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DasBeef
Gold Member
United Kingdom
704 Posts |
 Posted - 11/23/2009 : 21:57:26
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After gathering a collection of some nice amps, pedals and guitars, I feel the time may have come to get some good cables.
Right, time to sound like a newbie once again.
Do you have to build up the George L cables yourself? The UK site looks like you need to buy the cable, then the jacks, some cutters, and maybe a screwdriver. Am I missing something.
I have discovered through this life of mine that I am not that good at building things. So if this is the case, then where else should I look.
I apologise that this topic may have been somewhat covered, but I'm sure you guys never tire of talking about it. Also I couldn't find any answer on whether you need to build the George L's. |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 11/23/2009 : 22:26:43
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Planet waves pedalboard kit comes with the cutters, 10 right angle jacks and 10ft of cable all you need is a small screwdriver to attatch the jack to the cable...i used them on my pedalboard with good results also easier (for me anyway) to get and cheaper the George L's.... |
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Laurie
Double Platinum Member
Canada
4854 Posts |
Posted - 11/23/2009 : 22:52:35
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Store bought "mechanical coupling" (no solder) lead making packs are cool.
BUT
I harken back to a thread from Ollie a few months ago... Make your own. Buy yourself some Neutrik or switchcraft jacks, a roll of qulaity cable, some heat-shrink tubing and a good soldering iron (soldering station).
Cables are the easiest thing you can do with a soldering iron, and once you ruin a few jacks and a few feet of cable and get the hang of it, you'll never have to buy another pre-made cable. The $100 (80 Pounds or whatever it costs) for a name brand soldering station (Hakko, Weller) will be paid back propably in less than a year. I stress using a "temperature controlled" soldering iron because that's the hardest thing for a newbie solderer to manage - not overheating anything. Something like the entry level Hakko/Weller temp controlled stations take the "burn" mostly out of it.
Whatever you need - lead length, jack type, just make it... And you can use the gear for repairs and mods too.
I am a huge advocate of this (unapologetically). Go on, you know you want to!
http://www.bossarea.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4213
http://www.bossarea.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7280
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Edited by - Laurie on 11/23/2009 22:54:28 |
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Ollie
Gold Member
United Kingdom
729 Posts |
Posted - 11/23/2009 : 23:16:21
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My dad made a patch for my NS-2 Return cable & it was dodgy, panicing that I had a gig within the week(I didnt do it in the end) I phoned up George L's UK shop. I asked for the custom length I needed. The guy on the phone was really nice, he made the lead and tested it for me and it arrived the next day. Great service and a great lead. Wish I could say great price.  |
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Laurie
Double Platinum Member
Canada
4854 Posts |
Posted - 11/23/2009 : 23:42:54
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quote:
Originally posted by Ollie
My dad made a patch for my NS-2 Return cable & it was dodgy, panicing that I had a gig within the week(I didnt do it in the end) I phoned up George L's UK shop. I asked for the custom length I needed. The guy on the phone was really nice, he made the lead and tested it for me and it arrived the next day. Great service and a great lead. Wish I could say great price.
Yep, and it's the price that drives all this. Total cost for me to make a patch lead using "Mode" brand (similar to Switchcraft) low-profile jacks is less than $5 (that's less than 3 Pounds folks...)
<evangelist>
YES... the first few you make will be crap. You'll be in a very good club with that (myself and Dr. Bob are firmly in that camp - had to learn by experience all those years ago). I still have the first cable I ever made (30+ years ago now) but it had new jacks put on after about a year to fix the poor initial job.
One strategy might be to keep using the store-bought cables/systems and in parallel start making cables. Don't use the first cables you make yourself for anything but the practice room - they might well be shite (see note above). But after about 10 cables you will start to get the hang of it and after a while you will start thinking "why am I paying for the store-bought stuff?... my stuff is just as good". Actually, eventually the cables you make yourself will be better than the store-bought ones.
</evangelist> |
Edited by - Laurie on 11/23/2009 23:43:40 |
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stinkfoot
Silver Member
Sweden
181 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2009 : 02:00:27
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Personally (and now I'm stepping up on the soapbox, folks) I refuse to go anywhere near the George L's solderless plugs, especially the right-angle ones. I can't even count how many pedalboards I've trouble-shot (both IRL and over the phone/email) where the problem has turned out to be a George L cable having worked itself loose. People say "you just have to check them over and re-tighten them regularly", but I can't have that on my gigging board. Yes, it's easy to make up a new cable if it craps out, but try telling that to the audience... "gimme two minutes - I have to find the bad cable and re-do it". I will not trust any connection that isn't soldered. Period. [/soapbox]
Until now... I've actually ordered a solderless kit from Lava Cable. People keep telling me they're much better and more solid than George L's. I guess time will tell...
/Andreas |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2009 : 12:35:14
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I've never had a problem with the planet waves ones and my board is getting thrown in and out of the back of a transit van 2-3 times a week plus getting thrown around pubs and clubs etc....i have them on my board nearly 2 years now and all is good...
If you feel confident enough with a soldering iron you could make your own as laurie suggests..i know with me i fix and make things as i need to or have the time to do them but i'd rather be playing to tell the truth so the planet waves were a happy compromise...the one thing i don't like about them is the 'wing' they put on the jacks to stop them slipping out..if you don't plan on constantly unplugging stuff it's not a problem but i stopped using them for my guitar into the pedalboard and out into the amp as i thought the wings were damaging the inputs... i had to fix inputs on the bass players amp and i reckon these did the damage,my amps are older and the jacks are not PCB mounted by i din't want to take the chance..you can pull them of if your careful with a small pliers as their not welded or moulded on but sit on a little ring around the jack... |
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zerksies
Double Platinum Member
USA
3406 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2009 : 13:37:17
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I prefer mogami cable go to www.lavacable.com he will make any size that you need
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Dr. Bob
Moderator
Australia
6593 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2009 : 13:50:56
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Solder is your best friend 
Use a brand name,good quaility, 60/40 solder.
Do not use the newer RoHS Lead Free solders. |
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rhcp_1005
Silver Member
United Kingdom
307 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2009 : 16:01:18
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George L's are great cables and I've found them easy to make. Most prices in the UK start from around �65 but i've bought them off ebay from the US and they cost just under �50, although this is slightly more expensive than the Planet Waves Kit which a lot of people like also.
Making the cables is easy, the kits come with 10ft of cable and 10 right angle jacks, all you need is someway of cutting the cable, I just use a stanley knife. No screwdriver is needed.
If you are worried about them not being reliable the best way to go is with soldered cables. |
Edited by - rhcp_1005 on 11/24/2009 16:02:43 |
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Topic |
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George L's or good cables....
