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Useful gear ideas

#62
ardgedee said:
Depends on the connector? Rean and Neutrik make some 3.5mm connectors that are more or less just miniaturized versions of their 6.5mm units, including the metal barrels. Easier to build with than some XLR plugs in my experience.
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Agree.

IIRC we used Rean NY231s for the plugs and some good quality panel mount jacks made by Switchcraft for my buddy's patch panel.

Don't remember the specific part number for the jacks. The 3.5mm jacks weren't what I'd consider super expensive either. Ran him somewhere around $60 for 25 or thereabouts from Digikey. They definitely weren't the usual cheaply made imports you find on Amazon for $7 a bag.
 
#63
40Hz said:
It was made by the two of us. He handled the sheet metalwork. I did the wiring and soldering. I'm assuming that makes it unprofessional by your standards. And by ours too since neither one of us considers ourselves electronics professionals either.

I'm sure a real pro could have done it better than ours .But our homebrew has performed very reliably despite that. It just works, so go figure. :)



I didn't find it all that challenging to cut strip, and solder to them. But I have a lot of experience dealing with connectors and cable assemblies and doing field repairs on them from my IT days. I'm also quite good at soldering.

And no. I never stepped on one. But I also never stepped on this particular rack mounted patch panel, nor the cables between two pedals on a pedalboard either. Be quite a feat if I could! :laugh:

I also wasn't suggesting earlier that 3.5mm jacks and plugs be used for everything. Just the patching cables between effects pedals mounted on a pedalboard. Which is a specific rather than general use case.
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Lonnybass said:
For those of you still using rack rigs with Furman power conditioners in the top slot, stick a nightlight into one of the rear power ports. Being able to see the inside of the rack when it is illuminated saved me many times on a dark stage.
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I considered 3.5mm jacks for headphones and aux inputs for the Subway, but after testing I concluded that there was no way we could offer a 5 year warranty without sticking with 1/4" jacks. I have also seen a fair number of damaged 3/5mm jacks used for the same purpose on competitor's amps so in MY opinion I made a good decision.
 
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#64
Lonnybass said:
For those of you still using rack rigs with Furman power conditioners in the top slot, stick a nightlight into one of the rear power ports. Being able to see the inside of the rack when it is illuminated saved me many times on a dark stage.
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Also, it's amazing how painting the inside of a box white makes it so easy to see inside.

I've done that with other applications... I should do that to my rack cases. :)
 
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#65
agedhorse said:
I considered 3.5mm jacks for headphones and aux inputs for the Subway, but after testing I concluded that there was no way we could offer a 5 year warranty without sticking with 1/4" jacks. I have also seen a fair number of damaged 3/5mm jacks used for the same purpose on competitor's amps so in MY opinion I made a good decision.
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I think you did too in your case. But I wasn't talking about AUX or headphone jacks. I was talking about jacks and patch cables between pedals mounted on a pedalboard which are usually anchored once they're installed and pretty much left alone after that. In this particular use case there's really no need for the bulk of 1/4" connectors and heavier gauged cable. Those expensive flat patch cables are proof enough of that provided you don't mind paying $10 (or more) for a 6" cable.

When it was just a guitar, an amp, and maybe one or two pedals it made perfect sense to standardize everything around the spec's of a guitar cable and just use that for all your connections. But these days you'll find multiple pedals are the norm for pedal users. Sure, you'll still want a 1/4" jack at the head and the tail of the signal chain for easy compatibility with a guitar cable. Or for single pedal users. But in between pedals on a board there's plenty of room for improvement. You could even use 3.5mm cables for everything and just mount a pair of 1/4" jacks connected to a pair of 3.5mm jacks right on the pedal board itself. That way the strain from the 1/4" plugs and cables is borne by the frame of the board and never touches the pedals. Far less torque potentially applied to the pedal jacks by doing it that way.

The power supply people already worked it out with multi-tap supplies and thin cables. I don't see any good reasons why the audio signal can't benefit from similar thinking other than because of inertia on the part of pedal manufacturers.

If one of the big kids on the block (such as BOSS) started providing parallel 1/4 and 3.5mm input and output jacks for that purpose it probably wouldn't be long before the rest of the industry followed suit since the benefits are pretty obvious. No need to form an industry consortium and establish a formal standard for it. Just start doing it and not worry about who else is following your lead since it's not a patentable concept anyway.

The Bored Brain Patchulator is a patchbay designed for use with effects pedals that uses 3.5mm cables for the actual patching.

IMG_9880.jpeg


Unfortunately, its circular form factor and clunky panel layout are seriously flawed and kinda hokey from a design perspective (IMO) even if the basic idea is good. But you are looking at a lot of 1/4" cables to use it. Which is why I think the 3.5mm jacks really need to be on the pedals.
 
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#66
agedhorse said:
I considered 3.5mm jacks for headphones and aux inputs for the Subway, but after testing I concluded that there was no way we could offer a 5 year warranty without sticking with 1/4" jacks.
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I just spoke in favor of 3.5mm plugs, but I think you made the right decision too.

It's one thing to build a bespoke system for a single user who knows what they're doing (or is at least going to be responsible for their own choices), and another thing to have to design for a general case.

Compact 3.5 -> 6.5 plug adapters make this a non-problem for pretty much anybody with headphones. Everybody should have a bulk bag of 'em (I'm seeing them at $0.50 each in quantity at Aliexpress), they inevitably come in handy sooner or later.
 
#67
The one thing about adapters, if you break one, you can replace the adapter without a service visit. That's one reason we did it this way, and we included an adapter as well. The crappy ones on AliExpress are cheap AND crappy so you get exactly what you pay for.
 
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#68
ardgedee said:
Not sure that's something I would readily count on in the best of circumstances (other things can move a wheeled box too), but if it works for you, it works.
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Those double-locking casters at HD (and everywhere) are more than enough to not budge an inch. Since most cabs are already on lil rubber feet or on the metal corner protectors, the wheels offer way more resistance. If the cab is sitting pretty flat on the floor, it's more prone to tip AND slide.
 
#69
agedhorse said:
I considered 3.5mm jacks for headphones and aux inputs for the Subway, but after testing I concluded that there was no way we could offer a 5 year warranty without sticking with 1/4" jacks. I have also seen a fair number of damaged 3/5mm jacks used for the same purpose on competitor's amps so in MY opinion I made a good decision.
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i learned that lesson on a headphone amp I built, and had to remove the 3.5 and replace it with a .25"…

If it's a lesson that I can share first hand after learning the hard way, as a hobbyist who has put together < 200 builds, it's not a very good sign.
 
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#78
MarshallAC50Stack said:
I would like to see many more mini amps with the controls on top instead of on the front. So many of us are using small cabs and it's difficult to see the controls.
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In most cases, top mounted controls are also hard to see.
 
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