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!
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, 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…
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!
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.
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 ... 😡
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.
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 🙏🏻
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.
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 RUclips 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.
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
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.
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
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
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! 😀
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?
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.
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. 😆
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. 😉
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.
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 RUclips 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.
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!
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.
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
I find it interesting that you breeze through 3 Monkeys without a demo. It literally demolishes everything else in terms of speed and is as reliable as the best. You can pick up a cinder block with the thing. 😂 There's just no contest. Super reliable and you can make a cable in 15 seconds. No screws.. No caps. No monkey business. 30pf capacitance cable too! They're pricey but definitely worth it because they're not only fast and awesome.... They're idiot proof. With Evidence SiS, you might as well solder.
A lot of valuable info, as usual. Thank you. @ 4:49 Great tip, but I prefer to use oak 😉 @ 10:40 I just bought 3 kits of SIS and didn't get a cable stripper😢 Update: Yesterday I made 10 SIS cables for a friends pedal board. Then it was just plug in and play, They just worked. Since I didn't get a cable stripper in any of the kits I ended up using a traditional cable stripper for the outer layer. An exacto knife will work just fine if you're careful not cutting too deep into the shielding wires. The black middle "insulation" (it is slightly conductive!) is easiest to remove if you catch the top end with a nail and peel back. For the inner insulation I used an exacto knife to cut it, and a pair of pliers to remove it. The cables provided by Evidence is what I would call installation cables. Made to be stationary. I would minimise bending and twisting them. The solid core is not very flexibel and will break if manipulated excessively. So my method was: Attach a plug to one end of the cable. Plug it in to pedal 1. Lay it in the desired position on the board and measure. If you add the distance of two jack inputs (about 50 mm) you will get the proper length after stripping the cable. Cut and attach the second plug but don't attach the end cap just yet. Plug the fist plug into pedal 1. Lay it in the desired position on the board. Now you bend the cable at plug number 2. These cables are very stiff so it is important that you get the angles of the bends right. Just my 2 cents 🎸
No hate here. But. An 8 plug/5ft evidence audio solderless kit is $75+. Mogami 2319 is about $.79 a foot and squareplugs are about $3.75 a piece, so for the price of an evidence audio kit, one can get the same amount of cable and plugs, and enough left over to buy a decent soldering iron.
Dan, haven’t watched RUclips for a little bit…Although I did see this video when it came out, it’s the first one that I had to stop and watch again!!! Great work, ALL Y’all ! ! ! JJZ…(°¿.°`)
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.
TLDR, if you NEVER change your pedals, then solderless is fine. Myself, I've tried to keep my board compact, so that would often mean changing pedals in/out depending on the performance. I had 4-5 times where a solderless cable would die, while on-stage & I swore I would never use them again & never have. If you're changing pedals around, they SUCK & over time the shielding is so thin they'll short on you (as they did me). Use at your own peril but enjoy their sound while they last. My 2c!
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'll keep buying them, this tampering is nothing for me... but...what is more nerve wrecking? putting patch cables together...or..touring with Roger Waters, having to listen to all his political rants. :-)
On what patch cables /not/ to use, using cables with a plastic plug shell is a bad idea, IME. Not just because plastic is weaker and flexible, but the section of the cable from the cable shield to the sleeve of the plug becomes /unshielded/. This is only a short distance, but a patch cable sitting 1" above a power supply under your board will pick up EMF from the power supply. I've seen this happen with Cioks and Voodoo Lab supplies, so I can imagine cheaper supplies would be worse. FWIW!
Solderless patch cables are only as good as the people patching them! I simply cannot bloody make up a patch. I’ve spent hundreds trying! Blimey, remembering the walkabouts. 20years I played at that place. Good memories.
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.
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.
Disappointing to hear you talking in such glowing terms about these latest must haves. You usually give such great advice. Look at the specification sheet for high quality cables. You will find that every one of them has a "Minimum Bend Radius" specified. For example Van Damme Pro Grade Classic XKE Instrument Cable is specified at 10x overall diameter. Your tight exit bends are way way too tight to comply with that. The inner central core is being stretched beyond what it is specified to take and the insulation between the inner and outer is being squashed out of shape in the same way you showed in your section on cutting and trimming. In fact much more so! And the manufacturers of these cables are not messing about, they know what they are doing! Given a little time your solderless cables will suffer a number of failures due to that. The last one shown for example will also suffer a percentage of failures over time because of the loose rubbing connection of the outer braid against its terminal surface. In essence it is nothing better than an old style cheap push-in aerial cable. Personally, as an electronics engineer of many years standing myself, I wouldn't have one of these solderless cables on my board as they are here. They are a great idea in principle but every one shown here is very poorly implemented. Why make them with an axial "straight in line" structure when you want them to bend at 90degrees? You can say for resistance to pulling out but cheapness and ease of manufacture is the real answer. These are aimed at the gullible guitarist market where fashion dictates that everyone must have the latest gizmo to be a "real" guitarist. And the gizmos are increasing in price exponentially now people have bought into the buying process and its consequent bragging rights. Not for me and I would suggest for many of the silent majority out there who know their electronics. Now let the feeding frenzy begin because I dared to doubt!.
TIL: sugar shakes! Eat a well balanced diet before you get into cable build mode. My usual caffeine and carb breakfast won’t help with sanity during this process and will likely yield a few broken things. 😅
Thanks for the info Dan. Why no mention about tinning the components before heating them up to join. It makes the join about 10 times faster = less heat. If anyone is keen to see a video of how it's actually done, I'd suggest looking up Joshua Bardwell soldering. He builds drones.
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!
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!
I feel that your point bout solderless vs. soldered cables is fundamentally about humility. Even though you seem great at soldering, you’re willing to concede that the human error element is strong enough to militate in favor of the high-end solderless stuff. Some people aren’t willing to allow that something they made could be less reliable than something non-specialists could put together with a little work on their own. Like you said, if it’s good enough for people like Eric Johnson (or people like Graham coven, Ed O’Brien and Noel Gallagher in your case) then maybe-just maybe-it could also be good enough for average players at a pub gig.
If a solderless cable happens to fail during a gig, it’s relatively easy to fix on the spot in a matter of minutes. If the “gold standard” cable happens to fail, RIP gig.
.y go-to answer for stopping threads vibrating loose is Loctite AKA thread-lock - if it works on MTBs it ought to work on patch cables. Maybe give it a try?
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.
![Building A Pedalboard For Paul Davids [The Most Complex I've Ever Done?]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_UOUhHHYzE8/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
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 🤩
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.
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!!
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!
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.
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.
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 ... 😡
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.
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 🙏🏻
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 your a Legend,
You gave me some ideas on putting together another Pedalboard.
Cheers..
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 RUclips 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.
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
Two patch cables go round the outside, round the outside, round the outside
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
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.
You clearly need to know your audience better, Dan
We live for this s***!
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
This is an EXCELLENT video! Thank you Daniel.
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
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! 😀
great tips on the evidence and george L’s. thanks, greatly appreciated!!
Yeah, I’ll stick with my Ernie Ball flat patch cables.
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?
Great video with some nice tips I will keep in mind with my George Ls - thanks Dan ☺
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.
Sorry Dan, Freudian slip there! Great vid mate!
I wish I could have seen this video 6 months ago when I was making all my cables!
I used for years , the best on the market , easy to use and a must have for the ever changing board
Do RS sell the framed pic of Mick as part of the pro solder station? 😂
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.
The cable prep is THE issue - thanks Dan!! Popsicle stick is a great tip.
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. 😆
love these detail vids, so much good info, cheers dan
I think the evidence audio solderless are better!
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.
More good reasons to buy lots of ice cream and popsicle!
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.
That picture of Mick on the table LOL
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?
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!
Great vid Mick! Thanks mate
Love my three monkeys cables. So easy and I had no issues after assembled.
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!
In the early 2000’s my pedalboard was entirely George L cables. Never had a single failure. Twenty years later I hear everyone on RUclips 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.
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....
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)
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.
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!
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.
Good to see the photo of your most loved one out on your workstation!
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!!!
@ThatPedalShow Wow! Great video! And your beard is looking fantastic!
I find it interesting that you breeze through 3 Monkeys without a demo. It literally demolishes everything else in terms of speed and is as reliable as the best. You can pick up a cinder block with the thing. 😂
There's just no contest. Super reliable and you can make a cable in 15 seconds. No screws.. No caps. No monkey business. 30pf capacitance cable too! They're pricey but definitely worth it because they're not only fast and awesome.... They're idiot proof.
With Evidence SiS, you might as well solder.
A lot of valuable info, as usual.
Thank you.
@ 4:49 Great tip, but I prefer to use oak 😉
@ 10:40 I just bought 3 kits of SIS and didn't get a cable stripper😢
Update:
Yesterday I made 10 SIS cables for a friends pedal board.
Then it was just plug in and play,
They just worked.
Since I didn't get a cable stripper in any of the kits
I ended up using a traditional cable stripper for the outer layer.
An exacto knife will work just fine
if you're careful not cutting too deep into the shielding wires.
The black middle "insulation" (it is slightly conductive!) is easiest to remove
if you catch the top end with a nail and peel back.
For the inner insulation I used an exacto knife to cut it,
and a pair of pliers to remove it.
The cables provided by Evidence is what I would call installation cables.
Made to be stationary. I would minimise bending and twisting them.
The solid core is not very flexibel and will break if manipulated excessively.
So my method was:
Attach a plug to one end of the cable.
Plug it in to pedal 1.
Lay it in the desired position on the board and measure.
If you add the distance of two jack inputs (about 50 mm)
you will get the proper length after stripping the cable.
Cut and attach the second plug
but don't attach the end cap just yet.
Plug the fist plug into pedal 1.
Lay it in the desired position on the board.
Now you bend the cable at plug number 2.
These cables are very stiff so it is important that you get the angles of the bends right.
Just my 2 cents 🎸
No hate here. But. An 8 plug/5ft evidence audio solderless kit is $75+. Mogami 2319 is about $.79 a foot and squareplugs are about $3.75 a piece, so for the price of an evidence audio kit, one can get the same amount of cable and plugs, and enough left over to buy a decent soldering iron.
Paddle pop stick 😂 you can take the boy outa oz but...
Haha yeah I was thinking that too, loved it
*Mason has entered the chat*
Dan, haven’t watched RUclips for a little bit…Although I did see this video when it came out, it’s the first one that I had to stop and watch again!!! Great work, ALL Y’all ! ! !
JJZ…(°¿.°`)
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.
TLDR, if you NEVER change your pedals, then solderless is fine.
Myself, I've tried to keep my board compact, so that would often mean changing pedals in/out depending on the performance. I had 4-5 times where a solderless cable would die, while on-stage & I swore I would never use them again & never have. If you're changing pedals around, they SUCK & over time the shielding is so thin they'll short on you (as they did me). Use at your own peril but enjoy their sound while they last. My 2c!
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….😉
Top video bud. +1 would you use thread lock to avoid tool marks? View the on tinning? 👍👍👍🥃Respect to you mate.
Pure brilliance.
I'll keep buying them, this tampering is nothing for me... but...what is more nerve wrecking? putting patch cables together...or..touring with Roger Waters, having to listen to all his political rants. :-)
Made 3 10' George L instrument cables 25 yrs. ago. Gig with them every weekend without a failure.
On what patch cables /not/ to use, using cables with a plastic plug shell is a bad idea, IME. Not just because plastic is weaker and flexible, but the section of the cable from the cable shield to the sleeve of the plug becomes /unshielded/. This is only a short distance, but a patch cable sitting 1" above a power supply under your board will pick up EMF from the power supply. I've seen this happen with Cioks and Voodoo Lab supplies, so I can imagine cheaper supplies would be worse. FWIW!
Solderless patch cables are only as good as the people patching them! I simply cannot bloody make up a patch. I’ve spent hundreds trying! Blimey, remembering the walkabouts. 20years I played at that place. Good memories.
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.
Seems like a little dab of thread locker would keep those caps on the connectors from shaking loose.
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.
Love all TPS videos but this has to be in the top 10 for most important and useful.
Disappointing to hear you talking in such glowing terms about these latest must haves. You usually give such great advice. Look at the specification sheet for high quality cables. You will find that every one of them has a "Minimum Bend Radius" specified. For example Van Damme Pro Grade Classic XKE Instrument Cable is specified at 10x overall diameter. Your tight exit bends are way way too tight to comply with that. The inner central core is being stretched beyond what it is specified to take and the insulation between the inner and outer is being squashed out of shape in the same way you showed in your section on cutting and trimming. In fact much more so!
And the manufacturers of these cables are not messing about, they know what they are doing! Given a little time your solderless cables will suffer a number of failures due to that. The last one shown for example will also suffer a percentage of failures over time because of the loose rubbing connection of the outer braid against its terminal surface. In essence it is nothing better than an old style cheap push-in aerial cable. Personally, as an electronics engineer of many years standing myself, I wouldn't have one of these solderless cables on my board as they are here. They are a great idea in principle but every one shown here is very poorly implemented. Why make them with an axial "straight in line" structure when you want them to bend at 90degrees? You can say for resistance to pulling out but cheapness and ease of manufacture is the real answer. These are aimed at the gullible guitarist market where fashion dictates that everyone must have the latest gizmo to be a "real" guitarist. And the gizmos are increasing in price exponentially now people have bought into the buying process and its consequent bragging rights. Not for me and I would suggest for many of the silent majority out there who know their electronics. Now let the feeding frenzy begin because I dared to doubt!.
‘Resistance is futile’ All good Tips here! 😁 Also, Was that Mick looking over your shoulder at your soldering station?!
TIL: sugar shakes! Eat a well balanced diet before you get into cable build mode. My usual caffeine and carb breakfast won’t help with sanity during this process and will likely yield a few broken things. 😅
Thanks for the info Dan.
Why no mention about tinning the components before heating them up to join. It makes the join about 10 times faster = less heat. If anyone is keen to see a video of how it's actually done, I'd suggest looking up Joshua Bardwell soldering. He builds drones.
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 🤓🙏
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!
I feel that your point bout solderless vs. soldered cables is fundamentally about humility. Even though you seem great at soldering, you’re willing to concede that the human error element is strong enough to militate in favor of the high-end solderless stuff. Some people aren’t willing to allow that something they made could be less reliable than something non-specialists could put together with a little work on their own. Like you said, if it’s good enough for people like Eric Johnson (or people like Graham coven, Ed O’Brien and Noel Gallagher in your case) then maybe-just maybe-it could also be good enough for average players at a pub gig.
If a solderless cable happens to fail during a gig, it’s relatively easy to fix on the spot in a matter of minutes.
If the “gold standard” cable happens to fail, RIP gig.
.y go-to answer for stopping threads vibrating loose is Loctite AKA thread-lock - if it works on MTBs it ought to work on patch cables. Maybe give it a try?
What’s the best TRS solderless patch cable? It looks like evidence audio only is TS?
Excellent information and tips on this vid., excellent work and Mick made it into the vid. with his photo in the background LOL 😂
Better info that whatever some "Rig Doctor" yaps about.
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.
Very interesting !! I must admit that I don't have the patience to fiddle with making patch cables. Oh well.