Yesterday I put together a new acoustic pedalboard. I was hoping to keep my gear to an absolute minimum and just have a Radial PZ-Deluxe on the floor, but I found I needed a few extra pieces of the puzzle. The only real effect on the board is the TC Electronic Hall Of Fame Reverb and I’m going to use that mainly as a way to compensate for room acoustics. Right now, I’m into playing pretty much as effect free as I can be.
There were a few “challenges” putting together this board. The first one is size. It was tough getting everything to fit on the Pedaltrain Nano +, but I wanted the board to be as compact as possible. The second one was powering the PZ Deluxe. I’m a huge fan of Radial gear — it’s built like a tank and sounds absolutely first rate. But I’m not a fan of their 15v 400mA power requirements. Tough to find a power supply that can meet their needs. Thankfully, Radial came out with the StageBug, which is a signal buffer and 9v to 15 v converter. Basically, I’m taking one 9v 400mA and one 9v 100mA from the Pedal Power ISO 5 and feeding those into the StageBug. The StageBug then powers the PZ Deluxe. Works perfectly and keeps the board neat and clean.
The third challenge was learning about true bypass pedals. I was surprised to find that having a true bypass pedal first in the signal chain would cause a level increase when I engaged the pedal. When I use the StageBug to buffer the signal there is no level change. I’m also not really into the “pop” you get when you engage a true bypass pedal. This is not going to affect me as I’m going to either have the pedal on or off for entire gigs. The Hall Of Fame lets you switch the pedal from true bypass to buffered via a DIP switch inside the pedal. I think my board sounded and felt better with the Hall Of Fame left in true bypass, so that’s how I’m using it.
The TC Electronic PolyTune Mini 2 is great for my needs — small, bright and most importantly accurate. I’ve used the PolyTune app on my phone for years now and love it, so it made sense to get the pedal for this board.
This is best pedalboard I’ve ever had/made. Truly sounds incredible!
Jamie Bonk 
Hi Jamie. This is impressive. I have been looking at setting up a very similar board on a nano +. I have a radial pz deluxe, a Digitech polyphonic tuner, and was also looking at the HOF and a Boss Chorus pedal.
The 15v power supply thing is a pain in the neck, but I managed to discover a Warwick Power Pit that has an adjustable voltage, 15v included. And so I was hoping to get by without the Stagebug. But I never knew about the increased level with true bypass. That’s another problem. So maybe I need the bug after all
Great board, your article helped me a lot
Cheers, Elton
Thanks Elton! I hear you about the 15v power supply — really is a pain in the neck. I don’t know enough about voltage to understand why Radial decided to go with 15v, but it sure makes life more difficult for people trying to integrate the PZ Deluxe into a larger system. I’m actually putting together a new board right now based on an Outlaw Effects Nomad Rechargeable Powered Pedal Board. Great board with a built in battery — still no 15v power supply though. Thanks again and best wishes, Jamie