MKS PedalPad MPS-XL

Very versatile. Mine came with all but the rack unit. The extra long and MANY power adapter cables and 10 foor IEC power cord are nice, too. A bit more velcro material would be nice, but I managed to get everything fastened. I was going to get a pedal train, but with that the lid does not detach from the case. You have to physically remove the pedal rack from the hinged case with those-makes no sense to me, so I didn't buy one. With the pedal pad, you just pull off the lid, plug and play. Like some other people have said in reviews, it's not quite perfect, but you can make it nearly perfect. Depends on how picky you are. For the typical musican with a pile of pedals, these are the best thing going.

No hum whatsoever. That guy on MF has got a pedal or power issue. PLENTY of power for ALL pedals- even if you run a multi outlet underneath it for the oddball voltage adapters, and high miliamp stuff- like the Boomerang Sampler I have that uses over 700ma and so needs it's own adapter/wall wart. It all fits and NO HUM at all. I also use a Powerfactor Pro and Valvulator, so I have ZERO tone/hum/capacitance issues.

It is huge and very heavy, but the latches could be heavier and the wood around the handle flexes a bit when I pick mine up. Can be corrected with a couple more laches on either side of the handle, I think. The electrical stuff inside is nice- no issues at all with performance. After upgrading the hardware, I think this thing is a pretty good buy. You take the time to wire it and set it up properly, and then all you have to do is plug and play. I would prefer a version with ATA case, but it works great. The electrical units are rock solid. I give it a 9 before beefing up the latches, and an 11 after. Maybe MKS will do something to address this minor detail.

I dealt with a very friendly dealer on ebay who beat MF price. The delivery could have been a few days quicker, but it was worth the wait. I have had zero issues and don't expect any, but the support is there. I have heard good things about this company- and the product is very good and overbuilt beyond the needs of most musicians. My stuff gets gigged a TON, so I am upgrading the hardware a bit so I don't have to worry at all when this thing is in my cargo trailer.

I play mostly classic rock and jam with a few originals. I run through a digitech vocalist live (which is AWESOME, by the way) and into a Soldano Decatone atop a full 1960 Marshall a/b cab setup. Loud and proud. I also sometimes use a hybrid Ovation VXT (another awesome item) run through the board on the electric side and through a Boss EQ for the acoustic side which goes to the PA. My electric signal goes through Boss T2-->Boss Vwah-->Boss OC2-->H2O Chorus/delay--> Boomerang-->AMP. The MPS powerpad powers all of it and could handle much more, if needed. A 9 only because I wish it could be a bit wider and the latches...

This pedal board was very easy to set up and use. I not only mounted my pedals, but also my wireless AKG system. The Power Pad II module had plenty of connections for my pedals, but the extra 2 AC plugs were nice for the AKG wireless. The compartments under the top tier are nice for storing monster cables, extra batteries and even tech equipment. It is a REALLY nice all-around pedal board. The Routing Module was a MAJOR help in dividing up my effects pedals and looping them for the best sound. HOnestly, I had to do some research on how to add certain pedals in the loop vs. straigh connections, but because of the looping capabilities, it worked great. AWESOME bord. I have had this pedalboard for over a year and I'm up and running in minutes before every gig.

Sound quality is great. Originally, I had some issues and needed a Noise Suppresson before learning about the effects looping, but once I looped my overdrive and EQ from my delay and flanger, all was well. No need for the noise suppressor.

VERY dependable!!! The hard case definitely protects everything and makes life easier setting up for a show. It can be a bit bulky and heavy, but if you need the best quality and capabilities, you can't beat it.

Never needed it from the company, but I did research the daisy chaining vs. the looping.

I play a lot of heavy metal and some 80's & 90's hard rock. Being a bass player, people ridicule the need for a big pedal board. Since I go wireless, it's nice to have effects and the wireless all in one board. I have been actively playing for 3 years and this board is fantastic. I would definitely buy another. Some nice features are, of course, the 8-jack Power Pad II, where you can run 8 pedals from, but having the additional 2 AC plugs was a nice touch. They COULD be a tad lower on the module for big sqaure-type adapters, but it works ok. routing the wires that come with the board to each pedal station was very simple and the cords stay hidden so there's not a lot of spaghetti in your way.
I do like having the storage under the top tier for extra cables, tools, etc. Makes it nice to have that stuff all in one place. It really is a great pedal board for both the bassist and guitarist.

If you have done your research, have high quality effects and have determined the proper order, setup is straightforward. If you do not know about proper polarity, you must first do your homework and be clear on each pedals' specs. Some pedals are center-pin-positive, (be carefull!) different voltages, etc, and some perform better in specific placements along your signal chain.
This is a pro-quality pedalboard and what you put in it is what you get out. Some are less concerned with the many tone-sucking factors involved in cheap pedals, cables, etc. If you're happy with an unreliable and unpleasant tone, you don't need this pedalboard. You need a credit card, a shaved head and sackcloth. This isn't built for the half-hearted player who prefers the rock & roll lifestyle to consistency in tone.
That being said, you may have to supplement the powerpad2 power supply with individual adapters that are non-industry standard (some boutique pedals.) A nice surge-protecter can be stored in the lower compartement for any exotic pedal adapters. Most pedals, including Fulltones (with 9Vdc negative center pin) have worked fine using the powerpad2, and Carl Martins with built-in AC cords can easily be routed underneath and plugged into the surge protector. I use thin electrical tape to hold the wallwarts in place on the surge protector, so they don't come loose in-transit.
The most time-consuming aspect of set-up is the velcro application to the aluminum plates and your pedals. I bought some extra velcro and super-glue to guarantee long-term stability. Take the rubber bottoms and feet off of the pedals first.(If the thought of this bothers you, you may need to visit your local salon for a stronger-hold hair product. While there, punish yourself for inappropriate desires to keep things looking new, excessive pop-culture exposure, frequent car-washings, eyebrow-plucking, etc.)
Get a small cordless screwdriver to make set-up easier. Using a pair of scissors and utiliy knife (for cutting corners off velcro squares so velcro doesn't cover up screws) cover as much area on the pedals as possible, being carefull not to obscure serial #s, or important info on the underside of the pedals. Wah-wahs (if you have one for the wrong reason-----is there a right reason?----, shame on you) can require a little extra ingenuity once the feet are removed. Or you can drill small holes in the aluminum plates and leave the feet on. If this sounds too complicated for you, you need to spend some purgatory time in a large hardware store contemplating your masculinity.
Cover as much area on the plates also, because you will eventually rearrange or change pedals that may be a different size. Give your pedals some time for the super-glue to set in and map out in your mind how they are going to sit on the pedalboard. Use this mental template as a guideline to route the DC connector cables underneath and through the slots. In order for all of the cables to reach each pedal, I recommend positioning the powerpad2 on the top tier in the center. This is also important so you can plug in your surge protector to the powerpad2s' supplied outlet.
Next, if you don't know what George L's are, go to the website and order a cable roll and right-angle connectors, as well as some straight connectors for instrument cables. Now go back to your local music retail sales clerk and thoroughly chastise him for selling you twelve unusuable and fat Monster cables. (You can use these to decorate the inside of misc. boxes in your rehearsal space, or as gig-bag spares(Why don't you have a hardshell case by now?)
Set the pedals up keeping the screws for the plates unscrewed almost all the way because you will have to re-route the cables a couple times for a clean set-up. Precut the cable lengths to fit either underneath the plates or just from pedal to pedal. Now, punish yourself for too many pedals and promise to downsize as you get older. Plug in, and if everything works good and sounds good, screw the screws in and hex-wrench the plates down tight.
This pedalboard is built tough and heavy. If you dye your strategically-messed hair black and your bicepts are as big as your wrists, I have bad news for you. Keyboards are just as heavy, and that's probably what you'll end up playing once you sell off your scratchy pop-punk CDs 10 years and a pot belly from now.
But for the real road warriors, this pedalboard is a worthy weapon.

Nobody needs to know my terrible selection of pedals, but they were expensive. No noise.

This is extremely reliable and even if somebody stole it, you need to be able to play a great show clean anyway. Take off shirt and use your tattoos to distract from lack of distortion.

I have never experienced a company CEO so willing to go the extra mile for you in the music buisness. Not only that, this company cares enough to make a product that isn't a rip-off and will last! Have you ever tried to talk to B**s or D**lop reps? You will, once their stuff breaks. (It will)

We need good tools. This is a good tool.

This is the Rolls Royce of pedal boards. Very smartly built and easy to use. The power supply is simple and the routing makes setup and breakdown a snap. No more dickin' around with wires and settings, just plug and play.

I had a noise suppressor, but really don't need it with this unit. I run a Arion stage tuner, Clyde Deluxe Wah, VooDoo Sparkle Drive,
Fulltone ChoralFlange, Boss DD6, & channel switcher for my Soldano HR 50+.

This thing is a tank.....can't imagine anything going wrong and Mike is AWESOME! He is a hands-on owner and I even had him custom make all my patch cables for me, which he pretty much said they would last a lifetime (& I believe him).

Mike is the Best!

The only negative thing I could even try to think of is that this mutha is heavy. But it's made of quality materials and it's built to last so it's not really a negative. If someone steals this (with all my pedals) they may as well move out of the country, cause I have 9 bullets in a clip that can outrun anyone trying to get away with this heavy-mofo.........maybe if some small wheels were incorporated somehow......

Everything was included in my package, including the optional rack rails that I'd requested. It comes with two little manuals (flyers, really) that explain everything and give some loop setup examples. Anytime you're wiring up 6 or 7 pedals you may have a few hiccups, but overall it's pretty easy to get it up and running.

Right now, I don't have the rack rails set up (so I can squeeze in all my pedals) and go guitar > Aphex compressor > Bud-wah > MXR EVH Phase 90 > Budda Phatman or Tonebone Classic > H2O Liquid Chorus & Echo > Budda Superdrive II or Two Rock Custom with a Boss Giga Delay and RC-20XL looper running the effect loop of the amp through the PatchPad.

When you're plugged in and running, your pedals are a few inches off the floor, meaning that you have to step up to your wah pedal a little more than if it was sitting on the floor. It's the SUV of pedalboards, but as long as you have a mike stand with a gooseneck or a boom arm on it, you'll have no problem reaching the mike and playing as you normally would.

So far I've experienced no added hum, buzz, etc. I'm using George L's cables. The power supply (which is powering all my 9V effects through the PowerPad II with the AC-powered stuff running off a Furman power strip that's plugged into the extra outlet on the PowerPad). It's much better than running a bunch of batteries (with no batteries to haul down to the recycling center for disposal or recharge all the time), and in my experience so far, just as quiet as new batteries in every unit.

The build quality seems very solid, and the board is built like a tank (and weighs about the same too). It's too soon to put a rating for this category, but man, I'd have a hard time seeing how the MPX could break down on me.

I bought mine through Musiciansboutique on ebay. They were extremely helpful, getting me the rackrails in one shipment rather than making me send in the coupon, and following up with some longer power cables. They did all the communication with the MKS but MKS send the parts directly. One of the best shopping/support experiences I've had--shows the benefit of dealing with smaller dealers and companies who a) have the bandwidth to support you rather than being overwhelmend with thousands of anonymous customers, and b) really care about and support the products the make and sell. The price was basically the same as AMS, but the service made the difference.

I've been playing for 25 years and play a variety of styles. This thing is HUGE, but the upside is that you can fit everything into it and your setup/breakdown time is shorter. When I saw the XL, I wondered if I should have gotten one of the smaller models, but once I started putting my pedals into it I was glad I got the jumbo.

The only feature it's really missing is a switchable looping setup to isolate your effects so you only run the signal chain through the effects you want at any one time. That's more the province of a rack setup to hold your pedals and board on the floor for clicking them on and off, but it would be nice to have even a couple switchable loops on the board itself. You could put a looping patcher into the rackrails setup though...

All in all, this is a really solid product at a very reasonable price. Not quite a 10, but a very solid 9 in my book.

Let me say first of all that this is the best pedalboard I have come across in a long time, every pedal fits in the box, a power supply is included and there is a patch bay included also. The patch bay is great when you go to a gig simply take the cover off, patch the desired leads to you amp and thats it done.

The MPS-XL is quite a job to get organised, but once sorted out its great. The best thing to do is plan where you want your pedals to go, which main ones you use like ditortion and wah, make sure they are easy to stomp on when you need them. You get the required power leads for each pedal there are about 8 outputs. Another good thing is as there is enough room under the metal plates for a four bar plug power strip which can be placed so that if u have effects that have their own transformer they can be plugged into the four bar and then the 4 bar can be plugged into the AC outlet on the side of the power supply. Note that for those living in the UK the powerpad's ac oulet is a US 2-3pin plug, you can try an adaptor but I couldnt find one that would fit properly under the medat plates. I got in touch with Andy from audiotoyz.co.uk where I bought the pedalpad and he is sending me a four bar plug with a US fitting on it which should do the trick.

The manual for the pedalpad is fairly sketchy I thought it could have been a bit more in depth but its fairly straight forward. As well as the power leads for the powerpad you get velcro to stick your pedals down, an allen key to unsecure the metal plates and also a rack walls so you can fit an fx processor or rack mounted tuner. If u run out of velcro you can pick some up at your local B&Q or hardware store they sell it on a roll.

My current setup is a Boss TU-2, Budda Wah, Jim Dunlop Rotovibe, MXR Wylde Overdrive, Mesa Boogie V-TWIN, Mesa Boogie Foot Switch, Boss RV-5, Boss DD-6, Boss CE-20, Boss HR-2 and a Boss PH-2. This is put through either a Fender Deluxe 85 for my blues band or a mesa boogie tremoverb for the heavier band I am in. I also use a 4 bar plug attached by velcro under the metal plates the v-twin is plugged in via that and also I have a dunlop dc brick underneath the metal plates as well, this is just so the modulation effects are powered serparte (maked me feel better)

The power supply (Powerpad) is very quiet no noise what so every and all the effects sound good. Most of my modulation effects are going through my FX loop on my amp and the rest just go through the amp as usual.

The pedalpad is built like a tank and very well made. I like to think of it as the Mesa Boogie of pedal boards lots of people would diagree the mesa boogie but I don't give a shit. I would definety use this without a backup. If it was stolen I would definetly buy another one would probably cost a few quid though.

Both Pedal Pad and Audiotoyz in the UK have been very helpful. You can log onto pedalpad.com they will give you advice if u tell them your setup.Audiotoyz have also been great as I metion before with the US ac outlet, audiotoyz are making me up a four bar with a US connector on it for nothing which helps a lot. I would advise that you buy the mps-xl as it is the largest of the pedalpads and you never know what effects you might buy.

I Play mostly blues in one band and heavier rock and indie in another band and have been playing guitar for about 14 years. I normally use a Gibson 59' reissue les paul, Eric Clapton Strat and a Takamine Acoustic. I like the pedalpad in so many ways its hard to define in one sentence. I like the way all my favourite pedals are setup in one box ready to plug in. Every guitarist hates setting up it takes ages trying to remember which cable goes where, I think it makes me play better to, cause I can reach each of my effects without straining too much and losing concentration. I use to spend ages setting up but now its just plug in and go.

As others mentioned this takes some time and a little bit of sweat to configure all your wires under the aluminum pads and through the channel-routing slots, but man oh man is this baby the Cadillac of all other pedal boards I've seen and I've seen all of them that Guitar Center and others are offering. It's so flexible that you can configure it to accomodate just about any pedal due to the 2-step tier that you can use as flat steps or ramped for wah wahs or very wide or strangley shaped pedals, like this octopus shaped and wired V-Amp2 I have along with other moster sized pedals like the Ultra Vibe, a Hughes & Kettner Rotosphere will be going in next, a Vox Clyde McCoy Wah and Jimi Hendrix Cry Baby wah, Voodoo Labs Proctavia, Tube Screamer, the V-Amp footpedal controller, a 2 switch Marshall amp footswitch and soon I will be putting in the 3-rack mount walls to include the rack mounted V-Amp model instead of the octopus foot pedal, a Behringer Virtualizer and a Behringer SNR2000 Multiband Studio Denoiser which is only because I'm using noisy single coil strat pickups. The pedal chain is dead quiet to due the magic power supply! It's amazing because out of the box, the pedal chain noise was excessive! I originally purchased the MPS9 which was also great, but a bit too small for all my stuff so sending it back to americanmusical.com and they're paying the shipping back. Great place to buy. The power unit is also the best I've seen because it allows you to connect 8- 9 volt pedals with cords supplied! Also 2 AC plugs! Nothing around like it, especially if you compare it to the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power selling for around $180 street price which doesn't include the 2 AC plugs like the MKS Pedal Pad does. Both my Ultra Vibe and Rotoshpere requires an AC plug so with all those wires hanging out, why bother with any of the other pedal boards that don't have them right? With the pedal pad, all your wires are concelaled under the board. What sold me on it initially was the two tier step or ramp feature ( that you don't have to point your toe like you do on the flat pedal boards out there). Nothing more emabarrassing than performing and turning on your fuzz octavia in the middle of switching off something else. In addition, like one ad said, even several minute extra setup time can blow your whole gig. For me, I'd be there for well over an hour untangling and tearing at and probably ripping cables and wearing out expensive pedals input/output jacks. With this baby, you just yank the top off plug in your axe and output to the amp and your ready to rock! Don't have to worry about your knob adjustments like you do with the gig bag type pedal boards when you sit something heavy on it. Also, what was fantastic is that the Voodoo Labs Proctavia I have requires a dedicated 9 volt AC plug so I just stuck a power strip under the top tier and now have 8 more plugs! I haven't used the patch bay yet but will soon and it's loaded with features for using loop throughs, stereo, 2 amps, you name it. I'm as thilled about this investment as I am about any other peice of equipment I own, including my Fender Strats. It also has 2 cool medal name plates riveted onto the front and back.

Various Fender Strats, Marshall 100MG DFX, Pedals: Ultra Vibe, Voodoo Labs Proctavia, 2 Wahs, couple footswitches, V-Amp foot swithc model, tube screamer, rotosphere on the way and a couple rack mount units for the 3-rack mount walls. Zero noise through the high quality power supply! It's like magic!

You could probably drop this thing off the Empire State building and it would probably still be in one solid peice. As big as this largest of MKS Pedal Pads is, it's not as heavy as you'd think. Like teh specs say, fully loaded, is around as heavy as my Marshall 100MG DFX with 1x1 inch speaker, maybe a few pounds less and still fits into the back seat of a small car. I did notice a big difference in lenght size between the MPS9 model and the MPS-XL that I traded it in for. If you're not sure whihc one to get, get the XL because you never know when you'll want to add more pedals and the rack walls comes FREE with a coupon inside if you need it! Can't beat that with a stick! Everything about the Pedal Board is quality construction throughout, from the heavy duty steel corners, to the routed twisting lock downs, to teh handles, to the fully lined inside and out industrial grade felt, to the thick aluminum interchangeable panels, to the power supply & patch bay in heavy steel enclosures and nice and long 10 foot power cord, velcro stripping to tie your pedals down and 8 power cords. Just can't say enough about it. It's like buying a top of the line American Made Fender guitar in a pedal board. Did I say American Made? You Betcha!

I called to ask a question about the power supply after business hours and left a message and Michael called back first thing in the morning to answer my questions. Great and humble guy to talk to just like you known him all your life. Then after I purchased the MPS9 I had a question as to whether I should get the next larger model and Michael again answered all my questions and sent out the rack walls free without my even having sent the coupon in or an order number. How's that for service!?! If you're trying to decide on which pedal board to buy, don't even think twice because there is no other pedal board on the market that can remotely compare. Get yourself one and see!

I'm forming a Jimi Hendrix Tribute band at areyouexperienced.net and if you know the variety of pedals Jimi used both on the road and in the studio, having a pedal pad is a must if you want to take the whole kit and kaboodle along. I've been playing rock & blues for 31 years. I love the fact that all my expensive vintage pedals are safe and that I don't have to get all flustered trying to get setup gig to gig. Trying to wire up several pedals and power supplies every time can really reck your day. With teh Pedal Pad, it's like Ron Popeil says "You just set it and forget it". Plus, all those long cables are hidden underneath the tiers. At home my jamming room doesn't look like a jungle anymore and I'm not tripping on cables all over the place. At first I thought, man, that's a lot of money for a box (and it is) to hold my pedals when I could go buy another pedal like the Tube Rotosphere that costs around $400. Then, when I saw the construction of it wired it all up, and started adding up the costs to build it, my pedals being protected, all the wiring headaches gone, I realized I made the right decision on getting this first. There's nothing I hate as the question asks except for maybe having to lug around an extra 30 pounds which being lazy, I don't care for, but hey, I'd rather do that any day than have to wire up everytime and risk damage to my expensive and vintage pedals and cables. Does it help me play any better? I'd say yes, because everything is much more organized, free of clutter and accessible and that frees up the clutter in the mind and allows you to spend more time and focus on playing instead of fighting with your pedals, cables, batteries and extension cords!