Tone Report Weekly Issue 135 | Page 63

• Firmly insert one end of cable into the opening of the DisasterPlug • Tighten the ground screw • Repeat And that’s it. Easy peasy. Done in seconds. Plus, if you want a right angle cable, you can just bend the 3.85mm diameter cable into the slot and you’re good to go. Now, the one gripe I have here is with the ground screw. It’s really small. And I’ve tried several methods of trying to get it to work better, but have basically resolved to the fact that it’s just going to be a bit tedious. But hey—at least I don’t have to run a vacuum to clean up excess copper braid anymore. On the positive side, the success rate is phenomenal. To fully wire up my board I need about 20 plugs. And as I mentioned, solderless cables can be prone to user error failure. Now, your results may vary, but I was thrilled (and completely stunned) to find that I didn’t have a single cable remake the first time I wired up with DisasterPlugs. That’s something I can’t say about any other solderless option I’ve used. NEAT FREAK I’m kind of OCD when it comes to my pedalboard. I just can’t stomach dangling cables and asymmetrical layouts. And for those of you who have been reading Tone Report since the beginning, you may recall a “Hack Your Rig” feature that I wrote on how to clean up your pedalboard (Issue 14, published 3.14.14) that included a recommendation of solderless cables: “[They] allow you to use the exact amount of cable you need—no more, no less.” This is still as true now as it was then, so if for no other reason than fanatical tidiness, consider getting a DisasterPlug kit (or two). WHAT WE LIKE These cables deliver on the Disaster Area promise: They’re small, they work well, and they’re easy to assemble any time you need to make a change. I’ve been using them on my board for a few months now and absolutely love them. CONCERNS Outside of the set screw implementation that I mentioned earlier, my only issue is that it would be nice to have some a plug jacket of some kind to help the right angles stay a little tighter. ToneReport.com 63