not automatic: six different prototypes were created and tested before the final Boneyard design took shape. Who said pedalboards were easy to build?

How big should a pedalboard be?

By the time you line up your wah pedal, a volume pedal, a chorus, flanger, a few distortion pedals and a few fuzz boxes, you quickly realize that all of this gear takes quite a bit of real estate. Add a loop controller (like the Radial Loopbone) and a power supply and all of a sudden you begin to wonder how big of a pedalboard is realistic and how much room you will have when playing on smaller stages. When deciding on the Boneyard's size, we asked ourselves these and many other questions.

How much room does a guitarist really need on stage? That answer was easy: the width of a guitar. So we measured a Strat and a Les Paul and figured 32" to 36" would work. How deep, front to back, became the next question? This also soon became obvious as guitarists generally have a tripod boom stand in front of them when they perform. To accommodate this, the Boneyard could not be so deep as to make it difficult for the mic boom to reach over it

Setting up a boneyard with your pedals is simple and fun. The Boneyard ships with a Velcro and cable tie kit to help you attach your pedals and organize your pedalboard just the way you like it.

You will first have to create a working layout – place your pedals roughly how you would like them, and record your layout in a drawing. After this, each of the following steps can be done or repeated in any order, though it may help to have your pedals prepared with velcro before you start.

Laying out your Pedals:

Once you have figured out what you want and where, connect your guitar and power cables to confirm that everything works and fits on the pedalboard. Then, disconnect your power cords and cables and start to Velcro down each pedal, one at a time.

Attaching the Velcro:

Measure off strips of Velcro for the bottom of your pedals, cut with scissors, peel the backing off and attach the velcro. Try to get good coverage on the back of each pedal.

Wiring Under the Deck:

First, let's look at how to manage the wiring. Keeping most of the cables under the deck is the objective. The Boneyard facilitates this with it's pre-drilled matrix of holes.

To begin, working from the bottom, locate a hole where you want a cable to emerge with a nail or screw and cut an 'X' in the carpet from the other side using a utility knife. *It is the user's sole responsibility to use caution to avoid injury when handling a knife or any other tools!

Pass the cable through and connect to the destination jack on your pedal. Repeat this for each pedal, making adjustments to your layout for proper spacing.

Securing cables with anchors:

Once the cables are run, use the supplied anchors and cable ties to lock cables down in organized bundles. Drilling a pilot hole with a drill bit slightly smaller than the screw shank may make things easier.

Behind the front plate (riser board) makes an excellent place to secure a power bar or two. It is good practice to keep the power cables and power supplies up front and away from the signal cables, as this will reduce noise.

Bundling and securing cables will keep them from hanging down when transporting your Boneyard. We recommend that you buy a gig bag or flight case for your pedalboard setup. The Boneyard has been designed to fit in a standard 36"x15"x6" keyboard gig bag (Order # R800 7091). This way, you can leave all (or most of) your pedals attached when traveling, making your next gig setup a breeze.