Anyone making their own guitar cables??

[Richie]

my old belden was 40' too. I made it because back then their wasn't any wireless stuff. And i ran around alot.. so i made my own 40'cable for my guitar.

[Structo]

No I was being sincere, the important thing is to get the facts right.

BTW, I'm probably preaching to the choir but I have been very happy with the service I get from www.Redco.com

They may not stock a lot of different shielded cable but they have good prices on the Mogami and the Neutrik plugs I like to use.

If you want a really good cable for not that much $$ check out "The Spirit" by Sommer cable sold at www.lavacable.com

That was my first mid high end cable and it completely impressed me as I had previously used pretty generic guitar cords.

But remember to evaluate your guitar and amp as to whether it leans towards bright or dark when choosing the pf/ ft cable.

Low pf cable can sound terrible on a bright amp.

[Phil_S]

PHIL - it sounds like the cable is correct but if it's broadcasting and it's isolated to the cable, something is a miss.

I agree, but it only plays radio on this one high gain amp. It's fine on any of the others, none of which are high gain. So, you know the old story, patient goes to the doctor and says, "It hurts when I do this." The doc says, "Then don't do 'this' ." So that' one amp that doesn't work with that cable. Thought I'd ask as long as we were on the subject. Thanks for the "input".

[kec]

Why Low Capacitance?

1. The higher the capacitance of a cable, the less highs reach the amplifier.

2. High-capacitance cables shift the resonance towards the lower frequencies which dramatically alters tone. For example, Jimi Hendrix used a coiled cord with 3,000 picofarads (.003 microfarads), shifting the resonance below 2,000 Hertz on his Strats. This was the secret of Jimi's tone. Shifting the resonance frequency at 2,000 Hertz has a similar effect to a midrange boost. However, when he recorded and needed a typical Strat sound for some tracks, Jimi switched to a short, low-capacitance cable.

3. There are some very expensive high-capacitance cables on the market with a sound you might like for some tunes, but then you are stuck with that one sound. Using a low-capacitance cable, you can easily change the circuit capacitance by using a push-pull tone control to switch capacitors -- one capacitor for clean sounds and another for distortion. This allows you to choose the right capacitor values to match the pickups, aiming for a 600-700 Hertz resonance for clean sound and a 1500-2200 Hertz resonance for distortion.

http://www.billlawrence.com/Pages/Connector_Cable.htm

[playonit]

Got my order from Redco today and made up 2 15ft. cords... using the Canare L-4E6S Quad Mic Cable and Neutrik NP2X-B ends and a little shrink tube... it all worked great with a sound improvement over my $13.99 Guitar Barn cord...... All for the grand total of less then $20 a cord... Make's me feel even better after seeing a so called killer cord going for $149 ... $149 frick'n.. are you kidding me ....

[Structo]

Good job!

Now you are in the know.

[playonit]

Good job!

Now you are in the know.

Yep..... Thanks again for the REDCO link... just the way it should be... Cheap and fast!!!!!

[rp]

Got my order from Redco today and made up 2 15ft. cords... using the Canare L-4E6S Quad Mic Cable

I'll ask again, what is the advantage to making guitar cables out of StarQuad instead of GS6?

$149 ... $149 frick'n.. are you kidding me ....

I'm shocked too, but then what are people going to connect their overpriced custom shop guitars to their overpriced custom shop amps with? Someone once tagged all the high-priced accessories in hifi as Audio Jewelry. The guitar world has become like that too with $400 pedals and the like.

[XgamerGt03]

Well GS-6 is 80 cents per foot where as the quad 4E6S is 48 cents. So it cost less to use 4E6S than it does to use GS-6.

I personally like the fact that I have two conductors for both connections that I make. Redundancy is helpful when trying to prolong time to failure of something.

[C Moore]

I have never made a "guitar cable", but I have made several shorter cables from the stuff in the link below. Made it for friends pedal boards, patch cables, and stuff like that. Again, this was for several different friends, not Joe Bonamassa.
Nobody has ever complained about the sound, noise, cables falling apart, etc. But I don't know.... Is what I used the wrong cable?
Thank You

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... er=100-210

[Structo]

Well that RG59 75 ohm coax is made to carry a video signal.

It has a copper plated solid steel center conductor.

I'm sure it works but it may not be the best choice.

If it gets bent too often it can break.

It's made more for a static installation meaning it is meant to be put in a location and left alone.

[rp]

Well that RG59 75 ohm coax is made to carry a video signal.

It has a copper plated solid steel center conductor.

I'm sure it works but it may not be the best choice.

If it gets bent too often it can break.

It's made more for a static installation meaning it is meant to be put in a location and left alone.

+1 and then some. I work with this stuff every day, I could get all I need, top quality too, even stuff like monster, free. We leave trash bags of 20-30' scraps behind all the time, even rolls with too little left on the be worth shipping back. I would never use it for MI work, if only for its mechanical unpleasantness.

BTW RG59 is obsolete stay away from it, it's doesn't play well with digital CATV/SATV. Wire up your house with that and you get to do it all over again! Use RG6 now (which would be even nastier for MI).

[PlinytheWelder]

I just came across this post. I been using Canare L-4E6S for years making balanced and unbalanced cables...
For unbalanced, I solder 2 wires to the tip and 2 wires plus the shield for ground. Great transparent cable....

[C Moore]

Well that RG59 75 ohm coax is made to carry a video signal.

It has a copper plated solid steel center conductor.

I'm sure it works but it may not be the best choice.

If it gets bent too often it can break.

It's made more for a static installation meaning it is meant to be put in a location and left alone.

I hear you.
I used it for a lot of short bends in small places. Once it was connected, it was never really moved again. I guess that is why I got lucky.
Thank You

[C Moore]

This has been bugging me since I posted it. I made some patch cables and pedal to pedal cables on a pedal board for some friends. I felt like an idiot for giving my friends the wrong stuff. The three guys I made them for say the cables are still working fine.
I found the spool that I used, and it turns out it was something different. It is probably pretty generic (cheap) compared to what you guys are using, but at least I know I gave my friends "the real thing"......
Thanks
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... TR=100-262