Do it yourself cable kit?

I'm about to embark on retooling/expanding my pedal board, partially by incorporating a looper with five different loops. I'd like to get a do-it-yourself cable kit, possibly a George L set, but I want to eventually solder it so I don't have to worry about anything. If I got a George L set, that will at least let me get the board up and running pretty quickly, and I could solder them a couple at a time, rather than having to sit down and solder a bunch of cables at one time. Can this be done with George L's?
If not, what cable/jacks would you recommend that I could cut my own length cables and solder the jacks on?

you don't need to solder George L's and they have a really reputation for reliability. So, they are a very good solution.

Planet waves do a good kit too .

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Planet-Waves-Cable-Station-Pedalboard-Cable-Kit?sku=339123

Personally I don't use either , but if I was going to self make , PW's or Georges are a good choice , even if a bit pricey .

On George L if you want put them together yourself you can or get can also get them put together already (http://rover.ebay.com/ar/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?mpt=%5BCacheBuster%5D&adtype=1&size=1x1&type=4&campid=5335828755&toolid=10001&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2FeBayISAPI.dl l%3FViewItem%26rd%3D1%26item%3D7369706241%26ssPage Name%3DSTRK%3AMEWA%3AITclick here (http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?type=3&campid=5335828755&toolid=10001&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2FeBayISAPI.dl l%3FViewItem%26rd%3D1%26item%3D7369706241%26ssPage Name%3DSTRK%3AMEWA%3AIT)) this is the cheapest I could find.

You can't solder George L cables, but you don't need to either. I've been using them on my pedal board for a year with absolutely no problems.

I haven't used the Planet Waves kit, but it looks good, as is most of their stuff. I'd go for whichever you can get cheaper.

FWIW, prices have gone up on the George L kits lately. My local shop was selling them last year for about $45. Bought one last week for $60. They said the dealer cost had gone up to about $45 now.

i'm with those who recommend George L's for your board ... less tone loss than anything i've tried. hate to hear that the price has gone up, but i'm afraid we'd better get used to that across the board.

across the board.


ahem....

ahem....

:lol: :lol: :lol:

George L's are great.

They're a little tricky to build at first but are easily re-buildable and you'll get good at it after doing a few.

I like them better on a board where they're not constantly being plugged in and unplugged. Because they're solderless you have to be careful to pull on the plug, not the cord and the 90 degree type seem to work themselves loose.

George L's are great.

They're a little tricky to build at first but are easily re-buildable and you'll get good at it after doing a few.

I like them better on a board where they're not constantly being plugged in and unplugged. Because they're solderless you have to be careful to pull on the plug, not the cord and the 90 degree type seem to work themselves loose.

That's part of the problem. I'm going to be unplugging things in and out of this board all the time. That's one reason I want to go with a set that I can solder. Any suggestions?

Not to hijack the thread, but...
MANY years ago, I bought some Bill Lawrence cable with solderless ends.
I lost the cable with the ends, but still have a few feet of cable.
Does anybody use this stuff?
Is it still made?
Are the ends available?

That's part of the problem. I'm going to be unplugging things in and out of this board all the time. That's one reason I want to go with a set that I can solder. Any suggestions?

I've never seen a kit that you solder. But the components are relatively inexpensive. I'd order the jacks and cable from an electronics supplier like Mouser.com or Digikey.com. You could get them through a music supplier if you really want to pay a ridiculous markup.

That's part of the problem. I'm going to be unplugging things in and out of this board all the time. That's one reason I want to go with a set that I can solder. Any suggestions?

Any decent quality patch lead will do .
Far too much emphasis is cast upon musicians today regarding needing top quality accessories in order to get the job done , when strictly speaking , as long as it's not crap , it will usually do a good job .

Go for something like this for good quality . Hicons are as good as they come :
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/5x-10-Professional-quality-Guitar-Patch-Cable-leads_W0QQitemZ190229689940QQihZ009QQcategoryZ4707 5QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Or even something like this :
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/5-PRO-GUITAR-PATCH-LEADS-Short-Effects-FX-Cables-30cm_W0QQitemZ260251853832QQihZ016QQcategoryZ47075 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Or some 6"

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/5x-6-high-quality-Guitar-Patch-Cable-leads_W0QQitemZ190228879529QQihZ009QQcategoryZ4707 5QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

They're all great and will cost a lot less in the states .

I know that Bob Bradshaw like to use Mogami 2524, but I have read some reviews that were good and some that were bad. I have Live wires at the moment and they are pretty good cables, but I am looking for a change of pace.

If you are going to be changing thing in and out the I would suggested find a solid patch cable rather then going with solder less cable like George L's.

Klasher,
you might even try a patch bay. If you are reasonable with pulling cables and putting them in the GeorgeL's or the planet waves will be fine... I have planet waves on my current pedal board... they are solderless (as most are) and have withstood some torture by an idiotic sound man we've been using who wanted to "help" me a couple of times... but, you might really benefit from running your stuff into a patchbay, labeling it and then swapping some good patch cables... that way you could keep cable length down and maximize flexibility. just a thought.

For what it's worth, I've been gigging George L's weekly for at least ten years. During this time, I've had failures on two occasions, both of which amounted to "operator error".

As often as I need to re-route signal flow, I couldn't imagine going back to soldering. I had an in-town full band festival job on Saturday afternoon, and then a duo show 70 miles away later that evening. Time and vehicle space were tight, so I just brought the one board and re-routed between shows to accomodate signal chain for electric or acoustic-electric instruments, as I've done countless times. No problems.

When I bought the George L's stuff, I purchased enough cable and right angle plugs to last a lifetime, and so far, it certainly has. I'm still using all the original cable and plugs that I bought, although they've been reconfigured many times. I keep a few extra GL patch cables of different lengths in my gig tackle box for whatever might be necessary. I usually check all the right angle connections before a show, and all this amounts to is making sure that they're finger-tight.

For a little extra insurance with GL's right angles, you can dab a bit of Elmer's glue onto the screw threads with a Q-tip before securing the bond. This works pretty well, and there are really no future problems with this little fix. The bond is easily broken with a firm twist of thumb and index finger, and if needed, the screw threads can be quickly cleaned by soaking for just a little while in a solvent such as GooGone.

For a solderless kit, I like the Lava Cable ELC: http://www.lavacable.com/Lava%20Cable.htm

For soldered patch cables, I've made my own with Canare GS-4 (thinner version of the GS-6 instrument-size cable) and G&H plugs, which worked great. Pretty sure you can find everything you need here: http://www.markertek.com/index.asp

Have also had great service and great cables from Butch at Bayou Cable. He uses Canare GS-6 cable w/your choice of plugs. Great prices, too - might be worth having him make up a bunch for you.
http://www.bayoucables.com/canare-instrument-cables-click-select-options-p-29.html

Hope this helps! :mrgreen:
Jane

Charlie,
Yes, Bill sells cable and solderless connectors. I'm not sure if it's still compatible with yours but they are available. I'm sure Becky could answer the question. Here's a link: http://www.wildepickups.com/The_Wilde_Collection.php.

I use both the cable and connectors and think they are great but I only play at home so no gigging experience.

Good Luck!

Thanks.

I can recommend Lavaman's ELC connectors. They are not the cheapest, but the sound is there. I invested in these as an experiment, not fully convinced that high end cables could make a difference in tone. (At the same time, I got two lava pre-made cables, for guitar to board, and board to amp.) The difference was not subtle ... quite impressive. No failures or other problems.

you don't need to solder George L's and they have a really reputation for reliability. So, they are a very good solution.

+1 I also LOVE George L's