Seriously, making cables is AWESOME!

[MichaelG]

Since some good Samaritan on here taught me about the conductive shield, I have been on a cable-making frenzy.

So far, I've made speaker cables that beat the shit out of anything I've tried. I'm using some huge gauge redco stuff with the big neutrik ends.

I've made some mini cables with the Canare GS-4 and normal neutrik ends that sound as good as any full-size cable. It works great in the rack or on the pedal board.

I've made some 20+ foot instrument cables with the redco TGS-HD with normal Neutrik ends that just rock my socks off. It sounds killer, and it's nice and flexible without being tangly.


This is the real ultimate power. My local guitar friends are just wowed by this ability I have.

Every one of these cables would cost $20+ at the store, and not even sound close.

Damn, this rocks!

Awesome! This is exactly what I have been doing for a few years; I'm even using the same power/instrument cable and connectors that you are. Good taste in parts, man!

Here is a lesson that I learned early on: Never make a cable without testing for shorts...... I made a 15 foot instrument cable and it sounded pretty good when I plugged it in on a clean channel. A few days later I plugged the cable in to play some distorted riffs and my distorted tones were absolutely SUCKING. Well I went on a bad tube hunt and even through away what I thought was a bad quartet or power tubes. It took a day for me to finally figure out that it was the cable I had made. There was a partial short where the heat from the solder iron caused the shielding (ground) to melt through the inner insulation.



It's been a lot of good fun though.

 

[MrDan666]

Well i just made about 5 or 6 cables for my rack system this afternoon. Turned out great, and they sound fantastic!!

For the last few years i have been using Sommer spirit cable for my actual guitar cables, and the biggest most bad-ass lookin Neutrik jacks i have ever seen.

For any rack or pedalboard wiring, i use Sommer Session MKII. Its 24-AWG and is VERY nice and flexible for using in hard to reach places in the back of the rack. I use a switchcraft equivalent for the jacks for these smaller cables, where they dont get touched once theyre in the rack. Works like a charm!!

Im going to buy a large reel of the Klotz La Grange cable for guitar cables this month, as i just ran out of Sommer Spirit. The Klotz stuff is rated pretty well over at LavaCable, and it appears to have slightly less capacitance per foot in length compared to Sommer Spirit.. which is nice!