Furman SPB-8, SPB-E, SPB-8/E Instruction Sheet

Stereo Pedal Board

MODEL SPB-8/E

Instruction Sheet

Furman Sound, Inc.

1997 South McDowell Blvd.

Petaluma, California 94954-6919 USA

Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

www.furmansound.com

E-mail: [e-mail]

SPB-8 Features

l The Pedal Board is a solid, nonslip base for up to 8 pedal

effects that lets you leave everything powered up and patched
together as you like it

l Pedal effects attach securely to a 12” x 25” Velcro pad
l Sturdy, roomy, padded travel case fits the Pedal Board plus

attached effects, includes shoulder strap and zippered pouch

l Stereo effects return, effects loop, and amplifier outputs
l Eight individually protected 9VDC outlets, with 8 included

power cords

l Three widely spaced 120VAC, 15A outlets allow enough room

for "wall warts" (E Version 230VAC, 10A outlets)

l ALL power and signal jacks are insulated and isolated,

eliminating noisy ground loops

l Furman's quality spike and surge suppression and EMI/RFI

filtering assures clean power

l Toroidal transformer for ultra low-noise performance
l Rugged construction will withstand years of on-stage use and

abuse

l Very long 10-foot AC cord (E Version needs Plug Attachment)

IntroductionIntroduction

Congratulations on your purchase of the Furman SPB-8/E —
the first Pedal Board designed with the working guitar player, bass­ist, and keyboard player in mind. The SPB-8/E is the most rug­ged, versatile, and useful board available anywhere. It features
heavy duty construction that will handle the most forceful stomps
you can offer, as well as stand up to the rigors of the road. The
first stereo board on the market, it is also the first to feature the
high level of power conditioning that Furman is famous for.

At the heart of the SPB-8/E Stereo Pedal Board is a light yet
rugged polycarbonate platform in combination with a steel chassis
and an ample 12" x 24" Velcro sheet, ensuring secure, noiseless,
flex free, nonslip performance for up to eight (or more, depending
on power requirements) effects boxes and pedals.

The SPB-8/E’s stereo patch bay contains seven 1/4" switching
phone jacks and three non-switching jacks, connected in two
stereo loops. This allows a single guitar or instrument input to
feed multiple mono and stereo effects boxes, send and return
from remote effects, and feed up to two amplifiers simultaneously.
From modest to highly complex patching demands, the SPB-8
allows nearly unlimited setup flexibility.

Powering your pedals, amps and other gear, the SPB-8/E of­fers two levels of surge and short circuit protection, as well as RF
and EMI filtering. The SPB-8/E is quiet, powering both AC and
DC pedals without hum, due to the high quality toroidal trans-

former employed. Each DC output is rated at 100 mA, as well as
being individually protected against shorts — guaranteeing that if
one pedal goes out, the rest are still protected and will continue to
function.

The SPB-8/E makes pack-up simple and convenient. Unpatch­ing several effects boxes and pedals is no longer required, since
the large Velcro sheet and included mating strips firmly secures
all of your pedals in place. A sturdy, padded case is included and
comes with a handle, a detachable shoulder strap, and two zip­pered pouches for storing cables, wall warts, and AC cords.

Using the SPB-8/EUsing the SPB-8/E

When fully set up, the SPB-8/E will save you many hours of
plugging, unplugging, packing, and unpacking pedals and effects.
However, to fully realize the simplification it offers, you must do
some planning and preparation.

1. Prepare Pedals: Most pedal effects have rubber feet on
their bottoms. These must first be removed to allow them to be
attached to the SPB-8/E. Some may be attached with screws;
others may be stick-on types that must be pried off. Once the
rubber feet are off, they should be replaced with the adhesive­backed Velcro supplied with the SPB-8/E. Cut suitably-sized
pieces with a pair of scissors, peel off the protective backing to
expose the adhesive, and stick them to the bottoms of your pedal
effects. If you wish to reposition your pedals, several smaller pieces
of Velcro may allow easier removal than one large piece, though
the larger the area you cover, the more firmly the pedal will be
attached.

2. Create a layout: Lay out your pedal effects in the desired
order, giving thought to such issues as keeping signal levels high
to minimize hum and noise, and ease of access to all foot
switches. The Velcro system of attachment allows pedals to be
repositioned if necessary. Individual pedals should be connected
in a signal chain using short patch cords (not supplied). The input
to the first pedal should be patched to the To Pedal (Input) jack
on the SPB-8/E; the output of the last pedal should be patched to
either of the From Pedals jacks (both should be used if the pedal
has a stereo output). See the next section for more on the SPB-8/
E’s patching capabilities.

3. Provide Power: The SPB-8/E can power almost any pedal
made, using one of its four power options. Three of these provide
9 VDC power, and the fourth is 120 VAC “wall” power (E Version
230 VAC Wall outlet).

9 VDC Power is typically used in pedals that can run off bat-

2-0128

teries, or off battery eliminators. The SPB-8/E provides eight 9
VDC power outlets, all of which use 3.5 mm “miniplug” connec­tors on the pedal board end. On the pedals themselves, several
connector types may be used, the most common of which is called
“P205L” or “DC connector”. This may easily be recognized as a 5
mm round hole (often in a block of black plastic insulating mate­rial), with a single metal pin in the center. Eight miniplug-to-DC
cables are provided with the SPB-8/E. Some 9V pedals use a
miniplug connector instead of a DC connector. One miniplug-to­miniplug cable is provided with the SPB-8/E for such pedals. Fi­nally, a few pedals have no provision for any form of power other
than batteries. Should you encounter one of these, one miniplug­to-battery-clip cable is also provided. To use it, simply remove the
battery and connect the pedal’s battery clip to the one on the
cable.

Each of the SPB-8/E’s DC power outputs is individually fused
and protected against shorts, so pedals can plugged in without
risk even while the pedal board is powered up. Each output can
supply up to 100 mA, which should be adequate for virtually any
pedal. Because the SPB-8/E is protected by Furman’s famous
power conditioning capability, your valuable pedals will be pro­tected from damage from spikes and surges.

120 VAC Power may be needed for a few pedals. Three
grounded, 15A outlets are provided. These may also be used for
non-pedal effects, such as those mounted in racks.

To keep the power cables neat and tidy, they may be coiled to
take up excess length and bundled with each other, using plastic
cable ties or even grocery-store twist ties.

4. Packing up: Once all pedals have been positioned, linked
in a signal chain, and powered, the SPB-8/E is ready for use on
stage. After use, the entire unit with pedals and all cabling at-
tached may be slipped into its padded Cordura case and trans­ported. An internal strap holds the pedal board in place. The case
has both a handle and a detachable shoulder strap for easy car-

rying. There are also two internal zippered pouches for cables
and other accessory items.

Sample HookupsSample Hookups

The SPB-8/E offers very flexible patching options that will al­low easy connection of mono and/or stereo pedal effects, rack
effects, and instruments and amps. Several examples are pre­sented here to illustrate its capabilities. To understand the patch
bay, consider the “normal” signal flow through it, indicated by the
dotted lines with arrows showing direction:

Note that there are two channels, Left/Mono and Right. If
nothing is plugged into the switching jacks (marked “S”), signal
will flow unimpeded from the first jack (From Guitar, for Left/Mono,
or From Pedals , for Right) to the last jack (Amplifier, for both
Left/Mono and Right) in each channel. Each of the three jacks
marked “U” is unswitched and may be used to take a “tap” off the
signal path without breaking it, provided the jack to its immediate
left is unused.

All hookups begin by connecting the guitar or other instru­ment into the From Guitar jack, and the input to the first pedal in
the pedal chain to the To Pedal (Input) jack. From there, the ex­act hookup used depends on whether the pedals have mono or
stereo outputs, whether rack effects as well as pedals are used,
and whether one or two amps are used.

Example 1: Mono Pedals, Single AmpExample 1: Mono Pedals, Single Amp

In this example, two pedals are linked together with a short cable going from the output of the first to the input of the second. Since

there is only one amp, only the Left/Mono channel is used.