DIY Cables

I should be receiving some Mogami wire (2524 and 2319), Neutrik connectors, GLS pancake plugs, shrink tubing, and techflex sleeving today. I decided to make cables for my board (approx 10 pedals), connection to amp, and connection from guitar. Total cost was about $70. Not bad considering Mogami Golds would have cost over $300. I am currently wired up with Livewire Advantage cables which I have never really had a problem with over many years.

So should I expect a sonic improvement?

 

Thanks for the reply. That is all good to know. Interesting if that is true about LiveWire using Mogami cable.

 

Well, I made a couple cables over the weekend. I need to redo one of them because of shoddy soldering. The "good" one I made sounds great, but seemingly not real different than my LiveWire Advantage (not Elite).? I tested them directly (straight in) into my POD practice headphone rig.

Oh, and, yeah, I didn't need the shrink tubing with the Neutrik plugs. I also don't think I'd use Techflex again. I just don't really dig the feel.

 

Thanks for the tips RockStarNick. I bought a cool apparatus with rugged alli clips and magnifying glass from Radioshack that helped alot. I also picked up a new 25W RS soldering iron. It was more consistent than my other, Black & Decker iron. I am using 4% silver solder though, and I'm wondering if the 60/40 works better.?

I had to redo both cables last night because of shoddy soldering. There was some white noise with every note. It wasn't out front, but definitely loud enough for me to know my soldering job was crap. So I resoldered 3 of the four ends and both cables are quiet and sound great. Still though, I a/b'd the cables against my LiveWire Advantage (approx. $20 for 10-15') and I didn't hear much of a difference, if at all.

Anyway, I am feeling more confident to go ahead with making the 10 patch cables for my board. Again, I won't use Techflex in the future. I am considering cutting it off of my 2 finished cables. It does not feel good at all.

 

So I made my first patch cable. Was tough using the GLS pancake plugs at first, but I got the hang of it. My main problem is my soldering iron tip not staying hot. It turns black rather quickly and loses conductivity. I am going to sand the tips and try to tin them quicker to mitigate this effect. I hope it works because there is nothing more frustrating than working with a soldering iron that isn't hot enough.

 

Thanks RockStarNick. The 25W seems to work fine as long as the tip is clean/tinned. I tried to keep it cleaned/tinned last night, but it didn't want to keep the solder on the tip. It kept balling up and falling off. Maybe I'll try the 40W---putting more into these cables than I budgeted

 

I am using Radioshack 96/4 solder. I also have some smaller Kester 67/38/2 (??).

 

Well, my 25W is hot enough. The problem I have had is with tips. For some reason, tips burn out quick on me. I think I need to invest in solid copper tips. Anyway, I have been able to keep the current tip decently clean and tinned and have had great succes. Tonight I soldered 3-4 patch cables in about 5-10 minutes each; and the cables worked on the first go round.

The lesson for me has been to keep the iron tip from burning out, or if it does, sand it and start over. This cable making is MUCH better with a proper tip.