Am I the on,ly one who doesn;t get along w/ George L's?

halouis · January 11th, 2005, 01:28 PM

I don't use a lot of pedals live. I have a small pedalboard. 3-4 pedals is all i use. 1 being a tuner (TU2).

The boxes are velcroed downon a small homemade board and I have those George Ls connecting them. I cut them clean with a sharp knife. Yet the connections always seem to get spotty after a few weeks of heavy use (practice and gigs). I figure when you stomp a box, even if velcroed down it moves a bit and perhaps wears on the connection in the plugs.

I am thinking of just going back to regular solder connectors so I dont have to be bothered with this.

ANyone else feel the same way?

marshallmelloman · January 11th, 2005, 01:57 PM

George L's can be frustrating. I used them for my whole set up for a couple years and had some difficulty getting them to work at times. Trouble is people have varying opinions on how to set them up and they all seem to be right some of the time 8) . Some people say " push the cable in all the way and tighten the screw in 2 turns" and others say "put the cable in and only tighten it a little" . I have had working and non working results from both methods and had a couple L's mess up gigs for me before I switched to Planet Waves cables. They are expensive and seem a little bit flimsy on the ends because of their positive connection design, but have been good so far.

Lance · January 11th, 2005, 05:10 PM

Well - not that I gig like you do but my board does go out every Friday night. My biggest suggestion is that you tie wrap everything down tight once you got the cables cut and connected. I haven't had any trouble with mine at all. With the Pedaltrain board, that's easy since I just attach everything to a rung. You may need to get more creative or maybe even use some sort of cable holder (ala electrical cable stuff).

The downside is that when you want to change things, you'll need to cut all the ties. I got a bag of them a while ago. I also keep a couple of extra cables in the bag just in case something fails but so far, the only failure I've had is the main one going to the amp (stepped on it and broke it)

div · January 11th, 2005, 05:17 PM

me three. I see some people here saying they've used them for 20 years and never had a problem, so I guess I'm half retarded or something but I found I had to keep cutting them & sticking them back in. I'm sort of hard on cables though- I bunch everything up in a ball & shove it in the bag, oscar madison style.

I use planet waves cables now, and I use a couple dimarzio patch cables between the couple of pedals I use (tuner & delay). They're heavy duty & take abuse well. So far.

Daddy Elmis · January 11th, 2005, 05:27 PM

Not be an a-hole, but if you ball your cables up you're going to have problems with any cable eventually. Yeah, I know, at the end of the gig at 2 am the last thing you want to do is nicely coil your cables . . . but you'll pay for it!

I've had George L's on my board for about a year with no problems at all. I'm using mostly right angle connectors, which appear (at least to me) to be more solid than the straight plugs.

halouis · January 11th, 2005, 10:32 PM

OK. I'll give 'em another try. I have some electrical cable ties. SO that may be the trick. Perhpas I should cable tie the pedals down to the board as well to keep them on more stable than just velcro.

Ringo · January 12th, 2005, 01:53 AM

I had trouble with the right angle George L ends coming loose, unless you use a pair of pliers to really tighten them down.
I've been using the GL cables with straight ends for years with no real problems at all, from my guitar to pedalboard, and pedalboard to amp. Since I changed over to straight ends for the patch cables no problems there either. They do make some strain relief jackets that seem to help out too.

Rob DiStefano · January 12th, 2005, 06:59 AM

The only piece of gear I have from the tail end of my old gigging dayze is the 8' grey Fender guitar cable that came with the new Mary Kay Blonde Tele I bought in '75 - that cord used solderless, screw-in-ground plugs with pin-type hot connector. I've beat the heck outta that cord for near 30 years and it still works just fine. My screw-in George L's and BL's, however, always seem to crap out at the worst of times. I've gone back to soldered cable plugs. YMMV.

Iain · January 12th, 2005, 08:48 AM

and since I redid all my pedalboards' connections withGeorge L's (and go in/out of the board, from guitar to amp with G L's) I really can hear a difference, much to my surprise (I thought it was all just hype).

halouis · January 12th, 2005, 11:26 AM

Yeah I use the Right end types. I just use between pedals. not as main cords. I'd never trust them as main cords for my playing style. and they're too stiff for mains IMHO. I'll try the Pliers trick though.

Thanks.

January 11th, 2005, 01:28 PM	#1 (permalink)
halouis Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Virginia Posts: 1,404 7 Photos	Am I the on,ly one who doesn;t get along w/ George L's? I don't use a lot of pedals live. I have a small pedalboard. 3-4 pedals is all i use. 1 being a tuner (TU2). The boxes are velcroed downon a small homemade board and I have those George Ls connecting them. I cut them clean with a sharp knife. Yet the connections always seem to get spotty after a few weeks of heavy use (practice and gigs). I figure when you stomp a box, even if velcroed down it moves a bit and perhaps wears on the connection in the plugs. I am thinking of just going back to regular solder connectors so I dont have to be bothered with this. ANyone else feel the same way?

January 11th, 2005, 05:10 PM	#3 (permalink)
Lance Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 2,177	Hey Buddy! Well - not that I gig like you do but my board does go out every Friday night. My biggest suggestion is that you tie wrap everything down tight once you got the cables cut and connected. I haven't had any trouble with mine at all. With the Pedaltrain board, that's easy since I just attach everything to a rung. You may need to get more creative or maybe even use some sort of cable holder (ala electrical cable stuff). The downside is that when you want to change things, you'll need to cut all the ties. I got a bag of them a while ago. I also keep a couple of extra cables in the bag just in case something fails but so far, the only failure I've had is the main one going to the amp (stepped on it and broke it) __________________ Lance "not very good...but I make up for it by playing loud"

January 12th, 2005, 01:53 AM	#7 (permalink)
Ringo Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Memphis TN Posts: 1,913	are you using the right angle ends? I had trouble with the right angle George L ends coming loose, unless you use a pair of pliers to really tighten them down. I've been using the GL cables with straight ends for years with no real problems at all, from my guitar to pedalboard, and pedalboard to amp. Since I changed over to straight ends for the patch cables no problems there either. They do make some strain relief jackets that seem to help out too.

January 12th, 2005, 08:48 AM	#9 (permalink)
Iain Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Posts: 305	I like them and since I redid all my pedalboards' connections withGeorge L's (and go in/out of the board, from guitar to amp with G L's) I really can hear a difference, much to my surprise (I thought it was all just hype).

January 11th, 2005, 01:57 PM	#2 (permalink)
marshallmelloman Tele-Holic Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 547	George L's can be frustrating. I used them for my whole set up for a couple years and had some difficulty getting them to work at times. Trouble is people have varying opinions on how to set them up and they all seem to be right some of the time 8) . Some people say " push the cable in all the way and tighten the screw in 2 turns" and others say "put the cable in and only tighten it a little" . I have had working and non working results from both methods and had a couple L's mess up gigs for me before I switched to Planet Waves cables. They are expensive and seem a little bit flimsy on the ends because of their positive connection design, but have been good so far.

January 11th, 2005, 05:17 PM	#4 (permalink)
div Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: noo yawk Posts: 284 12 Photos	me three. I see some people here saying they've used them for 20 years and never had a problem, so I guess I'm half retarded or something but I found I had to keep cutting them & sticking them back in. I'm sort of hard on cables though- I bunch everything up in a ball & shove it in the bag, oscar madison style. I use planet waves cables now, and I use a couple dimarzio patch cables between the couple of pedals I use (tuner & delay). They're heavy duty & take abuse well. So far.

January 11th, 2005, 05:27 PM	#5 (permalink)
Daddy Elmis Tele-Holic Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: USA Posts: 961	Not be an a-hole, but if you ball your cables up you're going to have problems with any cable eventually. Yeah, I know, at the end of the gig at 2 am the last thing you want to do is nicely coil your cables . . . but you'll pay for it! I've had George L's on my board for about a year with no problems at all. I'm using mostly right angle connectors, which appear (at least to me) to be more solid than the straight plugs.

January 11th, 2005, 10:32 PM	#6 (permalink)
halouis Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Virginia Posts: 1,404 7 Photos	OK. I'll give 'em another try. I have some electrical cable ties. SO that may be the trick. Perhpas I should cable tie the pedals down to the board as well to keep them on more stable than just velcro.

January 12th, 2005, 06:59 AM	#8 (permalink)
Rob DiStefano Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Park Ridge, NJ Age: 62 Posts: 4,755	The only piece of gear I have from the tail end of my old gigging dayze is the 8' grey Fender guitar cable that came with the new Mary Kay Blonde Tele I bought in '75 - that cord used solderless, screw-in-ground plugs with pin-type hot connector. I've beat the heck outta that cord for near 30 years and it still works just fine. My screw-in George L's and BL's, however, always seem to crap out at the worst of times. I've gone back to soldered cable plugs. YMMV.

January 12th, 2005, 11:26 AM	#10 (permalink)
halouis Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Virginia Posts: 1,404 7 Photos	Yeah I use the Right end types. I just use between pedals. not as main cords. I'd never trust them as main cords for my playing style. and they're too stiff for mains IMHO. I'll try the Pliers trick though. Thanks.