Introducing the GUITAR SLED!
Okay so these have been around for the better part of the summer but they are finally being utilized for what they were originally designed for.
We started broadcasting our service online earlier this year. We are using our jib camera to get wide shots of the room in an attempt to draw people in and make them feel as if they are a part of the service. The shots that the jib is able to get also get the guitar pedal boards, their wires and all the other gak on stage. So our mission was to figure out a way to completely clear the stage of all band gear and unsightly wires. Part of our solution was to build out the stage and create the thrust. The second part was to figure out a way to remove the pedal boards and their wires from the stage.
It was determined that we needed to create some sleds that were universal enough to accommodate any size pedal board that a guitar player might bring. We decided to use a sled system because unplugging and re-plugging the board was nearly impossible with the tight transition times that we have here. So we knew we wanted to have a rolling sled and that we needed to keep the sleds as low to the ground as possible so that the guitarists didn’t have to adjust the way they played. The biggest challenge was to figure out a way to quickly and quietly brake the sleds so that they didn’t roll around while the guitarist was playing. We also had a challenge in the amount of cables we have on the stage and the crossover that can occur with the potential of getting hung up on cable while trying to remove sleds and risers, as well as moving props on.
In the search of a fast and quiet braking system we came across a “pop-up brake.” These brakes are small compact air pressurized pistons that are used on assembly lines. This was the perfect braking solution for our dilemma. The opportunity became how do we pressurize the brakes. They needed 50lb of pressure per brake and we decided that each sled only needed two of these each. The search for a tank began and after weeks of searching we found a small cost efficient HPA (high pressurized air) tank that was manufactured by a robotics company. This would allow us to refill the tanks easily on site with a basic air compressor.
The sled was designed with some pockets able to store the tank, brake, regulator, gauges, hose, and control valve, as well as the SGI for Audio, and 4 xlr cables.
We designed two different size boards. The small board is capable of holding over 60% of the guitar boards that our regular guitarists currently have and a larger board that is able to accommodate even the largest pedal board our guitarists currently use.
We decided to forgo the risk of crossing over cables and wired all the sleds back to our main two risers. During our transition we quickly attach the sleds to our risers via some quick-release pins mounted to the side of each rise. The sleds areattached, their cables are wrapped and placed on top of the sleds and then the whole system is rolled off the stage. This along with placing table, chair, and other props on stage is all done in less than one-minute 15 seconds by a small army of the greatest volunteers in the history of stage volunteers.
Do you have any video of them getting moved off stage? How much do they weigh?
Currently we do not have any video, but thanks for the idea. We will try to get to that soon. Weight wasn’t an issue for us considering one of the primary goals was to never to need to pick them up. As a result I haven’t actually weighed them. If I were to estimate I would say they come in around 30lb without the pedals on them.
Do you have these available for purchase and what is the price point to build it if not.
[...] idea really came from our guitar sleds we’ve been using in our east auditorium for the last year. Each guitar/bass player has a sled [...]
These are cool, but, really? Pneumatic brakes for a pedalboard? Sure does seem like a TON of overkill to me.