Dan's Top 5 Guitar Effect Pedal Hacks, Tips and Tricks

[@robertconnor7911]

Flip the base. Oh. For. Fuchs. Sake. 35 years I’ve been waiting for that. I’m in tears.

[@seescojo844]

Haha no sh*t, me too...

[@nicolasbeine913]

Same for me... What a revelation... Truly never thought about doing that, yet so obvious!!

[@randa4382]

32 years here. In my defense i just started using pedals at all in the past four years or so.

[@henkehakansson2004]

Being doing that for at least 15-20 years but mostly with wah pedals since there's ample room inside any of them, to flip the base. And it gives immediate resistance when toe-engaging them. Just a third of the Boss pedals works with this trick, the others you have to remove the rubber feet, and then it defeats its purpose, or defies... or whatever it's called

[@miahorg]

Oh man, I had never even thought about turning Boss backplates over, that is so obvious and a great tip.

[@shauncabrita9269]

On the three BOSS pedals that I checked I never felt there was enough space - was too worried about damaging the circuit board when tightening the screws.

[@kiltymacbagpipe]

In North America Deoxit is a great choice for cleaning pots.

[@ntimkovich]

Any Electronic Contact Cleaner should work fine. It's basically a non-conductive cleaning agent.

[@MatthewPherigo]

To anyone that doesn't know: "Deoxit" is a brand with several different formulas meant for different things. Make sure you have the right one for the job, or you can damage what you're trying to clean. Some repair shops have sworn off Deoxit entirely, because of damage done by putting the wrong kind of Deoxit on a rare part. Take care out there!

[@fredleimberger4512]

Bought mine on ebay from u.k. only $18 US including shipping.

[@Jamie_kemp]

I personally use the WD40 contact cleaner, a bit cheaper than Deoxit I think

[@electricwhiterabbit]

Jamie Kemp don’t use WD40. It is not meant for cleaning pots and jacks.

[@JoaoMarcelo_1]

About fixing pedals to the board using velcro. I use the pedal's screws to fix a non-adhesive velcro to the bottom. Just two strips is enough. If you wigle the pedal to ensure that the velcro really grips, you will have a stable pedal. Never had a problem with this approach.

[@lonnyhandwork422]

And by "get your meter and measure across it" I assume you mean "stick your tongue on it and see how much it hurts"?

[@ThatPedalShow]

Bingo

[@danielbeaumont-thomas6923]

Dan, once again your humble and simple approach to explaining things is perfect! You don't assume the viewer has vast knowledge, but neither do you express your ideas in a way that is condescending or boring! Please Please please post more of these simple BUT USEFUL hacks...without the usual fluff that others feel compelled to add to their videos. You rock mate.

[@ThePositiveAutism]

Normally if I see a video with “hack” in the title I will immediately skip it. Glad I watched this one. A lot of great tips. Thanks, Dan!

[@TechnoRiff]

Very cool hacks, Dan! For "Tip 1 - TRS Battery Check", I stumbled into just half inserting a regular 1/4" guitar cable into an effects input jack, and measuring the battery that way. Saves on having to have extra TRS hardware.

[@robotcunning508]

The last tip is genius!

[@tpdorsey]

Flipping the backplate! Brilliant! Great explanation of the stereo hack as well. Thanks Dan. Good stuff.

[@drbalchin1]

The battery checking tip has saved me so much time and hassle! I really wanted to see how that fuzz face sounded into the purple plexi

[@edparker3549]

Loving the makeshift mic stand Dan! So many uses for pedals we can’t fit on our boards...think that’s another episode title 😝

[@buzzcrumhunger7114]

Oh my goodness. As soon as you said what #1 was, I knew where you were going and I thought, "How have I not noticed this all these years?" Brilliant!

[@vinny5004]

Because a lot of pedals have asymmetric hole patterns or countersunk screws that don’t fit right when flipped (even BOSS will have a gap), so if you don’t care about neatness or flat bottom, fine.

[@MAXDECAY]

The TRS hack gave me a huge sense of relief. I've been making cumbersome TRS to TS Y cables and I can't wait to simplify by doing this.

[@mattgilbert7347]

Did you make it work? I didn't understand it. Can't solder anyway, so it's basically a moot point.

[@MAXDECAY]

@@mattgilbert7347 Haven't gotten around to it yet!

[@RobCabreraCh]

I loved the series Delay tip! I have no idea why I never thought of that. I will definitely give it a try with my stereo pedals later today.

[@joshuafreedman7703]

Rob Cabrera & @DanSteinman: is this a hack applicable to *any* stereo pedal/device?

[@mattsnyder4754]

One more tip. Before you break out the soldering Iron, try plugging a TRS jack into both jacks first. A LOT of pedal manufacturers are doing this already. It’s far from universal, but I wouldn’t call it uncommon to have this capability right out of the box.

[@lyellw571]

Strymons?

[@mattsnyder4754]

Lyell W not sure about Strymons. I know Neunaber does this, and I think some of the new TC stuff does. If I had to guess I would say no on Strymon, but that’s based off of some pretty random logic floating in my head.

[@lyellw571]

Matt Snyder haha thanks. I can always check for myself 👍

[@mattgilbert7347]

Sorry, maybe a stupid question, but what exactly do you mean? A TRS> TRS cable into..um which jacks? Output? Input? Both?

[@MarkPritchardGuitar]

Dan is just full of Knowledge. Thanks Dan!

[@ThatPedalShow]

You’re welcome Mark

[@MG_____]

Thank you Dan! This helped me out with cleaning the pots on an older Big Muff.

[@ThatPedalShow]

Great!

[@MG_____]

@@ThatPedalShow Thanks so much for the reply. Made my day! I'm a long time fan and owner of a D&M Drive and multiple shirts and TPS accessories. TPS has been a huge inspiration and taught me a lot over the years. Keep it up guys and stay safe!

[@fredleimberger4512]

Thank you Dan the man! You've just made my '73 Chicago Thomas Organ wah, my '98 J-bass deluxe, my Fender kbsfx 200 amp, and my '63 Vox Hollowbody useable again! You roxxors!

[@ThatPedalShow]

Ohhhh nice!!!! You’re most welcome 🤓🙏

[@Penryhigginbottom]

I love these hacks! I got into electronics in 1988 after building a wahwah pedal that just picked up the shipping forecast. I studied through to degree level.... still couldn’t make a decent wah and probably learned as much from the pedal show in a couple of episodes as I did in 6 years formal education. Keep up the good work and keep rockin 👍

[@Hickdog27]

I just used the stereo mod on the Keeley Eccos. Oh my!! Thanks Dan. This will keep me occupied for days.

[@ThatPedalShow]

Awesome!!

[@henkehakansson2004]

Thanks. Well done. Finally someone got this too, with flipping the bottom plate over. I've been doing this for at least 15 years now. I don't know why manufacturers takes "height" for this by making the bottom plate fit the other way around, and doing the pedal a tad taller, so the rubber feet will not touch anything when facing inwards/upwards. Very few I know of are using one sole pedal anymore on the floor. I started with WAH pedals since there are always ample room for it to be flipped. Then the more straight surface, that results from it makes the engaging and disengaging of the wah pedals more smooth and even since there's "early resistance" to the toe pressing. I do hate leaving wah pedals on any pedalboard as well if it is slanted. They have to reside on the floor next to it, because when engaging them, you just flex the board underneath and it will not turn on. It takes ages for it to turn on, and using excessive toe force. The number of pedals that have "flippable" bottom plates are far and in between. A third of all Boss pedals, Strymons none (absolutely) etc. The best thing is, when you later on flip the bottom plate over again, the rubber feet and labels are as new should you sell the pedal. You don't forget where you put those rubber feet ... :-) And who cares about the residue from the velcro strips inside? Frankly, since that surface is not polished the velcro sticks way better to that side of the bottom plate. I think ALL pedal manufacturers should make them pedals to facilitate for bottom plate flip over. They have to get rid of these "Hammond" boxes as they're called. One can get washers and buy longer screws, to move the bottom plate up from keeping it from touching the circuitry, but then that bottom plate may leave a gap open to the intestants of the pedal which is bad. Defeats its purpose then...

[@RobCarleton]

OMG that battery tip is the best thing I've heard all year.

[@michelmoe]

loved the mic stands that look like good pedals. it is that pedal show after all XD tks for the tips!

[@kester30]

Great tip on the Boss pedals, I've got an ancient BF2 that drives me mad but I don't want to mess up the back. I'm an electronic incompetent, but that was great. I've been plugging in a jack for 30 years without once ever knowing how it worked, but now I'm educated - cheers Dan.

[@marshsticks992]

What a great pedal, waiting on a waza version to replace my ancient one...

[@periloustemple8290]

Missed opportunity: pedals for mic stands. Killing me. Just love it.

[@TheSmithguitars]

Brilliant, Dan! The battery level check hack a keeper! Thanks for you insight.

[@RustyStrings1]

Great vid Dan, worth mentioning that Servisol can react with nitro on guitars. I used it on my Les Paul and it leaked out from the shaft and left streaks across the body, Luckily I cleaned it up before it did any lasting damage

[@alexsharpe7659]

The stereo to mono in series is a great fix, would have rescued me at my last gig! I run in stereo but had ground loop issues and went down to one amp instead of stereo then lost half my delay. Next time I’ll know what to do, with one patch cable, easy peasy 👍🙏

[@stevenmason749]

hi Dan, I have been using double sided vel-cro 3/4¨ from Harbor freight. I remove the screws, punch a small hole in the vel-cro and replace the screws threw the vel.cro back in the pedal. eliminating the sticky crap. A little time consuming but it works well for me.

[@thjamaica09]

Danny, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE write a book with all your little tidbits of knowledge like this. You will be a gigagozillionaire, I promise. Todd from Kentucky, USA

[@ctimlock]

Dan, I love your playing whenever you're using a delay sound. Ended up buying a Diamond Memory Lane Jr off the back of your playing in that Pedal Jams episode you did with it. Also struggling to not pull the trigger on a wet/dry rig after hearing the sound you managed to get out of two lunchbox Yamahas...

[@ThatPedalShow]

Cheers Charlie, yes the little Yamaha amps are great for playing at home. Very immersive

[@patromo]

Great video Dan. I love feeding the stereo delay back in on its self

[@williambrotherton9388]

I used to design circuit boards for DOD/Digitech. This piece is very helpful!

[@Burnt_Gerbil]

The TRS cable trick is also good for checking the output of your pickups, instead of taking the back plate off. 😬👍

[@Ottophil]

Been checking my emgs this way for years. Even made a ts to bananna plugs plug the fluke into my guitars and check it right away

[@coldacre]

Burnt Gerbil you can use a regular guitar cable for this; doesn’t need to be TRS

[@mathoumba9126]

Very clever and good to know. Encore!!! More of Dan's hacks, tips and tricks please!

[@gcvrsa]

OMG, all this time, I thought they used switching jacks to switch the power. That is brilliant, Dan! Thank you! I'd actually forgotten about the Boss pedal flip, since my Boss pedals are only used in Boss BCB-3 boxes, for my bass, and I have no Boss pedals on my guitar board. Way back in the 1990s, I built my first wooden pedalboard, and immediately discovered the Velcro problem. As it turned out, back then, I engaged in quite a bit of re-patching my signal chain during sets, so I stopped using pedalboards altogether and put my pedals on the floor, loose. I used all Boss pedals, and because of the rubber on the bottom, they generally stayed in place fairly well. I've never heard of Servisol. Here in the US, my experience has been with CAIG Laboratories products, particularly their Deoxit line of products.

[@ThatPedalShow]

Yes, Deoxit in the US is great

[@NFMorley]

+1 on Servisol Super 10 (or Deoxit as some have suggested for the US) - had to replace pots on a few pedals for friends where they've just ruined the pots trying to use WD-40 because a lot t of people just think it's a universal thing! (gums then up with residue)

[@luizdiaz5196]

The rubber flip did the trick. Thanks

[@ThatPedalShow]

👍

[@MarioSouzaLima]

Tip #2 changed my life!

[@patrickellington4116]

Pedal hack #6- pedals make great mic stands. Great vid and excellent playing as usual! Thanks Dan!

[@fauxmmercials8716]

Satisfying little velcro design.

[@peichmen]

Clever, brilliant, easy and usefull. Dan, you are the Master of Universe. Thanks

[@ThatPedalShow]

By the Power of Grey-skull!!!!!

[@classicraceruk1337]

That delay trick was cool

[@nairanvac79]

These were all worthwhile tricks. Thank you for sharing. I'm enjoying your solo content. I like to hear you get into the electronics aspects of things.

[@Grindian]

No more trying to put velcro in that little recess of a boss pedal, only for the sticker and Velcro to pop off! I had heard you mention this stereo pedal hack in a previous episode, but thanks for spelling it out!... Genius Danno!

[@ThatPedalShow]

Cheers mate, you’re welcome

[@TauRiOneill]

What a Godly sound @12:12 . Amazing.

[@LeonTodd]

Rad to see the Timefactor get some love. Such a beast of a unit with so many great delay modes. I imagine this hack would work with the H9?

[@ThatPedalShow]

It would but check, maybe the H9 already does this

[@saskfarm]

Dan you absolute beauty! Love the TRS hack thanks!

[@ThatPedalShow]

You’re welcome 🤓👍

[@martynkentfrancis]

Thanks dan, these little tips are like gold dust. I will think about the solder mod for my 15 year old dl4, and was also thinking a wetter box might spice things up somewhat 🧐😄

[@clivemcdaid8817]

Fab video, Dan. I appreciate these ever more now we know what a ball ache they are to make. Thanks.

[@davidburke2132]

IPA170? How ironic that something that contains alcohol is an IPA! 😋🤣🤣🤣 Really interesting stuff Dan... love the battery hack especially.

[@MatoMisik]

I appreciate your mic pedal-stands 👌 + thanks for the battery measurement hack.

[@surfreverbguy7364]

Great job on the video Dan and crew!

[@TheQhope]

Dan, you always bring happiness to my day!! Cheers!!!

[@ThatPedalShow]

Ah, cheers Q 🤓🙏

[@therewasascene]

Love the TRS mod. Playing w/d/w opens a big ol’ box of thoughts when it comes to manipulating the signal path. I’ll almost surely use this trick at some point. Thanks so much, Dan!

[@JCs-Music]

worth way more than the price for admission, thanks for up loading

[@ThatPedalShow]

You’re welcome Jeff 🤓👍

[@petermapstone9684]

Great Hacks! Dan, many thanks for the tips! Beautiful Day here in Brissy! Thanks Again!

[@pierre-claudemeriot6562]

I searched for #5 for a while now. Thanks!

[@bilalq1]

The stereo trick is a lifesaver. Was using this time to build a motherboard and brings a potential idea for a show and would be great to know some hacks. Interesting tricks and combos to let you use all your pedals when you have more of them than switchers in your loop (some pedals with effects loop etc. Would be interesting to know more)

[@GGRetroRally]

Didn't know about the flipping the base on Boss Pedals. What i do and it does work, is heat the velcro up with a hairdryer first so the glue is really runny and sticky. Then rub it on the base and it sticks to the rubber every time.

[@alexanderwebb3032]

About Boss pedals, there are a number of sellers on eBay that sell replacement backs that you can get and switch out. One eBay seller out Australia has some easy to use plates (mc-fx) and SmallBear electronics has ones you use as well. What’s great is that the original backplate remains untouched and it’s easy to swap them out as needed. I’ve also seen some for Ibanez 9 series pedals.

[@musicasertaneja2572]

Olha um comentário em Português. Que coisa maravilhosa. Informações de milhões. Obrigado e parabéns pelo trabalho.

[@PepeRubio77]

Very nice tricks. Thank you so much Dan.

[@slugtoenail]

Awesome video! There at least used to be Y cables that went from TRS on one end to 2 different ends: 1 TS and the other RS that may eliminate the need for soldering in the last hack.

[@symetry96]

Loved the "mic stand"

[@MrApprobatur]

Great playing man! Absolutely LOVE that you have the fuzz on for the cleans - do the same ALL the time! And also - of course - thanks for the tips!

[@ThatPedalShow]

Cheers mate, you’re so welcome

[@CastToVoid]

Love the pedal mic stand

[@veerchasm1]

Great hacks. I love this format of explaining things efficiently versus the regular videos you do

[@lprb302]

Dan the Man 👍🏻

[@peddlereffects]

if you don't have room to flip the boss bottom plate, you can wrap standard gaffer tape over the rubber bottom. if you wrap the ends around over to the back side, the pressure of the screws holding the back plate on will keep the tape from pulling off. the gaffer tape gives the velcro a nice flat surface that is easy to grip, and it peels back off the pedal with no residue if you ever want it off.

[@greylynnn]

My favourite hack is the glasses/tape hack!!

[@TheToneLounge]

Absolutely fantastic video Dan! Every singly tips was great. Cheers

[@ThatPedalShow]

Cheers mate

[@tompoynton]

What’s that whooshing sound? Oh it’s the last tip flying over my head...

[@michaelinglis8516]

Haven't watched the video yet but I saw a comment about deoxit and I want to share one of the things I learned that will make a huge difference when clean pots. Have you tried deoxit or a similar contact cleaner only to have your pots go scratchy again shortly after? That was the case for me over and over again no matter how much I turned the knobs after using the contact cleaner. So I decided to start using air in a can first while the pots are dry to get any debre out then I use the contact cleaner. It's has significantly improved the effectiveness of the contact cleaner/deoxit. Just remember to use a cleaner without any lubricants. And on smaller cheaper pots using contact cleaner then turning the pots a whole bunch will make the pots permenently loose so just use the air in a can a few times first and the contact cleaner only as a last resort. Anyways just wanted to share my experience. I build and modify pedals for myself and my friends and their friends so I see a ton of scratchy pots and I'd always prefer to save a lot rather than have to change it since people get used to the specific value of that pot and even if I use the same exact pit with the same tolerence there's no guarantees it will be the same value. And if I use a different brand of the same taper the taper might still be spread out a bit differently. Anyways I hope this helps someone. Now I'm gonna watch the video lol.

[@martinpre7572]

You haven't spoke about the last hacks repair your glasses with pink masking tape ;) Great thanks again for hack and videos

[@TheRflynn]

Martin Pré guitars are the priority! Glasses can wait....or check out That Glasses Show

[@mal2ksc]

I can understand having to tape some glasses together, but seriously, he doesn't own any black tape?

[@ted_splitter]

Life changing video, thank you! Solid gold tips 👍

[@astewart9410]

Bookmarking! Thanks, Dan!

[@mattelder9147]

Like the TRS check for batteries. Thanks for the info and the effort.

[@SpedSpedding]

Adore this channel. Such a cool video. 🖤

[@ThatPedalShow]

Cheers Sped 🤓👍

[@dv318]

Ahh, the TRS jumper is killer! Way easier than making custom Y cables, thanks man!

[@vinny5004]

Of course it only works if those TS mono outputs actually use TRS jacks, which does not seem universal.

[@distortion_plus]

Love the pedals as desktop mic stands!

[@jonbradbury3843]

What a great show, thank you so much.

[@ThatPedalShow]

You’re welcome Jon 🤓👍

[@LaurenceHendersonBand]

Love the creative mic stands

[@JoKerTheFirst]

super clever tips, thanks!

[@greentaichi]

Hey Dan & Mick, hope you guys are all good! How about doing a show about classic amp types/tones. Been playing for years and, if I’m honest, I don’t really understand the difference between brown face, black face, plexi, tweed, more modern amp styles etc. What are the defining characteristics of their tones? It’d make a great show. Also, how do we “dial in”’ different types of guitars?!? I bet there are loads of your subscribers who would enjoy this. Got the idea after watching (for the 3rd time) the show you did with Josh from JHS about the evolution of overdrive/distortion from germanium to op amps. One of my all time favourite episodes. Thanks, as always, for the lockdown content. You’re keeping me sane. 🙂🙏

[@michaeldorn5925]

Hi Dan, Analog Mike used to have a modified Keith McMillen battery tester (with an additional toggle switch to change polarity), but unfortunately analogman no longer sells them. Bought one a couple of years ago and (in addition to your hack) this thing is really great.

[@darrellrobinson9354]

Oh my god. How easy was that Boss pedal hack and it never occurred to me.

[@kyleallen4849]

I love the mic stands 🤓

[@timeagan893]

WE NEED MORE OF THESE.....HOW ABOUT "Dan's top 5 pedal hacks: Episode #2? Dan I'm sure you have more tricks up your sleeve

[@pedalgazer7109]

Dan- this is an amazing video. Watching it actually makes me feel guilty- you are just giving away excellent knowledge here- I feel like i should be paying for this kind of thing.

[@ThatPedalShow]

Ah, cheers PG 🤓👍

[@Orion28296]

12:50 Hack #6, use a pedal as a mic stand :)

[@soundlyadam]

Yes! Hahaha

[@stefanbirkmosemeier]

I've used Behringer pedals as doorstopper. Oops....

[@OtherTheDave]

WRT pedal _board_ hacks, if you’ve got a bunch of cables running between your board and your amp(s) you can braid them together and just zip tie the ends where they fan out. The result is much more flexible than the normal “lay them all out straight and zip tie every foot or so.

[@greentaichi]

Thank you 🙏 Fascinating as always ☯️🙂

[@gtartrek9453]

Frickin' heck! The Boss reverse plate is so simple I feel like Dwight Shrute for not knowing it!!!

[@salvadorsolis3948]

You are great, Dan!

[@bluesysamurainao4557]

Interesting! One of my old overdrive pedal became noisy and less level. I'll try to repair.

[@Messier31NGC224]

Great video! Very handy tips there

[@absea7918]

My hack for Boss pedals is to use a heat gun (on low) and putty knife to gently pull the rubber base off. Most of the adhesive will stick to the rubber if you scrape from the pedal side. Take the removed base and place it on wax paper, then put it in a zip-loc bag for storage. If you want to sell the pedal, just re-heat the base plate so its hot, the press on the rubber base.

[@LeviBulger]

Why would you do that? For Velcro? Just use painters tape between the base and the velcro

[@peterjessop1878]

Love tip no 1. Never new that