and

Preserving Tone

Around 2004, an early PedalSnake model was tested in our hometown of Raleigh NC.  One boutique guitar store in town, with several tone freeks in house, allowed us to do a blindfolded AB test.  Nobody there could tell the difference in PedalSnake and an 8 foot guitar cable costing $200 (we won't mention the brand). Use at Least One "Buffered" Pedal PedalSnake G-Lines have a higher capacitance than typical guitar cords.  For this reason, at least 1 buffered (non-true-bypass) pedal is usually needed between the guitar and PedalSnake G-Line.  This is a good idea for any rig, really...see True Bypass Truths (a really cool article).  This is not a big deal, becuase most pedals are still buffered (like Boss, Digitech, Ibanez, etc.), and nobody we know can notice any change in tone by using one buffered pedal (if someone claims they can, give 'em the old blindfolded A/B test!) If your "primary pedal chain" (the pedal, or chain of pedals, that connects directly to your guitar) is "all true bypass" now, all you have to do is add one buffered pedal into that chain, like a Boss TU-2 Tuner (that's what Jody the PedalSnake inventor uses).  This keeps the guitar pickup from having to "drive" the G-Line, which is good, because pickups are not good at driving cable capacitace in any rig (that's why they invented buffered pedals!) If you have active pickups, and your guitar requires a battery, then you may not need a buffered pedal in your primary chain, because a lower-impedance buffer circuit (not the pickup itself) is probably driving the cable.  Let your ears be the judge.

and

and

Keeping it Quiet

Folks always said not to run power cords beside audio signal cables--that hum could result.  They were right...until now. 

PedalSnake's patented wiring scheme and special cable allow players to not only run power and audio together, but also with digital signals, footswitch lines, etc....and with less noise than traditional cabling. 

How can this be?

• PedalSnake employs a patented wiring scheme and a special shielded cable.
• PedalSnake allows power supplies to move from the frontline (beside your pedals) to the backline (beside your amp and away from the pedals).  It is possible for power supplies to radiate noise into pedal electronics, so its good to keep them at some distance.  In fact, try this with your rig...plug one of your wall warts into an extension cord so you can pass it around like a magic wand.  Pass it near your pedals audio plugs and see if you hear the radiated noise come up in your speakers.
• The PedalSnake method allow's "star grounding", which means that your power supplies and all your backline gear (like amps) can plug into the same power strip.  This means a "tighter ground" right from the start---and less ground loop hum.

Back to top

and

PedalSnake's Reliability

Molded Plugs?

Decades ago, a large well-known dealer of electronic parts (we won't mention their name) offered cheap, molded 1/4" signal cords, and poor guitarists bought them in droves (but they shouldn't have---we've seen them go bad within a few hours).  This, of course, served to give molded connectors a bad name. Truth be told, a hi-quality molded connector can be more reliable than a soldered metal plug.  And if one ever does fail, a metal plug can always be soldered on in its place.

How do you make a sturdy molded plug?  Well, besides having good solder joints, its all about the design of the ABS mold for the connector.  Notice in the photo above:

• The ample mold around the top of the plug
• The ample mold extending out from the top of the plug (around the soldered contacts)
• The ample strain relief section that covers the cable
• The space-saving low profile right angle for pedalboards

The Proof is in the Pudding . As of this posting (November 2007), after 3 years of manufacturing and selling molded plug n play connectors for PedalSnake Systems:

• We have had exactly four (4) failures
• Three (3) of these had been in service over one year, and probably did not use the strain relief ties we provide.
• None of the failed connectors were the DIN connectors at the interface. 

and

So, what about the DIN conectors?

We struggled for a long time over which connector to use for PedalSnake's plug n play interface.  We chose the 5pin DIN connector, for 4 very good reasons:

1. Rugged.  They can be manufactured with extremely sturdy molds.
2. High Insertion Force.  They do not come unplugged easily.
3. Ultimate Reliability.  They have a "pin and sleeve" contact arrangement that yields better electrical conductivity, and fewer failures.
4. Multi-Function Use.  They allow bare BaseSnake channels to be used for DIN applications, like MIDI, certain amp footswitches, etc.  

Back to top