Author Topic: Bass instrument cable (Read 760 times)

yogalembic · « **Reply #30 on:** July 09, 2012, 05:07:23 PM »

Although I've not checked, I should imagine some excellant soldering instruction via youtube.

dlbydgtl · « **Reply #31 on:** July 09, 2012, 06:11:00 PM »

www.bettercables.com What i use. no issues. Just great sound.

(Message edited by dlbydgtl on July 09, 2012)

David Houck · « **Reply #32 on:** July 09, 2012, 06:43:23 PM »

Except for the wear and tear on the car, and the gas, I would love to drive out next spring. Try to squeeze a foam pad and sleeping bag beside the speaker cabs, racks and bass, and a cooler in the front passenger seat. Oh, and the pedal board. Hmmm. Starting to get a bit crowded.

David Houck · « **Reply #33 on:** July 09, 2012, 06:59:22 PM »

Jay, you're right. I just checked youtube and there appear to be a number of videos on soldering. I watched the first one I came across and it was pretty good.

dfung60 · « **Reply #34 on:** July 09, 2012, 08:31:36 PM »

Interesting discussion! (This shows the nerd in me, if I think a discussion about cables is good).

I whipped out my micrometer and measured a bunch of different plugs with varying use and age (e.g., they ain't gettin' bigger over the years).

Standard Switchcraft = .2462
Ancient big Switchcraft = .2461
Mogami Silver Retail (Neutrik) = .2472
Monster Rock = .2473
ProCo Guardian Blackjack = .2473

The biggest spread was .001, which I doubt will make much difference. I do notice some differences in the tip shape which could account for connection issues. If there are differences in connection strength, it's probably differences in the jack more than the plug - it's amazing that guitar companies want to save $1.00 on a cheesy jack (this probably doesn't apply to the discussion here on the Alembic board though).

I have a couple of fancy ProCo Guardian BlackJacks, which probably haven't been made for 10 years now. I liked the ends when I happened to try them out (don't know the manufacturer, but haven't seen them anywhere else). They're fat and have a strand of kevlar in the cable, which is cribbed from the unified wiring cables that are pulled through fancy new houses (the thin kevlar thread protects the conductor from being broken inside the cable if you pull on it).

I also have a Mogami Silver, which is very thin and works well. I got some Monster Rock cables with right angle connectors for P-basses and the like. They seem perfectly nice, too

I haven't seen them forever, but I loved those big Switchcraft brass plugs where the guts were milled from a brass rod and there was a plastic tube that slid over the connector and was set with a reverse threaded set screw. I still have my ancient Whirlwind Ultrasnake cables (over 30 years old now) and they're still great. I believe this was the connector used with the Alembic blue cables from back in the day.

As has been mentioned above, with the active electronics in your Alembic, capacitance isn't an issue. Inductance isn't an issue with an instrument cable either (you need a lot more wire in a coil for there to be an effect).

Soldering cables is actually pretty challenging, because the first rule of a good connection is to heat the plug enough to melt the solder. Getting a good ground connection is quite challenging because you need a very powerful soldering iron to heat up a big chunk of brass. The signal conductor is no big deal, but the shield connection is.

I clicked on the YouTube video that Dave posted immediately before my post and this is a good example of how NOT to make a reliable cable! The guy in the video has the right equipment, but he has the wrong tip on his soldering iron and basically is sticking the shield in a solder pool on the surface of the connector. If the connector isn't heated enough, then you can't guarantee a full connection between the solder and the connector. The solder melts at a relatively low temperature in contact with the soldering iron, but if the contact isn't heated enough, then there will be a layer of oxide between the pool of solder and the connector which can compromise the sound and physical strength of the connector.

He's using a $100 soldering iron which can generate a lot more heat than the $20 pencil that most people have. The cheapie soldering iron works great when you're putting a wire on a thin contact (like the center connector) or soldering small components to a PC board.

To do a phono jack right, you want to use a powerful iron with a wide tip and put a lot of heat into the connector. You don't want to reuse the existing solder pad, you want to suck that off with a solder sucker, then create a new blob. The reason you do that is that the new solder has a rosin core flux which melts and cleans the metal surface (and makes that incense-like smoke that always floats into your face). Then you heat the connector again until the blob turns liquid, then stick the (already tinned) shield in there and hold it steady until the joint cools.

David Fung

David Houck · « **Reply #35 on:** July 09, 2012, 09:52:39 PM »

Thanks David! I watched a few more videos, and everyone did it differently, and one guy did it differently in different videos.

mario_farufyno · « **Reply #36 on:** July 10, 2012, 06:10:25 AM »

Oh thanks David, I always learn a lot from your posts

flpete1uw · « **Reply #37 on:** July 10, 2012, 02:57:29 PM »

Love all the passion on what takes the amazing tones of our instruments to its final destination. I guess we can take for granted certain skill sets we accumulate through the years. Soldering has become second nature to me only because of the volume of work completed throughout my career. Maybe open up a cable making shop? I digress.
Like any skill, once you know what to look for it gets a lot easier. One of the keys is to have the metal of the connector hot enough to have the solder melt and flow towards it. Takes some practice in learning the right balance not to make anything to hot. The solder joint should end up shiny and smooth. When wire and connector becomes one.
I try to do as much of my own work as possible, it gives me a sense of being more intimate with the outcome. Another part of the whole experience.
Enjoy All, Peace
Pete

dfung60 · « **Reply #38 on:** July 10, 2012, 02:58:21 PM »

Thought I'd burnish my nerddom by posting photos of plugs! It's mostly so young Alembicians can see what a "real" phone plug looks like! Here's some cables:

Left to right, a standard Switchcraft phone plug, Monster Rock, ProCo Guardian Blackjack, Mogami Silver, Whirlwind Ultrasnake. The left and right ones are Switchcraft plugs, the Mogami is Neutrik. I don't know who manufactures the two gold ones. Here's a close up of that old Ultrasnake jack. These were common as "the good stuff" back in the 70's and early 80's. I can't remember the special name Switchcraft had for these, but it had some sort of catchy name.

There's no bent metal in this plug. The body is a piece of solid brass rod with everything that isn't a phone jack milled away. The strain relief is a big, thick piece of steel that's crimped on. I had a bunch of these and never had an end go bad (it's not clear what you can do to these to damage them). I don't think these have been sold for many years. Here's a side view, too.

Enjoy! David Fung

terryc · « **Reply #39 on:** July 10, 2012, 04:16:47 PM »

Ok how nerdy can you guys get over wire and plugs!
I tell you if I brought this up in the pub they would think I need counselling!
A deep thread indeed! but interesting to say the least( I only read parts of it..yeah of course I did LOL)

cozmik_cowboy · « **Reply #40 on:** July 10, 2012, 07:31:12 PM »

I've always heard those (the Whirlwind) called Switchcraft mil-spec phone jacks, David - but that's the first one I've seen that didn't have a red sleeve (including, IIRC, the ones on the telephone switchboard my great-aunt operated in her living room). The only trouble I ever had with them is, being brass, they tarnish - you start to lose connection, then it's Brasso time!

Peter

poor_nigel · « **Reply #41 on:** July 11, 2012, 12:30:02 AM »

Hey David, I was in the military as a radio repairman during the early 70's and we had those brass 1/4 plugs in abundance for landline and headphones, and other speaker/signal connections. Since I was in a repair shop, I had boxes of em. Who knows who made em for the military, so might have been Switchcraft. I probably still have some in my old junk boxes in storage. I never thought of making a Play Plug fold-out of any of them, but I do have quite an obsession for old music gear, nonetheless.