I'll start with my latest board. I'm using the Pedaltrain Classic 3. Other guitar player bought the Lichtlaerm Aesahaettr which I'm currently testing in place of my normal Kingtone Duellist. This is by far the biggest pedalboard I've ever used:

Current chain: Guitar > Peterson Tuner > CAE Wah> Kingtone Octaland > Lichtlaerm Aesahaettr >. Black Art Toneworks Revelation > SLO-100
FX Loop: Revv G8 > H90 > Collider > Spark
I also use their wheeled road case which is kinda lame because it's massive due to it also fitting their bigger boards. There is about an inch of excess room on top and also on one of side of the board. One good thing about it is the side pocket which fits my loom. I do run an extra piece of foam on top of the board to keep it from sliding around:


I am using BTPA inputs which are nice because they come with a Pedaltrain mounting kit that allows you to screw to the inputs directly into the board, no tapping required. They're also TS and TRS compatible so you they work with the SLO footswitch. They can be found here: https://btpa.com/pp-0012-04-thru.html


Worth noting if you're using a smaller PT board you may need to buy their feet riser kit (just taller rubber feet) so the inputs can clear the floor. While I didn't need the riser kit with the Classic 3, I bought it anyways so I could use two of the feet at the top to give my board an increased angle. This not only makes the wah pedal more comfortable for me to use but also accessing the top row pedals slightly easier. Though that last part may just be in my head.


One other small irritation is I couldn't mount the inputs flush with the side of the board because of where the welds are located:

The loom was custom ordered from Rattlesnake cables who I highly recommend. Their customer service is second to none. I order custom cables and they're usually made and shipped that same day! Hell upon my first order the owner sent me a video thanking for the order and let me know they were in the process of being built and would ship same day. Very cool.
One of the ground loop issues I have encountered is trying to run my Eventide H90 in it's own 4cm. So currently it's just in the FX loop chain. But ideally I'd like to run out from CAE wah, into H90, then out into the dirt pedals and then to the front of the amp, while also keeping the other H90 input/ouputs in the FX loop chain. This way I can experiment with some of the other H90 compressors and drives in front of the amp. Plus I noticed some of the phasers/flangers sound cooler in the front of the amp.
To help me combat this ground loop issue Cole made me a 1/4" female to male adapter with the ground broken off that I will try plugging in one of my FX loop cables into. I was thinking about using it with the Send cable but if someone has another suggestion I'm all ears! It arrived today but I have band practice tonight so I will have to experiment with it over the weekend.
Please note that for the first time in my life I have a noise gate on my board.



I am using mostly Ernie Ball Flat Ribbon patch cables for the pedals because my other guitar player had a fuck ton of them already and I'm still experimenting with different pedals so I'm not sure exactly what lengths I will need (depending on if the pedals are top or side mounted). I will eventually order Rattlesnake path cables once the board is in a more finalized state. However, the cables going to the BTPA inputs are custom made from Rattlesnake, and I purposely had them made a few inches longer in case pedal order changes.
One other interesting detail: the Cioks DC7 and Expander power supplies are advertised as being able to fit in between the top rails of PT boards. However, specifically on the Classic 3 they only fit between the bottom rails. At first I thought this was kind of lame but now after dealing with my other guitar players board I think I prefer it. The added weight at the bottom is helpful with the increased angle from the taller rubber feet and cable management just seems easier with them at the bottom.
Some notes on the pedals themselves:
The Octaland is the best Octave pedal I've tried thus far and I've tried a lot. It's crazy versatile (as far as upper octave pedals go) and I should really dedicate an entire thread to how badass it is.
I love the CAE wah. It's super smooth and doesn't quack like the traditional ways I normally use but that's precisely why I like it. It just seems to work with high gain and on my C Standard guitar I use the lower sweep setting. I was using the boost but since I added the Spark I no longer do.
Speaking of the Spark I love it. I especially like the momentary switch for quick lead licks I do in verses. I have been using the hot switches on the H90 set for a 3db boost and increased delay time for dedicated lead sections in songs, and technically I could also use a hot switch in a momentary setting like the Spark, but I just like having both options and the dedicated volume jump in the Spark.
Collider is almost redundant now but since the H90 only runs two algorithms at a time, I like having a backup Reverb and/or Delay. The H90 is the only digital delay/verb I've tried that I've liked as much as the Collider. Though to be fair I haven't spent time with the Strymon Timeline or Big Sky. The Collider just sounds and feels so natural to me. It FEELS especially awesome, very similar to the way the Belle Epoch feels on my vintage style board.
I'm only a week or so into the H90 and there is plenty more to discover but goddamn the Reverbs, Delays and Micro Pitch are stellar. I'm extremely impressed.
The Black Arts Toneworks is their monstrous Ritual fuzz and Superbass preamp in one pedal. This is for when I want to get my Sleep on and it's amazing, albeit hisses louder than a MFer.
And finally this Lichtlaerm Aesahaettr pedal my other guitar player bought... Not usually my style of pedal right? Well holy shit it's pretty fucking awesome. Takes the SLO into modern metal territory. Obviously I'm no expert when it comes to that sound but I trust my ears and my ears are saying it's awesome. It is obviously adding more gain, but it is another one of those pedals that feels really good, especially for leads. It's super clear and articulate, and seems to push a high gain amp better than my Duellist.
The Duellist adds too much of it's own color (duh), while the Aesahaettr as a clean boost just gives me more of what I already have (again, duh). The EQ (left) side is an extra bonus. I've been using it to add high mids for a grindier sound, kind of a HM-2-ish thing. I'm going to try it out at band practice here in about an hour and will report back. Honestly the SLO has so much gain that I don't really need it, certainly not any more saturation, but there is just something I like about it. Maybe it's all those years boosting the Superbass and it just feels familiar. And maybe I'm finally beginning to understand what you metal nerds have always been talking about when it comes to boosting high gain amps.
