I'm curious if the Zoom G5 has this ability with it's multi axis pedal, or with that combined with another expression pedal. My G3 can do part of what this effect does with an expression pedal. There may be ways of accomplishing this effect using two expression pedals at the same time. Where the Patch of Shades has an advantage is it can be done with one foot. When I tried it, thankfully I had two other pedals to use with it.

I'm not sure that most people understand what this pedal does. As a standalone, it sounds something like a wah effect, used with two other pedals you can do some really great things with it. The drawback I had was playing it on a carpeted floor. I really had to put my weight into the X-Y pad to make the transitions happen.

An alternative may already be out there.

I can never make these things, but I am in the middle of pedal board assembly, so I will comment.

I bit the bullet and went Temple Board like my buddy Gene. On the bass side I am working with a Digitech Bass Squeeze and Boss CB-3 Bass Chorus. On the melody side I am using a Digitech Main Squeeze, T-Rex Mean Machine, and a TC-Elec HOF Reverb. Power supply is Voodoo Labs Power 2+.

I noticed several things off of the bat.

1) Digitech pedals make white noise that is reduced by the Voodoo Labs vs. battery, and is eliminated in conjunction with the Temple Board power mini-module.
2) The Voodoo Labs power supply is really tall vs. the board, so when mounting it underneath, it has to be towards the deep end, away from the player. Even though it is underneath, it is hard to overlap much with pedals because the plates get in the way.
3) It is hard to guess ahead of time which mounting plates are the right ones. I got the measurements wrong and thought the Digitech would take large plates. I measured correctly, but did not anticipate the battery compartment on the Mean Machine getting in the way, so it also takes a medium instead of a large.
4) Rubber backed pedals like Boss and Digitech require a very good cleaning, time and pressure to get good adhesion.

I am waiting on orders of patch cables and more backing plates of various sizes. I have a strobe tuner pedal, but need a mixer of a type to make it more useful (LS-2, small mixer per previous FHF, or StepABout...). I only have one pin-output left on the Voodoo Labs after including the tuner and the light strip, but I also have the 3-prong power out.

Emmett has mentioned that components in the Patch of Shades are no longer manufactured, so dropping $900 is, I think, a bit risky. I am certain there are some Parallel Galaxy fanboys out there that would do it. Heck I might for about $400, but $900?! I am with the Kevins on this one

So, for this Friday, let's talk about some considerations for a Chapman Stick pedalboard as there is NO shortage of videos, commentary or opinions on how to set one up or what pedals are better than others...

All comments, ideas or vision for this topic are open and welcome! Hope to catch you Friday at 12pm PDT. Please respond to this thread if you would like to be a part of the discussion - cheers.

Dan - what do you think of their boards? I like the ability to customize the mini and micro modules a lot! I have an IEC power insert as well as one of the 4 input jacks on the right side of my board. I also added an LED light strip, I couldn't resist - it's pretty cool. Comes with a remote.

I have moved from a Duo 24 to a Trio 28 as I had too little room with the mixer on the board. To save room on the Duo 24, I had experimented with using pedals that are permanently depressed (Xotic SP comp and the HOF reverb mini) on the bottom of the board - that worked really well but was a bit of a drag to configure.

With regards to he adhesive strips, I just went overboard with buying them. Buy them 10 at a time so you don't have to wait too long and goodness sakes, cover as much of the bottom of the pedal as you can. I had spoken with Cass in their Support department about Boss pedals. It just doesn't work and in a hot climate, I've found that even their super-industrial sticky adhesive cannot keep the pedals affixed to the board. The workaround for me has been zip ties. I fought this, and now, I am okay with it.

I found that the pedals that are powder coated (read STRYMON), work well with the pedal plates. I use a medium on the Strymon Lex, which is one of their standard sized pedals and a large pedal plate on the Big Sky, although if I did that again, I might use 2 large plates.

I also use a Voodoo Labs pedal power 2 plus and love it. I used 2 medium sized plates on that one, and like you, had to negotiate arranging it on the bottom of the board so as not to run into other pedals atop it. I have found that have zip ties for a beta version of the board to be very helpful.

Daniel - let me know if there is a time when you can talk Temple Audio boards on an FHF, I would love to see how you've worked your setup as we all know you are an engineer and a crafty musician! Thanks for posting, catch you later!

Oh - here is my Duo 24 unboxing

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPtQOrEztlo[/youtube]

Dan - I forgot to mention this. I talked to Cass over at Temple Audio about the issues with Boss pedals. Imagine this...

Remove the screw from the Boss pedal affixing the bottom plate to the housing of the pedal. Drill a hole in the upper corner of a small pedal plate and then place it on the pedal. Then, using an extended screw, screw it tight! You could do this for any pedal plate which would remove the necessity for the adhesive plate altogether.

I will try this at some point soon with my PH-3 (which I tore the rubber adhesive sole off of).

@Gene,

Thanks for your thorough reply. I initially got 5 each of medium and large, having planned out which would use what. As I said, I was wrong. I didn't use any large ones. So, I got 10 each of medium and small for the exact reason you mentioned.

I think a more elegant solution to the Boss pedal issue might be to replace the bottom plate with a non-rubberized plate. I will try and address this soon. As you did, removing the rubber works too. So far I have the medium plates on the Digitech compressors, which also have rubber bottoms, and notice a squeak in one, but a firm grip on the other. It passes the inversion test for now.

EDIT: I just read of a person struggling with a Boss pedal who turned the back plate upside down and had no issue sticking adhesive to the clean metal side.

I am relatively new to pedals, so I didn't go overboard with them. I laid them out using a graphics program (Corel Draw) to see how they could fit on a board, including standard size right angle patch chords. I found that what I had/want fit on a Duo 17, but knew that there could be unforeseen complications or future purchases, so I used the model for a Duo 24. Upon receipt, I saw unforeseen complications, for which I am glad I went with the Duo 24.

When I say I can never make FHF, I mean never. I work in an office 8 to 4:30 Eastern, which is 5 to 1:30 Pacific. And if I took the afternoon off, my almost 5 year old son is home at that time and would bust in on FHF like gangbusters. As a consolation prize I'll try to make a little companion video for my Temple board experience.

Okay, thanks for the follow up. We could always consider doing a weekend recording of a session just on Temple Audio boards, let me know if ever that would be an option. Cheers!

Piss! Why do I have to have a class at that time! If for some reason I don't have class I will be there will bells on. This is a topic I would LOVE to talk about. Especially to hear all about the legendary Patch of Shades.

It's been while since I have been on Stickist, sorry. I would sure like to attend this one. I have done the Google+ and circle thing, but I could use some guidance to be sure that I can get in.

I actually don't need pedals. I have an HD-500 like Rob M's, and I use his patches. But what's not to like about a talk about cool pedal ideas.

Cheers,
Don

FWIW, there are two Patch of Shades pedals on Ebay right now, both under 500 USD. Considering the rarity, one might get interested...