5:30 - The most underrated part of _any_ cable soldering is slipping on the plug housing *_before_* soldering. If you forget this, you can start all over.
@@FrankOlsonTwins It's alright if you forget to slip on the casing and insulation sleeve when you do the *first* end. Really sucks if it's the second end! Although if it's just the insulation you've forgotten a bit of lekky tape does the trick! lol
Lol, it still gets me once in a while! I've started using liquid tape, which isn't very pretty, but it does hold quite well. It requires 2 coats, which is annoying.
I've been making my own cables for years, and your ideas for separating the braid in two and using a pedal to hold it steady while soldering have now become part of my process. THANKS!!!!
Agreed !! I have been making & repairing cables for decades and always thought I was wise using a small vise to hold the plugs while soldering . Trying very carefully to not over tighten the jaws of the vise & squash the hollow plug shaft. (Which has happened more than once when I was in too much of a hurry.) Your usage of a pedal input jack is so simple, brilliant and time saving ! The countless hours of locating , setting up & putting away the vise over the years will now be a thing of the past. Thank you for making my day !
@@jerund Usually the pedal Jack is soldered directly to something that would remove the heat, hence it should not be an issue. But good to keep in mind. On the other hand, having metal contact to the plug during soldering actually helps to not overheat the insulation between the ring and tip inside the plug, so it has some benefits as well.
Great video. As a person that has done a LOT of soldering, the only thing I would suggest is that you tin all wires and the connection points on the plug prior to making the final solder connection. The solder will flow faster and require less heating time.
Yes I was always taught to tin the wires and plug before soldering. I guess it depends on whether you want to put the tin wire into the hole or just over it.
I made high-end cables for 20 years. I love Canare wire. So easy to work with, and so reliable. Best of all, it's not even expensive (I know that's relative, and you can buy cheaper cable, but don't waste your money - get Canare). Canare also makes the best 1/4" connectors and RCA connectors (by far). Neutrik makes the best XLR connectors (by far). Using a guitar pedal to hold the connector can work (obviously), but you can get a good "helping hands" unit with movable clamps for $10-$20 USD. Some come with magnifying glasses and/or lights attached. These can be extremely helpful when you're soldering mic cables (XLR connectors), or anything else that may need to be held at odd angles, for easier access. I always told people: It's not rocket science, it's just practice. Don't breathe the fumes, don't burn yourself, and ALWAYS wash your hands when you're done (solder contains lead, which is extremely bad for you).
100% agree on the Canare wire. It's the only thing I use at this point for making cables. The helping hands are great, but I was looking for a more accessible approach. Most guitarists have an old pedal kicking around so I figured put it to work! And for anyone else reading this, absolutely- wash your hands after ANY contact with solder. Thanks for checking out the vid!
The very best soldering tutorial I have seen, forget most of the others.. Notice the pre-heat is less than 1 second? The operation happens fast, beautiful solder flow and fillet, no melted insulation. The tip intersects the work and the solder, the flow of the solder aids in heat transfer into the work (not as much the pre-heat) The solder flows AWAY from the tip.. the opposite of what others TRY to teach, incorrectly, that it flows to the heat. This is clean work!
Thanks for saying so! As you know, the subtleties of soldering are really in the details. I try to teach a methodical approach, I hope it helps some folks! Thanks for checking out the vid!
Well, I've been in the industry for 40+ years. Your soldering is fine. But the centre conductor should be pushed up from under the tip terminal. Not the top. It keeps the coax as straight as possible, and there's no lump to negotiate with the raised center insulation for thesleve. If trimmed and formed correctly, the tinned earth brade will swing down and sit where it should 👍
I made my own cables back in the mid 1970's. I still have them. They still work perfectly. None have failed yet. I used switchcraft plugs and belden cable.
I work as an engineer at a company that produced cables, and I think this is a great video for good DIY connector attachment! Filling/molding the connector housing with glue/plastic for better pull and bend protection is the only thing missing, but hard to perform at home. One comment regarding the semiconductive layer: It's main purpose is to remove triboelectric noise due to friction between the braid and the insulation (think static electricity when rubbing a balloon against your hair). I guess it also helps a little with electrostatic shielding at low frequencies, but I'm not sure how efficient it would be, and it definitely would not help against magnetic fields.
I'll take that compliment, thank you! That's interesting about the rubberized semiconductive layer. I've experienced an audible static pop with some random cables by stepping on them(more noticeable on mic cables). I'd be interested to read more on the subject. Cable science is complex so I try to buy cable by a company who has a good grasp on it! Regarding the plastic filler- I prefer not to fill the gap because I feel it make the cable ends basically un-repairable. Now, there's always an argument to be made: the plugs are only $2 a piece(plus shipping!) and plug joint does become kind of indestructible, BUT if you need to fix your cable fast, or modify the cable for some reason, (what if it gets pinched or cut near one end)that plug end is pretty much done for and it's going in the garbage. I don't remember if I mention it in the video, but my main cables are those which I've made from these exact parts and I've never had a failure. This includes a few years of non-stop use, heavy gigging and even cross country touring. But, I don't abuse them, I don't pull on the cable to unplug, and I try to put them away after use. Do you think E6000 would be a suitable filler, for those who want to fill plug cavities? Any recommendations? Thanks again!
@@FrankOlsonTwins Signal cables with semiconductive layers are usually referred to as "low-noise cables" for sensitive industrial and measurement applications (when referring to triboelectric noise). Within the field of audio applications you can't really trust anyone due to all the subjective naming and placebo effects. Low-noise cables typically have only one SC layer between screen and insulation, super-low-noise or ultra-low-noise cables have an additional SC layer between conductor and insulation. However this would be overkill for audio applications, they are more for super sensitive measurements. Regarding fillers I agree that for repairability it's better to go without it, I would do the same for DIY. At work make lots of stuff for military, nuclear, offshore, and aerospace applications, where a failed connector could be very serious, hence it is designed for longest lifetime with less consideration for the price. We try to use the exact same material as the jacket itself to get a seamless joint. This require machines that can melt and inject the plastic/rubber, which is hard to do at home. I am not sure how good E6000 is against bending over time, also not sure about electrical properties (as you don't want leakage between screen and conductor).
Thanks Richard for the info! One interesting phenomenon I learned about low-noise cables vs. regular(no SC layer) instrument cable: I found that during some unscientific listening tests, that cables with better shielding also attenuated the tone a bit more in the high end. The low-noise cables have a nice bass and midrange detail, but were slightly darker sounding overall. The "regular" cable retained more high end, but also allowed more buzzing to enter into the signal. That's when I was sold on high quality, low-noise cable. I started reading on the subject and learned about cable capacitance and how it relates to cable length in unbalanced cables. I find that with high quality cable, I can get up to about 20 feet without a noticeable drop in tone. That's pushing it, though.
@@FrankOlsonTwins Interesting that you could hear the difference. For very low level signal, such as from a mic, capacitance can be quite important. The SC layer do increase capacitance of the cable slightly, because with just a braid you have some air between it and the insulation, which has low permittivity. While the SC layer has perfect 360 degree contact with the insulation. Low-noise cables are also not good for high frequencies because the SC layer adds attenuation. But this is normally in the MHz range, so not audiable. But I have not made any serious measurements in the audio range to say what could be the dominant factor.
Hi, Whilst I generally know how to solder a jack plug onto a cable, and get the same results as you do, I have learnt a couple of great ideas from watching this. Firstly, the idea of prizing the wires into two separate groups and then twisting them together before soldering is a great idea. Also pushing the jack plug into an effect pedal to hold it while soldering is such a great idea, and so simple. I have a cheap pedal that's now dead and doesn't work - I can use that! I nearly overlooked this video, thinking to myself "I know how to solder jack plugs onto cables!". I'm rather glad now that I didn't over look this video -goes to show, one can always find something new and helpful, even though the video's covered what you already think you know! So .. thank you for this video, I look forward to watching more of your videos.
Thanks for checking out the vid and I'm glad it helped! I must admit, after I figured out the pedal trick, I haven't looked back. Nothing is quite as convenient!
Thank you so much for this! I had a braided copper guitar cable that suddenly went to hell for no reason at all (I haven't used it in a few months and plugged it in my amp to get 0 buzzing sound with the simple touch test). Opened the connector and they looked secure, but they were probably shorted with bad solder. I cut off a few inches off the cable itself on both sides and soldered it back on like the video suggested and BAM, back to a nice cable. Saved me the hassle of driving through 5+ inches of snow 20+ miles one way to my local guitar shop to spend $30 or more on a new cable! Thank you so much Frank!
I don't often subscribe after watching ONE video.... This is one of the best instructional ones I have seen in Long, Long time. The idea of using a larger pedal to hold your work.... Genius. 👍
Worked for a large aerospace company for 25 years where I had to solder almost every day. Great video. The only thing I would do different is maybe use a little liquid flux on those loose strands and I would clean my solder joints :)
I added some links to the parts required to make a great cable. See the description for the links👆🛠 Actual Canare GS6 cable can be found here: www.markertek.com/product/gs-6-bk/canare-gs-6-guitar-instrument-cable-per-foot-black And a premade Canare GS-6 Cable here: amzn.to/43gEs6o
It is also good to add something to keep the cable from bending sharply right at the connector. I like using heat shrink tubing and putting a nylon cable tie in the mix as a strain relief for the first inch or so of cable to avoid a sharp bend when pulled at 90 degrees. Nice video. The last cable was best with a bit more insulated cable beyond the crimp.
Pedal trick was an unexpected move :) Overall quality work. I haven't soldered anything over a decade or even more and this made me want to grab some Mogami 2524 and make patch cables, which I don't even need :D
Thank you so much. Along with electric kettles and Sudofed Sinus Relief spray, these sorts of concise how-to videos are among my top reasons for being alive in the modern age.
Hey, thanks for that. I’ve been making my own cables for years, and have it down, but some of your methods seem like a better way to go, definitely going to try it next time!
thankyou this is the best advice ive found for diy cables without mucking around especially liked the tips using a a female jack to stabilise it for soldering. also inserting the conductor in how you did and cutting half the shield off for the ground. that seems like it would make it not bulge so much
THANKS....brilliant & the Guitar Pedal TIP as a holder 👍 Just bought a soldering iron to fix two older cables. Never thought about making my own PREMIUM cables.
Another step you could add is tinning the twisted wires before soldering the connections. Makes solder flow in better. But the solder looks really nice and shiny which is a good sign
Agreed, I sometimes tin wires to save time, especially for point to point turret or eyelet work. For situations that where I wrap the wire around something, I prefer not to tin. I think you're right, though. Tinning these wires might have made the connections flow more quickly.
Also lightly tinning the contact point of the ground connection as well as twisted wires, since the tip is going into a hole you wouldn't want to tin that on this type 1/4 plug but some 1/4 plugs don't have a hole for the tip wire, in that case I'd also pre-tin the tip (hot) connection and wire.
Good point, yes, however small work such as this does not require tinning. The solder flows out quickly.. no melted insulation, no oxidized nor cold solder.
@@FrankOlsonTwins “proper” procedure in electronics technician training is to tin the wire, then use round-nose pliers to dress it into whatever shape you need, typically a j-hook or a flat S bend (like you would use here). Tinning has two main advantages: reducing the time it takes to perform the final joint, and ensuring that you don’t have any stray strands anywhere. Especially with smaller connectors, the latter becomes essential, as the eyelets (or other openings for the wire) get smaller. But I completely agree: great work overall. Most soldering tutorials on TH-cam are, frankly, examples of what _not_ to do. This is a welcome exception!
An extra step of coating the wire with a tiny bit of flux and then lightly tinning makes work easier and a better joint. That way you don’t have to deal with stray strands. And apply a bit of solder to the tip of the iron before each joint. Helps transfer heat to the work quickly. Clean the tip with a wet sponge in between.
I always thought how the shielding braid is too thick but never thought of clipping it like this, great idea! I wouldn't recommend plugging in any jacks in any equipment while soldering, especially to beginners, because jacks can get extremely hot while soldering and it may damage the insides of the pedal or whatever you're plugging it into. Instead, you can get some cheap wood clamps or just get a stand for soldering.
Excellent video and great solder technique. One step in my process different from yours is to reverse the soldering order. I insert the center lead in the hole, as you have, but leave it unsoldered. Then solder ground first, gently pull wire so the ground wire is pre-tensioned. Lastly solder the center lead in place. I don't trust the little crimpy bits to hold the wire, a few tugs and they slip, putting tension on center wire eventually failing where bare wire meets solder. 90% of the time this is the source of failure in cheap "house brand" patch cables, stray wires ground out causing that scratchy sound we hate so much.
Great advice, I'll give that a try on my next cable- reversing the solder order of the leads. One thing I really like about this cable is that the center conductor is thicker than most(18awg) with over 100 strands of copper. Once soldered it has an incredibly solid feel. Thanks again!
Nicely done! You forgot 1 step though, and that is cleaning the flux off. It looks much nicer but more important, flux speeds up corrosion, so getting rid of it actually has a function other then aesthetics :) And as said below in the comments, tinning the signal wire helps a lot to get it in the hole, off course only if you don't over-tin the wire (otherwise it won't fit through anymore).
Well done video! Name brand instrument and guitar speaker cables are so expensive, you'd expect the quality of the terminal connectors to be as good as the cable they use ... but as you have shown, they are not! The one thing you could have emphasized was how important having a quality soldering iron is ... and using a high quality rosin solder.
Thanks! It's true, when attempting any electronics project, there are so many things to consider before you even work on your project at hand! Experience continues to be the best teacher...!
I had a lead that I used for my "recording" lead, as it was short but not too short. It had fully moulded connectors. One end got dodgy so I cut it off and soldered on a nice vintage jack plug. Worked for a while the it became dicey again. Cut the other end off and soldered on the "top of the range" jack plug from the local electronics chain, which was essentially a cheap copy of the older design of Neutrik jack. This worked for a while before becoming dicey again. Re-ended one of the connectors and it worked for a whole before once again becoming dicey and somehow intermittent. Turned out to be the cable itself was so poor that it would break internally, and was nothing to do with the jacks. Took both of the jacks off, soldered them on to an old piece of Musiflex mike cable of similar length and it's been great for years. The question is, this lead has had two new jacks and one new cable...is it the same lead anymore? lol
Lol..well, it sounds like the spirit of that lead is still alive, even if the cable bowed out early. I guess you have an "evolved" lead now! That is the beauty of good connectors, they can last through many cable changes!
Very pro presentation and skills. I'd never seethe wooden tool used before - so a great tip. That and the use of the guitar pedal! So many great points you made in this video , well done.
Thanks, glad it was helpful! The wood pick might not be necessary with other types of cable, but Canare has tight, braided shielding. There's no other good way(that I'm aware of) to get the wires apart without breaking them!
Thank you. But how do you make the best adapter cable, from unbalanced to balanced? And what about speaker cables? Along with balanced cables we use all three types of cables in a typical rig.
No problem 👍 Hope it helps! Here's an updated video with the same cable and newer style plugs. One nice thing about the newer plugs is the built in strain relief, but either one is great. Good luck!
@@FrankOlsonTwins oh, ok, got it 👍. 😆 I guess that's how language evolves 😃 A dang good video anyway, regardless of pronunciation...hee hee..... thanks again.
Thanks for the compliment, and thanks for watching! I certainly had my share of "questionable" looking solder joints, but these days as soon as that starts happening, I take a break and come back with a fresh eyes and a fresh attitude. Best of luck with your future cables!
That was awesome!!!! I even enjoyed the peppy chiptune-type music. You should be proud that you made an excellent tutorial with no extra fluff, very clearly presented.
Very, very nicely done, and most excellent out-of-the-box thinking in using a pedal to steady the plug before soldering! It's shocking how poorly constructed the shop-bought cable was, with both wires a ball hair away from touching. I suppose though, that's called 'planned obsolescence', requiring the customer to buy another sooner rather than later.
Sure, i try to keep cables between 6 ft and 15 ft long. Anything longer than 10 ft begins to attenuate the high frequencies but a 15ft cable can sound good. I think the user should consider the trade off of frequency or versatility and make a cable that is the most useful to them. Or, do as i have done and make a few of various lengths and use them where needed!
@@FrankOlsonTwins I keep the cable short and with a high distance between shielding and the middle. Cables with 2 shieldings (use outer one as second phase) helps a lot. If I want to lower the resonance frequency, I use a capacitor. You can get the freqency down, but never up again. I just wanted to put some focus on this topic, as many people are not aware.
I’d love to see a video of going from a 1/8” stereo to a 1/4” mono female end with 2x 100k resistors (see: rane “why not wre?” article) . I’m getting pretty close but it’s less working room beteeen the strain relief and the lead. on a 1/4” female Rean. quad mic can be pretty challenging too.
I did a similar one a few years ago. th-cam.com/video/NbHA3zblAgk/w-d-xo.html This one is for the Sony MDR headphones, but it will be similar. A word of warning though- headphone cable can be difficult to solder so it takes a bit of patience and practice.
Frank Olson Twins Great work. I've watched your XLR video on repeat while I learned to make my own XLR to TRS cables with Canare quad core wire. I am going to make a new Canare TS instrument cable...it will be so much easier than the quad cable TRS solder joints! I like Switchcraft TRS connectors, but the long length of the ring lead on that connector makes it super tough to manage with the quad cable wires. I finally found a trick to it that helped me speed up my time.
Hey, glad to hear the videos are helping! Glad to hear that others are making and using their own cables! I know what you mean, TS cables are a breeze after you make a bunch of TRS quad cables!
Try the Canare TRS connectors. Much easier to work with, and tough as Hell. I always had to cut that extra long ring lead in the Switchcraft TRS's, which was a chore. For XLR's, go Neutrik For RCA, TRS, and TS, go Canare. I never had any of these connectors fail in my 20 years of soldering in an Audio/Video rental house... :)
5:30 - The most underrated part of _any_ cable soldering is slipping on the plug housing *_before_* soldering. If you forget this, you can start all over.
I certainly learned that one the hard way!
Been there, done that x 10, dammit.
@@FrankOlsonTwins It's alright if you forget to slip on the casing and insulation sleeve when you do the *first* end. Really sucks if it's the second end! Although if it's just the insulation you've forgotten a bit of lekky tape does the trick! lol
Lol, it still gets me once in a while! I've started using liquid tape, which isn't very pretty, but it does hold quite well. It requires 2 coats, which is annoying.
I've been making my own cables for years, and your ideas for separating the braid in two and using a pedal to hold it steady while soldering have now become part of my process. THANKS!!!!
Awesome! Glad it helps!
Agreed !! I have been making & repairing cables for decades and always thought I was wise using a small vise to hold the plugs while soldering . Trying very carefully to not over tighten the jaws of the vise & squash the hollow plug shaft. (Which has happened more than once when I was in too much of a hurry.) Your usage of a pedal input jack is so simple, brilliant and time saving ! The countless hours of locating , setting up & putting away the vise over the years will now be a thing of the past. Thank you for making my day !
I'll never go back to the old way!
😮😮😮😮❤
Wow, same here! Dog learns new tricks.
OMG - using a pedal to hold the plug while soldering! Genius idea. Why have I never thought of that?
Yeah, I should really get one of those "third hand" clamping devices too!
A 2x4 with a 1/4 inch hole drilled into it works just as well, and you don't have to worry about overheating the pedal jack.
@@jerund Usually the pedal Jack is soldered directly to something that would remove the heat, hence it should not be an issue. But good to keep in mind. On the other hand, having metal contact to the plug during soldering actually helps to not overheat the insulation between the ring and tip inside the plug, so it has some benefits as well.
Agree. Brilliant idea.
Isnt that hot?
Great video. As a person that has done a LOT of soldering, the only thing I would suggest is that you tin all wires and the connection points on the plug prior to making the final solder connection. The solder will flow faster and require less heating time.
Fair point!
Also the pliers with a rubber band band makes a good vice to hold the connector. dont want to damage the circuits with to much heat.
Yes I was always taught to tin the wires and plug before soldering.
I guess it depends on whether you want to put the tin wire into the hole or just over it.
I made high-end cables for 20 years. I love Canare wire. So easy to work with, and so reliable. Best of all, it's not even expensive (I know that's relative, and you can buy cheaper cable, but don't waste your money - get Canare).
Canare also makes the best 1/4" connectors and RCA connectors (by far). Neutrik makes the best XLR connectors (by far).
Using a guitar pedal to hold the connector can work (obviously), but you can get a good "helping hands" unit with movable clamps for $10-$20 USD. Some come with magnifying glasses and/or lights attached. These can be extremely helpful when you're soldering mic cables (XLR connectors), or anything else that may need to be held at odd angles, for easier access.
I always told people: It's not rocket science, it's just practice. Don't breathe the fumes, don't burn yourself, and ALWAYS wash your hands when you're done (solder contains lead, which is extremely bad for you).
100% agree on the Canare wire. It's the only thing I use at this point for making cables. The helping hands are great, but I was looking for a more accessible approach. Most guitarists have an old pedal kicking around so I figured put it to work! And for anyone else reading this, absolutely- wash your hands after ANY contact with solder.
Thanks for checking out the vid!
The very best soldering tutorial I have seen, forget most of the others.. Notice the pre-heat is less than 1 second? The operation happens fast, beautiful solder flow and fillet, no melted insulation. The tip intersects the work and the solder, the flow of the solder aids in heat transfer into the work (not as much the pre-heat) The solder flows AWAY from the tip.. the opposite of what others TRY to teach, incorrectly, that it flows to the heat. This is clean work!
Thanks for saying so! As you know, the subtleties of soldering are really in the details. I try to teach a methodical approach, I hope it helps some folks!
Thanks for checking out the vid!
Well, I've been in the industry for 40+ years. Your soldering is fine. But the centre conductor should be pushed up from under the tip terminal. Not the top. It keeps the coax as straight as possible, and there's no lump to negotiate with the raised center insulation for thesleve. If trimmed and formed correctly, the tinned earth brade will swing down and sit where it should 👍
I made my own cables back in the mid 1970's. I still have them. They still work perfectly. None have failed yet. I used switchcraft plugs and belden cable.
I work as an engineer at a company that produced cables, and I think this is a great video for good DIY connector attachment! Filling/molding the connector housing with glue/plastic for better pull and bend protection is the only thing missing, but hard to perform at home.
One comment regarding the semiconductive layer: It's main purpose is to remove triboelectric noise due to friction between the braid and the insulation (think static electricity when rubbing a balloon against your hair). I guess it also helps a little with electrostatic shielding at low frequencies, but I'm not sure how efficient it would be, and it definitely would not help against magnetic fields.
I'll take that compliment, thank you!
That's interesting about the rubberized semiconductive layer. I've experienced an audible static pop with some random cables by stepping on them(more noticeable on mic cables). I'd be interested to read more on the subject. Cable science is complex so I try to buy cable by a company who has a good grasp on it!
Regarding the plastic filler- I prefer not to fill the gap because I feel it make the cable ends basically un-repairable. Now, there's always an argument to be made: the plugs are only $2 a piece(plus shipping!) and plug joint does become kind of indestructible, BUT if you need to fix your cable fast, or modify the cable for some reason, (what if it gets pinched or cut near one end)that plug end is pretty much done for and it's going in the garbage.
I don't remember if I mention it in the video, but my main cables are those which I've made from these exact parts and I've never had a failure. This includes a few years of non-stop use, heavy gigging and even cross country touring. But, I don't abuse them, I don't pull on the cable to unplug, and I try to put them away after use.
Do you think E6000 would be a suitable filler, for those who want to fill plug cavities? Any recommendations?
Thanks again!
@@FrankOlsonTwins Signal cables with semiconductive layers are usually referred to as "low-noise cables" for sensitive industrial and measurement applications (when referring to triboelectric noise). Within the field of audio applications you can't really trust anyone due to all the subjective naming and placebo effects. Low-noise cables typically have only one SC layer between screen and insulation, super-low-noise or ultra-low-noise cables have an additional SC layer between conductor and insulation. However this would be overkill for audio applications, they are more for super sensitive measurements.
Regarding fillers I agree that for repairability it's better to go without it, I would do the same for DIY. At work make lots of stuff for military, nuclear, offshore, and aerospace applications, where a failed connector could be very serious, hence it is designed for longest lifetime with less consideration for the price. We try to use the exact same material as the jacket itself to get a seamless joint. This require machines that can melt and inject the plastic/rubber, which is hard to do at home. I am not sure how good E6000 is against bending over time, also not sure about electrical properties (as you don't want leakage between screen and conductor).
Thanks Richard for the info!
One interesting phenomenon I learned about low-noise cables vs. regular(no SC layer) instrument cable: I found that during some unscientific listening tests, that cables with better shielding also attenuated the tone a bit more in the high end. The low-noise cables have a nice bass and midrange detail, but were slightly darker sounding overall. The "regular" cable retained more high end, but also allowed more buzzing to enter into the signal. That's when I was sold on high quality, low-noise cable. I started reading on the subject and learned about cable capacitance and how it relates to cable length in unbalanced cables. I find that with high quality cable, I can get up to about 20 feet without a noticeable drop in tone. That's pushing it, though.
@@FrankOlsonTwins Interesting that you could hear the difference. For very low level signal, such as from a mic, capacitance can be quite important. The SC layer do increase capacitance of the cable slightly, because with just a braid you have some air between it and the insulation, which has low permittivity. While the SC layer has perfect 360 degree contact with the insulation.
Low-noise cables are also not good for high frequencies because the SC layer adds attenuation. But this is normally in the MHz range, so not audiable. But I have not made any serious measurements in the audio range to say what could be the dominant factor.
@@Richard.Andersson here's a potentially dumb question - could hot glue work as a sufficient filler?
I immediately hit the like button the minute i saw that the guy used pedal for support. Kudos man. We need this kinda information on TH-cam.
Hi, Whilst I generally know how to solder a jack plug onto a cable, and get the same results as you do, I have learnt a couple of great ideas from watching this. Firstly, the idea of prizing the wires into two separate groups and then twisting them together before soldering is a great idea. Also pushing the jack plug into an effect pedal to hold it while soldering is such a great idea, and so simple. I have a cheap pedal that's now dead and doesn't work - I can use that! I nearly overlooked this video, thinking to myself "I know how to solder jack plugs onto cables!". I'm rather glad now that I didn't over look this video -goes to show, one can always find something new and helpful, even though the video's covered what you already think you know! So .. thank you for this video, I look forward to watching more of your videos.
Thanks for checking out the vid and I'm glad it helped! I must admit, after I figured out the pedal trick, I haven't looked back. Nothing is quite as convenient!
Thank you so much for this! I had a braided copper guitar cable that suddenly went to hell for no reason at all (I haven't used it in a few months and plugged it in my amp to get 0 buzzing sound with the simple touch test). Opened the connector and they looked secure, but they were probably shorted with bad solder. I cut off a few inches off the cable itself on both sides and soldered it back on like the video suggested and BAM, back to a nice cable. Saved me the hassle of driving through 5+ inches of snow 20+ miles one way to my local guitar shop to spend $30 or more on a new cable! Thank you so much Frank!
Awesome! The power of DIY... Glad it helped!
I don't often subscribe after watching ONE video.... This is one of the best instructional ones I have seen in Long, Long time. The idea of using a larger pedal to hold your work.... Genius. 👍
Thanks, hope it was helpful!
Worked for a large aerospace company for 25 years where I had to solder almost every day. Great video. The only thing I would do different is maybe use a little liquid flux on those loose strands and I would clean my solder joints :)
Great advice, I'll add that to the next series of videos- thanks!
I added some links to the parts required to make a great cable. See the description for the links👆🛠
Actual Canare GS6 cable can be found here: www.markertek.com/product/gs-6-bk/canare-gs-6-guitar-instrument-cable-per-foot-black
And a premade Canare GS-6 Cable here: amzn.to/43gEs6o
Thanks!
New links added to the description, a decent Fender cable and a Mogami cable.
It is also good to add something to keep the cable from bending sharply right at the connector. I like using heat shrink tubing and putting a nylon cable tie in the mix as a strain relief for the first inch or so of cable to avoid a sharp bend when pulled at 90 degrees. Nice video. The last cable was best with a bit more insulated cable beyond the crimp.
Thanks! Sure, a bit of strain relief never hurts!
Pedal trick was an unexpected move :) Overall quality work. I haven't soldered anything over a decade or even more and this made me want to grab some Mogami 2524 and make patch cables, which I don't even need :D
Cool, thanks!
Pedal trick is straight out brilliant lateral thinking!
pedal trick rules and if you are doing multicores, patchbay is your best friend.
That's easily one of the most helpful, informative and to the point videos I've seen. Thank you so much
Thanks Oscar! Glad it helped!
Thanks for the tips. I'll be making some shorter cables this weekend and this helps. The plugging into a pedal tip is priceless!
Cool, hope it helps. Good luck!
Best video on making your own Instrument cable. Wish I found this before screwing up my first two cables.
Thanks! Just cut off the ends and resolder!!
Thank you so much. Along with electric kettles and Sudofed Sinus Relief spray, these sorts of concise how-to videos are among my top reasons for being alive in the modern age.
Thanks! Add coffee maker to that list and I'm right there with you!
55 years in the guitar world , best cables are George L's "super easy and never a problem " Nice Post 💫
The idea of using a pedal as support for work is great. Thanks
Glad it helps!
I liked the little test you did at the end to compare the old plug soldering to the new ones - much stronger
pre-soldering the ground wires is a brilliant idea to add extra strength to the unit.
Thanks!
How did I never think this practical hack of inserting the plug into the female hole!! I'll take it in account for a next time. Thank U.
Hey, thanks for that. I’ve been making my own cables for years, and have it down, but some of your methods seem like a better way to go, definitely going to try it next time!
Thanks for checking it out!
thankyou this is the best advice ive found for diy cables without mucking around
especially liked the tips using a a female jack to stabilise it for soldering.
also inserting the conductor in how you did
and cutting half the shield off for the ground. that seems like it would make it not bulge so much
Thanks! I've stopped buying cables because I'm usually disappointed in the low quality materials or poor assembly. Glad this video helps!
Excellent tutorial and stellar soldering skills!
THANKS....brilliant & the Guitar Pedal TIP as a holder 👍
Just bought a soldering iron to fix two older cables.
Never thought about making my own PREMIUM cables.
Idk why i never thought of putting the tip into w pedal to hopdnit still. Great tip!
🛠️🪛
Another step you could add is tinning the twisted wires before soldering the connections. Makes solder flow in better. But the solder looks really nice and shiny which is a good sign
Agreed, I sometimes tin wires to save time, especially for point to point turret or eyelet work. For situations that where I wrap the wire around something, I prefer not to tin. I think you're right, though. Tinning these wires might have made the connections flow more quickly.
Also lightly tinning the contact point of the ground connection as well as twisted wires, since the tip is going into a hole you wouldn't want to tin that on this type 1/4 plug but some 1/4 plugs don't have a hole for the tip wire, in that case I'd also pre-tin the tip (hot) connection and wire.
Good point, yes, however small work such as this does not require tinning. The solder flows out quickly.. no melted insulation, no oxidized nor cold solder.
@@FrankOlsonTwins “proper” procedure in electronics technician training is to tin the wire, then use round-nose pliers to dress it into whatever shape you need, typically a j-hook or a flat S bend (like you would use here). Tinning has two main advantages: reducing the time it takes to perform the final joint, and ensuring that you don’t have any stray strands anywhere. Especially with smaller connectors, the latter becomes essential, as the eyelets (or other openings for the wire) get smaller.
But I completely agree: great work overall. Most soldering tutorials on TH-cam are, frankly, examples of what _not_ to do. This is a welcome exception!
An extra step of coating the wire with a tiny bit of flux and then lightly tinning makes work easier and a better joint. That way you don’t have to deal with stray strands.
And apply a bit of solder to the tip of the iron before each joint. Helps transfer heat to the work quickly. Clean the tip with a wet sponge in between.
I always thought how the shielding braid is too thick but never thought of clipping it like this, great idea! I wouldn't recommend plugging in any jacks in any equipment while soldering, especially to beginners, because jacks can get extremely hot while soldering and it may damage the insides of the pedal or whatever you're plugging it into. Instead, you can get some cheap wood clamps or just get a stand for soldering.
If soldered correctly I doubt it would damage anything in the socket but to be safe probably a good idea.
Best and most meticulous method and so well documented too!
Thanks, glad it was helpful!
Great! It's worth this extra time to keep them from crackling and failing
I haven't had one of these fail me yet!
Thanks man! I just made 2 cables thanks to you. Klotz la grange wire, right angle connectors. They sound great!
Awesome! Feels great, huh? The feeling only deepens the longer you own the cables! 🔧❤🎸
Excellent video and great solder technique. One step in my process different from yours is to reverse the soldering order. I insert the center lead in the hole, as you have, but leave it unsoldered. Then solder ground first, gently pull wire so the ground wire is pre-tensioned. Lastly solder the center lead in place. I don't trust the little crimpy bits to hold the wire, a few tugs and they slip, putting tension on center wire eventually failing where bare wire meets solder. 90% of the time this is the source of failure in cheap "house brand" patch cables, stray wires ground out causing that scratchy sound we hate so much.
Great advice, I'll give that a try on my next cable- reversing the solder order of the leads. One thing I really like about this cable is that the center conductor is thicker than most(18awg) with over 100 strands of copper. Once soldered it has an incredibly solid feel.
Thanks again!
Nicely done! You forgot 1 step though, and that is cleaning the flux off. It looks much nicer but more important, flux speeds up corrosion, so getting rid of it actually has a function other then aesthetics :) And as said below in the comments, tinning the signal wire helps a lot to get it in the hole, off course only if you don't over-tin the wire (otherwise it won't fit through anymore).
Well done video! Name brand instrument and guitar speaker cables are so expensive, you'd expect the quality of the terminal connectors to be as good as the cable they use ... but as you have shown, they are not! The one thing you could have emphasized was how important having a quality soldering iron is ... and using a high quality rosin solder.
Thanks! It's true, when attempting any electronics project, there are so many things to consider before you even work on your project at hand! Experience continues to be the best teacher...!
I wish all videos were like your videos.
Thank you!! 🎈
I had a lead that I used for my "recording" lead, as it was short but not too short. It had fully moulded connectors. One end got dodgy so I cut it off and soldered on a nice vintage jack plug. Worked for a while the it became dicey again. Cut the other end off and soldered on the "top of the range" jack plug from the local electronics chain, which was essentially a cheap copy of the older design of Neutrik jack.
This worked for a while before becoming dicey again. Re-ended one of the connectors and it worked for a whole before once again becoming dicey and somehow intermittent. Turned out to be the cable itself was so poor that it would break internally, and was nothing to do with the jacks. Took both of the jacks off, soldered them on to an old piece of Musiflex mike cable of similar length and it's been great for years.
The question is, this lead has had two new jacks and one new cable...is it the same lead anymore? lol
Lol..well, it sounds like the spirit of that lead is still alive, even if the cable bowed out early. I guess you have an "evolved" lead now! That is the beauty of good connectors, they can last through many cable changes!
veeeery helpful, soldered my first jack cable today
Glad it helped!
I really enjoyed the video. I was actually looking to replace my own cables but I’ll definitely try this instead. Thanks.
It's worthwhile, Make a few good quality cables one day and you'll have them for many years!
Very pro presentation and skills. I'd never seethe wooden tool used before - so a great tip. That and the use of the guitar pedal! So many great points you made in this video , well done.
Thanks, glad it was helpful! The wood pick might not be necessary with other types of cable, but Canare has tight, braided shielding. There's no other good way(that I'm aware of) to get the wires apart without breaking them!
Exactly what I was looking for! Thanks so much for making this video.
Glad it was helpful!
Your cable plug holder?? Brilliant!
Thanks, I can't go back to not using one during this type of soldering!
Thank you a lot for sharing the tips, i was confused on doing it for the first time.
Glad to help! Each cable will be better than the last!
The best video on this subject
Thank you!!
great technique ! - never use flux , especially if you remove i afterwards .
Best video ever on this.
Thanks, hope it helps!
Excellent tutorial, accurate information and top-notch videography.
Thank you!
Thank you. But how do you make the best adapter cable, from unbalanced to balanced? And what about speaker cables? Along with balanced cables we use all three types of cables in a typical rig.
Perfect, thank you! I can't tell you how often these fail :) well.. yeah I probably can and you obviously already knew!
Thanks for checking it out!
Thank you very much, I suffered for many years doing the wrong thing 😃
The more you make, the better you get!
Great video, dude! I'm making my own patch cables this weekend, and this helped a lot !!!
Glad to hear it!
Thank you for sharing tips, God bless always👍🙏
Everything in this video is correct. 🙏
Thanks for checking out the vid!
Thanks so much man I plan on making new cables.
No problem 👍 Hope it helps! Here's an updated video with the same cable and newer style plugs. One nice thing about the newer plugs is the built in strain relief, but either one is great. Good luck!
Thank you for the excellent video.
Thanks for watching!
best cable i've ever seen.
Thanks!
real pro. just did it the right way. tumbs up
Thanks, glad it helped!
Excellent!!!! To the last detail!!!!!!
Thanks! 🎸🔧
Great video thanks. One small question though - why do so many folk say "sodder" when it's spelt and pronounced "solder" ?
Ha, it's definitely a regional thing. In North America, the "L" is generally silent. In the UK and Europe, people pronounce the L.
@@FrankOlsonTwins oh, ok, got it 👍. 😆 I guess that's how language evolves 😃 A dang good video anyway, regardless of pronunciation...hee hee..... thanks again.
50 yrs i been,soldering and many times,guitar cables. You embarrass me with your quality. You CAN teach old dogs new tricks. AAAA++++
Thanks for the compliment, and thanks for watching! I certainly had my share of "questionable" looking solder joints, but these days as soon as that starts happening, I take a break and come back with a fresh eyes and a fresh attitude. Best of luck with your future cables!
That was awesome!!!! I even enjoyed the peppy chiptune-type music. You should be proud that you made an excellent tutorial with no extra fluff, very clearly presented.
Thanks! That was exactly the goal, I'm glad it came across!
Thanks Frank. Concise and incredibly helpful...
You are quite welcome, glad it helps!
Very, very nicely done, and most excellent out-of-the-box thinking in using a pedal to steady the plug before soldering!
It's shocking how poorly constructed the shop-bought cable was, with both wires a ball hair away from touching. I suppose though, that's called 'planned obsolescence', requiring the customer to buy another sooner rather than later.
Thanks! And thanks for checking out the vid!
Gracias por el video,un saludo grande!
No problemo!
Great instructions 👍
Thanks!
This video was very helpful! Thanks.
Thanks, glad it helped!
Fantastic thanks short and to the point with everything you need to know
Glad it was helpful!
This is very helpful, thanks a lot Sir
How nice your soldering.
Thank you!
Thanks bro, greetings from México
Thanks for watching
muy buena explicación! enhorabuena!..es la mejor manera de q los jacks duren mucho👍👍👍
Gracias!
Thanks for the video bro first time i did it correct thanks
Great 👍
Putting the plug into pedal for soldering is a cleaver idea thanx 🙏
Hope it helps!
Omgs! WONDERFULL MANNNNN!!!!
For the sound, the cable impedance is essential. A high impedance lowers the resonant frequency of the pickup.
Was this taken into account?
Sure, i try to keep cables between 6 ft and 15 ft long. Anything longer than 10 ft begins to attenuate the high frequencies but a 15ft cable can sound good. I think the user should consider the trade off of frequency or versatility and make a cable that is the most useful to them. Or, do as i have done and make a few of various lengths and use them where needed!
@@FrankOlsonTwins I keep the cable short and with a high distance between shielding and the middle. Cables with 2 shieldings (use outer one as second phase) helps a lot.
If I want to lower the resonance frequency, I use a capacitor. You can get the freqency down, but never up again.
I just wanted to put some focus on this topic, as many people are not aware.
I've seen the inner conductor insulation pull back due to cable mess use as well.
This is awesome. I’ve probably been spending too much on Mogami cable. I’ll try this brand next!
Thanks! It's my personal fave, check out Peformance audio or Merkertek for decent pricing... Comes in around $1 per foot!
Great tutorial! You got me wanting to build some cables. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks dude!
I’d love to see a video of going from a 1/8” stereo to a 1/4” mono female end with 2x 100k resistors (see: rane “why not wre?” article) . I’m getting pretty close but it’s less working room beteeen the strain relief and the lead. on a 1/4” female Rean.
quad mic can be pretty challenging too.
I've made a few of these, and it's quite difficult to squeeze those resistors into the housing. They never turn out as pretty as I'd like....
Very nice, bro!
Thanks for checking it out!
*Awesome presentation!!! Can you do this again, with something like a pair of 280 HD PRO head phones?*
I did a similar one a few years ago. th-cam.com/video/NbHA3zblAgk/w-d-xo.html This one is for the Sony MDR headphones, but it will be similar. A word of warning though- headphone cable can be difficult to solder so it takes a bit of patience and practice.
Muchas gracias por excelente tutorial. Lo haré de esa manera en la próxima ocasión
Excellent method. Thank you for sharing.
Killer video - thank you 🙏 🤘🤘
Thanks!!
It is damn cinematic tutorial video. Impressive.
wow so good I just bought some phone heads need some instructions to work that I find you've done very nice job man and thank you so much
Thanks, glad I could help!
Nice Job !
Thanks!
Frank Olson Twins Great work. I've watched your XLR video on repeat while I learned to make my own XLR to TRS cables with Canare quad core wire. I am going to make a new Canare TS instrument cable...it will be so much easier than the quad cable TRS solder joints! I like Switchcraft TRS connectors, but the long length of the ring lead on that connector makes it super tough to manage with the quad cable wires. I finally found a trick to it that helped me speed up my time.
Hey, glad to hear the videos are helping! Glad to hear that others are making and using their own cables! I know what you mean, TS cables are a breeze after you make a bunch of TRS quad cables!
Try the Canare TRS connectors. Much easier to work with, and tough as Hell. I always had to cut that extra long ring lead in the Switchcraft TRS's, which was a chore.
For XLR's, go Neutrik
For RCA, TRS, and TS, go Canare.
I never had any of these connectors fail in my 20 years of soldering in an Audio/Video rental house... :)
Very easy to follow. Thanks for this tutorial.
Glad it was helpful!
Great video. Very helpful! :)
Great, thanks for watching!
Use neutrik NP2X and NP2RX connectors, they're hands down the best ones.
New video up today with NP2X!
Good video🎉
Thanks!
Bloody great video! Thanks
Thanks, Glad you enjoyed it!
Ótimo vídeo congratulações
Obrigado!
@@FrankOlsonTwinsobrigado por retornar um abraço eu faço meus cabos para nossa Band reformo nossos valvulados e assim vai grande abraço Sul do Brasil
Very good! Every band needs a good technician, and it makes your job more interesting! All the best! -Frank
I've been always wondering if I could use the TV antena cable for guitar.Thank you!
You could try it! It will probably work but it's not very flexible.... Let me know if you ever try it. I'm interested to know what happens!
@@FrankOlsonTwins Thank you for replying, will let you know when I make it!
@@jigokunogamagaeru
Well... Did you make it?