A show on patch cables is not dull Dan, they’re something we all use, and for me it’s perfect timing given I’m about to build up a new pedal board. I’m looking to use solderless connectors this time so this episode was very helpful. 👍
Having been an engineer at a major U.S. pedal company from '79 to '89, I watched this with great interest. You 'nailed' every part of this presentation. It should be a great help to everyone!
I've made all of my cables for years using Mogami cable and a combination of Switchcraft and Neutrik connectors. I always test them and then heatshrink the ones that it is appropriate for. I used to think that solderless cables were junk and way overpriced until the first episode that I saw you discussing their value. Knowing your experience it opened my eyes. I can even see were they could be better for some applications now that I'm more educated. Watching you strip off the black insulator off the inner core, similar to a high-priced Mogami cable made me even more of a believer. I love watching the episode where you build pedalboards as it helps me build my own. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. I'm only making them for myself. I'm an Electrical Engineer and have a lot of experience designing and building circuit boards, digital and analog. Even though a lot of the skills and knowledge is transferable, there are always nuggets of wisdom that a person can learn if he is open to learning. And I have picked up several very helpful nuggets from you sir!! The part where you emphasized NOT scoring the inner conductor is extremely important. It's just as relevant for stranded cable, even though you can get by with a few less strands, but it's just not as good of a cable. And if you break or score too many you could end up with a cable that fails. And if it's on your pedal board it might not be that easy to find, depending on your layout. Strain relief on a cable would be another good point to stress, pun intended. 😉
You may have solved my biggest frustration with solderless patch cables: the cable cutting. Damn, that's why 75% of my cables are dead from the get-go.
scrambling about on the sticky floor of a shitty pub stage just before a gig soldering a guitar cable plug back together to fashion what the kids call patch cables these days.... ahhh the good old days. The cynic in me says electrical connection don't care about your stupid gold connectors, it just want's to FLOW, baby. Your best advice on good connections yet, paying attention to the achilles heal, a good shield /ground/earth connection, really enjoyed it
Been using Evidence Audio monorail and plugs for my pedalboard patch cables since seeing them in use by you good lads at TPS and yes, super reliable, easy to construct (and reconstruct when the inevitable re-jig of pedals happens) and sound great and noise free.
Common argument against "screw on" solderless cables is, that the screw on connection will corrode and you will loose good connection and it will never happen with soldered cable. As I watch TPS, I have enough evidence, that the screw on cables done right are not suspectible to this issue.
Dan I am so glad to you did this video. I was a radio tech for the first 15 years in my career. I know how to solder very good. But I've been a musician since high school. When I started building my first pedalboards, I've never had any desire to spend my time soldering patch cables. You get what pay for. If you buy high quality patch cables, they work.
I've had good experience with 3Monkeys. For cutting the cables, Custom Pedal Boards sells a specific tool for cutting them with. It's a dog nail clipper! Works very well indeed, being designed for a clean, fast shear without crushing. The only thing I find is I need to make a quick, confident cut with it and, as you say, check afterwards in case there's a strand of the shielding braid hanging around.
Dan, you’re the guy who introduced me to evidence audio SIS and I haven’t looked back. It’s expensive but I don’t care…I rely on those connections to make my living and they’re SOLID 👍 EDIT: a quick tip for building SIS patch cables. It helps *immensely* to plan the angle of your cables in advance. I always put my cable roughly where it’s going to be on the board then use THOSE angles when attaching my connectors. That way you have a minimum amount of excess pressure on your cable connectors and your pedal/switcher jacks. Just another added layer of reliability…
Good one and an important topic. When it comes to building a board nothing annoys and frustrates me more than messy cables. It’s a big part of the satisfaction of building a nice board and a key part of making it reliable and sounding good.
I have years n years professional experience. No matter what anyone says I’ll never use anything but soldered patch cables I’ve had to many failed solederless cables over the years
From what I understand a good quality cable & gold plated ends make for a useful & respectable cable. I'm lucky enough to have Monster Cable through EVERYTHING. I think as long as it's all quality equipment & works well together, you should be OK. This is where you don't want to go cheap & end up searching for the weakest link in the chain between your guitar & the speaker.
I went from soldered to Lava tightrope which is solid core. When I did this, I had less tone suck and due to cable diameter and custom length, my pedal board was much more tidy. I love the tightrope and that is good enough for me. I’ve only had one fail and it was easy to diagnose and fix on the fly. I’ve had to re-solder many commercially soldered patch cables and instrument cables.
The Evidence Audio SIS system is a great thing! Admittedly it’s all home use but no failures or re-dos required so far (although I do need to get the pliers out as finger tightness does tend to loosen if the cables are moving about at all - still none failed, though). The ability to create a cable exactly the length you need in under 5 minutes and without getting the soldering gear out (because I’m rubbish at it) is GREAT. 😁 Thanks, Dan, for the intro to it and the GigRig power stuff!
Hi, great video, the end piece that unscrews try using Loctite Threadlocker blue removable. I am a Millwright for 50 years and fasteners are a major part of my work. Your guitar playing is awesome.
Can't go wrong with George L's.. man that George L's, Evidence audio and mogami are the most desirable cables, back in the day when I was still in the band.
Great video! I hate the experts in the comments, but here I am :\ You really hit all of the important things well. I would only add one thing to your point of being careful stripping the center conductor. You mentioned scratching it may break it; very true. But even if it doesn't break, the AC signal on the center conducter travels by way of "skin effect" which affects high frequencies more than low frequencies. So, even if the scratched center conducter doesn't break, you may have a noticable loss of high frequencies in a cable where the center conducter has that little scratch all the way around it. As to how long it takes to become good at soldering, I built cables 8 hours a day for 10 months. I wasn't just building audio cables, so it took me about 3 months to feel like I was actually good at it. They were a variety of soldered, crimp, and solderless. I went on to build cables and repair/build electronics for years. I would say in the initial 10 months I maybe became an expert in the type of soldering I did, but there were some jobs I wouldn't attempt. Though I was coerced into attempting one job that was beyond my tools and ability, and it cost $22,000 to replace my mistake.
TBH I'd never considered solderless cables, that might improve my sound a lot, at the cost of a little work on my side, so this was valuable information Dan!
Having just received a GigRig Quartermaster, this is extremely helpful. I’m 100% sure I would screw up the Evidence cables without these detailed instructions as a guide. Many thanks 🙏🏻
You are a gentleman Dan So I'll say it.😳 There's a professional "rig" builder out there on the net who may or may not have a Doctorate in PedalBoardology who casts aspersions upon your work because of the use of solderless cables. I've had a go at him a few times and failed to get a response that is more than essentially 'I know best' The issue I take him to task on is the idea that solderless is sonically inferior. His assertion is that the mechanical joint creates resistance and will also corrode. When pointed to the fact that you are then plugging that lead into a jack and therefore a mechanical joint .... crickets. Then of course, you can go add up all the switches and plugs in the rest of the signal chain.... still crickets. NASA use soldered and solderless, sooo... I've used Lava cables for years with great results and reliability..... and I can and do solder, 45 years of electronic DIYs The biggest plus for me is the instant rebuild/repair capability. I still sometimes stuff up a cable occasionally but it's fixed in a minute without the need of a soldering iron.
I think I know the guy you're talking about, He used a blurred out image of a GigRig product in one of his videos and implied Daniel recommended doing something I'm quite certain he would never tell anyone to do. Same guy also downplays solderless cables, but I've been using George L cables for the better part of two decades and have never experienced a cable failure. IMHO, the only reason a solderless cable will fail is due to improper assembly.
I wired an 18 space rack,that among a lot of rack gear obviously,had about 8 pedals in a gcx switching system.i used George L's and never had an issue. The cables were cut to the lengths I needed,no wasted cable, and I used those jackets over every end, and having them color coded made it so that even my singer could trace all those wires if there ever had been a problem. It was also real convenient having a straight plug on one end and a right angle at the other.i can't comment about sound quality with long cable runs,as I said I was using a switching system, they sounded fine are they the best sounding cables ? I don't know but I have heard a lot worse sounding cables. In that 18 space rack I had a drawer that I kept extra everything in. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think it matters if you use soldered or solderless cords, something could always go wrong and I thought it was best to have a spare just in case.
Very useful video and I really enjoy this laid back vlog style. I'd love to see a mini series of vlogs focussed on these more utility type topics that a lot of guitarists wouldn't have thought to develop the skills for
One grumble: Evidence instructions say 2mm exposed copper, Dan had maybe double that here. I wished I'd known that before setting up 30 cables and finding half of them randomly stop working, usually in sound checks or before feature solos of course. I was just about to eBay the lot of them but will give it another go first ... 😡
ROHS lead free solder sucks. I'd never use it except for a mass produced export product. Especially on home made patch cables. Good ol' Kester 60/40 rosin core. Tin yer wires, tin yer lug, don't breath in the smoke. Inspect your work with a magnifying glass before reassembly. Pro tips - blast the connection with non chlorinated brake parts cleaner or CRC electronics cleaner to remove corrosive flux from the jack and wires and use heat shrink tubing for strain relief.
I've used George L's solderless cables, and once I learned how to put them together properly, they worked great, and have great fidelity....until they failed. The assembly design is there for convenience, not durability. I enjoy the tonal quality of the cable, but the connectors have failed on numerous times. Yes, I fault my assembly process to the degree that it may have contributed, but after building many of these cables I have concluded that it is just a matter of time before they failure. Even though cables on a pedalboard typically don't experience any flexing or movement, the risk is simply too high to recommend them. Do you really want to pull your pedalboard apart looking for a failed cable? I didn't think so.
Thanks Dan! That was an incredibly useful video with everything clearly explained and well filmed. I’ve struggled in the past with putting together solderless cables but this video has inspired me to give them another go. If they’re good enough for Dave K then they’re good enough for me! 😀
To any solderless naysayers, it's worth remembering that NASA won't send anything to orbit that uses soldered wiring for between-board connections. They stopped decades ago after several mission failures due to soldered joints failing from the vibrations during launch.
There are, eh um, certain Yutubbies who deride solderless, even going so far as getting T-shirts made. I use both, but their claims are self-aggrandizing cable snobbery more than reality. Thanks for bravely speaking truth!
As an electronics engineer by trade and a guitarist by hobby for over 35 years, I must respectfully disagree with you that soldering is a skill that takes years to master. If you are shown the right preparation, technique and do a bit of soldering practice with some pieces of wire, you can EASILY be at beast level after a few hours or days. I've been soldering for over 40 years in my hobby of electronics and I would say I'm at beast level with my soldering skills, as are the majority of people who have done it for decades, but I didn't get to beast level before I was taught the correct preparation and technique when I trained as a weapon engineering mechanic in the Royal Navy. There are many soldering videos on UA-cam and all it takes to learn is to watch some videos, get the right gear, do the correct preparation and then practice soldering until you master it.
I’m an audio engineer and there was nothing I’ve heard that was said that wasn’t accurate by the terminology used and way it was presented, however, there are some scientific aspects to this which are worthy of consideration. One, is that an inherent weakness with solder-less connections (over soldered) is an always-present issue called oxidation. This means that should oxygen and water (moisture in the air) somehow infiltrate an unbonded metal on metal connection, the continuity will eventually be compromised and broken. Another, is the issue compression/expansion when it comes to metals, being that once variables of cold and heat are introduced, the metal expands and then contracts which also leads to shorted connections. Daniel shared some valid anecdotal examples in this video and there can be many examples on both sides of the debate, but this cannot negate the scientific element, which says that there are factors working against the solder-less cable concept which have a scale of probability attached that is inherently riskier than a cable with a well established solder connection. That said, I agreed completely with the point that a poorly constructed cable is a poor cable regardless of which one you select.
thank you DAN for this topic i have been doubting solderless as a soldering guy i have done one of my pedal boards with solderless and no trouble , the upside to them are if one fails you dont have to get the soldering iron out a 1 min fix
This is one of the most important videos on the channel and I have been watching for years. It would be nice to know what you can do if some copper does get break off in the tip; how do you get it out? Or is that connector toast?
In my direct experience, I will never go back to solderless. A ghost in the machine that would only rear itself in critical settings…stages with subwoofers underneath, for example. It took me too much time and strife, blaming and replacing pedals that were not the problem, before I finally discovered that the once-reliable George L’s were causing random loading and eventually signal loss when exposed to vibration. Enjoy your solderless if you so choose. Inevitable oxidation of the copper (what’s the point of oxygen free cable if it’s not soldered to prevent oxidation???) and inevitable mechanical loosening are problems and not features. Then there’s the surgery involved in building solderless that far surpasses the complications of soldering. Hard pass from me.
Cautionary tale for those who make their own patch cables: I once used a different brand of high-end cable to nake up some patch cords. My work was beautiful- lovely solder joints, heat shrink, strain relief. Continuty tests were good. HOWEVER various patch cords had varying degrees of level drop. Very strange. This fancy cable had a second layer of sheathing around the central conductor. Turns out that this (black) layer is conductive (it minimizes cable handling noise). Special care must be taken to skin it back to ensure it doesn't touch the signal path or weird things can happen. I had to undo (and redo) all of my painstaking work. Now these cables are great and hopefully others can learn from my mistake.
I discovered the Evidence Audio SIS cables thanks to one of your previous videos. Thanks for turning me on to them! They're a core element of my gigantic Pedalboard of Dhoom™, and I couldn't be happier with the result. Now I just need to get my playing skills somewhere near the level of my equipment. 😆
Dan, I've noticed in the past when you've done board builds that in comparison with some other high-profile builders, your cabling isn't quite so locked down or rigidly routed, if that makes sense? For example, I've seen some where cables are perfectly lined up next to each other and cut literally to the millimeter - in a nerdy way, it's beautiful to look at but can't help but think it would be an absolute nightmare to make any changes or even troubleshoot things without a time consuming teardown. With your builds there seems to be a bit more flexibility built in. Is this to allow for a bit of on-the-fly troubleshooting/moving stuff around? Great video, btw!
So does this mean we are going to see some TPS branded 'Pedal Popsticks' available from your store? 🤣 (I would probably would buy it hahaha). Maybe a premium version thats 'pre-sucked' by either Dan or Mick for extra tone boost (full range boost or mid-boost, respectively). All jokes aside, this is an awesome video. Thanks Dan!
Not sure if you'll ever see this, but Park Tool (a bicycle tool company) make the CN-10 cable cutter that has a shaped crimper that you use to push bicycle shifter housing back into a round shape, just like you do with your patch cable. I've never tried it on a patch cable, but it works real well for the bicycle stuff. might be worth a try?
In the early 2000’s my pedalboard was entirely George L cables. Never had a single failure. Twenty years later I hear everyone on UA-cam say how they’re not robust and can’t stand up to use etc etc and kept thinking “wow was I just that gentle on my equipment!?” I can only judge from personal experience and not usually one to repeat what I hear on the internet, and I have a feeling that doesn’t ring true for everyone…
I think George Ls are notorious… For people making them poorly and then blaming the product for a failure instead of the person who didn’t make the connections properly. With the right angle plugs in particular, I think people often put the wrong amount or kind of pressure needed when screwing on the cap.
@@jhholmes5252 I was thinking the same thing. Because I remember years ago making them and I’d test each cable as I made them and once in a while one would come out bad. Take your time and redo it right and lasted without issue for me.
Great video Dan and not at all dull but I'm a detail geek. There are two points about the 3 monkeys cable that you didn't mention and I wonder why you didn't build one of them. 1, The connector's profiles are quite low - the lowest available I think - saving precious space between pedals. This may not be a big plus for everyone but it is for me. And 2, The connectors screw on to the cable making them the quickest and easiest to make. I've used them for years now and they've never failed me except for one instance. I've remade the board many times with no problems but just yesterday I was removing a power cable from a pedal when the center pin broke and stuck inside the pedal's jack. Going to see if the monkeys might replace that connector for me.
Cables, great, love them. But wait!!! You have an EHX FLANGER HOAX ON THE WALL!!! That's the greatest modulation monster ever. I absolutely love mine and I'd love love love seeing it featured in a show. Make it happen!
I hate to say it, but I had a pretty critical George L fail on me just this weekend (with plastic cap, and screwed super tight). I have lots of their patch cables, and I will continue to use them, but eventually, after years and hundreds of gigs, they do fail. I'm probably stating the obvious here. I always carry some cheapy patches somewhere in my setup just incase. Just my experience/opinion. (I'm a 3-5 night a week gigging musician in London/Internationally)
Well done! For me, soldering is therapeutic...except for when I bought a double shielded, double braided cable that was nearly as big as my little finger when twisted together. I nearly needed therapy after trying to solder that!
Really appreciate and was looking forward to watching this video! Everyone in the circles I run in turns their noses at solderless cables. I picked up some Evidence SIS on your recommendation and they’ve been rock solid. I’m glad there’s some more information about this that I can offer as reference!
Great video Dan! Have you tried using nail polish or loctite on the threaded ends of solderless patch cables? I find this useful to keep screws in place.
lol I'm not in the stripper business (next life) and haven't supplied them. A few places that sell my stuff include them which is confusing. I generally tell people to just use what they have lying around and once accustomed to that tool they are set and anything else will feel strange. Use what you cut your strings with. Scissors. Or an actually wire stripper. You can get the little yellow tool a few places online for about $3. If you need help let me know. -Tony
Thank you, this was far from dull for me! I've soldered 3 cables yesterday. It's invaluable to learn from other people's experiences and mistakes. Thank you for sharing this!
Nice video. My dad taught me how to solder when I was very young. So, I’ve been making my own cables for a while. I’ve never messed with solder less. That being said, I learned a lot about solder less. Great tips. Thanks Dan
I got the D’Addario solderless cable kit for my board before I saw any vids that said “Don’t use solderless cables!” Those vids spooked me. Already, I had (carefully) made just one custom length cable, so I used it, while carrying a spare soldered cable, waiting for my solderless to fail. 2 years later, my custom cable still has a solid connection. So, I thank you for your re-assurance. Since, I am currently re-doing my board, and all my custom cables will be solderless.
on the Evidence Audio, patch cable think you should have had some protection on the plug barrel like some rubber from a wheel inner tube. to me, direct metal-to-metal contact screams damage of some sort.
thanks dan. but u kinda illustrated why i gave up on george Ls after years of being frustrated and frankly f&@cked by them over and over no matter how careful i was. just not worth the effort u expended in this vid. pre soldered stuff for me. that being said the george l straight plugs were easy to make and never failed cuz the design is way better. the angled ones are the ones that will drive u insane. lastly, i wish u woulda tested that first angled GL you made….😉
I would really love to see an episode where you guys wire up a big board with budget/low quality patch cables and compare it to one you've wired using your preferred brand of cables. Over the years I've amassed a hodgepodge collection of affordable patch cables which I've used for my main board and I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps the low quality cable is robbing me of more top end than it should. I'm considering investing in redoing my cabling with new, high quality cables but springing for 30 plugs and 20ft of cable is a hue investment. Would love to get a better idea of how worth it it might be!
Dan... First and foremost, this is a very good video. Here is a little more info for anyone interested. 1) Make sure the solder tip is clean and will "hold" solder. If it is dirty transfer of heat is poor and your job becomes really tough. 2) FYI... Leaded solder is easier to work with than lead-free and tends to be more robust against vibrational failure. For the hobbyist this is something to consider... for a business it''s lead-free. 3) Get some flux for the type of solder you are using to help with reflow / rewetting. Higher solid content fluxes tends to be easier to work with. 4) Get some solder wick for cleanup and rework. It is less necessary for this task, but it is really helpful when needed. It can also make a decent ground strap. 5) Invest in cheap, preferably lit, magnification, especially for those of us getting older. Reading glasses work in a pinch. The table mount swing arm style magnifiers work well. 6) Braided wires can wick the solder up its length. If this hapopens it will start to loose its flexibility in the area affected. This is a combo of too much heat for too long and too much solder. 7) Heat... heat is your friend... and heat is your enemy. There is a perfect temp for each type of solder (leaded 63/37 to 60/40 works best between 600F and 650F). Hotter burns off flux too fast and increases risk of component damage. Lead-free should be around 50F hotter but will depend on the type. A good soldering iron and clean tip will transfer heat quick enough that setting it hotter has no benefit. Look up the proper temp to use with your equipment. 8) Hakko soldering equipment is solid and a great deal for the hobbyist / job shop. There are companies that use these for production. If you want the best, though, get a JBC in my opinion. 9) Blowing on solder... I'll have to disagree with this one Dan. This myth has been around forever., and I've never seen or heard of a real-world issue from doing so. If the joint is small and minimal heat is applied it will cool fast anyway. If it's a large joint that has absorbed significant heat, blowing may help the initial set but the thermal mass will force it to cool slower. The effect is not significantly different than soldering in the cold or with a breeze, and this is only an issue for getting heat applied. With that said, I wouldn''t get in the habbit of blowing because it doesn't tend to save any time. If anyone believes they got a bad joint from blowing, let me ask this one question.... were all pieces held still while you moved to get in blowing position? Cheers!
![[UA] NAVI проти G2 Esports | Blast Premier Fall Final](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QWlIm4FGESQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Great video Dan! i can´t stop laughing about the Mick´s photo with the glass of wine on the solder table! hahahaha great great detail!
A show on patch cables is not dull Dan, they’re something we all use, and for me it’s perfect timing given I’m about to build up a new pedal board. I’m looking to use solderless connectors this time so this episode was very helpful. 👍
Having been an engineer at a major U.S. pedal company from '79 to '89, I watched this with great interest. You 'nailed' every part of this presentation. It should be a great help to everyone!
Ah, cheers B 🙏
Honestly Dan; I’d watch you install a Sky dish! Lovely video.
Hahahah!!!!
"DIY with Dan" would be a sure hit and would reach far beyond just the guitar community.
I just fainted and needed to be revived on hearing that Dan once used a POD.
The POD is sick, don't hate
That POD band sucks trenchcoats
I've made all of my cables for years using Mogami cable and a combination of Switchcraft and Neutrik connectors. I always test them and then heatshrink the ones that it is appropriate for. I used to think that solderless cables were junk and way overpriced until the first episode that I saw you discussing their value. Knowing your experience it opened my eyes. I can even see were they could be better for some applications now that I'm more educated. Watching you strip off the black insulator off the inner core, similar to a high-priced Mogami cable made me even more of a believer. I love watching the episode where you build pedalboards as it helps me build my own. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. I'm only making them for myself. I'm an Electrical Engineer and have a lot of experience designing and building circuit boards, digital and analog. Even though a lot of the skills and knowledge is transferable, there are always nuggets of wisdom that a person can learn if he is open to learning. And I have picked up several very helpful nuggets from you sir!! The part where you emphasized NOT scoring the inner conductor is extremely important. It's just as relevant for stranded cable, even though you can get by with a few less strands, but it's just not as good of a cable. And if you break or score too many you could end up with a cable that fails. And if it's on your pedal board it might not be that easy to find, depending on your layout.
Strain relief on a cable would be another good point to stress, pun intended. 😉
i have used george l's fir at least 15 years, but probably 20. never had one fail.
Met Dan randomly at a music shop here in Tokyo several years ago. Such an awesome, genuine, down to earth guy that geeked out about pedals with me.
I remember! Hope you’re doing awesome 🤩
You may have solved my biggest frustration with solderless patch cables: the cable cutting. Damn, that's why 75% of my cables are dead from the get-go.
scrambling about on the sticky floor of a shitty pub stage just before a gig soldering a guitar cable plug back together to fashion what the kids call patch cables these days.... ahhh the good old days. The cynic in me says electrical connection don't care about your stupid gold connectors, it just want's to FLOW, baby. Your best advice on good connections yet, paying attention to the achilles heal, a good shield /ground/earth connection, really enjoyed it
Been using Evidence Audio monorail and plugs for my pedalboard patch cables since seeing them in use by you good lads at TPS and yes, super reliable, easy to construct (and reconstruct when the inevitable re-jig of pedals happens) and sound great and noise free.
Common argument against "screw on" solderless cables is, that the screw on connection will corrode and you will loose good connection and it will never happen with soldered cable.
As I watch TPS, I have enough evidence, that the screw on cables done right are not suspectible to this issue.
Correct, I have not seen any of this so called corrosion in normal use over many years.
i use 3-Monkeys solderless and they are fantastic!
Dan I am so glad to you did this video. I was a radio tech for the first 15 years in my career. I know how to solder very good. But I've been a musician since high school. When I started building my first pedalboards, I've never had any desire to spend my time soldering patch cables. You get what pay for. If you buy high quality patch cables, they work.
I've had good experience with 3Monkeys.
For cutting the cables, Custom Pedal Boards sells a specific tool for cutting them with. It's a dog nail clipper! Works very well indeed, being designed for a clean, fast shear without crushing. The only thing I find is I need to make a quick, confident cut with it and, as you say, check afterwards in case there's a strand of the shielding braid hanging around.
Pure brilliance.
Dan, you’re the guy who introduced me to evidence audio SIS and I haven’t looked back. It’s expensive but I don’t care…I rely on those connections to make my living and they’re SOLID 👍
EDIT: a quick tip for building SIS patch cables. It helps *immensely* to plan the angle of your cables in advance. I always put my cable roughly where it’s going to be on the board then use THOSE angles when attaching my connectors. That way you have a minimum amount of excess pressure on your cable connectors and your pedal/switcher jacks. Just another added layer of reliability…
Your point on layout is very important! Couldn't agree more!!
Good one and an important topic. When it comes to building a board nothing annoys and frustrates me more than messy cables. It’s a big part of the satisfaction of building a nice board and a key part of making it reliable and sounding good.
I have years n years professional experience. No matter what anyone says I’ll never use anything but soldered patch cables I’ve had to many failed solederless cables over the years
From what I understand a good quality cable & gold plated ends make for a useful & respectable cable. I'm lucky enough to have Monster Cable through EVERYTHING. I think as long as it's all quality equipment & works well together, you should be OK. This is where you don't want to go cheap & end up searching for the weakest link in the chain between your guitar & the speaker.
I went from soldered to Lava tightrope which is solid core. When I did this, I had less tone suck and due to cable diameter and custom length, my pedal board was much more tidy. I love the tightrope and that is good enough for me. I’ve only had one fail and it was easy to diagnose and fix on the fly. I’ve had to re-solder many commercially soldered patch cables and instrument cables.
I love that Dan has a framed pic of Mick at his workbench
Dan, any chance to hear your wizardry and passion is appreciated (and not dull). I find videos like this very zen.
Great vid Mick! Thanks mate
The Evidence Audio SIS system is a great thing! Admittedly it’s all home use but no failures or re-dos required so far (although I do need to get the pliers out as finger tightness does tend to loosen if the cables are moving about at all - still none failed, though). The ability to create a cable exactly the length you need in under 5 minutes and without getting the soldering gear out (because I’m rubbish at it) is GREAT. 😁
Thanks, Dan, for the intro to it and the GigRig power stuff!
Hi, great video, the end piece that unscrews try using Loctite Threadlocker blue removable. I am a Millwright for 50 years and fasteners are a major part of my work. Your guitar playing is awesome.
Can't go wrong with George L's.. man that George L's, Evidence audio and mogami are the most desirable cables, back in the day when I was still in the band.
Great video! I hate the experts in the comments, but here I am :\
You really hit all of the important things well. I would only add one thing to your point of being careful stripping the center conductor. You mentioned scratching it may break it; very true. But even if it doesn't break, the AC signal on the center conducter travels by way of "skin effect" which affects high frequencies more than low frequencies. So, even if the scratched center conducter doesn't break, you may have a noticable loss of high frequencies in a cable where the center conducter has that little scratch all the way around it.
As to how long it takes to become good at soldering, I built cables 8 hours a day for 10 months. I wasn't just building audio cables, so it took me about 3 months to feel like I was actually good at it. They were a variety of soldered, crimp, and solderless. I went on to build cables and repair/build electronics for years. I would say in the initial 10 months I maybe became an expert in the type of soldering I did, but there were some jobs I wouldn't attempt. Though I was coerced into attempting one job that was beyond my tools and ability, and it cost $22,000 to replace my mistake.
TBH I'd never considered solderless cables, that might improve my sound a lot, at the cost of a little work on my side, so this was valuable information Dan!
Having just received a GigRig Quartermaster, this is extremely helpful. I’m 100% sure I would screw up the Evidence cables without these detailed instructions as a guide. Many thanks 🙏🏻
You are a gentleman Dan
So I'll say it.😳
There's a professional "rig" builder out there on the net who may or may not have a Doctorate in PedalBoardology who casts aspersions upon your work because of the use of solderless cables.
I've had a go at him a few times and failed to get a response that is more than essentially 'I know best'
The issue I take him to task on is the idea that solderless is sonically inferior.
His assertion is that the mechanical joint creates resistance and will also corrode. When pointed to the fact that you are then plugging that lead into a jack and therefore a mechanical joint .... crickets.
Then of course, you can go add up all the switches and plugs in the rest of the signal chain.... still crickets.
NASA use soldered and solderless, sooo...
I've used Lava cables for years with great results and reliability..... and I can and do solder, 45 years of electronic DIYs
The biggest plus for me is the instant rebuild/repair capability. I still sometimes stuff up a cable occasionally but it's fixed in a minute without the need of a soldering iron.
I think I know the guy you're talking about, He used a blurred out image of a GigRig product in one of his videos and implied Daniel recommended doing something I'm quite certain he would never tell anyone to do. Same guy also downplays solderless cables, but I've been using George L cables for the better part of two decades and have never experienced a cable failure. IMHO, the only reason a solderless cable will fail is due to improper assembly.
Cheers Dan, useful and nice to watch. Job jobbed.
I wired an 18 space rack,that among a lot of rack gear obviously,had about 8 pedals in a gcx switching system.i used George L's and never had an issue. The cables were cut to the lengths I needed,no wasted cable, and I used those jackets over every end, and having them color coded made it so that even my singer could trace all those wires if there ever had been a problem. It was also real convenient having a straight plug on one end and a right angle at the other.i can't comment about sound quality with long cable runs,as I said I was using a switching system, they sounded fine are they the best sounding cables ? I don't know but I have heard a lot worse sounding cables. In that 18 space rack I had a drawer that I kept extra everything in. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think it matters if you use soldered or solderless cords, something could always go wrong and I thought it was best to have a spare just in case.
Very useful video and I really enjoy this laid back vlog style. I'd love to see a mini series of vlogs focussed on these more utility type topics that a lot of guitarists wouldn't have thought to develop the skills for
Well done!
Two patch cables go round the outside, round the outside, round the outside
One grumble: Evidence instructions say 2mm exposed copper, Dan had maybe double that here. I wished I'd known that before setting up 30 cables and finding half of them randomly stop working, usually in sound checks or before feature solos of course. I was just about to eBay the lot of them but will give it another go first ... 😡
Thanks Dan your a Legend,
You gave me some ideas on putting together another Pedalboard.
Cheers..
Great info here, Dan! I always use EBS Premium Gold Flat Patch Cables. Can only recommend. Cheers
ROHS lead free solder sucks. I'd never use it except for a mass produced export product. Especially on home made patch cables. Good ol' Kester 60/40 rosin core. Tin yer wires, tin yer lug, don't breath in the smoke. Inspect your work with a magnifying glass before reassembly. Pro tips - blast the connection with non chlorinated brake parts cleaner or CRC electronics cleaner to remove corrosive flux from the jack and wires and use heat shrink tubing for strain relief.
I've used George L's solderless cables, and once I learned how to put them together properly, they worked great, and have great fidelity....until they failed. The assembly design is there for convenience, not durability. I enjoy the tonal quality of the cable, but the connectors have failed on numerous times. Yes, I fault my assembly process to the degree that it may have contributed, but after building many of these cables I have concluded that it is just a matter of time before they failure. Even though cables on a pedalboard typically don't experience any flexing or movement, the risk is simply too high to recommend them. Do you really want to pull your pedalboard apart looking for a failed cable? I didn't think so.
Thanks Dan! That was an incredibly useful video with everything clearly explained and well filmed. I’ve struggled in the past with putting together solderless cables but this video has inspired me to give them another go. If they’re good enough for Dave K then they’re good enough for me! 😀
To any solderless naysayers, it's worth remembering that NASA won't send anything to orbit that uses soldered wiring for between-board connections. They stopped decades ago after several mission failures due to soldered joints failing from the vibrations during launch.
There are, eh um, certain Yutubbies who deride solderless, even going so far as getting T-shirts made. I use both, but their claims are self-aggrandizing cable snobbery more than reality. Thanks for bravely speaking truth!
As an electronics engineer by trade and a guitarist by hobby for over 35 years, I must respectfully disagree with you that soldering is a skill that takes years to master.
If you are shown the right preparation, technique and do a bit of soldering practice with some pieces of wire, you can EASILY be at beast level after a few hours or days.
I've been soldering for over 40 years in my hobby of electronics and I would say I'm at beast level with my soldering skills, as are the majority of people who have done it for decades, but I didn't get to beast level before I was taught the correct preparation and technique when I trained as a weapon engineering mechanic in the Royal Navy.
There are many soldering videos on UA-cam and all it takes to learn is to watch some videos, get the right gear, do the correct preparation and then practice soldering until you master it.
I’m an audio engineer and there was nothing I’ve heard that was said that wasn’t accurate by the terminology used and way it was presented, however, there are some scientific aspects to this which are worthy of consideration. One, is that an inherent weakness with solder-less connections (over soldered) is an always-present issue called oxidation. This means that should oxygen and water (moisture in the air) somehow infiltrate an unbonded metal on metal connection, the continuity will eventually be compromised and broken. Another, is the issue compression/expansion when it comes to metals, being that once variables of cold and heat are introduced, the metal expands and then contracts which also leads to shorted connections. Daniel shared some valid anecdotal examples in this video and there can be many examples on both sides of the debate, but this cannot negate the scientific element, which says that there are factors working against the solder-less cable concept which have a scale of probability attached that is inherently riskier than a cable with a well established solder connection. That said, I agreed completely with the point that a poorly constructed cable is a poor cable regardless of which one you select.
Please can we have a ten minute ASMR vid of Dan gently but authoritatively smooshing outer insulation with an ice lolly stick
You clearly need to know your audience better, Dan
We live for this s***!
The cable prep is THE issue - thanks Dan!! Popsicle stick is a great tip.
This tutorial is going to be a resource for years to come; all cable sales should come with a link to this video! Why thankyou Dan!
This is an EXCELLENT video! Thank you Daniel.
thank you DAN for this topic i have been doubting solderless as a soldering guy i have done one of my pedal boards with solderless and no trouble ,
the upside to them are if one fails you dont have to get the soldering iron out a 1 min fix
great tips on the evidence and george L’s. thanks, greatly appreciated!!
This is one of the most important videos on the channel and I have been watching for years. It would be nice to know what you can do if some copper does get break off in the tip; how do you get it out? Or is that connector toast?
Great video with some nice tips I will keep in mind with my George Ls - thanks Dan ☺
Yeah, I’ll stick with my Ernie Ball flat patch cables.
In my direct experience, I will never go back to solderless. A ghost in the machine that would only rear itself in critical settings…stages with subwoofers underneath, for example. It took me too much time and strife, blaming and replacing pedals that were not the problem, before I finally discovered that the once-reliable George L’s were causing random loading and eventually signal loss when exposed to vibration. Enjoy your solderless if you so choose. Inevitable oxidation of the copper (what’s the point of oxygen free cable if it’s not soldered to prevent oxidation???) and inevitable mechanical loosening are problems and not features. Then there’s the surgery involved in building solderless that far surpasses the complications of soldering. Hard pass from me.
When That Pedal Show talks about a bread board . . . seeing a bread board was not what I was expecting 😂😂😂
I wish I could have seen this video 6 months ago when I was making all my cables!
Cautionary tale for those who make their own patch cables: I once used a different brand of high-end cable to nake up some patch cords. My work was beautiful- lovely solder joints, heat shrink, strain relief. Continuty tests were good. HOWEVER various patch cords had varying degrees of level drop. Very strange. This fancy cable had a second layer of sheathing around the central conductor. Turns out that this (black) layer is conductive (it minimizes cable handling noise). Special care must be taken to skin it back to ensure it doesn't touch the signal path or weird things can happen. I had to undo (and redo) all of my painstaking work. Now these cables are great and hopefully others can learn from my mistake.
I used for years , the best on the market , easy to use and a must have for the ever changing board
Sorry Dan, Freudian slip there! Great vid mate!
Do RS sell the framed pic of Mick as part of the pro solder station? 😂
I discovered the Evidence Audio SIS cables thanks to one of your previous videos. Thanks for turning me on to them! They're a core element of my gigantic Pedalboard of Dhoom™, and I couldn't be happier with the result. Now I just need to get my playing skills somewhere near the level of my equipment. 😆
Dan, I've noticed in the past when you've done board builds that in comparison with some other high-profile builders, your cabling isn't quite so locked down or rigidly routed, if that makes sense? For example, I've seen some where cables are perfectly lined up next to each other and cut literally to the millimeter - in a nerdy way, it's beautiful to look at but can't help but think it would be an absolute nightmare to make any changes or even troubleshoot things without a time consuming teardown. With your builds there seems to be a bit more flexibility built in. Is this to allow for a bit of on-the-fly troubleshooting/moving stuff around?
Great video, btw!
So does this mean we are going to see some TPS branded 'Pedal Popsticks' available from your store? 🤣 (I would probably would buy it hahaha). Maybe a premium version thats 'pre-sucked' by either Dan or Mick for extra tone boost (full range boost or mid-boost, respectively). All jokes aside, this is an awesome video. Thanks Dan!
Love my three monkeys cables. So easy and I had no issues after assembled.
love these detail vids, so much good info, cheers dan
Not sure if you'll ever see this, but Park Tool (a bicycle tool company) make the CN-10 cable cutter that has a shaped crimper that you use to push bicycle shifter housing back into a round shape, just like you do with your patch cable. I've never tried it on a patch cable, but it works real well for the bicycle stuff. might be worth a try?
More good reasons to buy lots of ice cream and popsicle!
In the early 2000’s my pedalboard was entirely George L cables. Never had a single failure. Twenty years later I hear everyone on UA-cam say how they’re not robust and can’t stand up to use etc etc and kept thinking “wow was I just that gentle on my equipment!?” I can only judge from personal experience and not usually one to repeat what I hear on the internet, and I have a feeling that doesn’t ring true for everyone…
I think George Ls are notorious…
For people making them poorly and then blaming the product for a failure instead of the person who didn’t make the connections properly. With the right angle plugs in particular, I think people often put the wrong amount or kind of pressure needed when screwing on the cap.
@@jhholmes5252 I was thinking the same thing. Because I remember years ago making them and I’d test each cable as I made them and once in a while one would come out bad. Take your time and redo it right and lasted without issue for me.
Great video Dan and not at all dull but I'm a detail geek. There are two points about the 3 monkeys cable that you didn't mention and I wonder why you didn't build one of them. 1, The connector's profiles are quite low - the lowest available I think - saving precious space between pedals. This may not be a big plus for everyone but it is for me. And 2, The connectors screw on to the cable making them the quickest and easiest to make. I've used them for years now and they've never failed me except for one instance. I've remade the board many times with no problems but just yesterday I was removing a power cable from a pedal when the center pin broke and stuck inside the pedal's jack. Going to see if the monkeys might replace that connector for me.
@tres913 We will absolutely replace that connector for you. Get in touch. Also, thanks for the kind words.
Cables, great, love them. But wait!!! You have an EHX FLANGER HOAX ON THE WALL!!! That's the greatest modulation monster ever. I absolutely love mine and I'd love love love seeing it featured in a show. Make it happen!
Always make you own cables, so you know who's at fault when one breaks.
Small solace when my cable breaks because I suck at making cables!😉
@@vandal_dk yep lol. 🙋🏻♂
Right. The people that made the wire.
Daft statement. Do you apply that to all aspects of your life?
I'm still gonna blame the bassist. Them's the rules....
That picture of Mick on the table LOL
I hate to say it, but I had a pretty critical George L fail on me just this weekend (with plastic cap, and screwed super tight). I have lots of their patch cables, and I will continue to use them, but eventually, after years and hundreds of gigs, they do fail. I'm probably stating the obvious here. I always carry some cheapy patches somewhere in my setup just incase. Just my experience/opinion. (I'm a 3-5 night a week gigging musician in London/Internationally)
Everyone in these comments and watching this video are the coolest people in the world. This is beyond question.
Thank you Sam. TPS is a solid family - thank you for being part of it!
Well done! For me, soldering is therapeutic...except for when I bought a double shielded, double braided cable that was nearly as big as my little finger when twisted together. I nearly needed therapy after trying to solder that!
Good to see the photo of your most loved one out on your workstation!
Best episode so far, next week can you review rubber feet for pedals - there are many types I'm quite partial to the ones for furniture from IKEA.
Really appreciate and was looking forward to watching this video! Everyone in the circles I run in turns their noses at solderless cables. I picked up some Evidence SIS on your recommendation and they’ve been rock solid. I’m glad there’s some more information about this that I can offer as reference!
Great video Dan! Have you tried using nail polish or loctite on the threaded ends of solderless patch cables? I find this useful to keep screws in place.
VERY HELPFUL thanks!
Love all TPS videos but this has to be in the top 10 for most important and useful.
Thunderbirds are go!
Paddle pop stick 😂 you can take the boy outa oz but...
Haha yeah I was thinking that too, loved it
I think the evidence audio solderless are better!
Hey Evidence Audio/ Thomann where is my cable stripper??
lol I'm not in the stripper business (next life) and haven't supplied them. A few places that sell my stuff include them which is confusing. I generally tell people to just use what they have lying around and once accustomed to that tool they are set and anything else will feel strange. Use what you cut your strings with. Scissors. Or an actually wire stripper. You can get the little yellow tool a few places online for about $3. If you need help let me know. -Tony
@@evidenceaudio Hahaha Your cables are great though!!!
Well done Dan! Great info here! I've been using Evidence Audio patch leads for almost a decade, and I've never had one fail on me!
Thank you, this was far from dull for me! I've soldered 3 cables yesterday. It's invaluable to learn from other people's experiences and mistakes. Thank you for sharing this!
Glad it helped 🤓🙏
I keep a spare guitar lead that I chop up to make patch cables. That way I have my favourite type of cable all the way from guitar to amp.
Nice video. My dad taught me how to solder when I was very young. So, I’ve been making my own cables for a while. I’ve never messed with solder less. That being said, I learned a lot about solder less. Great tips. Thanks Dan
Made 3 10' George L instrument cables 25 yrs. ago. Gig with them every weekend without a failure.
I got the D’Addario solderless cable kit for my board before I saw any vids that said “Don’t use solderless cables!” Those vids spooked me. Already, I had (carefully) made just one custom length cable, so I used it, while carrying a spare soldered cable, waiting for my solderless to fail.
2 years later, my custom cable still has a solid connection.
So, I thank you for your re-assurance. Since, I am currently re-doing my board, and all my custom cables will be solderless.
I use George L’s because I am constantly tweaking my board. They’re quick and easy
on the Evidence Audio, patch cable think you should have had some protection on the plug barrel like some rubber from a wheel inner tube. to me, direct metal-to-metal contact screams damage of some sort.
Hey Dan. These are my favorite videos because i dont have the time to research all this stuff myself. Thanks!
@UCZ1exDvbQ7Xh0GGWd5Twfhw I’ll need your social security to send to the FBI first
thanks dan. but u kinda illustrated why i gave up on george Ls after years of being frustrated and frankly f&@cked by them over and over no matter how careful i was. just not worth the effort u expended in this vid. pre soldered stuff for me.
that being said the george l straight plugs were easy to make and never failed cuz the design is way better. the angled ones are the ones that will drive u insane. lastly, i wish u woulda tested that first angled GL you made….😉
*Mason has entered the chat*
I would really love to see an episode where you guys wire up a big board with budget/low quality patch cables and compare it to one you've wired using your preferred brand of cables. Over the years I've amassed a hodgepodge collection of affordable patch cables which I've used for my main board and I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps the low quality cable is robbing me of more top end than it should. I'm considering investing in redoing my cabling with new, high quality cables but springing for 30 plugs and 20ft of cable is a hue investment. Would love to get a better idea of how worth it it might be!
Dan... First and foremost, this is a very good video. Here is a little more info for anyone interested.
1) Make sure the solder tip is clean and will "hold" solder. If it is dirty transfer of heat is poor and your job becomes really tough.
2) FYI... Leaded solder is easier to work with than lead-free and tends to be more robust against vibrational failure. For the hobbyist this is something to consider... for a business it''s lead-free.
3) Get some flux for the type of solder you are using to help with reflow / rewetting. Higher solid content fluxes tends to be easier to work with.
4) Get some solder wick for cleanup and rework. It is less necessary for this task, but it is really helpful when needed. It can also make a decent ground strap.
5) Invest in cheap, preferably lit, magnification, especially for those of us getting older. Reading glasses work in a pinch. The table mount swing arm style magnifiers work well.
6) Braided wires can wick the solder up its length. If this hapopens it will start to loose its flexibility in the area affected. This is a combo of too much heat for too long and too much solder.
7) Heat... heat is your friend... and heat is your enemy. There is a perfect temp for each type of solder (leaded 63/37 to 60/40 works best between 600F and 650F). Hotter burns off flux too fast and increases risk of component damage. Lead-free should be around 50F hotter but will depend on the type. A good soldering iron and clean tip will transfer heat quick enough that setting it hotter has no benefit. Look up the proper temp to use with your equipment.
8) Hakko soldering equipment is solid and a great deal for the hobbyist / job shop. There are companies that use these for production. If you want the best, though, get a JBC in my opinion.
9) Blowing on solder... I'll have to disagree with this one Dan. This myth has been around forever., and I've never seen or heard of a real-world issue from doing so. If the joint is small and minimal heat is applied it will cool fast anyway. If it's a large joint that has absorbed significant heat, blowing may help the initial set but the thermal mass will force it to cool slower. The effect is not significantly different than soldering in the cold or with a breeze, and this is only an issue for getting heat applied. With that said, I wouldn''t get in the habbit of blowing because it doesn't tend to save any time. If anyone believes they got a bad joint from blowing, let me ask this one question.... were all pieces held still while you moved to get in blowing position?
Cheers!