Rewiring a pedalboard, which cables?

[PFDarkside]

I'm going to undertake the rewiring of my big pedalboard. It was always a mishmash of random cables culminating with 5 George L's. This new incarnation will include a looper, so I'll need quite a few cables. What do you think? Solderless (George L, Lava, Disaster Area, other?) or Soldered? (Switchcraft jacks/Mogami cable, Lava, others?) I'm leaning toward the Switchcraft 229 pancakes, Switchcraft 380 short/mini straight jacks and the thinner Mogami cable, but man is that a lot of soldering!

What's you preference?

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: Rewiring a pedalboard, which cables?

Bust out the soldering iron and do it right!

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Rewiring a pedalboard, which cables?

Agree with above ... solder. I generally use Mogami 2319 and have been using the GLS pancakes. I believe they are the same as the Redco branded pancakes. I end up using some type of buffer on anything but a very small board and that should pretty much negate the effects of the higher capacitance of the Mogami cable. My 2 cents anyway.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Rewiring a pedalboard, which cables?

Oh, you're right!

 

[Bludave]

Re: Rewiring a pedalboard, which cables?

ive had both of my boards wired with George L's. Every once in a while one of the screws loosens up. I just tighten it & go. Never had a problem

 

[TRex]

Re: Rewiring a pedalboard, which cables?

ive had both of my boards wired with George L's. Every once in a while one of the screws loosens up. I just tighten it & go. Never had a problem

Maybe Blue locktight would help. Just a thought. Just a dab will hold it, and it comes off if you need to do repair.

 

[Liam1963]

Re: Rewiring a pedalboard, which cables?

Both my boards have Lava Blue Demon patch cables, with the Switchcraft right angle pancake connectors. Input and Output cables (to and from board) are Monster Rock cables.

 

[DeadandBuried]

Re: Rewiring a pedalboard, which cables?

Mainly use Mogami for patch and jack-to jack cables, I do have a couple of Planet Waves ones and they're really good. Not had an issue with my pedalboard for 5+ years now. Clear and reliable tone night-after-night, year after year!

 

[GAS-a-holic]

Re: Rewiring a pedalboard, which cables?

I've got Evidence SIS solderless on my board and haven't had a problem. Easy to put together as well!

 

[Mincer]

Re: Rewiring a pedalboard, which cables?

I use the Bill Lawrence solderless cables, which work so much better than the George L's. Never had one fail or need to be re-set.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Rewiring a pedalboard, which cables?

Ok for soldered connections, I think the Switchcraft 380 short body 1/4" are the way to go for loopers. For right angles and pancakes, why are the GLS plugs cheaper than (50%) Switchcraft alternatives and what will the impact be? If the same cable is used, what is the difference?

Also, is heatshrink used to increase the size of the cable for easier clamping? It doesn't provide strain relief does it?

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Rewiring a pedalboard, which cables?

Ok for soldered connections, I think the Switchcraft 380 short body 1/4" are the way to go for loopers. For right angles and pancakes, why are the GLS plugs cheaper than (50%) Switchcraft alternatives and what will the impact be? If the same cable is used, what is the difference?

Also, is heatshrink used to increase the size of the cable for easier clamping? It doesn't provide strain relief does it?

The GLS/Redco pancake plugs are good. Fiber insulators and a separate tab for the ground/shield as well as a coated paper insulator between the connections and the shell to insulate from shorts. You can still solder to the case if you don't want to use the tab. Don't know if the Switchcraft pancakes are "better" but I cant hear any difference. There is nothing between them that I can personally justify the price difference.

Heat shrink does provide some strain relief but I don't think it matters much on a pedal board where the cables are basically static. I use one short piece of heat shrink with the Mogami 2319 for a snug clamp in the pancakes.

 

[Hank-]

Re: Rewiring a pedalboard, which cables?

Switchcraft stuff is generally reliable, so I would use those if it were easier for me to get hold of. Presently, I have box full of amphenol plugs, both straight & right angled, trs ones too. I also have some neutrik gold plated right angled ones but those take up too much space so they arent getting used at all. The pedalboard gets a mix of amphenol & no name pancake connectors. Since everything stays fixed, I haven't had any issues yet.

I don't find the need to use heatshrink with the kind of plugs i use & also since I cut them to specific length there isn't excess stress either.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Rewiring a pedalboard, which cables?

Mogami, Switchcraft and GLS incoming. Time to get the soldering iron fired up...

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Rewiring a pedalboard, which cables?

I've got Evidence SIS solderless on my board and haven't had a problem. Easy to put together as well!

I've seen quite a few recommendations for these online, but they seem to cost a fortune! They seem to ring up at about $25 a patch cable? I think my cost will be about $5 a cable. They do look very nice on boards though, it seems you can get a very clean layout with them, and the audio quality seems great according to reviews.

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Rewiring a pedalboard, which cables?

Mogami, Switchcraft and GLS incoming. Time to get the soldering iron fired up...

Just a tip for the GLS pancake plugs. Use a hobby knife or a small piece of sand paper or emery board to rough up the plating on the solder tabs before soldering. I do that and then do a quick clean with some alcohol and a q-tip. That makes it much easier to flow the solder. Personally, I use a little flux as well but it's not necessary. And with the 2319 cable, you may find that shrinking a short piece of heat shrink over the cable, where it clamps in the plug, will build up the cable so it clamps more securely.

This is kind of an obvious thing, but one may not think about it if they haven't used pancake plugs before ... check the orientation of the plugs before you solder. In other words, if you are connecting two pedals with side inputs, the connectors would be soldered with the tips of both connectors oriented in the same direction (ie, both facing up on the finished cable). But if one pedal has a top connector and the other has a side connector, the connectors would be soldered with the tips facing opposite directions (ie, one tip facing up and the other facing down). The Mogami 2319 is so flexible that you could probably just solder the connectors on with no thought of orientation and just twist the cable to form it. But personally, I prefer to avoid that and get the orientation right when I build the cable.

Good luck. Have fun. It will turn out well.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Rewiring a pedalboard, which cables?

Thanks for the tips!

Additionally, it seems that 2319 has a layer of black that appears to be insulator but is actually conductive and needs to be stripped as well. Is a razor blade the best method to strip this cable, it'll be my first experience with it.

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Rewiring a pedalboard, which cables?

Thanks for the tips!

Additionally, it seems that 2319 has a layer of black that appears to be insulator but is actually conductive and needs to be stripped as well. Is a razor blade the best method to strip this cable, it'll be my first experience with it.

That's common on most instrument cables. It helps prevent handling noise. It almost feels like rubber. It just cant contact the center conductor or you'll have a short. It's easy to peel off, just get a fingernail under it and peel it off before soldering.

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: Rewiring a pedalboard, which cables?

Good choice with the 380s, 2319 and GLS pancakes, that's what I use all the time. It will take longer than solderless but you can plug and unplug it 100+ times without any fear of failure or loosening.

As for stripping, skip the razor blade, you're bound to nick the inner wire and lose a few strands.

I use this for the outside of the cable...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002JTI1LK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The smaller size of this set for the inner (and it works great for real fine pickup wires too)...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000X4X23U/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and my thumbnail to remove the thin black jacket from the inner, it comes off real easy no need for a tool.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Rewiring a pedalboard, which cables?

Awesome, you're the man!