Building a Pedalboard from Lumber Bought at a Home Improvement Store. - Part 3

Hello.
I’m someone who makes a conscious effort to enter supermarkets through the door on the fresh produce side around August.

One reason is that it tends to be more air-conditioned than the other entrances, so it feels nice and cool the moment you walk in. But there’s another reason: at this time of year, many strongly scented fruits are displayed there, so the moment you enter the store, you are greeted by a really wonderful aroma.
In addition, many stores have something like an Obon festival section set up right near the entrance, and that’s another thing I really like.
The slightly green, fresh scent of cucumbers and tomatoes lined up in the fresh produce section, combined with the rich, sweet aroma of fruit.
Then there’s the dignified scent of incense gently escaping from the boxes in the Obon section, and somehow all these scents blend together in just the right way. It’s really wonderful.
Stores that have a flower section near the entrance, or a florist attached to the store, get even more points from me.
The gorgeous scent of lilies and the clean, refreshing scent of chrysanthemums are layered onto the aromas I mentioned earlier, and because they reach your nose at slightly different times, the scents somehow develop an indescribable sense of dimension.
When I smell this combination, I feel summer like crazy.
I call it the ‘Obon scent’ in my mind: the freshness of produce, the richness of fruit, the delicateness of fresh flowers, and the quietness of incense.
And then, if the asphalt starts giving off that smell after a sudden summer shower, just when the road is beginning to dry a little, combined with that slightly unpleasant feeling from the humidity—nothing beats when all those conditions come together.
Just imagining it makes something well up deep inside my head.
The ‘Obon scent’ is somehow nostalgic and just a little bittersweet.
It feels as though memories of summer vacations spent at my grandparents’ house when I was little suddenly come floating back the moment the supermarket’s automatic doors open.
Along with this luxurious scent that can only be experienced for a few short weeks, this summer, too, seems destined to quietly—and at an unbelievable speed—pass us by.

So, last time, an ordinary sheet of plywood somehow became something resembling an effects pedalboard, and I basically just applied some clear lacquer to it.
This time, I’m going to move on to coloring, protecting the colored layer, and attaching the remaining parts.
Please take a look at this photo.

I’ve repaired with putty the areas where the parts ended up slightly misaligned when I glued them together last time.
If I were going for a natural finish, these areas wouldn’t really bother me, so I had simply continued on. But once you start spraying paint, even these tiny differences in height can stand out strangely, so I went ahead and smoothed them out.
Besides the putty, I also used adhesive in various places to fill in differences in height and gaps.
Then I carried out the following steps:
Putty filling → Surface leveling → Clear lacquer → Sanding and removing dust
A magnificent example of doing the same work twice.
This took the most time out of everything I did this time.
“If only I’d done it properly from the beginning...” I’ll say no more.

So, now it’s finally time to add some color.
Since I used lacquer paint to deal with the rough, fuzzy surface of the plywood, I’m going to use lacquer paint for the subsequent painting as well.
Incidentally, I bought it at the same home improvement store where I purchased the plywood.
It’s just an ordinary can of spray paint that you can find pretty much anywhere.
And then I gave it a good psshhhh!! spray.

For now, it looks like this.
The areas repaired with putty look, well, about as good as you’d expect.
Then I let it sit for a day so the paint could dry, and this time I sprayed the color onto the surface.

Since I didn’t apply wood grain filler, I think it’s nice that it still retains that wooden feel.
Although, nuance-wise, “I don’t need to apply wood grain filler” is actually closer to what I mean than “I didn’t apply wood grain filler.”
All right, then. I let it dry for another day, and this time I sprayed matte clear lacquer on both sides.

And here is the finished result.

It’s simply a matte light blue finish.
Incidentally, I’m going to attach Velcro to the surface in the next step, so there isn’t really much point in being particularly careful with the finish. But, well, I figured it would feel better if I made it look nice anyway.
Next, I’m going to put in screws for reinforcement and attach rubber feet to the underside.

There are two rubber feet on the feet at the back. This is because, while I was attaching them, I suddenly thought, “Wouldn’t two be stronger and look cooler?!” and attached them on the spur of the moment.
One would probably be enough.

Next up is the Velcro.
This time, I’m using One Control HOOK & LOOP – LOOP.
It has strong adhesive power, yet when you remove it from the effects pedal itself, it can be peeled off cleanly without damaging the enclosure, making it one of the most popular products we carry.

I stuck it on somehow and got it looking nice enough.
And now, I’m going to attach what I personally consider to be the most important part of this entire project: the handle.

Adding a handle does reduce the amount of space available for placing effects pedals on the board somewhat, but personally, I find a board with a handle much easier to carry around.
It’s also convenient when you want to move it around a little after placing it on the floor.
So, with that, I attached the handle at the end, and it’s complete.

Well, other than the fact that it’s light blue, it’s just an ordinary slatted-style board.
There’s nothing else in particular to do, so let’s take a look around it once.

And while I was taking photos, I suddenly remembered the reason I started making this thing in the first place, which I had completely forgotten.
I’m making it myself because I wanted a board that would fit perfectly inside the PLAYTECH Effector Bag L.
So, let’s put it in and...

It fits perfectly!!

You can also attach a power supply to the underside using Velcro.

You can fit plenty of effects pedals on it, and I think the size is pretty good too.
And with that, the production of this pedalboard has come to a successful conclusion.

So, what did you think?
Well, since I started this project somewhat on the fly and figured things out as I went along, it didn’t exactly go smoothly, but I’m glad I somehow managed to turn it into a proper board.
As for the finished design, I think I could have made something even better if I had prepared a little more in advance, such as deciding where to drill the holes and determining the width of the slots for routing the cables.
I also have various thoughts after seeing the finished product, such as, “Wouldn’t it have looked cool if I had given the paint a relic-style finish?”

That said, the main goal of this project was to make a board that fits perfectly inside the PLAYTECH Effector Bag L, and I achieved that. So, let’s leave the things that bother me as challenges for the future and call it good enough for now!
There is also an S size available for the PLAYTECH Effector Bag, so if you’re interested, be sure to check it out.

Thank you very much for reading all the way to the end.
I’ll see you again on the Sound House Staff Blog.
Goodbye.