Cable Making

Posted: Wed May 19, 2004 3:23 pm

Hello guys,
I since i lost my cables in recent gigs and its really frustrated and not just that.. my watch also lost now im completly no sense of time.. hehehe.. on with the tutorial.. I was looking in the toolbox to find some 1/4" TS Connector to make a normal unbalance/mono cables but i end up with one 1/4" TS and one 1/4" TRS Connector. Herm can i make a mono cables out of this? Let's try it out coz i never do it before but kalau ikut teori boleh kut..

Here are the tools i used :

[img]http://www.i-bands.net/forum/album_pic.php?pic_id=180[/img]
From Lefft to right:
Cable Tester,Cable Stripper, Plyer , Cutter, Soldering Paste, Timah and of Course Soldering iron.

Now Lets Cut the Cables
Cut 1" inch
For mono cables we only need two conductor, so the live and the ground wire i solder togather. Apply some soldering paste to the wire and solder the wire. This is for easier soldering to the jack later. Now we have Hot and ground. Do it on both end.

[img]http://www.i-bands.net/forum/album_pic.php?pic_id=181[/img]

When looking at the 1/4" TRS jack connected to the 1/4" TS Female jack, the ring seems doesnt intermit with other conductor or get in the way.. So it's cool to used the TRS to make into mono cables.

[img]http://www.i-bands.net/forum/album_pic.php?pic_id=182[/img]

Okeh before soldering the cables make sure the bontot masuk dulu kay..
[img]http://www.i-bands.net/forum/album_pic.php?pic_id=183[/img]

For easier soldering clamp the Jack so it wont move around, solder some timah on the jack first. Then solder the wire. Do ground first then the hot.
[img]http://www.i-bands.net/forum/album_pic.php?pic_id=184[/img]

Here how it should look like with the 1/4" TS Connector. With the 1/4 " TRS Connector just solder the Tips with Hot and the Sleeve with ground.
[img]http://www.i-bands.net/forum/album_pic.php?pic_id=185[/img]

Now let's test the cables using a cables tester. the result shows that there are ring is connected to the ground.. so it's become Sleeve.. erm.. whatever.. i know it's work..

[img]http://www.i-bands.net/forum/album_pic.php?pic_id=187[/img]

Bode · Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Articles: 10 Comments: 25

Bravo lizard...I'm really crap with all these cable thingies, and this is really a big help to people like me!
Great article!

lizard · Posted: Thu May 20, 2004 4:12 pm Post subject:

Thanks Lord Bode, i will post more about technical stuff.You know what, i wish i can do mods for guitar.. but knowladge still takde , and buta tone.. i dunno i just like building things i guess..

monizag · Joined: 12 May 2004 Articles: 1 Comments: 2

1) sometimes a person may encounter difficulties in soldering two contact surfaces. no matter how much tin you apply , u just cant seem to get them soldered. the reason: the contact surfaces are 'dirty'. there are some tiny *almost unseen*, carbon deposits. so, take a pen eraser, and rub the surface until it is shining! shining means the surface is clean and clear of all sorts of contaminents.

2) always use at least 30W soldering iron. anything lower, will take you a long time to get its tip, heated up and if the tip is not sufficiently hot, that is where you get difficulties in melting the tin to solder. but of course, the price for a higher wattage soldering iron gets higher with its wattage...but not much..maybe about 10 dollars difference?

3) if you dont have a cable tester like what lizard has..you can always buy a cheapie, multi-tester. this comes in analog or digital type. i think these days u can get the analog type very cheap..like 10 dollars..and it's reliable. i dont have a picture to show, how a multi-tester looks like but you can check in the internet.

REMEMBER: to have a good wet solder you need to - 1. clean the surface 2. use a hot solder.

IZZI · Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 4:56 pm Post subject:

useful additional information about cable. CLICK HERE

denhock

Hi, if you like to improve your suoud quality, please consider to get Belden cable , I use Belden cable with Part Number: 8760 Paired - Audio, Control and Instrumentation Cable

http://bwccat.belden.com/ecat/jsp/Index.jsp?&P1=undefined&P2=undefined&P3=undefined&P4=undefined&P5=undefined&P6=undefined

normally Belden sell the cable in single roll ( about 305Meter per roll) which will very costly for us to buy as we only need less than 80-100 Meter.

But you can get it at RM5 per meter (min is 1Meter , max is 300meter per cable) @ Midi Specialist (low yat plaza, lot 4.32, tel:03-2143 1823)

They also offer free soldering services as to make sure the cable is working so when you go back home just plug and start enjoy your music Smile

dude · Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Articles: 1 Comments: 1

hi guys,
my first post here and this is the kind of stuff i like.

i own lots of guitar cable and went through a number of cheap and expensive ones. i believe your tone is as good as your cable.

the easiest way to check if you have a good cable is by checking the noise. plug your guitar to the amp with your chosen cable, turn up the volume a bit and slap the cable to the floor (hold part of the cable and slap/knock it on the floor). cheap cables usually gives a loud thump while the good ones are less noisy. i'm not sure what the technical explanation is but i find noisy cables rob the true sound/tone from your setup.

anyone serious about their sound should dump those noisy cable and invest in a good cable. they are the bloodline to your sound.