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!
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 🙏🏻
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 RU-vid 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.
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
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 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
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'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 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. 😆
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 RU-vid 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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Videos like these is why I love this channel, whilst being super informative to even the most experienced pros it is also so beginner friendly. A lot of channels will dismiss the £1 patch cables as unusable junk but you get it.
Great video, and agree with all your points. I've made both soldered and solderless patch cables for the last 15 years and for all intents and purposes they perform just as well as each other if made correctly. But just recently I was refreshing my pedalboard, and doing new cables, and tbh, I much prefer making the solderless ones (specifically the Evidence Audio ones) as its just easier and less hassle. I think the lesson is, use good quality cables (in my case Evidence Audio), and make them well.
I saw an ad for Evidence and thought, "Isn't that Dan's favorite?" so then I just wanted to find any old video of you naming your solderless cables.... then I found this! Thank you for making this!!!!! I'll bookmark it and refer to it often. I got talked into a master builder's pre soldered cable for double what I would normally pay. It's here on my desk and the soldering job failed... I have no iron right now so I have to find a tech who will repair it after rolling his eyes at me.
Fantastic, I've never tried solderless cables and they actually look harder to do a good job with than soldering! At least I know what to do if someone asks me to build a board with solderless cables.
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!
Yeah Dan ,..I think the most guitarists will agree your input on this is influencal ,you have the experience to know factually,plus it keeps the newbie's on point when trouble shooting cables an self inspection...
Hi Dan, no worries about the possibility of boring. We now live in a world of crumbling infrastructure and this is totally music-infrastructure-related, therefore important. That said, thank you. I do have a contribution to make in the tool department... Anyone who's been to a Japanese hardware store knows they're kinda mind-blowing compared to anywhere else, and many of the tools are still Made in Japan. When looking for a cutter I came upon the Tsunoda WC-150, called a Wire Rope Cutter. Like any Japanese tool it's a beautiful thing, and is really the perfect tool for the job as it shears very cleanly and doesn't crush the cable, leaving it round. The tool is available online. In New Zealand I was using George L cables - which I am very happy with - but am now using Free the Tone cable kits since they're readily available in Tokyo shops. I like the set screw of the Free the Tone a bit better than the knurled knob of the George L, but either are highly recommended.
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 🎸
Perfect timing for this video. I’m getting ready to reconfigure my board which uses an HX Effects, HX Stomp, a Morningstar ML5 and a bunch of external pedals switched via MIDI. Was debating whether or not to use soldered or solder-less and, as you pointed out right off the bat, there’s that “soldered is better” thing floating around out there.
