Patch cable kits

[bobbass4k]

I'm gonna have time and cash over summer and with a couple of music type projects on the horizon I've decided to finally build a pedalboard.

Anywho, I was wondering if there are any cheaper alternatives to george l's for customs, i've got a fair few pedals so to hook them all up I'd need 20 connectors and 2 or 3 metres of cable, which would run £100+, which, call me old fashioned, just seems silly for patch cables.

All I'm interested in george l's for is the custom length and very small connectors, I'm quite happy with my tone using the brightly coloured moulded plastic crap I have now, and I've heard a lot of people saying they didn't actually notice any tone improvement with george l's.

So are there any less bankrupting alternatives that have very small right angled connectors, custom cable lengths etc? I don't mind having to solder them together as long as it's easy to do

[Tusknia]

Planet waves do a solder-less one for about forty quid.

[megazap63]

[quote name='bobbass4k' post='490152' date='May 16 2009, 09:24 PM']I'm gonna have time and cash over summer and with a couple of music type projects on the horizon I've decided to finally build a pedalboard.

Anywho, I was wondering if there are any cheaper alternatives to george l's for customs, i've got a fair few pedals so to hook them all up I'd need 20 connectors and 2 or 3 metres of cable, which would run £100+, which, call me old fashioned, just seems silly for patch cables.

All I'm interested in george l's for is the custom length and very small connectors, I'm quite happy with my tone using the brightly coloured moulded plastic crap I have now, and I've heard a lot of people saying they didn't actually notice any tone improvement with george l's.

So are there any less bankrupting alternatives that have very small right angled connectors, custom cable lengths etc? I don't mind having to solder them together as long as it's easy to do[/quote]

Hey Bob,

I posted something about a week ago re George L cables - specifically, that I feel the product is way overrated and a waste of money (and they ain't cheap either..)

At the time of buying them, the other apparent choice was planet waves. Don't know what they're like but they couldn't be any worse than George Ls.

Based on my experience, I'd have to say that you can't beat a good old-fashioned presoldered patch cable. I'm waiting on delivery of a bunch of Warwick cables that I ordered online through GAK and Stallion Music. They look and sound very well-made, have gold tips for better sound and come in lengths of 15, 20 and 30 cm. Also, their right-angled connectors are considerably smaller than just about every other presoldered patch cable out there.

The best thing is the price.....16 of them at varying lengths for under £50, inc p+p!!

Not trying to give Warwick a big plug or anything, just hate to see another guy waste around £70 for a crap product like George Ls (or perhaps something similar....)

Anyway, cheers and good luck man!!

[thisnameistaken]

The only real benefit to the George L's system is compactness and convenience. You can of course make up cables of any length if you've got a soldering iron but it's a lot easier to just slice them and stick them together. And standard right-angle jacks often interfere with eachother when you've got a lot of pedals in close proximity.

One other thing to consider is you can re-wire the jacks as often as you need to, whereas if you're making changes to your cabling with normal soldered plugs you'll probably have to replace a lot of the plugs.

I see the prices have gone up since I last bought them. To be honest I'd take some convincing to buy into them with the prices as they are now, I think.

[megazap63]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='490598' date='May 17 2009, 03:41 PM']The only real benefit to the George L's system is compactness and convenience. You can of course make up cables of any length if you've got a soldering iron but it's a lot easier to just slice them and stick them together. And standard right-angle jacks often interfere with eachother when you've got a lot of pedals in close proximity.

One other thing to consider is you can re-wire the jacks as often as you need to, whereas if you're making changes to your cabling with normal soldered plugs you'll probably have to replace a lot of the plugs.

I see the prices have gone up since I last bought them. To be honest I'd take some convincing to buy into them with the prices as they are now, I think.[/quote]

Agreed - they DO look very neat and tidy. But thats about it.

[CuticleThorns]

[quote name='megazap63' post='490603' date='May 17 2009, 03:58 PM']Agreed - they DO look very neat and tidy. But thats about it.[/quote]

honestly, you need to re-make your cables! This is the second thread wherein you've completely slated George L cables yet I think you are the only person I've heard of who has a problem with them. They are so easy to make. I have three sets on my board and not one has caused me problems. If they ever do I'll just nip 5mm off each edge of cable and re-attach the plugs.

I understand you'd want to share your opinion regarding them but I just thinkyou need to make them properly in the first place!

[LowBlow]

[quote name='CuticleThorns' post='491139' date='May 18 2009, 09:45 AM']honestly, you need to re-make your cables! This is the second thread wherein you've completely slated George L cables yet I think you are the only person I've heard of who has a problem with them. They are so easy to make. I have three sets on my board and not one has caused me problems. If they ever do I'll just nip 5mm off each edge of cable and re-attach the plugs.

I understand you'd want to share your opinion regarding them but I just thinkyou need to make them properly in the first place! [/quote]
+ 1,000,000!!! I saw the other thread too. It's all well and good giving both sides of the argument. The experience of the majority would suggest that user error [i]might[/i] be contributing to your disappointment in the product! I'm another happy George L's customer here. The improvement in tone and the professionalism it gives my board is well worth the outlay IMHO.

[sshorepunk]

George L's all the way, unless you are perfectly happy with what you got on your board and the layout, then invest in some cables of the correct lengths from OBBM

T

[pete.young]

Maplins to the rescue - Yay! These are good for making up pedal board cables:

[url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?TabID=1&criteria=usb&ModuleNo=1249&C=SO&U=Strat15"]http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?TabID=...O&U=Strat15[/url]

[bobbass4k]

[quote name='pete.young' post='492788' date='May 19 2009, 09:35 PM']Maplins to the rescue - Yay! These are good for making up pedal board cables:

[url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?TabID=1&criteria=usb&ModuleNo=1249&C=SO&U=Strat15"]http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?TabID=...O&U=Strat15[/url][/quote]

That looks like just the thing, any idea what gauge lead it takes or will it take any?

Also, is George L's cable just regular cable that I'd be able to strip down and solder into those or is it specially designed for the connectors, and if it isn't, any reccomendations on decent cabling I could get?

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='bobbass4k' post='492801' date='May 19 2009, 10:56 PM']Also, is George L's cable just regular cable that I'd be able to strip down and solder into those[/quote]

The patch cable's a bit weird, very delicate. Works fine for the George L plugs but I wouldn't want to try to strip it. They do a thicker instrument cable but if it's anything like the patch cable it will be difficult to work with.

[quote name='bobbass4k' post='492801' date='May 19 2009, 10:56 PM']or is it specially designed for the connectors, and if it isn't, any reccomendations on decent cabling I could get?[/quote]

Just buy an instrument cable and chop it up, that's what I used to do. I wouldn't worry too much about "tone" - you'll probably be running a 2 or 3 metres at the most, and your buffered pedals will keep losses minimal.

[harryharold]

this place is cheaper than maplins for sockets though they don't do those really slim ones, good for cable too i think.

[url="http://www.rapidonline.com/"]http://www.rapidonline.com/[/url]

they can be a bit of a stinger on postage so keep the transactions to a minimum.

EDIT: cable cheap but only in 100m rolls, though 100m for £12 is amazing.

[harryharold]

oh and the slim maplin connectors are fine for normal guitar cable - my guitarist uses them on his board, i think they may be more space saving than george l's too. you need a soldering iron though.

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='harryharold' post='493334' date='May 20 2009, 03:13 PM']oh and the slim maplin connectors are fine for normal guitar cable - my guitarist uses them on his board, i think they may be more space saving than george l's too. you need a soldering iron though.[/quote]

Bear in mind that these "pancake"-shaped plugs might obstruct eachother if you've got pedals with jacks very close together (Boss LS-2 for example), they are a fair bit wider than normal jack plugs.

[1976fenderhead]

[quote name='pete.young' post='492788' date='May 19 2009, 10:35 PM']Maplins to the rescue - Yay! These are good for making up pedal board cables:

[url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?TabID=1&criteria=usb&ModuleNo=1249&C=SO&U=Strat15"]http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?TabID=...O&U=Strat15[/url][/quote]

I highly recommend against those. Years ago when my dad used to solder these cables for me, those were the only plugs he had problems with. They were really hard to solder (can't remember why) and most of the ones he did gave me problems. He never had problems using any other normal right-angle or straight plugs... Might have just been him, but you've been warned...

I use Adam Hall cables btw, and very happy with them, you can get them pretty cheap off eBay and you can choose between 15cm and 30cm. The plugs are excellent!
[url="http://www.adamhall.com/uk/AH_p--project_27__b--KI015WKS"]http://www.adamhall.com/uk/AH_p--project_27__b--KI015WKS[/url]

Maybe I'm old-fashioned but I wouldn't feel safe using non-soldered cables...

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='1976fenderhead' post='493402' date='May 20 2009, 04:21 PM']Maybe I'm old-fashioned but I wouldn't feel safe using non-soldered cables...[/quote]

I was a bit wary too at first but I haven't had a problem with them yet. I suppose on a pedal board where they don't see much movement it's not a big deal, but I wouldn't use one as an instrument cable.

I also carry a few back-up soldered patch cables for emergency replacement, a stanley knife (in case I have a minute to re-wire a dicky George L) and all my pedals run through a true-bypass box so I can go straight to the amp if anything fails. But so far I've never needed any of those things.

[megazap63]

[quote name='pete.young' post='492788' date='May 19 2009, 10:35 PM']Maplins to the rescue - Yay! These are good for making up pedal board cables:

[url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?TabID=1&criteria=usb&ModuleNo=1249&C=SO&U=Strat15"]http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?TabID=...O&U=Strat15[/url][/quote]


Yet another alternative to George L's - again, courtesy of Maplins:

[url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=224851"]http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=224851[/url]

[lemmywinks]

[quote name='megazap63' post='490392' date='May 17 2009, 11:07 AM']Hey Bob,

I posted something about a week ago re George L cables - specifically, that I feel the product is way overrated and a waste of money (and they ain't cheap either..)

At the time of buying them, the other apparent choice was planet waves. Don't know what they're like but they couldn't be any worse than George Ls.

Based on my experience, I'd have to say that you can't beat a good old-fashioned presoldered patch cable. I'm waiting on delivery of a bunch of Warwick cables that I ordered online through GAK and Stallion Music. They look and sound very well-made, have gold tips for better sound and come in lengths of 15, 20 and 30 cm. Also, their right-angled connectors are considerably smaller than just about every other presoldered patch cable out there.

The best thing is the price.....16 of them at varying lengths for under £50, inc p+p!!

Not trying to give Warwick a big plug or anything, just hate to see another guy waste around £70 for a crap product like George Ls (or perhaps something similar....)

Anyway, cheers and good luck man!![/quote]


I use the Warwick ones like this:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WARWICK-30CM-PATCH-CABLE-GOLD-TIPPED-PRO-QUALITY_W0QQitemZ200344273891QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Guitar_Accessories?hash=item200344273891&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WARWICK-30CM-PATCH-C...93%3A1|294%3A50[/url]

They're very good and really cheap. The seller i got them off did me a postage discount so i ended up getting 5 for £15. Nice thick cable and decent, solid Neutrik-style jacks. You can order them in different lengths too

[megazap63]

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='494193' date='May 21 2009, 01:14 PM']I use the Warwick ones like this:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WARWICK-30CM-PATCH-CABLE-GOLD-TIPPED-PRO-QUALITY_W0QQitemZ200344273891QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Guitar_Accessories?hash=item200344273891&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WARWICK-30CM-PATCH-C...93%3A1|294%3A50[/url]

They're very good and really cheap. The seller i got them off did me a postage discount so i ended up getting 5 for £15. Nice thick cable and decent, solid Neutrik-style jacks. You can order them in different lengths too[/quote]

Good choice, they're the ones I've gone for as well.

They're also available through GAK and Stallion Music online at a slightly cheaper price - and the postage discount also applies!!