Pedalboard patch cable connectors - what's compact and good?

IanSavage

Finally put together a wee bass pedalboard, going to need to make up half-a-dozen cables to connect it all together (mostly right-angled-ends, a couple straight) - obviously I'm aware of Lava / George L and the little pancake-style things but was wondering if anyone knew of any alternatives to those for connectors? 

The former two seem a bit pricey to be honest (thick end of a fiver for a jack plug?!? The cables would end up costing more than any pedal on the board...) and the latter's fine but I wouldn't mind something smaller still - any ideas?

Drew_TNBD

Just get those coloured Maplins cables and put a buffer at the front of your pedal chain.

Mr_Bluesman

I buy these http://www.audiospares.com/product.php?productid=363&cat=520&page=1

and this

http://www.audiospares.com/product.php?productid=2969&cat=489&page=1

and this

http://www.audiospares.com/product.php?productid=1315&cat=0&page=1

and make my own, really easy with good solder, cheap but good quality and you can custom make the length to suit your board

Gassage

Use Belden 8412 cable and some Switchcraft pancakes and a soldering iron. Hey Presto- Pete Cornish Cables.

capo4th

KaBL

Danny1969

A pack of 6 is about £6 from CPC

They do 15cm, 30cm, 60cm Is it really worth making em ?

GIJoe

Danny1969 said:

A pack of 6 is about £6 from CPC

They do 15cm, 30cm, 60cm Is it really worth making em ?

I really hope you are joking

These things break in about five minutes.  They sound terrible and you cannot repair them!

Making your own is the way to go, and I have done it in the past.

I use George Ls now, Never had any trouble with them, and look really nice.  They can be had much cheaper in the classifieds.

IanSavage

Thanks @Mr_Bluesman - looks a good compromise between price, quality and size! I've got a ton of quality instrument cable kicking around and no slouch with a soldering iron, so buying pre-made seems a bit silly to me (although I've heard great things about KaBL too!).

@Gassage, those Switchcrafts look great, but at £4.20 a pop I'd still be spending way more on cabling than on any of the pedals on there! 

Danny1969

GIJoe said:

Danny1969 said:

A pack of 6 is about £6 from CPC

They do 15cm, 30cm, 60cm Is it really worth making em ?

I really hope you are joking

These things break in about five minutes.  They sound terrible and you cannot repair them!

Making your own is the way to go, and I have done it in the past.

I use George Ls now, Never had any trouble with them, and look really nice.  They can be had much cheaper in the classifieds.

I use these to patch headphone sends every day of the week Joe, never broke one yet. As for sound I honestly don't believe anyone can hear a difference in such a short cable

In use below, these get a harder life in this application than they would on a pedal board

GIJoe

Fair point...I just can't bring myself to trust them.

handsomerik

I use the cheapy coloured ones and never had one break either. I have a buffer at the front of my board but I wouldn't know if they suck tone or not as I've never compared them to anything else. They sound fine to me.

RMJ

I bought the lava cables tightrope kit for my board as I was OCD about having excess cable everywhere. I'm pleased with the results. Can get pedals exactly where I want them and make patch cables to suit. The kit comes with more than enough cable. I bought a few extra jacks though.

johnhe

I moved away from the cheapy coloured ones a few years ago. I agree that comparing one short cable against another, it's hard to hear the difference. But it is really simple to hear the improvement from a whole board wired with cheap coloured patch cables to one wired with medium quality cables. I'm not talking about expensive cables here - but decent cable with Neutrik or Switchcraft jacks makes such a bid improvement over the coloured ones that I will certainly never go back!

Jalapeno

KaBL pancake ones.

citizen68

I'm using the 'HOSA' ones - got them off ebay here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181507444159?redirect=mobile  or amazon here http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B000068O3Y?pc_redir=1408077937&robot_redir=1   

No problems with them to date

samzadgan

citizen68 said:

I'm using the 'HOSA' ones - got them off ebay here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181507444159?redirect=mobile  or amazon here http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B000068O3Y?pc_redir=1408077937&robot_redir=1   

No problems with them to date

Wow...their really cheap! 

citizen68

samzadgan;344977" said:

citizen68 said:

I'm using the 'HOSA' ones - got them off ebay here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181507444159?redirect=mobile  or amazon here http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B000068O3Y?pc_redir=1408077937&robot_redir=1   

No problems with them to date





Wow...their really cheap! 

Good quality though