Patch Cables article
Patch Cables for Beginners: A Complete Guide
You've bought your second pedal and now need something to join it up. Here's exactly what to get, no studio jargon required.
If you've just bought your second pedal and realised you now need something to actually connect it to your first one, welcome — patch cables are a genuinely small, solvable problem, and you don't need to understand studio patchbays or modular synths to get it right.
What You Actually Need Right Now
For a normal electric guitar pedalboard, the answer is short ¼-inch TS cables. That's it. Forget TRS, balanced wiring and studio-format connectors for now — none of that applies to a standard mono guitar signal chain, and worrying about it before you need to just adds confusion you don't need yet.
How Many Do You Actually Need?
Count the gaps between your pedals, not the pedals themselves. Two pedals need one connecting cable between them, plus your instrument lead into the first pedal and another cable out to your amp. Three pedals need two patch cables to link them, and so on. It's a simple chain, one link at a time.
Measuring Length Without Overthinking It
- Set your pedals out roughly where you want them on the board
- Look at how far apart each pair of jacks actually sits
- Choose the shortest cable that reaches without pulling tight
- Leave a small amount of slack rather than a taut, straight line
- Repeat for every connection in the chain
Buying one length for the whole board almost never works well — pedals sit at different distances from each other, and forcing one-size-fits-all cables creates unnecessary loops and strain.
Straight or Angled Plugs?
If your pedal's jacks are on the side, angled plugs usually let you sit pedals closer together with less clutter. If the jacks are on top or slightly recessed, a straight plug often reaches more comfortably. Look at your actual pedals before buying rather than assuming one style suits everything.
Do You Need Anything Fancy?
No. Perfectly ordinary soldered TS patch cables do the job for a beginner's board. Expensive materials and premium shielding solve problems you probably don't have yet — get comfortable with a simple, reliable set first, and only look at upgrading specific cables if something in your chain is actually causing you trouble.
One Habit Worth Building Early
Test every new cable before you rely on it — plug it in, wiggle both ends gently while a note rings out, and listen for any crackle or dropout. It takes ten seconds and saves you from discovering a fault halfway through practice, or worse, halfway through a gig.
Where to Go Next
Once your board's up and running, our complete guide explains the broader picture — TS, TRS, studio and modular formats — for whenever you're curious. If you're thinking about upgrading specific cables later, our buyer's guide and our pick of the best options for the money are both worth reading first.
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