Never Buy a Patch Cable Again 

Don't wanna DIY? Let us make your cables instead! Vertex Custom Patch Cables: bit.ly/3AU63vl Table of Contents: 00:00 Intro 00:27 Materials 02:42 Cable/Plug Types 04:34 Soldering Tips 04:53 Cable Preparation 07:58 Plug Preparation 08:12 Soldering Your Patch Cable 09:19 Testing Your Cable's Continuity 10:08 SquarePlug Tips 12:57 Switchcraft Tips 14:01 Plug/Cable Compatibility 14:39 Material List Recap 15:22 Outro DIY Instrument Cable Tutorial: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eekxhJpTctg.html DIY Patch Cable Tutorial: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YDowhQxmN88.html

Not only are you really good at this, but you’re also a good teacher. I get frustrated showing new people how to do this stuff. I’m gonna start sending links to your vids to trainees.

Clear, precise, and with no fluff. I wish some other DIY channels were this good.

I purchased all the necessary equipment (except for soldering iron, already had it) and already saved a small fortune. Thank you, Mason!

Thanks very much for this video. I was on the fence about ordering all the parts and materials vs buying ready made cables. But customisation and the fact that I'll do it myself made up my mind. Very detailed infor. Thanks again.

Previously watched some of the older videos on this to my own patch cables for my current pedal board. It turned out perfectly and now I have a rig that is clean and virtually quiet! Glad that you remade all the videos as one and detailed the different plug types.

This was awesome! Thanks so much for taking the time.

Very clear explanation. Very informative and articulate young man. Great job. Going to check out your site right now! Thank you!

Glad I found this channel. Amazing stuff man

I am a dental student and this video quality (how you teach about making cables) is way better than how PhD professors at my school teach about dentistry. A true Dr. Rig!

Best vid hands down! I just finished up my first board. I unsoldered some fender patch cables and chopped up a 20 foot cable from my spare box. I already had the tools and meter from my day job so I felt right at home with this. Cables sound great and actually had a slightly better resistance than when they were still factory. I think I'm enjoying tinkering with my gear more than actually playing!

Invaluable information! Looking forward to setting up my own patch cables!

Love your videos, thank you so much for clearing up a lot of misconceptions I had 😁👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Thanks for this man. I love having a perfect layout on my usually quite small boards. I find making my own perfect little cables really satisfying. It’s great to have some pro advice.

Okay, so this video inspired me... I just finished replacing all 10 of my existing patch cables (a variety of pretty decent flat, molded and soldered cables) with cables I built and soldered myself. I have a couple decades of soldering experience in my work history, so it seemed like a fun little side project. Since half of my signal chain is in stereo, making custom cables for everything made it much tidier. What I didn't expect was the huge improvement in tone! There's a lot more high and response now, and the low end is a lot cleaner and clearer. I think it's probably the Mogami cables that helped, but I'm really happy with the way it turned out. Thanks Mason!

You're really good at explaining things in a simple way. I just sent back $100 of (probably crappy) pre-made / sealed patch cables and am gonna build my own instead, thanks!

Thanks Mason. I’ve learned a ton on your channel!

Ever since i started watching your vids ive learned so much, i make my own patch cables thanks to you

This guy is well spoken and there zero wasted time in each video. Right to the point and great information constantly. Best gear guy on RU-vid by far....

Very useful stuff Mason. Loving the DIY stuff.

Fantastic upload, another keeper for reference.

Fantastic. Love your videos! This was so helpful. I’ve been using George L’s for years. They are always shorting! Can’t wait to make my own cables.

I learned how to solder and will save a ton of money and it's fun to do, thank for this video, its awesome.

What a fantastic video! Superbly done, very clear and concise.

Great video, the only thing I would add is that if you have a 50vdc megger, measuring resistance tip to sleeve after final assembly of connector will let you know if you screwed something up. I find less than a few gig ohms means start over. Don’t use more than 50 volts and don’t have the cable plugged into anything. When megging both ends of cable have to isolated.

Great video! Definitely want to make my own DIY Cables! Cheers!

This the king of video I’ll watch 10 times. Thank you.

Now for some reason, I don't think this video is getting enough ❤.

I just bought a solderless cabling kit yesterday for almost $200.....now I see this! I wish I had thought of making my own. Excellent video. Thanks for the tips.

When I test cables with my DVM I also like to cross check the signal line and ground looking for shorts. And I like to put a drop or two of liquid flux on every joint. I just love the way it makes the solder flow. The flux really good on solder braid as well. Pulls all the solder right out of the joint.

This is so useful, thank you! :D

Another killer video!

I followed all of his videos for audio cables and power supply cables I had no experience prior to doing this and I’ve built a bad ass board. My solder is gotten much better at the end of the project than in the beginning. My biggest challenge was cutting everything with the crimpers to the right size and making sure nothing was touching the outer shell to cause an issue with noise. Once I figured this out the board came out great. I’ve had no problems except for one power cable which I can totally deal with. The board sounds super quiet and sounds great. I’ll never buy power cables or audio cables again. I’ll totally make my own.

Your videos are incredible!

Hi Mason . Your vid is very nice for people , which newer done this before and they like to do . My point is that you went a bit too far' ! Weller is generally too expensive , specially stations ! People which gonna use a solder iron , just , from time to time , to make couple of patches , really don't need this ! They need a decent iron , with ergonomic handle , not too long '' heating tube '' - from the end of handle to the end of welding point . Good thing is to take, at last 3 types of welding points .

I have found you can make an excellent clamp for 1/4" 6.3mm jacks with a drill in 2 mins. Drill a jacks length into bit of wood (like cheap pine offcut) with a 6mm drill bit then gently move the running drill round in a small circle so the hole you are left with is 6mm at the bottom and slightly wider than the 6.3mm jack at the top. It will grip the jack as hard/soft as you want depended on how muck you push it in. you can put in a few holes if you want to do several cables in a row or have your right angle jacks all facing the same way relative to the cable. Thanks for this video, I've made 500mm Moogami 2319 with Squareplugs spS5 and sp400 which solves loads of wee problems :)

I thought this tutorial was very informative and I'm going to get all my materials together and give it a go thank you Mason. 🤘🤘

I love how Mason smiles while talking about not forgetting to put on boot. He knows, he knows that damn feeling.... T___T. Great vid, thanks!

Mason, you are the man, an absolute gem in the guitar community

Heh I got cables I made from 30 years ago and they still work. I made a three - quarter inch plug cable. A plug on each end of a 20’ cable then a middle of the cable plug wired in parallel.Plug one end of the cable into your amp plug the middle one into a guitar then the last one into your other guitar. The guitar on the middle plug controls the tone and volume. I heard it’s an old blues trick. It’s fun to mess with someone when you hide the middle jack guitar. Great tips and refresher. Thanks 🙏

Grazie mille pisano! Molto utile! 🤗

Thank you!

I'm a hobby guitarist, tech, and recovering hoarder. I had some Monster mic cables that went bad so I clipped off the connectors and forgot about them til I watched this video. Ended up getting a 20pk of pancake connectors off Amazon and repurposed the xlr cable by snipping off one of the conductors. Re-wired my whole pedalboard.

I’ve got to get these materials. Already have a great solder station I set up for my kid who build FPV drones for racing. Time for daddy to start soldering.

Thank you so much !!

I use solder-less cables but I'd be really interested in a tutorial on building my own power lines to each pedal. I hate the way they're all the wrong length and I have to loop wire under my board to hide the extra length.- Wait- I just found your video on the power cables... watching next- thanks!

I dig it!

Hey Mason. I finally took the step and used your links to get the stuff to make my own patch cables. I got the iron, third hand, heat gun and shrink tubing, 2314, and a bunch of different jacks. Thanks for all you do brother.

Enjoying this series. Would love to see a vid for balanced TRS and XLR cables as well. In the meantime, do you have a recommendation for which cable to use for this purpose? Cheers!

I have a soldering iron, but I’ve only done one soldering project, when I swapped out the pickups in a guitar. Amazingly, despite my 💩soldering skills, it worked. I would love for you to do a video on how to solder, and talk to me like I’m in Kindergarten. When you first mentioned tinning I realized that I don’t know how to tin. I would love to do more soldering, but I just don’t know how to do it well. I know there are other videos on RU-vid about soldering, but I think you could make the definitive video on it.

Probably the most informative and comprehensive video on this topic, thank you.

Thank you very much!!! how about some heat shrink tips and advice? I like the look and feel of patch cables with this on.

A great video filled with tons of good advice, but next time, you really need to zoom right into the part when the soldering is taking place. Thanks.

They make great patch cables!

9:28 besides a continuity test I’d also recommend to test if there is no short between the tip and sleeve of the connector(s).

"When you don't have the parts/tools that you really need/want, you end up using whatever is around." I said that to myself today (before I saw this video.) How many times have I done that? Because in the ancient times I didn't want to make a trip to Radio Shack and in this era I don't want to wait for the online order for X days. And here's Mason driving home the exact point I hit today. I've been swapping speakers among cabs the last few days - for absolutely the last time! (No, really. I mean it!) So I cobbled together something that will work from old parts - speaker cables, terminals, jacks etc. That is such a risk friends. What did Mason say right at the start, about frustration and failed parts? Applies to patch cables, power cables, speaker cables, pickup wiring etc. I just bought a used cab made by the "Elite Prestigious" company, but not quite in the "Ludicrously Expensive Boutique" class. There was a rattle at high vol on the low strings at the 1st and 2nd frets. Sigh. Took it apart. Very well made cab but there was a stray screw lodged in the speaker frame. Easy. Relieved. However, plastic jacks were used so I put in metal Switchcrafts. Today, I was working on a "Merely Big Famous Name" cab and not only were the jacks plastic, but they were paired together on a little 1 inch PCB! Arrgghh! So I grafted the somewhat better "Elite Prestigious" plastic jacks (held together with soldered wire) in place of the PCB mounted "Merely Big Famous Name" jacks. What I really wanted was metal Switchcrafts but the jack plate was flimsy plastic anyway (the rest of the cab was first rate. Why do they skimp on the jack plate???) If you are a DIYer at all, study every detail of this video as Gospel and get skilled. It will save you SO much grief. If it's too tedious, no shame, pay someone to do it. The middle ground is where ALL the misery happens. PS - I use velcro on the base of my "3rd hand" to move it around as needed. Sorry for yakking.

Thanks for this, it’s very helpful for all of us wannabe techs. I was wondering what you think about using solid core cable like Lava Tightrope for patch cables. It seems harder to get a solid tip connection.

Mason, great video. Convinced me to make my own cables for building my Temple Audio Duo 24/Boss Pedals/MXR 238 setup. I have one major concern however. I was going to install the Temple Audio 4X module (the $49.00 one) as well but after reading some reviews about noise being a problem I'm having second thoughts and maybe just doing without. It's absolutely quiet right now. Would the smart move be to just go without? Thanks and keep up the great videos!

The best!! 😍😍😍🤩🤩

Wasn't this topic covered in other videos already? 😂😂😂. Then again, it's good to have a refresher. Also, can I mention it's always a good thing to have a packet of soldered patch cables just in case if for whatever reason, you'd want/need to patch in another pedal, or if a cable goes down at an inconvenient time, whatever it is, it's always a good idea having those. (Especially if you're working as a tech/roadie) Also, cable tabs won't hurt, either. Primarily, because it allows you to label each cable so you know what it goes to, and if it's a spare cable, even better. PS. I'm still begging you, please, please, PLEASE!!!, do a "WHY you need an interface box?" video, not How, not When, or What, but Why? If not for me, then for those that don't know. I already know why, but for those that might still have doubts about it.

Excellent video, thank you for that. I plan to redo my entire Bass board during the holidays and found some SP400 and SPS4 plugs... 2314 however is basically impossible to get in Europa, so I went with the Sommer Cable Tynee. Do you have any experience with it? It looks good, but the SP400 does not really tightly grab the cable, so there is no strain relief. Is this similar for 2314 or are they maybe a little bit thicker? I also got some 2319, which is a very tight fit with the SP400, but it does work (but I prefer the thinner cable)...

Mason, thanks for this amazing rundown! My inner control freak is very pleased to have all the same cables on my board. I took your advice with the high wire buffer from your other video, and my rig sounds better than plugged straight in to my Mesa lonestar special. I get even more responsive nuance and dynamic from this gorgeous amp thanks to your help! One quick question: when I was stripping the plastic shielding from the center conductor, I lost some of the center conductor strands in the process. Do I need to worry about that causing any tone loss? Should I redo my cables so I don't lose any material when doing this? It's not a lot. Maybe one or two strands of copper. Thanks again!

Mason love your videos and really enjoying the new Chairman of the Boards Podcast! Just curious if it is worth it to try and salvage already used SP400's for a new board, or if its not worth the frustration and just get new plugs. I'm sure for you, there are hundreds on tap to grab in the shop, but for some of us DIYers they aren't as readily available. Just curious as to what your thoughts are!

9:28 Thank you for this tip! I will check all my cables, in case any have some resistance I need to re-solder them cleanly?

I just repaired a cable I have been using for a while. When I opened it up the sheath of the cable was conected to the tip of the connector at both ends so it did funtion . What affects could wiring a cable up like this have?

Do you have a video on how to make a dual mono to TRS cable? I need them for my RJM 6X and I’m struggling to get this to work.

Hey Mason! I’m a regular listener of Chairmen of the Boards and used your recommendations to get Mogami 2319 and SP400 connectors. It wasn’t until watching this video that I realized that combination might be incompatible. Will I have to order new cable / connectors or will this combo still work, just with a tighter fit? Thanks for all the incredible content!

Thank you very much for your efforts with those videos, they are a host of information. My main issue with cable management in my pedalboard is how to deal with pedals like Boss LS-2 and NS-2 which add a ton of extra cables. Do you have any suggestion on how to deal with stuff like that? Also, do you have any opinion on flat patch cables like those from EBS or Rockboard?

Thank you for all of the great content and advice! Do you have any advice on the Switchcraft 228 (pancake) plugs? Thanks!

Awesome video, thanks for the advice! Quick question - if I want to be able to fit the shield through the hole on the ground lug, is it okay to split the shield into 2 parts, cut off 1 half, and only use the other half? I’m finding the diameter of the entire shield braid to be too large to fit through the ground lug hole. Are there any sonic difference in doing so? Btw I’m using the CA-0678 cable from BTPA. Thanks so much for your help!

Hi Mason, love the channel, I put together some boards here in Ireland. Random question....What is that type of long angled, orange coloured handle pliers called, that I see you use in your videos for placing cable tie mounts onto boards? I cant seem to find one that's similar.

Hey mason, please help! I have bought 2 $85 mogami gold cables which have both had horrible microphonics, and static. I thought these were supposed to be the best cables in the world? There is no model number to go by, but the package says high-definition multi-purpose accessory cable. Have I bought a cable intended to go from the head to cabinet? I'm using this from my guitar into a radial di box then into XLR in my interface. The problem persists even running different guitars into my real world amplifier. These were purchased in-store from Guitar center, so I seriously doubt they're fakes.

now we only have to learn to solder TRS cables!

I use George L`s cables and plugs. No need for soldering iron😉

If I’m getting a 0.1 or 0.2 reading when testing the cable, 1) is that acceptable to use on a board? And 2) any suggestions on why I might be getting this resistance and how to eliminate?

I wish there was a close-up overhead view so I could see how the soldering technique is supposed to work.

Some of my cables sound muddy in bypass but fine when the connected pedals are on. Any ideas why?

I watch all of your videos and follow all of your advices. What millimeters do you use to cut the patch cables? I bought Mogami 2319 and I keep cutting the copper strands.

Would've been great to see the actual soldering zoomed in more closely for better observation, but nevertheless, a very informative video.

VERTEX, which guitar cables and patch cables use Quad Core Conductive Copper? the Quad Core is suppose to do what differently compared to Non-Quad Core cables?

I’m timid about such high temperatures! Is this why Warren Zevon wrote “I Was In The House When the House Burned Down”?

Any recommendations for instrument cable/plugs? (From Guitar to pedalboard?)

if the pedal thing doesn't work out, you would make an amazing high school shop teacher. Thanks for explaining things like a boss

Why do you use 2319 0r 2314 for patch cables and 2524 for instrument cables? What would you use for speaker cables? Do you have a video on that? Thanks a million!

Are you familiar with WBC soldered patch cables.I purchased two kinds from them,one is Mogami and the other is Gotham model 4 times shielded that is a little bigger diameter. They're both about $33 for six 6" cables.My question is are they any good?They both use eminence plugs that are too big to work on most stereo pedals.Also do you know if the Fender custom shop patch cables are soldered or not??Thanks for all you do for this community.

Watching this, and realizing I didn't strip back that black material, now I have to go open all my patch cables lol

Cables are expensive for what you get. Off topic a little is network cable. Best thing I did was learn to splice my own network cable.

Can jacks be reused? Like if I have patch cables that use a cheaper cable but I want to upgrade the cable to mogami, can I unsolder the old cable and solder the mogami cable to the jack?

Great video and very informative, but for those that would like to avoid soldering, do you know if the 2319 cable can be used with solderless connectors? I have a bunch of Evidence connectors that I like but would like to switch to the Mogami cable.

When powering all the pedals with the same adapter in daisy-chain, would you unsolder the sleeve on one end of each cable to avoid ground loops? This is what I have done to my patch cables.

You mentioned SPS4 in the material list - can you comment on when to chose SPS4 or SPS5?

Besides continuity, any test in case there is any noise (not sure if there would be any but curious)? Thanks.

Mr. Marangella, my cables may be too long. I have a distinct volume drop, almost 50%, when I use the effects loop on my PEAVEY ULTRA Plus. The chain is Guitar -> (18ft) -> Peavey rack EQ -> (10ft) -> Front of AMP -> [[EFFECTS SEND on rear of AMP ]] -> (10ft) -> BOSS OD200 -> (PATCH) -> Line 6 ECHO PARK delay -> (10ft) -> [[ EFFECTS RETURN on rear of AMP ]] -> (OEM PEAVEY CABLE 3 ft) -> 4x12 cabinet. Would you have anything to recommend for cable length or do you know of another issue to address? Thank you.

I got about 1 ohm of resistance, is that normal or should it be completely zero? I’m using mogami 2419 and sp500’s, about 4” long patch. Measuring with a multimeter set to the 200 ohm setting.

PRS has talked about every signal patch being a point of resistance that effects tone… what are your thought on direct wiring pedal out put to pedal inputs and bypassing the jack?

Maybe someone has asked this but do you have a diagram on how to make your own y / splitter patch cable?

I'm guessing the insulator on the 2319/2314 won't melt at 650-700? That's the problem I run into, but I haven't used the mogami stuff. Also LOL'd at forgetting to put on the boot before soldering the second plug. I have *NEVER* made that mistake. :D

Great stuff, thank you so much. I noticed the heat gun in the products list, but no shrink sleeves. Do you ever use shrink inside the housings?

if you are using Mogami 2319 shouldn't you be using SPS500 due to the diameter of the cable?

I watched this yesterday, amongst many other videos, and I'm watching the Lindsey Ell video now. I notice you use different patch plugs in different places. Looks like straight on top jacks, and angled on side jacks? Any particular advantage to straight plugs, over angled?