TEST: Pedaltrain Bags

 It's a real pain with the power of innovation. As soon as you've found a solution to a problem that is usually simple but highly effective, competitors are already swarming around you, trying to get a piece of the pie with more or less good copies. Pedaltrain can tell you a thing or two about this. Like companies like K&M, they practically provide the basis for an entire product range and have been synonymous with the same product for many years.

Of course, it is sometimes difficult for users to recognize a purely mechanical ramp as a product that is worth protecting. However, anyone who has ever tried to build a highly functional, flexible and transportable floorboard made of wood or steel in their youth will quickly recognize how ingeniously simple the concept behind the Pedaltrain boards is.

However, this special is not primarily about the well-known concept of the Pedaltrain floorboards, but rather it is about a problem that is at least as important as setting up the board. We are talking about transporting it. Anyone who has ever tried to transport the construction of sharp steel edges, protruding potentiometers, freely laid cables and sometimes massive plugs without a suitable transport device knows what I'm talking about.

Popular transport solutions in the beginner sector include:

1.) Plastic or fabric bags

It is in itself an insult to the sometimes high-quality landmine equipment to transport a board with almost four-digit content value in a rag that offers zero protection against external influences and starts to tear at the edges after three to four transport cycles.

2.) Grandma's old suitcase from the attic

At first glance, not a bad solution, but there are several points that stand in the way of a safe solution. Firstly, the suitcase has to fit in terms of width, which unfortunately usually turns out to be too narrow. The corners of the case are also often rounded, but the board needs a full 90 degree edge for an optimal fit in the best case.

What is usually not enough in terms of width becomes a problem in terms of height. Cases are usually high enough to allow two pedal boards to be stacked on top of each other, which can cause massive damage when transporting just one board. To compensate, the case is then filled with cables or foam for padding, neither of which is an ideal solution and in the case of cables, an additional burden on the signal carriers.

I personally was only able to use my grandmother's case as a cable case once. During the show that followed, the stage smelled so bad of mothballs that I had to immediately abandon using it as a transport case.

3.) Heavy Duty Flight Case

Once you have recognized the usefulness of a transport case, the mistake of taking over discarded cases, for example from the drum area, is often made. Especially with former tripod cases, you have a big wall against any kind of external influences, but both the large storage space and in particular the size and weight of the cases cause problems. If you want to transport the case in a car, half the storage space is gone, even in a station wagon.

If, on the other hand, you take a van, trailer or truck, the heavy cases would have to be tilted downwards and fixed by 90 degrees (tip) so that they no longer stand on wheels. Everyone can imagine what this does to the contents of the case if it is not fixed rock-solid.

Conclusion: the optimal transport solution for a pedal board is as light as possible, shock-absorbing, has space for additional cables etc. and, above all, fits like a glove! Aware of this, the Pedaltrain company has brought 3 types of transport cases onto the market, with one solution deserving special attention. We are talking about a backpack, known in modern German as a bodypack.

The Pedaltrain bodypacks / soft cases

To perhaps clear up a prejudice straight away. Since none of the terms "soft", "hard", "bag" or "case" are protected in any way, every manufacturer can use these terms as they wish, which is unfortunately what they do. I have already seen "soft cases" that could be called "bags" with a lot of goodwill, so you should take a close look at each case before you put it to its intended purpose.

With the Pedaltrain bodypacks, however, you can justifiably speak of soft cases, which also have a backpack function like many guitar bags. However, there are also a lot of differences in quality here, but more on that later. The models available for testing are the PT-NPL-PSC-X, suitable for the Nano and Nano+ boards, and the PT-18-PSC-X model for the Classic JR, PT-JR and Novo 18 boards. Other soft cases in bodypack design are available in stores up to the NOVO 24 SC.

First impression of the bodypacks

When you pick up the soft cases for the first time, you immediately notice the solid, yet soft handle(s), which have several bulges and grooves to prevent your hands from slipping through the soft case. The handles are riveted to the case using strong fabric straps and suggest a very long service life.

The big wow factor comes when you use the zippers. Firstly, Pedaltrain has finally separated from the manufacturer of previous zippers, which had seriously damaged the company's reputation due to clunky, sometimes unusable handling. These zippers glide very smoothly over the entire closure path and have another bonus. Both the outer skin of the soft cases and the zippers are water-repellent, so that a downpour cannot harm the interior of the cases. This is achieved by a new, oversized type of zipper, which, in addition to the teeth, presses two layers of plastic against each other. A really excellent detail!

If you open the soft case, you can see the thickness of the padding, which is an impressive 3 cm in the PT-18-PSC-X model, for example. On the front there are 2 more compartments for cables, transmitters or similar material, also with water-repellent zippers. If you ever find yourself in the unfortunate situation of having to carry your pedal board on foot in the rain, you can do it relatively easily with these backpacks.

Of course, you can also use the cases as normal soft cases, but the special feature of the cases is on the back of the case. Here, under a water-repellent zipper, there are 2 softly padded carrying straps that convert the case into a backpack. To prevent sweating, the back of the backpack and the inner surfaces of the carrying straps have been given a soft and perforated surface. Of course, you can also use the case as a normal backpack, which will be a great help, especially when transporting sensitive goods.

The comfort of the body packs is truly excellent. The backpack can be fixed twice on the chest and stomach and therefore rests evenly on the entire back, which is particularly important when transporting heavy equipment such as a fully equipped pedal board. The loose-over-the-shoulder-into-the-hip variant does not work here.

Pedaltrain Soft Case Novo 32

With a soft case of this size, two problem areas become increasingly important. Firstly, fully equipped pedal boards now reach a respectable two-digit kilogram weight, which must be cushioned, and secondly, carrying comfort is more problematic. Due to the soft, flexible design, wheels cannot be installed, but it is still important to distribute the heavy package as evenly as possible across the hand or shoulder.

Pedaltrain also has no other option in this weight class than to install a solid handle and a well-padded shoulder strap with appropriate snap hooks. The somewhat laborious transport is in the nature of things. Anyone who wants to transport a board of this size in a soft case for weight reasons must accept the somewhat uncomfortable transport.

With the appropriate physical effort, the case can also be used as a very wide backpack with the strap across the chest, especially since the back of the case has the perforated, padded surface, as with the backpacks mentioned above. However, with this construction in landscape format, you can no longer get through a normal door and the single strap puts a lot of pressure on the corresponding shoulder, so that the maximum distance you can make with it is from the van to the stage.

However, the Novo 32 Soft Case is so well padded that it can be transported upright in the van like a hard case and does not just have to be placed on top of the rest of the equipment, as is the case with many soft cases.


Pedaltrain Black Tour Case Novo 24

Now let's get to the tough everyday life on the road, which by the way doesn't just start with the stars of radio and television. Anyone who plays in a well-booked cover band, for example, with a three-digit order volume per year, will appreciate high-quality packaging for their instruments after a few months at the latest. And a complete break in a cover doesn't even have to cause the owner to frown. Sticky zippers, loose foam, worn-out folding handles or warped aluminum profiles are enough to drive you crazy in no time.

Of course, there are also plenty of suppliers in the cheaper price segment, but the thin-walled design in combination with inferior roller material quickly separates the wheat from the chaff. In addition, a floorboard in particular needs to have precisely fitting dimensions so that the board doesn't lose half of its pedals or external potentiometers due to wild shaking around.

Pedaltrain has therefore created an old-school hard case for the Novo 24, which, with external dimensions of 65 cm x 38 cm x 19 cm and internal dimensions of 62 cm x 34.5 cm x 16.5 cm and a weight of just under 7 kilograms, is still relatively easy to handle. Protective foam prevents the interior from being broken through in the event of a heavy impact, while a 3 cm thick and dense foam rubber protects the board downwards and to the side. The board also fits the Classic 2 and PT-2 boards.

All the standards are also present on the outside, such as high-quality butterfly locks and solid ball corners, with the plywood used being 6 mm thick. Speaking of ball corners, does anyone know the reason why ball corners are used in the heavyweight class? Due to its construction, only a ball corner manages to distribute an external impact across its three legs to three wooden surfaces, thus keeping any damage that may occur as small as possible.

Pedaltrain NOVO 32 and Terra 42 Tourcase with wheels

Now we come to the top class of tourcases, both in terms of size and the stability of the construction. Although they try to keep the weight as low as possible here too, all arguments for convenience are subordinate to functionality when it comes to protecting the interior. The relevant key data reads accordingly. The NOVO 32 Tourcase comes into the race with external dimensions of 95.3 cm x 46.9 cm x 24.5 cm, internal dimensions of 89 cm x 44 cm x 12.5 cm and a weight of 12.7 kg, the Terra 42 goes one step further by calling for external dimensions of 121 cm x 44 cm x 25.4 cm, internal dimensions of 111 cm x 38 cm x 12.5 cm and a weight of 15.4 kg.

Both cases have indeed earned the adjective "professional", on the one hand because they offer their users maximum protection for the pedals, and on the other hand because their dimensions mean they require the support of a crew with appropriate backliners. The cases can not only be used in the lower areas of the storage space in the van without any problems, they also survive transport in the truck in conjunction with sometimes clumsy stagehands on site in the hall.

To make transport easier, both cases are equipped with strong rubber wheels, which enable trolley-style transport on flat ground. On the opposite side is the corresponding pull handle, which is designed as a folding handle. Anyone who has lifted a fully loaded board of this league + case with just one arm knows what around 30 kilograms feels like and can confidently postpone the next visit to the gym.

It goes without saying that an absolutely perfect fit is necessary, especially with these weights, and this is of course perfectly fulfilled by the two cases. The fact that experienced professionals were involved in the construction of these two rolling cases can be seen inside the cases. If the cases are pulled fully loaded or stored upright in the tour bus, the entire pressure of the board is on the lower edge of the case. Even the generously designed 3 cm foam rubber can no longer fully fulfill its cushioning effect in such a case, so there is a risk of insufficient shock absorption.

For this reason, a 6 cm thick foam rubber rectangle was inserted at the foot end of both cases, which prevents the contents from penetrating the plywood in the event of a fall or hard cobblestones. The detailed solution is really great!

Conclusion

Pedaltrain, the forefather of all pedalboards, shows once again that not only the product itself, but also the packaging is responsible for the quality of the overall package. With a very wide selection of soft and hard cases, the manufacturer covers the entire range of its floorboard range in top quality, with the newly released backpacks taking things up a notch in terms of independence.

A very good result across the board, definitely give it a try!