5-pin cable connectors; replace them?

[edwardofhuncote]

So I got this real heavy gauge old 5-pin cable... I'd like to gig with it for that reason, (you could tow a car with this one, folks!) but while it does lock into the 5-pin socket of my bass, the connection is sloppy/wiggly/loose and occasionally will emit a 'pop'. I did open it up and tighten the connectors wire yoke restraints, which seems to have stopped the popping, but the connector itself seems to just be worn out. (other three 5-pin cables I have click right in nice and tight, this one cable is the only loose one...) Like I said, it's working okay now, but I don't have a lot of confidence in it. For what it's worth, the other end of the cable that plugs into the DS-5 is fine... just figured if I was going to be replacing one end, might as well do both while I was at it... compulsive fixers are like that. 

So I'm wondering how difficult it is to replace the connectors on it? I'd like to not tie-up the shop with a little knucklehead job I could do myself... or maybe have a local pro-audio shop do for me. (I don't touch solder irons or play with bumble-bees) 

Lastly, if this is a D-I-Y job, where would someone source a set of Alembic-approved connectors? (remember, heavy-gauge wire)

Thanks, in advance.

~Ed of H. (wire dunce, first-class)

[LMiwa]

I've used Neutrik NC5 FRX-B and Neutrik NC5 MXX-B with good results.

[hdfixer]

Thumbs up for the NC5 FRX-B and NC5 MXX-B.  I just picked up pair of each and 50' of Canare L-4ES BE cable and made a couple spare cords. Purchased from Markertek.  Redco has them as well as I recall.

It's fiddly soldering, virtually impossible without a "third hand" device to hold everything in place.  Totally doable but probably worth having a pro do it in minutes if you don't have the setup and don't like soldering.

[edwardofhuncote]

Thanks for the replies fellas.

Well, it ain't soundin' good for a quick afternoon project I can do. Stage Sound here in Roanoke https://stagesound.com/ has a pretty good shop, and they've done up a few custom cables for me before. I may have one other little job for them too, but I need to get the exact values for some resistors from Mr. W. to make a stereo-to-mono summing Y-cable. (for use with an older DS-1 or 2 power supply)

One other observation/question: I see online a few other 5-pin cables that have what looks like a plastic or vinyl ring around the collar where it clicks into place... could that piece be missing from mine causing it to feel loose and floppy? Just a thought...

[hdfixer]

The cable that came with my bass looks exactly like yours - stiff black cable and no collar or ring on the connectors.  The Neutrik connector does have an o-ring -see pic. 

[edwardofhuncote]

That's a funny coincidence... see, I got the other cable and DS-5R unit that was with your bass. The cable is a short 10' one, Tom made up of very light-gauge, more supple wire. I use it only for practice with the big living room rig. 

*It locks into my Series I just fine.

[David Houck]

Mine has a rubber O-ring (which broke and hasn't been replaced yet); but mine doesn't look like yours.  I thought I had one or two more cables around here to compare, but didn't see any on a look through earlier today.  Maybe there's one in a case somewhere.

[JimmyJ]

Hey Gregory,

If that is the original Belden 8424 then it might be worth doing, however there are a couple issues...

Alembic chose that wire originally because of it's very robust mil-spec construction.  It was almost un-crushable.  Belden stopped making it some years ago and then "brought it back" a few years later.  But the more recent version was made with different materials and NOT as robust as the original.  I actually had the wire FAIL on me a few times before understanding that.  As in; one of the conductors broke inside the cable and the bass would turn on and off as I bent that section.

The other catch is, if that's the original wire there is likely to be an issue with corrosion of the metal conductors because of the insulation used.  All fine with the original connectors in place but if you cut it back to put new plugs on you may find all the individual wires and the shield wires have turned black and don't want to be soldered.

And the 3rd thing is, it was always a struggle to get that large diameter wire into the connector.  I remember having to cheat by either trimming back the rubber jacket and following up with shrink wrap, or even reaming out the plastic cable clamp of the Neutrik connector just to get it through...

After Mica and Ron explained what had happened with 8424 all my recently built cables went into the bin and I started over with Mogami 2534 and the Neutrik connectors mentioned above.  Even added a bit of "non-skid" cable sleeving to a few for good measure (see pic).  This is "quad" mic cable with color coding in "pairs" of blue and white so you need to be careful and use a meter as you build them.  But so far the results have been both reliable and much easier to handle - both in assembly and on stage.

To sum up - getting the Belden cable into the connector is a struggle, wire corrosion is an issue with the old 8424, and newer 8424 is unreliable.  I would suggest having that shop build you a couple brand new cables using all new materials.

Jimmy J

[edwardofhuncote]

Thanks Jimmy J. 


Yep, that sounds like what I got... y'know, it's just a weird set of circumstances and coincidences that I ended up with extra cables. Then to top it off, a couple weeks ago, a fellow Club Member here pointed out a great deal on a 20' Neutrik cable for a Series bass. So I'm good. I have two 20' cables, another one 10', and this one. I'll hang onto it, just leave it in the gig bag for an extra. Never know when you might need a good tow cable... 

[hieronymous]

Greg, thanks for this thread - my doubleneck only put out one pickup when I used the (long) cable that came with it and DS-5 - I finally figured out it was the cable. I always wondered if someone could cut the ends off or something and put together a new cable, but A) ended up just buying a new (red) one from Bayou Cables and B) thanks to JimmyJ's description sounds like it wouldn't be an easy job to fix the old cable so I can let it go.

[keith_h]

Just an FYI. As others have mentioned without a way to keep the XLR connector from moving soldering can be a bit of a chore. What I have done for both the 3-pin connectors used for microphones and the 5-pin used by Alembic basses is build a jig. All it entails is mounting the panel mount versions of the connectors into a block of wood. This can then be mounted safely in a vice or if the wood is heavy enough just let it set on the bench. It adds a little to the cost but saves considerable time and makes for a clean soldering job. 

[edwardofhuncote]

That's a great idea Keith. Voice of experience if I ever heard one. 

[JimmyJ]

I second that idea from Keith.  Particularly when soldering a male connector it's easy to overheat the solder points, soften the nylon, and cause the pins to fall out of alignment. So I always have the opposite connector in the vise to keep things from going wonky. 

Jimmy J

[edwardofhuncote]

This cable, man... talk about more trouble than it's worth. 


So I had a local shop here put me a new Neutrik end on here, and (as Jimmy aluded to) the extra-heavy cable impedes the built-in stress relief of the particular Neutrik connector a little. The resulting thread gap was nothing a well-sized o-ring couldn't take up for, and made a pretty clean job, but then I tried the cable out, and... everything worked great, all quiet, all tight, all the switching was good until I put the bass' pickup selector switch to the standby position, and there is a very faint signal still 'leaking' through. 

I checked with other cables, and narrowed it down to just this one. Even tried this cable with another Series bass, and it behaves in the same manner, so I'm thinking it has to be the cable.

I'm about to give up and make a tire swing out of this one... before I do, anything obvious I should look for?

[David Houck]

Does adjusting the individual volume knobs while in standby indicate that the leak-through is from just one pickup?

(I wouldn't know the solution if it is, but thought just asking the question might be helpful.)