The is my second time around with a Temple Board. The first time around was a disaster. This time has been absolutely fantastic and I wanted to share my story and what I have learned about these great boards.
My First Temple Board
I bought my first Temple board about 3 years ago and it was a Trio 28. I went all out and bought the 4 jack mini module, IEC mains module and all of their patented pedal plates that lock the pedal onto the innovative frame.
The innovative grate style mounting surface, weight and overall look of the board really were what sold me on them. The IEC mains that was already hardwired up with an IEC jack for my Pedal Power Mondo and 4 way jack mini module were huge selling points for me as well. Overall the innovation is just straight genius. There are a few guys doing the modular ends but these guys were the innovators of it.
When I got all of the stuff home I installed everything and it all went together easy and I had my board wired up and ready to go in about 2 hours. The big issues I had with the board was that my Pedal Power Mondo didn’t fit underneath the cross brace so it had to sit on one side or the other of the cross brace making the board always feel heavy on one end. In the end it wasn’t a huge deal just something I noticed. The second issue I saw was that the board flexed a bit whenever you stepped on a pedal. Again this wasn’t a huge deal, and it surely wasn’t as bad as everyone on forums made it out to be. I never had issues of solderless cables loosing connection and the light flex didn’t really take long to get used to. It was only really noticeable when I was riding my volume pedal for swells. I ended up moving my volume pedal to the right side of the board and it fixed the issue completely.
The third issue I had was the deal breaker for me at the time. The pedal plates while extremely intuitive and easy to install, literally almost made me loose my religion. I went to remove a pedal after a few months because I sold it on Reverb and I couldn’t get the plate off the back of the pedal. I ended up slowly squirting Goo Gone around the outer rim of the plate and using a paint scraper to slide the plate off. After soaking in Goo Gone and some elbow grease the plate came off. No where near as easy as the how to video made it seem. I still wasn’t upset though. I would rather it be a bit difficult to get off than not be sticky enough and have a pedal fall off.
The next part was where I almost flew into orbit. I soaked the remaining adhesive on the pedal and on the plate for around 2 hours to start and it didn’t come off. I let it set with a thick layer of Goo Gone on it overnight and throughout the next day while I was at work. When I got home it still literally would not come off. I ended up taking the back of the pedal off and heating it with a hair dryer and then slowly I was able to peel off the remaining white adhesive pad. I ended up scratching the pedal in the process and had to refund the buyer some of what he paid because of the scratches. Then to put salt on an open wound I bought the replacement adhesive so I could reuse the plates, because evidently I wasn’t through enough pain already, and after multiple attempts and different methods including heat I wasn’t able to get the adhesive off the pedal plates. I ended up just throwing them away.
Anyways I was livid. I removed my pedals and packed the entire temple setup up and sold it.
Second Chances are Good
So over the past few years I have tried flat boards with road cases, Pedal Train boards, and a few other options but none of them provided the value and features of the Temple Board for my application. The flat boards were too heavy and clunky. The openings on the Pedal Train boards are too large and don’t leave you with enough flexibility for positioning pedals. The list goes on. Nothing gave me what the Temple board did.
I decided to give Temple Audio a second try and man am I glad that I did. First of all I have downsized my rig over the past few years and ended up going with the Duo 24 which is 24″x12.5″ and is around the size of a Pedal Train Classic 2. It is the perfect size for me. The biggest thing I noticed is that there is no flex in this board. The smaller footprint and surface area tightened everything up. The issue of my Pedal Power Mondo not fitting under the cross brace is still an issue but not a deal breaker by any means. I just mounted it off to one side.
The biggest difference this time around is that I didn’t buy the plates. I just used velcro like I have done with every other setup. BINGO. We have a winner. The velcro comes off much easier and I was pleasantly surprised that the black powder coating on the board surface is extremely durable. I have moved velcro around all over it and I have yet to pull up any of the finish.
The end caps of mine are the vintage white and they too are extremely well finished. I don’t have a bag or case for this board, and have banged it tons of times on door jams etc. There are a few dings but nothing like what I would have expected for how it has been treated.
Temple’s 4-Way Jack Module and IEC Mains are my favorite part of the board. I am currently only running mono so I use one of the jacks for in and one for out to my SGI Box. I want to add the Summing Module so that I can run stereo or mono, but haven’t pulled the trigger yet.
Overall Thoughts
I am really glad that I gave Temple another try. The boards and the modules are extremely innovative and well engineered. Everything is extremely light, which almost feels like it would break easily. I can attest that this stuff is built like a tank. I have beat it around for almost a year now and had no issues whatsoever. The finish has held up extremely well too.
I am also happy that I did not go with the plates the second time around. I have to give you the caveat that I change pedals a ton! At least once a month I am moving stuff around and changing it up. If you do not change stuff up often you won’t have as big of an issue with the plates as I did.
Additionally, I did do some math and they are priced so that if you are okay with throwing them away and buying new plates whenever you get a new pedal then you will be fine as well. The plates are just as genius of an invention as the rest of the board, the adhesive is just too darn strong.
Ratings
Build Quality: 4.9 of 5
Features: 5 of 5
Ease of Use: 4.5 of 5
Price: 5 of 5
Overall: 4.8 of 5
