I need to order some and have seen that George l's are kinda steep at $100 for the kit. is it worth it? what are you guys doing?
I'm using Lava Cable. I got it in a kit format for about 90 bucks per kit. Works out to be about 18 bucks per patch cable, but I only use it on my pedal board. For my guitar and amp cables I use Canare GS6 with Neutrik ends - the American made ones. Those cables work out to be between 15 and 25 dollars each depending on the length.
Good cables are worth it. I know it looks expensive, but I've played with cheap cables and played with good cables and I've heard the difference. I won't pay 100 bucks for a 10 foot cable, but I will pay 20 bucks for a good patch cable with really small end that's precisely the length I want it to be, and I will pay up to 40 bucks for a good cable for my guitar or amp runs.
Jacob
I've been wanting to roll my own using neutrik right angle ends & mogami cable, but the hobby funds have been tied up elsewhere.
This is the place I was going to source my stuff from.
http://www.redco.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=62&cat=TS+Connectors
I also use lava for pedalboard and canare with neutrik jacks for guitar to board and board to amp. Purchased all from Mark at lavacables.com.
QuoteI've been wanting to roll my own using neutrik right angle ends & mogami cable, but the hobby funds have been tied up elsewhere.
This is the place I was going to source my stuff from.
http://www.redco.com/shopexd.asp?id=1312
Great plan of action. I made my patch cables with mogami and connectors from redco about a year ago and they work great. I ended up using these though. Apparently the same thing as switchcrafts.
http://www.redco.com/shopexd.asp?id=697
After my recent builds I had to throw together some patch cables to use them on a rehearsal and ended up using my leftover mogami with these connectors (http://www.dm-gremlin.com/sales/images/medium/hosa/cfs107_MED.gif)
that I bought at Radio Shack in order to save some room. I've never been a real gear-head audiophile type of player but these things sound sooo dead. A 6" cable sounds worse than my 20' cheapo guitar center cable. I don't know if this is an indication of these flat pancake plugs in general or just the quality of the RS versions but I can't believe how much they killed the tone. And its with the same Mogami cable so it has to be the plugs.
Half of me wants to try the real switchcraft ones since they're a little tougher looking (http://www.fullcompass.com/common/products/lg/37605.jpg)
but I don't want to spend $4-5/plug to find out they're just as bad as the radio shacks
I do use the George L's. I started using them 4 or 5 years ago. I just ordered the pedal board kit on Amazon for $80. I used to buy them at a local store, but that store is gone unfortunately.
I love George L's for leads but I've had too many friends have problems with the ends coming unscrewed on their boards since they're no-solder.
anyone have problems with the lava cable kits? they look nice and clean, I just get worried with solderless connections because of what I've heard about the george l's
Hi,
I've never used George L's or any other solderless cable kit, so I can't really comment on their quality... but I can't imagine why anyone capable of soldering wouldn't prefer a solid connection to one that could come apart easily. I make all my own cables and patches using Canare G-6 cable and neutrik right-angle ends. The neutriks have the best strain relief in the biz -- your cable will snap before the strain relief gives out -- and the Canare cable is thin, flexible even when cold, well shielded, and sounds like a million bucks. It's a bit of a pain to "comb out" the braided shield when making the cables (I use a pcb reamer or a thumbtack in a pinch), but IMO it's worth it for a cable I know will last me 20 years or more.
j.
p.s. - don't buy into that snake oil monster cable nonsense. you know, "this cable has one thick conductor for bass frequencies and a thin one for treble". It's just marketing. Look at the data sheets (when available) and compare stats.
I agree that Neutrik and Canare is the easiest thing in the world for good quality. I have a ridiculous amount of them. However, I don't really need strain relief on my pedal board. The cables don't move much, and the neutrik ends are HUGE.
That's why I use Lava cables - the profile of the ends are very, very small, the sound quality seems to be equivalent, and they're very simple to make. It's about saving space for me, not about quality.
Jacob
i used george l's only for a while but I started noticing that my amp was fuller sounding plugged straight in and figured out that the george l's seem to slightly attenuate all but some high frequencies slightly. I did a test with a dual true bypass loop to confirm this and it was pretty significant in my mind. I switched to lava solderless and the annoying brightness went away immediately. Apparently this is something that lot's of people have noticed and I think lava even says so in their description of the cable's sound. I still use a few george l's but I plan on phasing them out soon.
fwiw I'm always fighting too much high end though so if you don't mind a touch of added brightness to your sound then the george l's work fine...as long as you don't plug and unplug them very often as they fail more often than lava in my experience.
Quote from: B_of_H on October 04, 2010, 05:49:47 PM
i used george l's only for a while but I started noticing that my amp was fuller sounding plugged straight in and figured out that the george l's seem to slightly attenuate all but some high frequencies slightly. I did a test with a dual true bypass loop to confirm this and it was pretty significant in my mind. I switched to lava solderless and the annoying brightness went away immediately. Apparently this is something that lot's of people have noticed and I think lava even says so in their description of the cable's sound. I still use a few george l's but I plan on phasing them out soon.
fwiw I'm always fighting too much high end though so if you don't mind a touch of added brightness to your sound then the george l's work fine...as long as you don't plug and unplug them very often as they fail more often than lava in my experience.
I was thinking on buying some switchcraft plugs and mogami cable. Any reason you didn't go the soldering route? Your clearly a "master of the iron" as far as your pedal building B_of_H!
Quote from: gtr2 on October 05, 2010, 12:06:36 PM
Quote from: B_of_H on October 04, 2010, 05:49:47 PM
i used george l's only for a while but I started noticing that my amp was fuller sounding plugged straight in and figured out that the george l's seem to slightly attenuate all but some high frequencies slightly. I did a test with a dual true bypass loop to confirm this and it was pretty significant in my mind. I switched to lava solderless and the annoying brightness went away immediately. Apparently this is something that lot's of people have noticed and I think lava even says so in their description of the cable's sound. I still use a few george l's but I plan on phasing them out soon.
fwiw I'm always fighting too much high end though so if you don't mind a touch of added brightness to your sound then the george l's work fine...as long as you don't plug and unplug them very often as they fail more often than lava in my experience.
I was thinking on buying some switchcraft plugs and mogami cable. Any reason you didn't go the soldering route? Your clearly a "master of the iron" as far as your pedal building B_of_H!
lol..i use a 25w radio shack iron. :) thanks for the kind words though.
I like the extremely small and simple nature of these lava solderless. I just started building pedals a few years ago and started using GL's before I had a soldering iron. I have thought about going to soldered patch cables but never felt the need. I guess it's kinda backwards but I started with solderless so that is what i'm used to.
I do like the lava kits 1/4" jack size. I was wondering if that was the deciding factor for you. The only thing close size wise is the pancake jacks (for soldering), which I think it's hard to find a good quality one.
Quote from: gtr2 on October 06, 2010, 11:24:01 AM
I do like the lava kits 1/4" jack size. I was wondering if that was the deciding factor for you. The only thing close size wise is the pancake jacks (for soldering), which I think it's hard to find a good quality one.
exactly, I don't know much about those pancake style jacks and they seem huge and bulky to me.
The pancakes are definetly a hit or miss thing. I wouldn't buy them off the 'net, but I have found decent ones from time to time in surplus stores.
I like that they have a VERY low profile. I do not like that you need a lot of heat to get solder to stick to them.
My current board has Mogami cables and these (http://cachepe.samedaymusic.com/media/quality,85/brand,sameday/p34633b-763da2ae408beadf2008df1fb129926b.jpg) plugs (of course, built by me).
I use Bill Lawrence mostly. I like it. Only issue I've had is the tip continuously detaching on one of the solderless plugs I have. But, it's only happened on one plug and I've been using them for five years.