Furman SPB-8 Pedal Board

pretty easy to set up, but a bit more complex if some of your pedals go to the fx loop of your amp and the rest go into the front end, but i consider this flexability, not complexity.

a pedalboard doesn't have a "sound" per se, so no comment needed

this is my main complaint- the 1/4" input and output jacks( there are 10 in all) have plastic sleeves and ARE PC BOARD MOUNTED- a recipe for disaster! after a few plug ins and outs of the guitar cable (most of the other cables stay plugged in all the time)into the input, i started to get an intermittent signal, then my rig died out on the gig! PC mounted ANYTHING sucks, and has one purpose- it's cheap to manufacture!

i called furman, and a guy named Christos overnighted to me 2 sets of jacks (20 in all), so replacement was drop in, pretty simple. he also faxed to me the wiring harness diagram so my tech can hardwire metal jacks directly to the metal housing on the board. this dude is bomb, very helpful and understanding.

hard to opine here, because after 37 years as a performing, session, and touring guitarist, i know that reliability is of paramount importance to me. but the good qualities are as follows- plenty of ac & dc power outlets, a good amount of room for pedals while still being schlepable, long and sturdy power cable, handy gig bag (... but be careful of how many pedals you use- a heavy pedalboard can break the shoulder strap, it happend to me), well designed layout.

Fairly intuitive set-up. Manual is straightforward. Velcro that came with the unit needed a little help to stay adhered to the pedals after a few weeks.

I use this to carry a Korg AX-100 multi-effects (takes the space of 2-3 pedals), Fulltone Clyde wah, Carl Martin compressor, Fulltone Full-drive 2, Boss ce-2 chorus or Fulltone Ultimate Octave, BBE sonic maximizer (DI-100 version), and a Morley A/B box. The board holds all of these pedals with little difficulty, and powers them all, so I'm saving on batteries. I can be a compulsive pedal-buyer, and I'm already (after 7 months) wishing it were bigger so I could add an analog delay pedal or an mxr phase 90, but this board is plenty big for most rational, sane box stompers! I've had no problems with hiss or hum AT ALL, and I play in some funky wiring/RF situations!

The power cord is exremely sturdy, and the board hasn't failed me yet, except fot the velcro needing some additional adhesive. For me,
a backup pedal board is basically out of the question.

Never had a reason to contact 'em.

This is the first review I've posted on HC, but I've read hundreds. This pedalboard is the best thing I ever did for my live rig, and it's practical usefulness inspired me to start "giving back" to HC. The price is not the lowest, but this is a sturdy, professional grade board that will last, and will not crack, etc. The board has just enough "flex" to bend and not break if you put your weight on it, but does not feel cheap or plastic-like at all, and doesn't give so much that you can't trigger that wah-wah switch. The convenience of just plugging in to the guitar, board and amp has ended the endless headaches of messing with multiple patchcords, power cords, etc. You unstrap it from it's well-padded case, which has a carrying strap, lift it out, set it on the floor, plug in, and BAM, you are ready to rock! I've been playing for 20 years now (scary), and my only regret is that I didn't have one of these when I started playing live!

This unit is very easy to use, if you know anything about routing signals, which is fairly easy. It powers up to 8 9v effects, and also has three plugs for others that are not 9v...(wall warts...etc.) Read other posts for further detail please.

I am running a Epi Les Paul standard with a Duncan distortion pick-up in the bridge to a nady wireless unit into the following effects: Dunlop crybaby 535 wah > Ibanez tube screamer > Boss TU-2 tuner > Boss Compressor/Sustainer > into the Furman board and then into the preamp of a Mesa Triple Rectifier. Out of the amp, the signal comes back to through the Furman, and into the following: Boss Dual Overdrive (for lead boosts....works very well) > Boss Chorus > MXR Phase 90 > Boss DD-5 Delay > Furman board, and then back to the Mesa via the effects loop. I also run my footswith for the channel select of the Mesa through the board. It took a few minutes to figure out how to run the two signals plus the channel select through it, but it was well worth it. I hear absolutely NO noise, clean or dirty channels, and all effects sound fine through this unit. All, except for the MXR Phase 90, which sounds a little, and I mean very little muddy when compared with the pedal by itself through the amp. This is nothing that bothers me....in fact....i like the colored sound of the Phase 90 in this situation. Guess thats just luck.

Very reliable. Sturdy construction. Would gig without back up since you can just patch together and self power the pedals by themselves if the board decided to take the night off. Have used it for nearly a year without any problems.

Have not had to deal with the manufacturer.

I play rock/hard rock style of music. I have been playing for nearly 8 years now. This unit is perfect for me. The only thing that would make it better would be that it was a Digital Music Corp. switcher....but hey....thats a bit more money. So untill then, this will work great for me. I chose this unit over the SKB, because I had heard the SKB colors your sound too much, and would not power some pedals. I LOVE this thing.

Straight forward design from Furman. I've been using Furman products for years and they are a professional company. The SPB-8 is a straight forward pedal board designed for gigging. A polycarbonate board that handles up to "10 or 11" effects. Not really, one you cable everything up, there's not much room left.

This is where I have my problem. This is my effects chain: Wah into Boss DS-1 into Boss EQ into Rocktron Hush pedal. This signal is frontloaded in the amp (preamp). The effects loop has a Line 6 Modulation modeler and a Line Delay modeler in it. The signal then feeds into an Ampeg VL-502 1/2 stack or a Lee Jackson XLA-1000 half stack. After hooking everything up I was treated to this buzz in the clean channel that is noticeable yet tolerable. Switch to high gain and it sounds like pulling your guitar cable out of your guitar while the amp is on "10". I concur with "Anonymous from 12/21/2001" better shielding should have been used. Anonymous, if you're out there, please e-mail and tell me how you re-routed your signal!!!!

No doubt the board is reliable as are all Furman products. The board is a no nonsense polycarbonate with velcro adhesive strips for the pedals. The padded carry case with shoulder strap is a real nice feature also. The power cord is extra long and the powered 9V panel with adapter cables is clever so there is no need for wall warts (except if you're weird like me who buys Line 6 products that a require a specific power supply that only they make). The board is solid and clearly built for gigging.

Customer support was excellent. As I already mentioned with the noise factor I was constantly e-mailing tech support with questions. Every e-mail was answered within 24 hours with an intelligent suggestion. This was impressive.

Unfortunately the noise this board introduced into my signal brought the overall rating down considerably. I've been playing almost 35 years and have forgotten most of the equipment I've owned. I play hard rock/metal in the eighties style. This product by design solves a problem most of us that gig experience, a massive pile of pedals and cables in front of us. I love the design, the layout, the features, craftsmanship, and the technology. Sadly I HATE the noise. If it broke tomorrow I would not buy another one. I really want to love this board but I simply can't because there's too much noise filling my ears.

The Furman SPB-8 is a pedalboard with a Furman power conditioner/stereo patch bay on board. The board is a polycarbonate material and is extremely strong. Operation is a no brainer with this one, 8 9VDC outputs, 3 120VAC outputs, a very intuitive and extremely flexible stereo patch bay which can or cannot be used. The owners manual is simple to follow. Also included is a padded carry bag with two zippered storage compartments inside.

I'm using the following setup: Boss TU-2 tuner-->Fulltone Clyde Wah-->Fulltone DejaVibe 2-->Fulltone Fat Boost into either my 5150 combo, Demeter TGA-2 1x12 combo or Koch Pedaltone going direct into mixer. Also in the effects loop of any of the three I have a Boss DD-3 delay-->Little Lanilei Reverb. Guitars are TCM Empress, TCM Taurus Standard, TCM Glory Custom and Ovation Standard Balladeer. One could ask how could this simple device only get a 6? Well, the patch bay introduced some ugly noise into my setup, specifically with my Koch Pedaltone. I used all George L cables to interlink my effects together and to/from the patch bay. With my Demeter and 5150, I noticed no real noise from the setup from my input effects. Well, with my Koch Pedaltone going through my headphones, I got this horrid humming/buzzing noise when not playing, kind of sounds like the same noise you get with an unplugged guitat cable while the amp is still hot. After messing around to make sure I had no shorts in my George L's, I rewired my input effects setup to bypass the patch bay and low and behold, the noise completely went away. I still use the patch bay for my effects loop as it only adds a tad bit of noise in the background when not playing. I think Furman should've done a better job of shielding there wires internally.

Based on the current power conditioning products that have been on the market for years, I can't imagine really having a problem with it. As far as the actual pedalboard itself, it should stand up to alot of abuse.

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Well, overall I think it's a great little unit for the price. The patch bay sure is a nice idea but based upon the noise problem I had, I can do without it. I replaced my SKB PS-25 with this and am more than happy. I will say though, if I were a constant gigger with more pedals, I'd go NGM with a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power as there is no hard case and my current pedal arrangement (which also includes my Demeter 2 button footswitch) has completely filled the board so those with more effects should look for a bigger setup.

This is very easy to use. The manuel describes how all the points work and provides some sample patching plans for using the patch bay. Plug your stuff in and start playing. The big velcro sheet makes arranging your pedals very simple. Setup is now a breeze.

At this point, the unit is silent. The patch bay is not introducing any noise. The built in power is not creating any additional noise that I can hear. Current setup is Modulus Genesis V -> EBS Multicomp -> EH Bass Micro-synth -> DOD Ice Box Chorus -> EB Volume -> Furman SPB-8 -> SWR SM-500. The EBS and DOD pedals are powered by the board now. The Micro-synth plugs into one of the build in AC outlets. There is plenty of room for some more effects

Very solidly built. All electronics are mounted in a metal housing which is attached to the thick plastic base. The padded case is well made and easily fits all the effects inside. It has now been to two gigs and have had no problems. If I could change one thing, it would be to have a detachable power cord, but the provided 10Ft cord is adequate.

I know this think will have itsself paid off through not replacing broken power supplies and batteries in a probably a year. The saved setup time is an added bonus. The abililty to power all my pedals off a central point was the main reason I bought this. The silly 24V EH stuff was causing some cable problems and their delicate power supply had gone bad a couple of times. Now I can leave everything plugged in and minimize wear. If something goes out on the board, I can just unplug from the patch bay and go direct with almost no lost time. Best board I have seen. If it got stolen I'd cry cause then I'd have to replace it and all the pedals on it.