Personalization is a musician's best friend. When you practice your instrument, you're training your muscle memory and even your intuition to make it almost like an extension of your own body. You could easily say the same thing about your effects pedals. Using the right accessories with your pedals makes them easier to handle, which goes a long way toward pulling off the perfect gig. Pedal board risers are a good starting point. These simple modifications allow you to line up your pedals in more uniform positions, so you can say goodbye to the balancing act of hitting tall and short pedals in unison or one after the other. A riser under that shorter pedal will bring it up to the same height and you'll never have to worry about a misfire when you give it a stomp. Now that your pedals are all lined up on the pedal board, you'll want to be sure that they stay put. Adding pedal fasteners can take care of that easily enough. Made to stick to the rubber bases of your pedals, these fasteners are hook-and-loop pads that hold each pedal securely in place when you need it but also make it simple to pull the pedal off if you need to. Fasteners are especially helpful if you're a forceful stomper—they'll help your stompboxes stay in place no matter how much energy you put into your foot while on the stage. Maybe slipping pedals aren't an issue for you but you'd love to have an easier time handling those fiddly knobs, especially in the middle of a show when time is short and accuracy is important. Try swapping the original knob with a winged-shaped replacement that you can grab on the fly. Underneath the plastic, most pedal adjustments use the same-size shafts, so these knobs will fit just about any effects pedal. Use the classic version with your general stompboxes and the boutique variety to fit the specialty knobs used on boutique pedals. When you're through with accessorizing your pedals, you'll have a pedal board that's well-aligned, firmly attached and easy to adjust. These may seem like minor details at first glance, but if you're a guitarist who makes frequent use of effects pedals, they just might turn out to be lifesavers during your biggest performances.
