Sound Garage Tales

The greatest space-eater on guitar pedal boards are the connection jacks.
Just take a look at your pedal board and imagine how much space you can free up if you can neatly align them next to each other as close as possible.

That’s exactly what I did with my guitar pedal board specially after purchasing the Pedaltrain Junior frame that’s quite small, so I had to rethink what pedal I REALLY need and need not. I like to travel light.

I know, this has been on my bench for months, and I finally got it out of the way. Sorry about the wait, hope it will pay back. I had numerous requests as a result of the video I made about my Pedaltrain Junior pedal board, about the guitar effect inter-connect cables I am using there. I came to the conclusion that the simplest thing is to shoot another video about this and hopefully be of some help for you.

Of course one can always buy the interconnect cables directly from a manufacturer like this Hosa CFS107 6-Inch Jumper Cable for Pedal Effects (Metal Type) but if you want your own custom length to route your guitar signal, it really comes down to make your own. And to be honest it is simple! There are a couple things to consider.

Soldering Skillz

Really the only main skill you need here is to know how to make a good solder joint. There are TONS of videos, infos out there on how to do this so I won’t elaborate other than to hone your soldering skills on some scrap PC boards, connectors, etc. This video I found might be of help:

It is of great use to have in the house some sort of soldering iron. Doesn’t have to be fancy, just something powerful enough (40w or so) that can make a good quality solder joint. I found this Trisonic Best Quality 8 1/2 to be of great use.

What You Need

Here are a couple sources to buy the components to build your own guitar effect pedal inter connect cables:

1. Right Angle 1/4″ Male jacks.
They are the thinnest I found on the market and very reliable. Remember that you do not need a jack that has a strong structure since your pedal interconnects are not pulled in and out like your guitar cable that has continuous strain applied to it. Your plug your pedal inter connect cable to and hopefully forget it there.

2. Mono Shielded Instrument Cable.
Can be found by simply purchasing a cheap regular guitar cable (like this 25 Foot CBI American made Instrument Cable) from where you can simply snip off the length you need.

That’s it! Now sit back and watch this video tutorial:

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