Rehearsal rig & hanging guitars

Ghost Fire board with gear mounted

The rehearsal rig 

To avoid lugging around my gargantuan FM3 setup (and cram it into a tight rehearsal space), I setup my NUX MG-300 MK II with some appropriate presets, added wireless with the B-5RC kit, and proceeded to hook it up to my 50 watt Marshall G50RCD combo amp, via the FX RETURN input (to avoid additional coloration, etc., from the pre-amp). Problem: Now I have no volume control, except the one on the guitar itself. I’m also not wild about constantly connecting/disconnecting the DC input on the back of the NUX (those 5521 barrel connectors wear out and/or break off, AMHIK.) So, being me, I decided to build up a small pedal board for this setup. 

Asked ChatGPT¹ to find me a reasonably sized board that would accommodate the NUX and a Duncan DVP1 pedal, which is ... large. 12+" deep. Ghost Fire STANDARD 1.0 seems like it will fit the bill, and I like that it comes with a carrying case and some hook and loop tape, etc. (though I still have a bunch of this Velcro left over). Needed a patch cable, of course. For a power supply, I need at least one 9V⎓300mA output for the NUX, and a USB port to hook up the charger for the NUX wireless kit. I also wanted an IEC input as they’re durable and ubiquitous. Warwick Rockboard Power Block V6 IEC meets all of those needs and has room to grow if this setup changes. Mounted underneath with velcro, the DC (and USB) ports just clear the slats on the board.

All of this being built around a Used - Great Dunlop DVP1 passive volume pedal (Guitar Center find, it’s up in Santa Maria and I’m taking the dogs to Hendry’s Beach and seeing friends up there anyway, so...) (Pedal was a dud, wouldn’t hold position, couldn’t be tightened. 🫤) Ordered this Hotone Volume Expression 2 in 1 pedal when it was on sale for $64. So far Amazon hasn’t been able to get it to me yet, though².

The holes on the Ghost Fire are approximately 1 3/8" in diameter (a number I couldn’t find anywhere). This 0.3m C14 to C13 Left Angle Panel Mount Power Cord dropped right in; I drilled out two 7/64" holes (probably could/should have used the 3/32" bit) and mounted it using M3 self tapping screws and Loctite Threadlocker Blue.

IEC power receptacle mounted in the Ghost Fire board

The 1/4" jacks on the Hotone are on the sides, sigh, so will probably need something like this right angle adapter to make it work. (Edit: Amazon keeps fumbling the Hotone, so I’ll probably use it as an expression pedal for the FM3, if it ever arrives (with a TRS cable), and I’m gambling on a cheap no-name one for now, ’cause it will arrive before next f’ing week...)

Cheap No-Name Volume Pedal

Arrived. It’s fine. Does the job, inserted between the output of the MG-300 and the FX RETURN on my Marshall. Offset it on the board to avoid conflicting with the expression pedal built into the NUX. (I have gargantuan feet.) The base plate had rubber pads right where I would have put velcro, and there’s an indent giving clearance for the plastic rack (of the rack and pinion setup for this pedal) when the pedal is fully extended (toe down). If I just inverted the bottom plate, that indent becomes a protrusion and the rack was hitting it; didn’t seem to interfere with the pedal’s operation, but why put unnecessary stress / impacts onto a plastic piece? With the base plate inverted and rotated 180° the rack still clears internally (no “click” as it hits the base plate), it velcros to the rack perfectly, and I think it’ll work just fine - though only four of the six screws (the four at the corners) now fit. I doubt it will matter and I’m only out $26 if it does.

Inexpensive volume pedal with the base plate flipped and rotated

Hanging guitars

A guitar that’s not ready to grab and play is a guitar that isn’t being practiced with. I started with a Door Jamz on a hallway closet door to keep my currently-being-played 6-string easily at hand (originally the EC-300, these days the MH-100QMNT). They weren’t available for a while so when they popped back up I grabbed another one to hang my acoustic, which doesn’t fit on my String Swing stand where I have it (it sticks out too far and conflicts with a door). I (a) still wish they had a color other than white available; (b) had to use self-adhesive foam on both of the hangers to get them to fit snugly to the door; and (c) highly recommend a door stopper to make sure the door won’t swing open wildly.

Then, when “Desk Guitar Stand with Clamp” went on sale for $31.99, I grabbed one hoping it would fit the hallway closet turned bookshelves; it did, perfectly (minimum extension, the piece that extends above the shelf / desk is just under 10"), so now that’s holding my bass guitar. Now: No excuses. They’re right there, easy to grab, looking at me ...

MH-100QMNT on DoorJamz hanger

 

BB-234 on generic “desk stand” hanger

Better view of the desk stand hanger

doorjamz holding the acoustic

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¹ Prompt: “find me a pedal board (ideally on amazon) that is deep enough for a Dunlop DVP1, wide enough for the Dunlop and the MG-300 MK II (but not too wide), and has a place underneath for a power supply” 

² This is the second package in ~10 days that has a USPS tracking number and USPS has routed it to Torrance, which is nowhere near the delivery address ... 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 and update, they “delivered” it in Torrance and are now sending a replacement. The Ghost Fire board itself had the same thing happen, sent to Torrance and Amazon had to send out a replacement... WTF?! Maybe this build is cursed...