Best pedalboards 2024: budget-spanning picks to help organize your guitar effects

So you’ve got your stompboxes together, cemented your settings, and are ready to go to your first show. But you soon realize that 15-minute changeover time goes a lot quicker than expected, leaving you to rush through your setup, frantically plugging all your pedals in individually. If this sounds like you, then you need one of the best pedalboards in your life.

A pedalboard is an addition that makes life so much easier as a guitarist. We’ve had loads over the years and would never dream of playing a show or going to a rehearsal without one. A good ‘board makes it a million times easier to set up of course, but keeping everything in order also makes it much easier to plot changes should you decide to add new pedals or want to change your sound.

If you’ve never owned a pedalboard before, make sure you check out our FAQ section, which features loads of expertly curated advice from the writing team here at Guitar World. If you’re a pedalboard veteran, then keep scrolling for our top picks.

Our top picks

Best pedalboard overall

We believe the Metro 16 is a really great pedalboard for mounting around five to eight effects pedals, throwing them in the nylon shoulder bag and running out the door to practice. Even if you only have three or four right now, the extra space will come in handy when you inevitably size up the floor show.

For an extra $70 you can get a super-tough tour case, and the Metro 16 is small enough to take as a carry-on item with most US airlines.

Pedals are attached with Pedaltrain's “professional-grade, hook-and-loop pedal fasteners” and it comes with plenty of cable ties. You’ll need to buy your power supply separately, though. 

Best mid-priced option

This Dingbat comes in three different sizes. For us, the medium is the happy option for mounting eight to 12 pedals – size depending, of course – with the adhesive hook-and-loop fasteners.

Power supplies can be mounted on top or below the pedalboard and Voodoo Lab offers bundles with supplies included. Shipped with a Pedal Power 4X4, which powers up to eight pedals, it’ll cost around $300, and an extra $100 buys you the Pedal Power Mondo, which powers up to 12 pedals.

The slots make for easy arrangements with plenty of space to tidy the cables underneath the unit. A bag makes it easy to transport.

Best on a budget

In our experience, this is a great pedalboard for the money. It has a clean construction with routing across the middle of the 'board for threading cables through. You should be able to fit around 10 pedals on this – more if you are using minis.

Pedals are mounted using the usual hook-and-loop tape and a roll is included with the unit. The setup should make it easy to arrange your pedals however you like them.

Despite the lightweight construction, non-slip rubber feet will keep this firmly in place on the floor. Best of all, the gig bag has pockets and a shoulder strap.

Best lightweight option

The TRES 3.1 sees RockBoard improve upon already solid past designs with a seamless, folded aluminum construction and a powder-black finish, and plenty of routing for cables and a sturdy support beam down the middle. It makes the most of its board space so mounting up to around eight to 10 standard sized pedals shouldn’t be a problem.

It comes with a gig-bag with a shoulder strap and an all-important accessories pocket, but an extra 60 bucks gets you a flight case if you need something more rugged.

Power supplies can be mounted on the bottom of the unit and you can easily adjust the height to your preference.

Best modular pedalboard

The Temple Audio Duo 17 is perfect for those who want to keep their ‘boards looking clean and fresh as much as possible. There’s space to run cables and arrange your pedals as you choose, and Temple’s own Quick Release pedal mounts mean you can fix your pedals down without the hassle of velcro or other strong adhesives. 

The pedalboards themselves are modular, to make setting up and packing down even less of a chore. All you have to do is unscrew the end panels, and then you’ve got space for any of Temple’s extensive list of separate power and I/O accessories, which include 1/4” patch bays, USB sockets for charging devices, and IEC sockets for your power supply.

Most of all, we think it looks great. They come in loads of different colors to match your vibe and – more importantly – different sizes to accommodate even the beefiest of pedal collections. Unfortunately, there’s no case included – but for the sheer quality of the board alone, you’re getting a great deal.

Best bundle pedalboard

The GPT-PRO-PWR is a hefty ol’ beast but it can house and power up to 11 pedals. It may even squeeze some more onto its Velcro-covered space if your rig is packing a lot of mini-stompboxes.

It comes with a pre-mounted G-BUS-8 power supply that has eight 9V and three 18V outputs. There's room to mount another G-BUS-8 should you need it.

We did find the board to be fairly heavy but the built-in handle can take the weight, and the roomy accessory pockets on the gig-bag will come in handy. It also comes with plenty of Velcro tape for fastening pedals.

More options...

So those are our top picks, but there are many more great options to choose from that offer something a little different in terms of features and performance. We've selected a few more stellar pedalboards below. 

Oftentimes, your pedalboard is easy to arrange until you try and fit a wah or volume pedal on there. But the Tour Pro 1520 has an ingenious two-tier solution, with a riser allowing you to sit the wah on there above the rest of your pedals. 

The riser is detachable, you can buy supplementary risers should you have a volume or whammy pedal, and is screwed to the board.

Options include the ultra-transparent Friedman Buffer Bay 6 for an extra $70, while you can get that plus a Power Grid 10, powering up to ten effects and designed as an extra riser, all for $569. 

The wiring options are hugely configurable and eliminate the signal issues you can get with complex signal chains. This latter “platinum option” is not cheap but it truly has all the bells and whistles.

Is this the tidiest power solution on the market? Quite possibly. The Nomad is powered by an onboard lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 12800mAh, which translates to over 10 hours of power after around three hours of charging.

As far as DC outputs go, the Nomad is pretty versatile, with seven 9V outputs, a pair of 12V outputs and one switchable between 18 and 24V.

The unit comes in a soft bag with a whole bunch of cable ties, hook-and-loop fasteners and DC connector cables. Just plug it all in and play.

The Boss BCB-90X is the successor to the much-loved BCB-60, a staple for beginner players getting their first pedalboards up and running. The best thing about this pedalboard is that it contains everything you need apart from the pedals themselves and the patch cables to connect them.

It includes a daisy-chain cable and PSB-1U adaptor that powers up to ten pedals, built-in junction boxes for your instrument input, plus stereo outputs to ensure you get the most out of your rig. The high-density insert foam is scored to fit 9 standard Boss stompboxes, but can be easily cut to fit your pedal of choice.

The unit itself is super rugged yet lightweight, great for those dingy venues with no lift to get your gear upstairs. The lid is detachable too, making it a breeze to rock up to your next show and get yourself up and running.

If you’re constantly changing your ‘board around or you just want to make sure you have room for future pedal purchases, the D’Addario XPND 2 is an ingenious way to ensure you always have enough room for your pedals. With its patented telescoping design you can instantly change the size of the pedalboard whenever the mood takes you.

Able to accommodate two rows of regular sized stompboxes, the XPND 2 nearly doubles in size when you pull out the telescopic section. It’s pre-fitted with loop Velcro, so you just need to attach the hook side to your pedalboard and drop your pedals straight on.

It’s also got a unique cable management system, with clips included to keep your cables secure and out of sight. Add in the incredibly durable aluminium construction and you’ve got yourself a ‘board that will put up with regular touring.

Many famous guitarists have gotten by with three pedals or less but it doesn’t hurt to have everything nicely arranged on a pedalboard.  Enter the Mono Pedalboard Lite, perfect for guitar players rocking small setups.

The ‘board itself has been laser cut and is constructed from anodized aluminum so it’s strong while remaining nice and lightweight. The finish has been electrochemically treated too, so it won’t corrode, although that probably won’t save it from any dings during heavy use. 

We love the smooth surface of the Pedalboard Lite, which means you can mount your pedals pretty much any way you please. The cable cutouts have been done thoughtfully too, so even if you have weirdly shaped pedals like a Fuzz Face. It’s got rubber feet to prevent any unwanted sliding and includes some hook and loop so you can get attaching straight away.

FAQs

How we choose the best pedalboards

Here at Guitar World, we are experts in our field, with many years of playing and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything guitar related, and we draw on this knowledge and experience of using products in live, recording and rehearsal scenarios when selecting the products for our guides.

When choosing what we believe to be the best pedalboard available right now, we combine our hands-on experience, user reviews and testimonies and engage in lengthy discussions with our editorial colleagues to reach a consensus about the top products in any given category.

First and foremost, we are guitarists, and we want other players to find the right product for them. So we take into careful consideration everything from budget to feature set, ease of use and durability to come up with a list of what we can safely say are the best pedalboard on the market right now.

Read more about our rating system, how we choose the gear we feature, and exactly how we test each product.

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