# Securing Pedals to Boards



## Astroman86 (May 6, 2010)

I have a lot of questions. 

1) I used gorilla glue to secure the back of the velecro strips to the wood, but now even the gorilla glue is pulling away from the weight of the pedals durring transport. My friend suggested I PL Premium it. lol. (thats _extermely_ adhesive caulking) Im wondering if the glue wont stick because the woods laminated.

2) My pedals detach from the veleco! Ive tried using two way carpet tape to tape the velecro to the pedals. I dont want to glue it on since I may want to sell one of them in the future. Its mostly just the pedals with rubber backings. I could probably peel them off but Im wondering if theres an alternative first.

This has probably been covered but I couldnt find anything.


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## kat_ (Jan 11, 2007)

Break apart a few links from a bike chain. Take the screws out of the corners of the pedals. Put the screw through one half of the chain piece and put the screw back in, then screw through the other half of the chain link into the wood of the pedal board.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

+1

Yup, the bicycle-chain fix is a tried and true method that has held up well over the years. Of course, it presumes that one is using a DIY pedalboard surface of some kind and not a commercial uit with pre-arranged velcro strips.

Strain-relief is often helpful in many contexts, and this wold seem to be one of them. That is, the glue may be able to do what it needs to do with just a little bit of help from staples, just as the staples might be able to do what is required of them with a little bit of help from glue.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

After trying several other methods, I've been using electrical cable ties for years. My home made plywood 2 tier pedal board is riddled with holes, but nothing shifts or breaks off. Looks tidy too. Once in a while a cable tie will cover printing on the pedal face, but it's never been an issue. To remove, all that's needed is a pair of sidecutters. One tie per pedal.

Peace, Mooh.


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

if you peice of wood is painted..it should hold nicely. if not, it happened to me once, i used strips of Velcro with adhesive on the back..stock it on my board, then used commercial style staples to make it even stronger...never looked back.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

I use the industrial-strength velcro (either by 3M or the no-name stuff, doesn't really matter) and it NEVER comes off. I've used in on painted wood, unfinished wood, metal, etc. and it's held on to every single surface. So much so that I had to use a heat gun to melt the glue enough to take it off. Like Alain said, some staple-gunning will help too, but I haven't needed it. I have 2 homemade boards and 2 Pedaltrain boards, and I've never lost any velcro. Plus, with the industrial-strength stuff, those pedals aren't coming off unless you really, really, REALLY pull hard.

One thing to do is wipe down the surface with a damp cloth and then make sure there's no dust, dirt, link etc. on the surface. Vacuuming works, lint-free cloth is fine too. If the surface is clean, the adhesive should hold like a champion.

Bike chain method is good too, but I've never had a bike chain that could afford losing a link or two. Should be easy enough to pick up in store though.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

I use All Round Strapping. You can pick up a huge role for a few bucks and it lasts forever! http://www.houseneeds.com/shop/plumbing/misc/allroundstrappingbuypage.asp

Cut the strapping to length. Screw one end to the pedal board itself, and the other end goes under the screw head that keeps the pedal's bottom on. Easy, doesn't come loose, and no velcro mess/glue to deal with.

Somebody gave me this tips years ago and I've been paying it forward ever since.

TG


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## Fader (Mar 10, 2009)

Stapping is better idea. If I used my bike chain, I would have to walk to the gig.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Cables ties are certainly cheap enough, strong enough, and reliable enough. They just don't work so well for some types of pedals, like wahs, or any of the various round ones or other odd shapes; too much play in the connection.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

mhammer said:


> Cables ties are certainly cheap enough, strong enough, and reliable enough. They just don't work so well for some types of pedals, like wahs, or any of the various round ones or other odd shapes; too much play in the connection.


Generally quite correct, though a tie slides under the rocker on my Crybaby without issue. Best way I ever had of fastening it down. It took some geometry, but I did manage to secure the Carl Martin Red Repeater with ties...just long enough to decide to retire it for a while. It's a dumb shape for a pedal.

Peace, Mooh.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

The pedals from Damage Control also present a bit of a challenge for securing via cable ties. Part of the problem with nonrectangular pedals is that sometimes the spot where you want/need to place the tie is in the way of convenient use of the knobs. Yet one more reason why true-bypass is sometimes not all its cracked up to be. Electronic switching can often let you place the pedal where it is convenient to operate AND secure, while relocating the momentary switching somewhere more strategic.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Eek! No way would I bother with cable ties with those.

I have from time to time used light bungie cord for temporary attachment. I had a part spool from a tent trailer canvas repair job and tried it. It was okay for light use around the house, but didn't work well for travel. However, when I had a tuner pedal that was constantly moved from my bass board to my guitar board, it was the ticket.

There's a long thread showing off pedal boards on the Telecaster Forum. Rigs range from amazing to bizarre.

Peace, Mooh.


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## Astroman86 (May 6, 2010)

Alright, Im going to cut out flat pieces of wood and super glue the velcro to those, then cable tie the right shaped cut out to the pedal. and then resuper glue and staple my pedalboard.
then i can still move things without drilling and dont alter my pedals.

a lot of good suggestions! thanks for replying!


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## Peter (Mar 25, 2008)

I've been using a mix of 3M velcro and some medical grade velcro from hospitals that I got off eBay years ago, never had a single problem with it. I don't carry my board in a case and I am NOT gentle on it.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Hmm, this gives me lots to think about for when I get around to building my pedalboard.
I would like to be able to easily switch things around, and add or delete pedals--so velcro seems like an easier option, at least for now.


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## Astroman86 (May 6, 2010)

i havent had a problem with standard velcro other than fastening it to pedals and the board haha. it definatly seems strong enough! pedals hardly way a thing after all.


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

Mooh said:


> After trying several other methods, I've been using electrical cable ties for years. My home made plywood 2 tier pedal board is riddled with holes, but nothing shifts or breaks off. Looks tidy too. Once in a while a cable tie will cover printing on the pedal face, but it's never been an issue. To remove, all that's needed is a pair of sidecutters. One tie per pedal.
> 
> Peace, Mooh.


My last DIY board secured the pedals with zip ties too. I got mocked, but it worked!


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

al3d said:


> if you peice of wood is painted..it should hold nicely. if not, it happened to me once, i used strips of Velcro with adhesive on the back..stock it on my board, then used commercial style staples to make it even stronger...never looked back.


This

Never had a problem with sticky velcro on the pedal backs but used a staple gun to hold on painted plywood boards. Also,consider using the fuzzy side on the pedal itself and the hooks on the board - makes using the pedal off the board a lot nicer.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)




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