EBS flat cables = possible awesomeness

[waltdogg]

They don't even notice.

Perfect.

[goroth]

How well do these cables handle being twisted from a top jack to a side jack?

No problems.

If you're constantly changing pedals and pulling them in and out then you might want to use something else, but I've had mine without a problem.

[waltdogg]

Thats the only gripe I've read in this thread. And it does concern me, I pull my tuner off my board quite a lot to use on my bench for setups. Although the EBS cables are super cheap and I'd hate to someday kill one of my homemade Mogami patches from constantly unplugging it and plugging it back in.

[goroth]

maybe they're super durable, but I don't really mess with mine so I don't want to give them an unqualified thumbs up.

[untilshewokeme]

Thats the only gripe I've read in this thread. And it does concern me, I pull my tuner off my board quite a lot to use on my bench for setups. Although the EBS cables are super cheap and I'd hate to someday kill one of my homemade Mogami patches from constantly unplugging it and plugging it back in.

There are a lot of people on TB that use these cables that constantly redo/change their board and there has only been a handful of reported failures out of hundreds of cables.

I've only used EBS flats and I have redone my board complete 3 different times and nothing has failed yet. I think as long as you aren't ripping them out and man handling them, they will last long... but I am sure the same can be said with just about any patch cable.

[Chankgeez]

Well, I can only go by my experience, and, for me, as someone who plugs & unplugs patch cables daily , they're not durable enough for me. As I stated previously, if you plug your pedals in & leave 'em alone, these cables are probably fine.

I never contacted EBS. Didn't think it was worth it for a $5 cable. I just won't buy 'em again. I'm glad I tried 'em, but next time I buy patch cables, I'll go for a cable I know'll be more durable. Since I don't have a board, I don't get the full benefit from having low-profile cables anyway. So, I don't wanna discourage people from buying these. I just wanted to share what I've experienced in case anybody uses them the way I do.

None of the cables I bought have failed, but they're getting too staticy to use. If I move 'em around, they make noise. I don't want that. So, I don't use 'em. I don't think they're strong enough for the way I use 'em. That's fine. In retrospect, I don't expect super durability from a thinly molded patch cable. They just started to go bad a lot sooner than I thought they would.

[Inconuucl]

I finally reached the point that I have to get some of these if I want to fit my pedals in my board. how do you guys plan which cables you get? I might just get then all in the longest lenght and deal with the mess under the board, or do I get a variety and improvise? My board changes so much I can't really buy just what I need, and I'd definitely need to get spares for gig emergencies...

I'm overcomplicating things.

[untilshewokeme]

Well if you are going top jack to top jack, side jack to side jack or about 90% of side jack to top jack (and vice versa) and the pedals are right next to each other, you can get away with 4"res

If you lay out your pedalboard the way you want it, you can always use a piece of yarn/twine/string and measure how long things would be from pedal to pedal that way to get a someone accurate measurement.

Then just order like 3 extra of each cable to have as backup or in case things change.

[waltdogg]

Welp I ordered a couple of 4" cables from Full Compass. Hopefully I can use them to make my board a bit tidier since I made a change to it today. A very awesome change.

[waltdogg]

EBS recently upgraded the cables to have a little piece of metal inside the plastic casting. Much sturdier now. Too bad Full Compass sent me the old style ones last week and new style ones this week. Kinda need 'em all to be like that...

[Chankgeez]

Good to know. Too bad you got a mixed bag. Glad I'm not the only one who thought they could use some reinforcement.

[waltdogg]

Yeah, the whole cable feels a bit sturdier in general now. I sent Full Compass an irate e-mail this morning. Well until I get my second TU-3 back or find one dirt cheap I'm gonna have to keep taking my tuner off my board when I go do setups in the garage, which was my main concern if they were wearing out easily on people that swap pedals on their board(s) often.

[popvulture]

So... question. Are the ends of these flexible at all?

The reason I ask is because I just bought a switcher, and am considering getting a bunch of these to wire up my board. My only worry is that the right angle ends won't fit well on the switcher jacks, which are really close together. Unless... there's a little bit of flex and they can sort of comfortably overlap a bit? Not sure, would love to hear if anybody's used them in that kind of situation.

Other option: solder my own cables with straight plugs on one end, pancakes on the other. That's probably the smartest, but I'll have to do a little practicing.

[untilshewokeme]

The ends aren't really flexible. They aren't very wide though, like, even with the jacks on the CT5 very close together the cables fit without a problem

[popvulture]

Hmmmmm... alright that's reassuring. I think this would be doable. And sure would beat the hell out of soldering cables myself.