Best diy patch cables

Though it will be tempting to tear into it and start mounting, we need to prepare it a bit. Take the raw wood out, note which side has the mounting holes, and sand the opposite side. Remember, the original purpose of the piece is a shelf where things sit instead of bond. Make sure to wipe the board off after sanding. Use your offset screwdriver to slowly insert the screws. Using a standard screwdriver forces us to approach at an angle, and the wood can be cracked this way. Measure the width of the pedalboard and decide how you wish to attach Velcro.

I opted to go with the flow of the wood and not cross the seams with a piece of Velcro for maximum adhesion. Measure the width of the slats as well. Use a utility knife or those old gross scissors to slowly cut the Velcro. The glue from the Velcro will smear all over the blades of the scissors, as well as become lodged in the center mechanism.

Peel the Velcro and stick it to the board. Attach the rubber feet if you want them. Let the glue set for a couple hours before you start adding pedals and tearing them off. Now time for the part everyone dreads: the cables. I should pre-empt this section by saying that your time spent doing this will be much easier if you buy cable ends with tip AND sleeve lugs. Many cheaper cable ends only contain a lug for the tip. I bought this one-lug type for this piece to illustrate the hardest path to success.

Use a piece of string to measure the distance between the pedals and add the distances up, then add one or two feet to the total. Strip a half-inch of insulation from the cable, and a quarter-inch up, strip the black shielding. Shear off half the shielding, then twist the remaining shield wire into a rope shape. Thread the core wire into the tip lug, and thread the shield wire into the shield lug. Using the helping hand tool, grip the wire against the plug and solder.

One trick I do is use the dual center conductor cable used for balanced microphones. I put some slack and used both center leads for a double reliability. I have a cable that's 30" years old still kickin. Great Instructable!!!

Hi and thanks for posting this instructable--perhaps it will encourage other people to try "rolling their own" cables. The only suggestion I would offer is to use Neutrik connectors instead of the Switchcrafts.

There are a couple reasons: 1 the Neutrik strain relief system is superior it doesn't rely on that crazy two-tab metal thing , and 2 I think the overall quality of the connector is better--for instance the solderconnections are machined into the metal tube that makes up the inner and outer connector parts of the connector, not just a flimsy tab and, therefore, cannot move around no matter how much tension is applied.

The pricing is about the same.. I use these commercially in system integration for radio and recording studios and have for more than twenty years. Neutrik connectors are available everywhere some sources are: Digi-key, Mouser Electronics these are major suppliers and the pricing is lowest , e-Bay and even many of the larger local vendors. I usually get mine from Digi-Key.

One other thing to think about is the "flexibility" of the cable, itself. For use as musical instrument cables I play guitar, for example and microphones, it's really nice to have a really flexible cable. Mogami, Canare, and even Belden makes suitable stuff, though I am fond of the first two.

Anyway, great job!!! This should be helpful to lots of folks. As you said it's important to be really competent at soldering, so if you've not done it much, watch some instructables on it. It's easy to mess up connections and cable and practice makes perfect, but it's NOT difficult at all, just be certain you heat the most massive pieces first they take longer to heat up and properly "tin" your cable tips and connectors--if you follow those rules, the soldering process will be fast and result in nice, shiny connections rather than "cold solder joints" which is where the solder may hold the wire captive, but it really doesn't make a good electrical connection with the connector.

I've not looked, but I'm sure there are lots of good Instructables just on that. Take advantage of those!! Check out sparkfun. It is an electronic heavy site arduino, chips, etc. In this particular case you may want to only tin the cables and not the connectors. Third and fourth hand tools can then be used to keep the tinned cable directly in contact with the clean connector. Then apply the tinned iron to the underside of the connector don't apply the Iron to the cable and connector to make the joint, unless geometry and space requires it.

You only need a bit of solder on the Iron, enough so that you can see that the molten solder creates a good bridge between the Iron and connector.

Do this quickly after the Iron is applied so the solder will not melt immediately, using this technique allows you to apply the least amount of heat because you know exactly when the connector is hot enough. Feed the solder until you get a pool that surrounds the wire, keep the Iron applied until you see the solder on the wire become molten. When this occurs everything has the required temp to make a good connection.

Remove the Iron and let everything cool down. Because that plug is a giant piece of metal compared to the connector it will suck heat away from the joint and can become extremely hot. If this is possible you are ensured that a good connection has been made.

In these cases a powerful iron is your best friend. I use a 70 or 80 watt soldering station, hakko brand I believe, from Fry's that was had for about 50 bucks. You set temp, and because it has more power, when the tip touches the metal and the temp instantly drops it has no problem getting back to temp. A typical pencil iron is only around watts and labours to keep its temp which greatly increases the heat going into the part before things are hot enough for a good joint.

If you have plans to solder frequently a soldering station is a great investment. Think this turned into another super comment, lol, sorry about that.

Good description, but I think you glossed over the cable crimp, which is the key to reliability. That's why I like Neutrik jacks. They have a clever compression fitting that doesn't require crushing the cable with a pliers.

Cost is about the same as Switchcraft, but once you build with Neutrik, you'll never go back. And I've never built anything with neutrik connectors but I've got a few cables that have them. I really like the solid metal feel of switchcraft, they just look and feel bulletproof!!

Good job. A small number of pedals also use TRS for stereo input or output. Competing with Boss in the mass-market solderless kits territory is D'Addario. They've done something strange with this kit, beating their competitor on price, but offering an odd number of cables.

Their assumption is either that most boards require more than five, or it's a sneaky marketing move. The cable is a low-capacitance, shielded cable as you'd expect from a premium offering. The kit comes with a mini cable cutter and screwdriver, should you not have those tools available. The main advantage of these over the Boss option is the semi-moulded right-angle jacks. It's splitting hairs a bit, but you might prefer that to the metal housing of the Boss jack ends.

In our experience, there's only a small gap in quality between the cheapest cables you can buy and the most expensive. That said, if buying online, it could be that you want the peace of mind that comes from a branded cable with a guarantee.

The main things you need to consider when investing in the best patch cables are the type of jack end and the length of the cable. Most jacks won't be straight, as pedalboard real estate is limited. These days, in addition to standard right-angle jacks, there are lots of different variations on the low-profile, or 'pancake' jack.

Particularly for pedals that have side-mounted jacks rather than the now-standard top-mount jacks, having a few pancake jacks to hand is invaluable.

Standard lengths are usually about 15cm, 30cm, 50cm and various lengths up to a meter. If you are building cables from a patch cable kit, then you can custom-build your cables to exactly the right length. There's also the question of aesthetics — some cables, like the Fender custom shop patch cables, look amazing, but that aesthetic does come at a cost. At the end of the day, cool patch cables make for great Instagram content, but we've not found that they improve our tone or playing.

If you decide to build your own, then you need to choose between solderless and a kit that you need to solder. It's possible to make robust cables using a solderless kit, so to some extent the choice is about personal preference. It's worth investigating, assuming you have the tools and the confidence to use them.

Here however, we've only recommended solderless kits. Alex Lynham is a gear obsessive who's been collecting and building modern and vintage equipment since he got his first Saturday job. Besides reviewing countless pedals for Total Guitar, he's written guides on how to build your first pedal, how to build a tube amp from a kit, and briefly went viral when he released a glitch delay pedal, the Atom Smasher.

Guitar World. Included in this guide: 1. Planet Waves Patch Cable. Length: 15cm. Number of cables in pack: 3. Reasons to avoid - No issues at this price. Donner Patch Cable. Number of cables in pack: 6. Reasons to avoid - Not super widely available. Reasons to avoid - Slightly more expensive than the norm.