Pushing your pedalboard to be the most organised and efficient way to lay out those little boxes we all obsess over
Is there any gear in your growing (and growing and growing) collection that you take for granted? Maybe you’ve gone without it for a gig and only then have you realised what a welcome addition it is. Well, TourGear Designs Cables are your next purchase that you never knew you needed.
It really is the little things that make a difference, the TourGear Designs Flat TRS Patch Cables starting at just 6” with varying lengths available. Their unique ‘C’ and ‘S’-shaped cables make wiring up a pedalboard a breeze, with no need to twist, coil, and eventually ruin your cables as your tone deteriorates with them.
What’s more, TourGear Designs’ space-saving connector design means you can make the most of every part of your board, connectors often taking up precious real estate. You can replace your entire arsenal of mismatched patch cables with TourGear Designs cables, as they offer every type of cable needed to connect your pedals, from expression to stereo, standard mono pedals to insert cables for recording and mixing if needed. TourGear Designs focus on improving the little things that none us realised we were missing until they hit the market.
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TourGear Designs Flat Patch Cables are available in varying lengths from 6” (15cm) to 23” (58cm), in either TS or TRS configurations depending on your needs. There’s also a Y-Cable available with TRS to dual mono TS connectors for stereo applications. The patch cables are insulated with twisted copper shielding for low-noise operation, and are constructed from high quality PVC that bends and moves to the placement of pedals on your board. The interior is flexible copper conductors rated at 26 AWG, so they can pass every ounce of precious signal that you’ve shaped, sculpted, and driven from pedal to pedal. TourGear Designs Cables operate from -15C to 70C so hot tour vans, cold plane carriers, and sunny outdoor gigs won’t affect the cable’s ability to pass signal from pedal to pedal.
The ‘C’ and ‘S’ design refers to the orientation of the cable’s connectors, ‘C’ being a more conventional layout for a patch cable. ‘C’ meaning that when laid flat, the connectors aim the same direction, ideal for connectors on pedals that connect side by side, or both have inputs and outputs on the top. The ‘S’ design has the connectors aimed away from each other, so that pedals can be laid flat but still connect a a pedal with it’s output on the side to a pedal with its input on the top. Previously, this would have require a little twist in the cable that would slowly deteriorate the interior over time, and with the countless number of pedals from different manufacturers, this was a growing issue. TourGear Designs solve this with their ‘S’ design, the varying lengths allowing connection across or below your pedal board, no matter how complex your routing is. What’s more, the connectors themselves have a super low and slim profile, allowing for pedals to be placed closer together to save space.
TourGear have made something we all take for granted into the most efficient version of itself. Patch cables and their connectors can be clunky and oversized, sometimes two to three cables making up the space of a whole stompbox. The flat design of the cable and small profile of the connector itself make arranging a pedalboard a breeze, and give you the space you need to maximise the space you’ve got. Pedals add up quickly, and bigger boards mean more weight which literally costs you when travelling with your gear by plane or van. The ‘S’ oriented cables are a super welcome addition, allowing me to patch cables with different orientations without any twisted or coiled cables, which looks better aesthetically and allows the cables to be tucked away in a tidy manner. The low profile of the connectors is also super handy in the Y-Cable format, as pedals with stereo options usually have quite a few inputs and outputs, so the TourGear Designs cables make connecting all this a simple affair. The Y-Cable allows you to send stereo signal out to multiple mono sources, or as an insert cable in the studio, and is a super handy cable to have up your sleeve. The low profile means you could literally hide them up your sleeve now that I think about it…
TourGear Designs patch cables are nothing glamorous, but they’re a welcome addition to anyone’s board. We’ve all battled with bulky, rigid patch cables and accepted our fate, and TourGear Designs disperse the fight with their ‘C’ and ‘S’ oriented cables to help us connect any pedal from any manufacturer with ease. They have TRS cables available for stereo, expression, or other balanced sources, standard mono TS cables and a Y-Splitter for more complex routing, or Smiths fans sending the opening riff of How Soon Is Now? to multiple amps for maximum stereo spread.
Some companies innovate and invent from the ground up, while companies like TourGear Designs take what already works and re-invent it for maximum usability, allowing us to innovate and focus on our playing, not the gear. A handful of their patch cables won’t set your savings back, but they will push your pedalboard to be the most organised and efficient way to lay out those little boxes we all obsess over.
Head to TourGear Designs for more information. For local enquiries, reach out to Gsus4.
