5-pin cable

[hammer]

I’ve got two five pin cables for my series basses. They both appear to be original so are quite old. One is now crackling but the connections at both ends all seem good and I’ve isolated the problem to mid cable where it appears a one point something extremely heavy was dropped or sitting on the cable flattening it.


Given the age of my cables I’m really concerned only having one and no backup. At some point back someone posted about a connection that made extremely high quality five pin cables but I’ve been unable to track the posting down. Does anyone have a recollection as to who was making these?

[lbpesq]

Bayou Cables.  I had him make me a purple 5-pin several years ago. Great cable and I never mistake it for any other cable!

Bill, tgo

[rv_bass]

I have a couple of Bayou stereo-to-mono cables and they are good quality.  I think Edwin mentioned another cable maker he has used, but I can’t find the thread with the name. Alembic sells new five pin cables as well, I have a couple of the newer Alembic cables and as would be expected they are very high quality

[hieronymous]

I remember the thread you're talking about but can't find it either! (with custom cables)

For what it's worth, I use a Bayou cable too - you can choose different colors! I rarely play my Series bass unfortunately so can't really comment on longevity, but it seems like a fine cable, and actually I've used Bill TGO's cables too and had no problems.

[mavnet]

These guys will make pretty much anything, using whichever brand of cables and connectors you like. https://www.redco.com/Custom-Cable.html

[edwin]

I've been using these cables which are made by an Alembic Series owner and they are very high quality and heavy duty. He's really into making cables for Alembic owners.

https://rayraydecker.com

[hammer]

I went with the RayRaydecker cable and it’s all Edwin indicated it would be. Very high quality.

[bigredbass]

While I never needed a Series cable (!drat!) I've bought cables from Butch at Bayou and cannot recommend him highly enough.  First class guy, I've gone to using his Canare/Neutrik cables with the L-shaped silent quarter inch and love them.

[edwin]

I went with the RayRaydecker cable and it’s all Edwin indicated it would be. Very high quality.

These are actually the only cables I've used other than ones I've built myself in the last 25 years or so.

I highly recommend that everyone learn to solder properly. It's incredibly liberating and empowering. My cable failures over the last few decades have been few and far between. It's not crazy hard to do and is more intimidating than it should be. At the very least, that way you can repair cables if they do break down.

[pauldo]

...

I highly recommend that everyone learn to solder properly. It's incredibly liberating and empowering. My cable failures over the last few decades have been few and far between. It's not crazy hard to do and is more intimidating than it should be. At the very least, that way you can repair cables if they do break down.

Any recommendations for becoming a better solderer? 

I do it so infrequently that there are ALWAYS gobs a plenty when I am complete...  kinda embarrassing but it is the truth.   

[JimmyJ]

I'd bet there are many youtube vids on soldering that would be useful - I haven't looked, but I should.  I'm self-taught but can offer a couple tips from my own experiences.

#1. The solder is only meant to secure the two pieces physically together and not as an electrical path itself so make sure the contact points are solid before you encase them in lead.

#2. The goal is to heat the pieces you are soldering hot enough so that THEY melt the solder.  If you can get the solder to at least start melting without directly touching the tip of the iron with it then it will flow over the two parts you are trying to connect and make a solid bind. 

#3. When working with our 5-pin connectors I always mount an opposite connector in my vice and use that to hold the one I'm soldering.  Because if you heat the pins (especially on the male connector) a bit too hot they can melt the nylon (or whatever it is) that they're mounted in and shift out of position.  Having the connector you are soldering plugged into its opposite counterpart will keep the pins aligned even if it gets a little too hot.  (Um, that may be an indication of my own poor skills so take this with a grain of salt.)

#4. Get a good "solder sucker" to help if things get out of hand.  HA!

Jimmy J

[pauldo]

Thanks Jimmy.

#2 is some solid advice that sounds fundamental... I just need to remember it next time I need to venture into that realm.

WWW research scares me these days, there is so much information that it turns into a daunting task off sifting through what makes sense and what is none sense.   

[lbpesq]

WWW research scares me these days, there is so much information that it turns into a daunting task off sifting through what makes sense and what is none sense.   

I’ve learned a lot of my working on guitars skills from youtube.   When I want to check out how to do something, I try to watch several different videos.  For instance, I was given a Champ amp with issues.  I’ve soldered lots of guitar electricals and feel at least competent with an iron.   And I’ve recently began building my own on-board preamps.   But, other than building a Heathkit guitar amp when I was 13, I haven’t messed around much with amp electronics.  There are restoration kits for this amp, so I thought I might try doing it myself.   Anyway, I watched several youtube videos on how to discharge capacitors.  I found about 4 or 5 that all seemed to basically agree.  But there was also one or two that had it different or suggested shortcuts that didn’t seem to jive with the others.  If I had seen this one first and stopped there .........
Videos are an excellent tool, but you still have to get “second opinions” and do your homework.

The only suggestion I might add to Jimmy’s list is to get some alligator clips or other type of clips to use as heat sinks if you are soldering something other than wire to jack, like resisters, caps, etc.    I know Mica has posted how to wire a cord to sum the stereo signals of an older Series instrument into a mono signal that includes a resister at the plug.   And I LOVE Jimmy’s idea of using the mated end of the jack as a mounting device.  Brilliant!  Why didn’t I think of that?

Bill, tgo

[edwin]

...

I highly recommend that everyone learn to solder properly. It's incredibly liberating and empowering. My cable failures over the last few decades have been few and far between. It's not crazy hard to do and is more intimidating than it should be. At the very least, that way you can repair cables if they do break down.

Any recommendations for becoming a better solderer? 

I do it so infrequently that there are ALWAYS gobs a plenty when I am complete...  kinda embarrassing but it is the truth.   

The reason that people end up with gobs of solder is generally that they are (like I did when I was learning) putting the wires together and then heating while applying solder. This is a very problematic way to solder, as you get too much solder and generally people are more concerned with getting the solder on the wires than ensuring a good joint between the wires. The best way to do it is to first tin the surfaces of each wire (or jack contact), which means heat it up and flow a bit of solder on them. Then put the surfaces together and heat them and make sure the existing solder flows between them and creates a good joint. It takes a little practice, but the result is a stronger connection without too much solder. The only reason not to do this is when you need to solder multiple wires to one connection (such as when I just wired up my 1/4" jack for my Starfire with Series electronics. Just loop the wires through, and then heat and add solder, being careful not to use too much). It's actually surprising how little solder you need for a good joint.

[pauldo]

👍🏽