If you already have a pedalboard loaded with a small army of stompboxes, then you'll already know patch leads aren't always the ideal length. Using cables any longer than you actually need can result in a super long chain which in turn, can result in signal loss. By making your own custom patch leads, you can control your chain length, neaten up your board and clean up your sound.
Patch Cable Kits: Short Jack Cables for Effect Pedals
Most guitarists will have at least a couple of guitar pedals set up between their guitar and amplifier, and even bassists are using pedals more and more these days. Whether you're stacking up overdrives and distortions or modulation effects, there's a big chance that your collection is only growing, so it can be a big help to hook all your pedals up to the same power supply and neatly line them up on a pedalboard. If your setup is fairly simply, then you can usually get away with using a set of standard patch leads and pedal plugs. For this you can get 15cm long, 20cm long and even 30cm long patch leads.
Making Your Own Patch Leads
If you have a much more complex pedalboard going on, then you might want to make your own patch leads, so you can cut them to the perfect length. There are complete kits available that can you can use to build your own custom patch leads, and you don't even have to be that technically savvy to do it. Most kits will come including all the tools you need and often, you won't even need to solder anything. Simply clip the jack plugs onto both ends of your cut cable and screw them in place. If you're already kitted out with enough patch leads but have some that could do with fixing up, you can also get replacement 6.3mm jack plugs as well as replacement jack cabling.
