Cable advice

[Silverburst]

Hi,

I'm going from Combo to rack these days, so I'm in need of different kinds of cables : Speakers cables and short patch cables to interconnect 19" rack parts.

Could anyone advise me on this ? Brands, types, shops (I live in Europe/Belgium, but ordering in the US shouldn't be a problem)

Thanks.

[elcid]

George Ls are nice since they can be easily made to custom lengths, but I have heard bad things about their reliability. I havent had any problems with mine, and I would think in the back of a rack they wouldnt be messed with too much. Just dont be scammed by the whole Monster thing and you'll be ok

[quik]

I've had no problems with George L's.

[Paul Secondino]

George L cables are very good quality, however their non soldered connections cannot long stand stress from bouncing around, being moved, twisted , etc

So if you use george L cable in the back of the rack where they wont move, it should be ok.However, if I were to use George L cable, I would still solder it to switch craft or neutrik plugs. But if you don't solder, don't worry about it

For going between guitar and amp or pedal board, you can use something like the Mogami 2524 premade cables which is equally good as monster or planet waves.OR buy a Monster cable if you like but opt for a good soldered connection and stay away from molded connections. Ones where you cannot unscrew the shield from the plug

[Silverburst]

Soldering shouldn't be a problem, I fixed cables in the past. Non soldering sounds a bit risky I didn't evalutate the possibility of making my own cables... but interesting indeed.

what things should I be aware of when making speaker and patch cables. In fact I don't know the difference and it seems pretty important

Are golden plugs a must ?

[Algiman]

I have used George L's in my rack and had not problems. I wouldn't want to run them to an instrument though. The connections are absolutely fine without solder. I'm an electronics engineer and it went against my nature not to solder them, but after a year without the slightest problem I'm convinced.

Golden plugs? A bit excessive for a rack!

[Paul Secondino]

Originally Posted by pmike

Soldering shouldn't be a problem, I fixed cables in the past. Non soldering sounds a bit risky I didn't evalutate the possibility of making my own cables... but interesting indeed.

what things should I be aware of when making speaker and patch cables. In fact I don't know the difference and it seems pretty important

Are golden plugs a must ?

If you can solder, you will save yourself alot of money.I make all my own cables.Here's a few things to keep in mind:

INstrument cable for guitar, patching between pedals and rack gear is a 1 conductor cable with an outer shield. The inner conductor carries the signal and the outer shield is used to make a ground connection

Speaker cable is "unshielded" and normally has 2 seperate conductors. Never mix speaker cable for instrument cable

Two very good and affordable cable manufacturers are Mogami and Canare. Both companies make excellent uality cable and are readily available as well as affordable

Some of the more exotic cables like quantum,Klotz Lagrange and evidence are all excellent but can be very expensive.So Mogami and Canare are usually going to give you way above average quality while being reasonably priced.

For instrument cables, I like to use Mogami 2524 and sometimes Canare GS-6. The Canare GS-6 has a braided shield which needs to be unraveled at the ends before you can solder it to a plug. On the other hand, this braided shield makes the cable very strong and reliable.

The Mogami 2524 has a little more detail than the Canare so I prefer it but both are very good cables and easily give sound quality that is as good as anything planet waves or Monster Cable sell.

For Speaker Cables, Mogami makes :

3103- 2 Conductor speaker cable approx $2.00 per foot
3104- 4 conductor (quad) style cable approx $3.60 per foot

Canare Makes:
4S6 , 4S8 , 4S11 all of which are quad style speaker cables.

For audio connectors you can use switchcraft SW 280 plugs which are 1/4" straight and SW 226 which are right angle

Neutrik conectors are also very good but are usually considered overkill for going betweenamps and effects. If you have enough room to fit these larger connections they are fine, but most neutrik 1/4 plugs are very big and can be hard to fit in a narrow space.

[Silverburst]

Great overview Paul, thanks ! I wasn't sure that speaker cables really needed an unshielded 2 seperate conductor-cable. I've seen different amps that just have a round shielded cable on board.

Gonna surf around to see if I can find a shop that will ship me what I'd like.

[waylay00]

I use the George L's solderless for my pedalboard, and Monsters for all else. I also have a friend who makes cables and gives them to me sometimes.

[Paul Secondino]

Originally Posted by pmike

Great overview Paul, thanks ! I wasn't sure that speaker cables really needed an unshielded 2 seperate conductor-cable. I've seen different amps that just have a round shielded cable on board.

Gonna surf around to see if I can find a shop that will ship me what I'd like.

HEre's the two places I buy from the most

www.redco.com (very good service )

www.markertek.com (best prices and massive selection)