Being that I am a relative newcomer to this fun hobby.
It hit me a while ago that the breadboards are geared for components in a laid out structure.
Until...a project comes along where you may want to work with a bunch of LEDs. Rather than wire and solder the matrix that I am developing a may find the need to change out LEDs for brighter ones and I would have wasted a butt load of LEDs.
Yes, I could get shorter breadboards and align them in a linear stacked fashion but to me the visual effect is somewhat lost and spread out.
And Yes, I know I could line them out on a long breadboard but then I cannot see the patterns I am trying to animate.
Maybe this is a pipe dream on my part or maybe just a stupid question from this ole noob.
I'm not sure I understand what you're after, would you be able to throw us a quick sketch? even something made up in Paint might do better than a bunch of paragraphs. There's always something that can be done.
Maybe do this - build up your prototype using socket strips in the layout you want http://www.dipmicro.com/store/HDR40X1FM or wirewrap versions
and then just plug in the LEDs and resistors you are using.
If I get lucky searching, I could find a post where someone followed this suggestion, had posted a pic too, and was very happy with his results.
Of course it is rough and a lot of wishful thinking. I think Crossroads suggestion might fill the bill.
I am a coder so modular functionality make sense to me. The Breadboard is a great example and I understand that but using it as a design piece in a visual proto-type can be quite dis-functional. BUT that is just me and everyone is different. Since I am still quite new to this I am still a square piece pushing into a round hole. LOL
Hopefully this makes it really clear.
I don't do point to point soldering, just wirewrap. I find it quicker to do and way easier to make changes/corrections.
PCB sockets that I linked to will work the same.
While the wirewrap solution probably meets the OP's needs best, I thought I would mention, I recently bought some mini-breadboards (for use with the UNO protoshield). These don't have explicit power rails, so they will fit in the protoshield, but there are notches on each of the four sides, so that you could have two or more boards attached together to lay out the design. I've seen other breadboards with these notches as well. Here is the ebay seller I bought from, and you can get different number of boards and different colors as well: http://www.ebay.com/itm/3pcs-X-WHITE-MINI-BB170-TIE-POINT-DOVETAIL-SLOT-SOLDER-LESS-BREADBOARD-/271038008650?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f1b1fcd4a
