After a few builds I'm struggling to see the advantages of pre-bonded wire anymore. What do you all prefer?
What is it that you dislike about it?
In my case, prebonded wire is great for routing wires neatly. Solid core does this better, but is much more prone to breaking due to over-stress or damaging the wire when stripping. Pre-bonded has none of that.
Don't have much experience with pre-bonded in pedals, but I really like it for amp building. It routes neatly, holds a bend, and solders like a dream. Some folks in amp building circles won't use it because it has a slightly different capacitance then solid wire and they swear solid sounds better. I don't hear the difference, and did I mention it solders like a dream?
Do you need to tin prebonded wire. I always tinned stranded to keep it from fraying. I have been tinning prebonded but is it needed? I find it easier to route and strip.
Quote from: gtr2 on May 28, 2010, 02:59:14 PM
Do you need to tin prebonded wire. I always tinned stranded to keep it from fraying. I have been tinning prebonded but is it needed? I find it easier to route and strip.
Nah you don't. The "bond" is solder, which is why it's so great IMO.
Oh man! I searched and found this thread and just had to reply.
This thread opened me up to a whole new world. I was previously using #24 solid-core and stranded (different at different times). Because of reading this I bought some pre-bonded #22 from smallbear and I love it! The only issue i've had is when I have to redo a wire on a PCB (up to now I've done all Point to Point) and it can be difficult sometimes to re-thread through the hole because it's #22. Otherwise it makes wiring in the box so much better.
I wasn't going to buy any cause I thought it wasn't that big a deal but it makes working so much more fun.
I've never done any tests to see if it makes a difference or not, but when you bend wire into a right angle, it begins to act much more like an antenna (which is why traces on PCB's rarely have right angles, it's always two 135 degree bends, check it out some time). With this is mind, even though it looks way less neat and tidy, it's not necessarily a bad thing to have somewhat messy wiring, just as long as you keep your leads relatively short, and try not to cross any signal and power wires (except ground).
I only use pre-bonded wire. I like that you can shape its path and that it does not require tinning.