Home Depot...aluminum channel for home made pedalboards...hit or miss?

[semi-hollowbody]

Ive seen lots of thread where peeps go to home depot looking for that aluminum channel (c...or u...or L shaped) and cant find it...or the depot guy has no idea what your talking about

That happened to me today...starting to accumulate supplies for a home made pedal board and I asked 4 different depot workers and they looked at me like I was speaking latin...

So I gave up, went on getting other stuff...went down the hardware isle AND LOW AND BEHOLD... a HUGE selection of aluminum and metal channel...all different types, thicknesses, lengths...

home depot workers usually surprise me at how knowledgable there are on their stock....this was the first time I was WTF?!?!?!?!?

so dont give up...keep looking...hardeware isle is a good place to start

 

[macula56]

at home depot and lowes it is in the hardware aisle near the screws and nuts and bolts. you will also find sheet metal in the same area.

 

[plan-x]

 

[Fred132]

Maybe the HD folks call it a different name? Dunno, but I agree striking out with 4 of them seems strange.

The last time I was having trouble communicating what I wanted I brought a pic on my cellphone.

 

[semi-hollowbody]

Whats even worse is when an already confused home depot employee asks "what do you want to use this for" and you confuse them more with "I want to build a kickass pedalboard for my guitar effect pedals...i saw this **** on TGP..."

 

[Blue-moon]

Yep...they are not very creative minded.

Whats even worse is when an already confused home depot employee asks "what do you want to use this for" and you confuse them more with "I want to build a kickass pedalboard for my guitar effect pedals...i saw this **** on TGP..."

 

[b_rad]

Post pics when you're done. I always like seeing the finished results of this kind of thing.

 

[mmcm4]

Another thing is to buy a sheet of black formica counter-top stuff and use it to cover the top of your board. That's what I've done and it works great. Much sleeker/professional than just black paint. And the channeling hides any ragged edges from cutting it.

 

[brettmoor]

Another thing is to buy a sheet of black formica counter-top stuff and use it to cover the top of your board. That's what I've done and it works great. Much sleeker/professional than just black paint. And the channeling hides any ragged edges from cutting it.

do you have to buy Formica in bulk or are there places that will just cut it out to size for you? where's the best place to get it?

 

[mdmack]

Home Depot and Lowes carry VERY limited aluminum extrusions and they are extremely expensive. look up road case materials online for your best bet and price. I just built a very customized board and I wanted to buy local but I found out fast online is by far cheaper and easier. Good luck with the build though

 

[Scott57]

Home Depot and Lowes - just the Guitar Centers of the home improvement crowd. If the name of the store is known by everyone across the country then I never ask for assistance. Now, if only they could all put in self-service check-outs, I'd be gold.

 

[semi-hollowbody]

Another thing is to buy a sheet of black formica counter-top stuff and use it to cover the top of your board. That's what I've done and it works great. Much sleeker/professional than just black paint. And the channeling hides any ragged edges from cutting it.

Im most likely going to cover the top with carpet...all my pedals have the hook-side velcro

As of now, its gonna be a flat board...a tad larger than a pedaltrain pro...no slats...the second row will be raised 1" and the third row will be on a shelf-like tier so I can put my pedalpower 2's underneath...all the cable routing will be on top, im tired of having to turn a board upside down to get to the cables

I also like the look of a board with cable routing visable on top...as long as its neat and organized...a board with ALL the cables hidden so all you see is pedals is a bit creepy to me...like there is black magic and voodoo involved with the power and audio signal transfer...

 

[jnepo1]

Im most likely going to cover the top with carpet...all my pedals have the hook-side velcro

As of now, its gonna be a flat board...a tad larger than a pedaltrain pro...no slats...the second row will be raised 1" and the third row will be on a shelf-like tier so I can put my pedalpower 2's underneath...all the cable routing will be on top, im tired of having to turn a board upside down to get to the cables

I also like the look of a board with cable routing visable on top...as long as its neat and organized...a board with ALL the cables hidden so all you see is pedals is a bit creepy to me...like there is black magic and voodoo involved with the power and audio signal transfer...

Since you are covering the top w/ carpet, what type of cable retainers will you use? A screw mounted retainer? That's why I prefer an ABS laminate top. I'm not fond of carpet for that reason and that carpet retains so much dirt, etc...

Formica is a decent top for a board, but ABS laminate is a better way to go. Formica can crack especially on the edges or if something sharp falls on it. Whereas ABS laminate is durable and easy to clean. And probably cheaper than carpet and more durable.

 

[semi-hollowbody]

Since you are covering the top w/ carpet, what type of cable retainers will you use? A screw mounted retainer? That's why I prefer an ABS laminate top. I'm not fond of carpet for that reason and that carpet retains so much dirt, etc...

Formica is a decent top for a board, but ABS laminate is a better way to go. Formica can crack especially on the edges or if something sharp falls on it. Whereas ABS laminate is durable and easy to clean. And probably cheaper than carpet and more durable.

I might just use little velcro straps...

If you use formica or laminate, how do you attach your pedals??
I could put small velcro strips ONLY where the pedal is, leave the rest of the top open for screw retainers...this is actually not a bad idea...easy to clean off as velcro and carpet will attract alot of dirt and animal hair

 

[ungarn]

Oh, go whole hog and use 80/20.
It will be spendy that is for sure!
http://www.8020.net/

 

[semi-hollowbody]

Oh, go whole hog and use 80/20.
It will be spendy that is for sure!
http://www.8020.net/

LMFAO...I am a mechanical engineer...we do automotive tooling...and use this stuff and equivelants all the time...to design fixtures that hold engine blocks, cylinder heads...etc...might be overkill for a pedalboard LOL

 

[ungarn]

LMFAO...I am a mechanical engineer...we do automotive tooling...and use this stuff and equivelants all the time...to design fixtures that hold engine blocks, cylinder heads...etc...might be overkill for a pedalboard LOL

Its TGP...can you really go OVERBOARD ON A PEDALBOARD?

I have used 80/20 too, and the less expensive knockoffs too. Very handy for fixtures, enclosures, etc. For a one off custom design, kinda cool that you can do it all online and 80/20 will have a quote for cut pieces so that it truly is an erector set! Their design gallery is pretty cool and creative too.

 

[jnepo1]

I might just use little velcro straps...

If you use formica or laminate, how do you attach your pedals??
I could put small velcro strips ONLY where the pedal is, leave the rest of the top open for screw retainers...this is actually not a bad idea...easy to clean off as velcro and carpet will attract alot of dirt and animal hair

I attach my pedals w/ Dual Lock rather than velcro. It's a stronger hold than velcro, and if you ever need to remove the Dual Lock, you just peel it off and it leaves no residue. Dual lock also doesn't hold cat hair, etc. like velcro does, and you can use tweezers or your fingers to remove the dirt or hairs easily.

 

[semi-hollowbody]

I attach my pedals w/ Dual Lock rather than velcro. It's a stronger hold than velcro, and if you ever need to remove the Dual Lock, you just peel it off and it leaves no residue. Dual lock also doesn't hold cat hair, etc. like velcro does, and you can use tweezers or your fingers to remove the dirt or hairs easily.

There are 2 good reasons to use dual lock right there...ive always used industrial strength velcro and NEVER had one single issue with pedals coming loose...but velcro does hold cat and dog hair...looks like ****...and its a pain to remove