Pedals
- Thread starter BubbaDog
- Start date
Iheartbacon
Blues Junior
When you have a buch of pedals, the direct connections make it a real pain to swap in and out mid chain. Then, if you have pedals from different brands, and often within the same brand even, the output and inputs don’t consistently line up.
mountain man
Still got the Blues!
Good question. I used to use direct connections when I only have a few pedals. Now I use cables and I really don't have that many pedals still....... 
Rancid Rumpboogie
Blues Mangler
The direct connectors are rigid. If there is ANY movement of the pedal when you stomp on it (and there is if its mounted to the board on velcro or rubber feet) then every time you stomp on a pedal you are putting undue stress on the jacks in the pedals.
TwoNotesSolo
Student Of The Blues
-1 on rigid connectors, you will put strain on your pedals.
I like "pancake" connectors that are a little flatter than regular right angle connectors.
I like "pancake" connectors that are a little flatter than regular right angle connectors.
Elio
Student Of The Blues
I use both cables and these offset connector that compensate for adjacent pedals that have jacks that don't align. Because they essentially rotate into place when the pedal height changes relative to the next pedal, my theory is that they don't stress the jacks when the a pedal is stomped on.
TwoNotesSolo
Student Of The Blues
Those work as long as the jack is perfectly parallel to the board. If the jack is at even a slight angle from the horizontal, you will still out strain on. This is why someone mentioned sides being angled being an issue.
Norfolk Bill
norfolk uk, just knoodling along
yep not a good idea in general,,the slightest missalignment could do damage,,,go for good patch cables 
BubbaDog
Blues Newbie
Thanks Guys, sounds like cables it is. I've started and stopped learning this guitar thing a lot over the last 40 years and quite a few times I'd buy a new pedal to get started again, I'm sure I'm the only guy to do that. lol Finally bought a big board to hold all of them. Thanks again for the info.
Rancid Rumpboogie
Blues Mangler
When putting a board together, I find that being able to easily make cables the exact length you need is more important than the size of the jack. On these two compact boards, there is no way I could have gotten all the pedals on them if I had to wad up a bunch of 1-foot or even 6-inch cables. As it was, I had to wad up and zip-tie the 9V daisy chains and it was hard enough to even make that all fit in any kind of tidy fashion. I used all George L cables. They aren't cheap, but they are very easy to make to custom length and the resulting jack connection to the cables is extremely durable. Those little pancake jacks that you have to solder and put together with two tiny screws are notorious for coming apart and shorting out (never mind being a pain in the butt to solder and get together).
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When joined together like this, both boards are powered by a single one-spot that is on the bigger board, mounted under the little HoTone Golden Touch pedal. The single one-spot has power to spare even with all pedals on. I have no problem with noise. The smaller board, when used by itself, is powered by a Big Joe lithium battery.
I hate wall warts! This board doesn't need one, the one-spot IS a wall wart and it is mounted under the little HoTone Golden Touch pedal with a light-duty 18' extension cord plugged into it. The extension cord easily coils up and stashes right inside the pedal board case. So the only thing I need to plug in is a small two-prong plug and not have to hassle with finding an outlet that will accommodate a freaking wall wart.
.
When joined together like this, both boards are powered by a single one-spot that is on the bigger board, mounted under the little HoTone Golden Touch pedal. The single one-spot has power to spare even with all pedals on. I have no problem with noise. The smaller board, when used by itself, is powered by a Big Joe lithium battery.
I hate wall warts! This board doesn't need one, the one-spot IS a wall wart and it is mounted under the little HoTone Golden Touch pedal with a light-duty 18' extension cord plugged into it. The extension cord easily coils up and stashes right inside the pedal board case. So the only thing I need to plug in is a small two-prong plug and not have to hassle with finding an outlet that will accommodate a freaking wall wart.
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cowboy
Blues, Booze & BBQ
I have both...but prefer the George L's...not all pedals have input/ouput jacks that match up...and not all pedals are Boss...just saying you might end up with some others...
...later.cowboy
DannyB
2 miles from Jim Beam. Oh! Pleasent Hope!
Ditto what RR said!
If you only have a couple pedals, these work marvelous with ZERO signal loss. :
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...-instrument-rr-right-angle-pedal-cable-6-inch
or
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...instrument-rr-right-angle-pedal-cable-10-inch
On my big board I now use Emerson:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...son-custom-pedalboard-cable-kit-12-foot-black
Rancid Rumpboogie
Blues Mangler
Those Emerson connectors look to be just as durable as the George L's ... but the connector is a bit slimmer.
JPsuff
Blackstar Artist
These work fine for me.
I use them throughout my pedalboard and I've had no issues with them at all.
A six-pack of these costs just a tiny bit more than ONE Mogami cable.
https://www.musiciansfriend.com/acc...led-6-pack?rNtt=braided coupler cable&index=4
I use them throughout my pedalboard and I've had no issues with them at all.
A six-pack of these costs just a tiny bit more than ONE Mogami cable.
https://www.musiciansfriend.com/acc...led-6-pack?rNtt=braided coupler cable&index=4
CapnDenny1
Student Of The Blues
Pedals? Pedals? I don’t have any pedals! I don’t need any stinking pedals!
DannyB
2 miles from Jim Beam. Oh! Pleasent Hope!
I guess that means a pair of 20 ft Mogami Platinum instrument cables for the send and return of the fx loop is out of the question!
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PlatGtr20--mogami-platinum-guitar-20
Iheartbacon
Blues Junior
I guess that means a pair of 20 ft Mogami Platinum instrument cables for the send and return of the fx loop is out of the question!
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PlatGtr20--mogami-platinum-guitar-20
Mogami cables are what pro’s buy...when they have an expense account that someone else is picking up the tab for.