4 conductor shielded wire

[David King]

Hey I found some wire for humbuckers that actually looks pretty good for a change:
It's Belden 1804A starquad mic cable.
28awg with 19 strand/ 40awg silver plated copper
Braided, 78% shield and pvc jacket, O.D. is only .115"
Capacitance between conductors is 40pf/foot
Minimum bending radius is .5"
You get two blue and two white conductors so you'll need to fiddle around with a meter, is that a deal killer?
It's a $1.25 a foot or so.

[restorationad]

Hey I found some wire for humbuckers that actually looks pretty good for a change:
It's Belden 1804A starquad mic cable.
28awg with 19 strand/ 40awg silver plated copper
Braided, 78% shield and pvc jacket, O.D. is only .115"
Capacitance between conductors is 40pf/foot
Minimum bending radius is .5"
You get two blue and two white conductors so you'll need to fiddle around with a meter, is that a deal killer?
It's a $1.25 a foot or so.

looks expensive.... I was thinking in the $.50 a foot range would be nice.

[David King]

Why do you care about price? How many feet per year are you going to use?

Here's another than can be had in 4 colors but it's only available in 26AWG for the 19 strand /38awg. It's also silver plated and has teflon insulation.
Overall O.D. is now up to .133".
Shield is now 90% minimum coverage
I'm guessing that the price will be up over $2/foot and minimum is probably at least 1000'.
Item # 1100-44X, Four Conductor MIL-W-16878/4 on Standard Wire & Cable Co.

[restorationad]

Why do you care about price? How many feet per year are you going to use?

Here's another than can be had in 4 colors but it's only available in 26AWG for the 19 strand /38awg. It's also silver plated and has teflon insulation.
Overall O.D. is now up to .133".
Shield is now 90% minimum coverage
I'm guessing that the price will be up over $2/foot and minimum is probably at least 1000'.
Item # 1100-44X, Four Conductor MIL-W-16878/4 on Standard Wire & Cable Co.

Duh.... I get it now you are looking for a better wire than you can get from regular suppliers. I didn't notice the silver plating and teflon till after I responded.

Got it now.

[David King]

Restoration aid,
I apologize, I realize most folks are perfectly happy with the same old same old but I can't stand the stuff I have now.
Weico makes a 28awg silver teflon that's 7 strands with 4 colors and braided shield.
You can order it in 100 ft spools
Weico Wire, Cable & Tubing

[David Schwab]

Why do you care about price? How many feet per year are you going to use?

I went through 100 feet last year. I buy 50 feet at a time.

I was getting mine from GJ, but I just got some from Mojo that's very nice.

Same thing with the hookup wire. I use black white and green, and was getting it from Mouser. Now I got some from Jameco for half the price. It all adds up in the end.

[David King]

This stuff? Mojo Wire AWG 28-Ga 4-Conductor Shielded Guitar Pickup Wire
How thick is the outside jacket? It looks huge in the photo.
It's 45¢/foot?

[automan]

It's 1/8" thick. I just measured some from Mojo I have in the shop.

My least favorite wire comes from Mojo. The cloth covered lead wire isnt plated nor is the cloth waxed. I think Allparts has the good lead wire, but I can't remember who I got my last batch through. I'll have to check the receipt bin.

[David Schwab]

This stuff? Mojo Wire AWG 28-Ga 4-Conductor Shielded Guitar Pickup Wire
How thick is the outside jacket? It looks huge in the photo.
It's 45¢/foot?

.122" to be exact. $0.41/ft.

[Rodent]

Kicking a zombie thread back into motion...

I recently acquired a spool of the Belden 1804A 28AWG wire, and am about to utilize it on a new dual-coil set of bass pickups.

http://www.belden.com/techdatas/english/1804A.pdf

The listed min bend radius is 1.25", and this seems to be easily achieved as the cable is nicely flexible. The internal leads are colored blue, blue + stripe, white, white + stripe. The shield is not brittle when teased apart and formed into a lead for solder connection to ground.

[big_teee]

A shame they don't make it all in black, white, green, red.
It makes using standard wiring diagrams easier.
I've had good luck with the 4 wire, and 2 wire, both with shield, from mojo.
And, it uses the standard color code.
However, the main thing is to use whatever you like.
T

[David Schwab]

A shame they don't make it all in black, white, green, red.
It makes using standard wiring diagrams easier.

Yes! Not only that, but why does everyone use a different combination? DiMarzio did it first with the Dual Sound. They have red as hot and green as ground. That makes sense. But then Duncan has to go and change it. Then Gibson uses something else, etc. Schaller uses totally different colors.

Everyone should follow the DiMarzio code. It should be the standard. Then we wouldn't need these silly charts to try and figure out how to wire some unknown pickup.

I use the DiMarzio colors. So does EMG for their passive pickups.

I've had good luck with the 4 wire, and 2 wire, both with shield, from mojo.
And, it uses the standard color code.
However, the main thing is to use whatever you like.
T

I also use the Mojo wire, and wire from WD Music. Right now I'm using the Mojo wire. It's nice wire. Very flexible.

[rjb]

A shame they don't make it all in black, white, green, red.

FWIW, the Belden 1804A "star quad" cable is designed as super EMI-proof balanced mic cable. The color code makes sense because, when used as intended, both white wires go to pin 2 and both blue wires go to pin 3 of your XLR connector.

Everyone should follow the DiMarzio code. It should be the standard.

Isn't it a little late to make that decree? Should all non-conforming pickups from the last ~40 years be recalled?
Besides, if everyone copied DiMarzio's code, Larry would probably sue for infringement.

Then we wouldn't need these silly charts to try and figure out how to wire some unknown pickup.

If you have an "unknown" pickup, the charts won't help anyway.

But with a screwdriver, an analog VOM, and a little know-how, you can determine which wires go to which coils, and the electrical phasing of those coils.
And all you need to determine the magnetic polarities of an "unknown" pickup is a "known" pickup. Most times, you don't even need to know if they're North or South - just if they're "opposite" or "the same".
And if you want to know which wire is the Start lead of a coil - hell, you told me that trick.

Who needs charts?

I also use the Mojo wire, and wire from WD Music. Right now I'm using the Mojo wire. It's nice wire. Very flexible.

I know it's sacrilege to ask, but: Does anyone know where GFS gets their 4-C shielded cable? It's very flexible (~1/4" bending radius), ~3mm/0.12" jacket diameter, with "served" (spiral) shield. Reminds me of some Mogami cable, but with the "right" wire colors.

-rb

[frankfalbo]

It's been about 40 years, I doubt anyone is changing. In that time, Duncan has likely (yes, literally) outsold both Dimarzio and EMG passive humbuckers combined. Add in Duncan Designed on the imports all those years and it's even higher. The Duncan code makes more sense to me anyway. One coil is black/white & the other red/green. It's easier to keep straight in my head for some reason.

[copperheadroads]

Black & White & The Red Green show .....(Maybe a Canadian thing ?) but it works .