Making Cables

[dintymoore]

Here's how I've been making unbalanced cables with Mogami 2792 three conductor cable:

1. strip the outer insulation, and pull the bare wire to one side and twist it
2. on this cable, you need to remove the black rubber on each of the two (clear and red) inner wires as, believe it or not, that rubber is conductive (!). I found that out the hard way... but I think that it's one of the reasons this cable is superior to some others.
3. strip the insulation off of the red wire.

4. the stripped red wire has "dental floss" in it to add strength but that makes it awkward to solder so I quickly pass a flame over it to burn it off.
5. twist the stripped red wire together with the twisted bare wire.
6. this is how one end is connected: the clear wire is the "hot" or tip and the combined red wire with the bare wire is the ground. There is no standard that I know of for this and using the red wire for the hot is fine too (even makes sense) and as long as you are consistent.

here's how the other end goes:

7. (crappy camera sorry) after I remove the outer insulation as in step 1. above, I use scissors to cut the bare wire off as close to where it comes out of the outer insulation as possible
8. this is what it looks like with the bare wire cut off.
9. using something not too sharp as to cut through the outer insulation, I stuff the bare wire back down inside the insulation a small amount until it isn't visible

After stripping the conductive black rubber off of the wires, I attach it like this, using the clear wire for the hot (or tip) and the red for the ground (kinda hard to see I know):

So the cable is grounded at each end, it's just that:
* the grounded shield is not attached at one end so it really helps prevent ground loop problems
* you have the bare wire ground, then the red wire as a ground, and then the red and clear wires have grounds around them (the black rubber that's conductive) and that's pressing against the bare wire, so in the end you have a lot of shielding protection compared to the normal 2 wire setup.

It's common practice, though it really doesn't matter, to use the end with the bare wire attached (the one in pic #6) plugged into the source, like into the guitar, and the other end into your amp.

 

[evm1024]

Standards, Standards, We don't need no sinking STANDARDS

It is far too late to go into any details.

But before you go too far I want to say that there are standards. And red is hot. (I'm not flaming you, I'm sure others will)

Here is the document that you need. Rane Notes have lots of great information. This is one that you should print out.

http://www.rane.com/note110.html

Regards, Ethan

 

[dintymoore]

... Here is the document that you need...

actually right now I need some coffee!

That's a good article although there really are no absolute standards, just more common ways of doing things, and yes, I wouldn't doubt that "red" as hot is more common, and like I said it doesn't matter as long as you're consistent.

This is the way I learned cables (I think from Mix magazine 20+ years ago) and the cables I've made are still in use 20+ years later and are better than anything I've seen for sale - and dirt cheap!

The main thing I'm pointing out here is the method of not tying the bare wire to ground on one side - I think that it really helps.

 

[dgatwood]

The main thing I'm pointing out here is the method of not tying the bare wire to ground on one side - I think that it really helps.

That's generally fine for 1/4" cables as long as you never intend to hook it up to a guitar.

 

[dintymoore]

That's generally fine for 1/4" cables as long as you never intend to hook it up to a guitar.

I've used these cables with tons of different guitars and amps and they work fine. There are pro guitarists using my cables in clubs here every night.

All you need for guitar low balanced connections is a ground and a line. This method has both, but in addition has protection from ground loops.

I think this is actually the best way I know of to wire cables for guitar as it will give you the most protection from RF and bad wiring in clubs, and is cheap as hell.

 

[LDS]

The main thing I'm pointing out here is the method of not tying the bare wire to ground on one side - I think that it really helps.

I learned that same method back in the late 70s when working at a high end audio shop. The engineer explained it to me that the open shield acts as an antenna and the EMI (back then it was called RFI) gets shunted to ground on the side where it's connected.

EDIT - sorry for the thread necro, I linked here from another more current thread and meant to post in that one...

 

[dintymoore]

I can't tell you how many gigs I did playing drums where the bass or guitar player had a ground buzz all night that likely would have gone away if I'd had one of my cables to give him. I play in Waikiki and it is probably the RF capital of the world, with tons of radio and tv stations, a zillion hotels, an airport and four military bases all within a few miles of wherever you play.

One time it was the very first gig I ever did with a computer and sequencer, it was actually an audition. This was in 1984. When we got to the gig and powered up I couldn't believe it, all I could see on my video monitor was the General Hospital logo. I ended up playing the audition with General Hospital playing on my monitor and in the background, very faintly you could see the controls for my sequences.

So since I am used to horrible electrical situations I use the best cables I can, and it doesn't cost any more.