Does anyone make their own cables?

Generic Dreadhead

Hello,
Ideally I'm looking for someone to make me 5 good quality cables (maybe even a couple of patch cables too - I need like 40 :pac: )
4x 15ft Instrument Cables
1x 2.5ft Speaker Cable

Ravelleman

Why not try it yourself? I doubt it's that hard once you have a soldering iron and some good guides. Would be a fun project.

A couple of people on here have done it themselves. They might chime in with their experience.

zafo

It's fairly easy to do once you can solder, I make my own with good quality used leads and new Neutrik or Amphenol jacks. Not allowed to solicit for work on here so won't..

Top tip is make solid physical connections with the wires before you solder.

joehig

a friend of mine done this , dont know much about it , but i do i know he got all he needed to do it in peats on parnell street.

Generic Dreadhead

Maybe a better question so would be where can I buy the materials from easily. A lot of these seem to be catalog websites.
I don't mind building them myself.
But I just can seem to find any easy way of getting materials.
I'm too used to the Amazon/Ebay/Thomman way :pac:

martinedwards

I made a load from quality plugs and yellow mic cable which I got off the net somewhere... googled jack plugs I think......

now I KNOW which leads are mine when it comes to stripdown thime!

TroutMask

Cormac... wrote: »

Maybe a better question so would be where can I buy the materials from easily. A lot of these seem to be catalog websites.
I don't mind building them myself.
But I just can seem to find any easy way of getting materials.
I'm too used to the Amazon/Ebay/Thomman way :pac:

Thomann have what you need - I made a bunch of really nice guitar cables using their supplies. The Sommer cable is really nice - the vintage fabric one looks & sounds fantastic. I use Neutrik 1/4" jacks as the strain relief is second to none. I finish the cables with heatshrink before soldering. They also carry the Neutrik 'Silent' range - they mute when you unplug so no more loud buzzes when you unplug. All of their 1/4" s come in straight and right-angle versions - i terminate to right-angle when going into a pedal. Right-angle are also really handy for vintage guitars with a flush-mounted jack socket.

-=al=-

I'd like too but I've a bunch of planet waves I've been using for years without a hitch... other than that I make my own george l's ones but that's just a case of snipping up some wire

slavetothegrind

i recently bought a reel of quality cable some neutrik plugs and heatshrink from audiospares in uk
i got a load of used xlr neutrik plugs on adverts

Making your own cables is easy, lots of you tube guides to soldering and plenty of info on wiring too.

You could go mad and use a label printer to personalise each cable with your own id tag!

It is a good skill to have and you can have the cable you need made in 10 minutes

go for it OP!

if not up for it ask Zafo for advice on where to get em by pm

Generic Dreadhead

Ok, I've ordered to following (I had to cheap out a bit on the jacks due to cost)
110 foot of Canare GS-6
70x Amphenol ACPM-RB-AU
50x Amphenol ACPM-GB-AU

Thats enough to make 4 Guitar Cables and up to 56 patch cables (though I will only need 46 - 48).
Anyone interested in helping, just drop me a pm

TroutMask

Don't mean to come across as a know-it-all here. Those Amphenol connectors are great - in the Switchcraft style. They have compression clamp style strain relief ( bend over metal tags that you press onto the cable. The only issue with these is that they don't adequately prevent the cable from twisting in extreme conditions. Don't worry, they're fine for pedalboards, pedal interconnects etc. They're not great for situations where the cable will be tugged, twisted or subjected to abuse. After years of using Switchcraft-tipped guitar cables (and repairing them periodically) I switched to Neutrik because of the superior strain relief: there is a set of grips which are tightened onto the cable by the threaded assembly that holds the housing together. That and the Neutrik Silent jack, which is IMO the greatest advance in guitar cables in 20 years. So maybe consider a few Neutriks for the cables going to your guitar at least.

zafo

Yeah I'd agree there, I was using Amphenol angled on the guitar but they eventually broke their connection. Not had a problem anywhere but on the guitar output jack so even just the guitar to pedalboard being Neutrik will be worth the expense.

cezet

Find some KLOTZ cable - imperishable.
I had bad experience with Neutric silent plugs, so carefully with it.

TroutMask

cezet wrote: »

Find some KLOTZ cable - imperishable.
I had bad experience with Neutric silent plugs, so carefully with it.

Interesting - I have about 8 or so and never had any problem. What was the nature of the bad experience out of interest?

cezet

Bad ( no ) connection. I had 4 of them and 2 were bad. Maybe me only... ahhh...

TroutMask

Very strange - sound like a warranty thing. Bad luck though. Could they have been copies? Was talking to the Neutrik rep at Audio Engineering Society and he said that they spend a lot of time tracking down pirates that copy their stuff