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Making high quality instrument cable (How I do it)

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  • Making high quality instrument cable (How I do it)

    I may have posted about this before, but I couldn't find anything quickly looking through my posts. I apologize if I posted about this before, but I'm whipped up a cable for a buddy of mine and thought I'd share some photos of how I do it. If anyone was so inclined, it might save them quite a bit of money on buying a high end cable.
    Here is the parts and supplies I used for the job:
    • Canare GS-6 instrument cable (blue) Canare GS-6
    • G&H Bigfoot 1/4" plug, 2 conductor .322" exit hole*(I think) G&H Bigfoot 1/4" plug
    • 63/37 eutectic solder (just my preference, 60/40 is fine)
    • liquid rosin flux (will make this job a lot faster and smoother)
    • alligator clip or heat sink clip
    • solder helper tool(s) Velleman 6pc Soldering Aids
    • NTE Dual wall 3:1 heatshrink w/adhesive 3/4" dia. NTE Heatshrink Tubing

    First thing I do is make a visual measurement of how much exterior covering I need to remove. I mark it with a black sharpie and use an Xacto blade to carefully make the cut in the covering. I make sure to remove only what is needed, and leave enough for the metal tabs on the plug to grip onto. Importantly, using a new or sharp blade, you do not need to use much pressure at all to cut the depth that you want. In fact, it is best not to cut all the way through and risk damaging the shield or any other part of the cable. May take some practice to get right.



    Then, using the solder pick tool (or similar dental tool, etc), I carefully unbraid the copper shield:





    With the shield unbraided, you'll notice a black covering separating the shield and inner insulator. This is a conductive material designed to minimize triboelectric noise. Remove this carefully using wire strippers. Remove enough to fully expose the inner insulator (see photo below for an example).
    I then use wire strippers to remove enough inner insulator to expose enough copper to fit through the solder tab hole and contact the center conductor of the plug.
    To do this without destroying your bench in a fit of anger and frustration, pre-tin both the shield and inner conductor of the cable.
    Here is where the liquid flux comes into play. Coating the copper with some flux will allow you to flow solder onto the copper very quickly and prevent burning or melting the insulating coverings.



    One thing to note – it can be helpful to wedge a small alligator clip, or flathead screwdriver head in between the shield and center conductor to keep them separated when soldering the center conductor.

    I also use a small piece of standard heatshrink between the metal strain relief tabs on the plug as added protection for the PVC cable covering. So far it should look like this (as an added step, I use a small piece of silicone baking sheet, cut the width of the plug tabs, to insure there is no short and help keep them in mechanical alignment... it's probably overkill.):



    continued below....
    If I have a 50% chance of guessing the right answer, I guess wrong 80% of the time.

  • #2
    Oh no! I forgot to mount the shell on the cable first!
    Originally posted by Enzo
    I have a sign in my shop that says, "Never think up reasons not to check something."


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    • #3
      ....

      next I cut the dual wall heatshrink, measuring from just in front of the plug screw threads to give enough length to act as the strain relief for the cable. I just use my eye to provide enough clearance. Then use a heat gun to shrink it down to size. Oh, I should have added a heat gun to the parts and supplies list. sorry.
      The benefits of the dual wall heatshrink is that it has good mechanical strength to act as a cable strain relief, plus the inner wall will gasket the cable and should prevent the conductors inside from exposure to any liquids as well.



      The way this cable is assembled using the parts described above should provide a very robust electrical and mechanical assembly, with just enough clearance for a tight, secure fit at the plug end.



      the finished product looks great, and should be as good or better built than most high end expensive instrument cables.

      If I have a 50% chance of guessing the right answer, I guess wrong 80% of the time.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by g1 View Post
        Oh no! I forgot to mount the shell on the cable first!
        I hate it when that happens! And, ...... who can honestly say they've never done it?
        "I took a photo of my ohm meter... It didn't help." Enzo 8/20/22

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        • #5
          Originally posted by g1 View Post
          Oh no! I forgot to mount the shell on the cable first!
          HA!

          SOOOO important! shit, I should have added that. I have, more than once. had to f-ing unsolder cable to correct that. Important tip ^^^^^^^


          edit: the reason this one went so smoothly was that it was the first of the plug ends to go on. There's a good chance that this why it was omitted
          If I have a 50% chance of guessing the right answer, I guess wrong 80% of the time.

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          • #6
            I used to make cables, then I realized that the cost for the materials and the cost for a finished cord were the same from my supplier (Rapco/Horizon). And premade cords had a warranty. They would put any end I wanted on any cable, no extra fee. Never took more than three days to custom one up, most end combinations were already in stock.
            Education is what you're left with after you have forgotten what you have learned.

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            • #7
              Agree. As a general rule, I'll only make a cable if it's a real odd ball custom thing or if somebody needs something built "right now" and can't wait for it. In those cases, they pay a "right now" price. If you consider your time, it's hard to compete with just buying them already made.
              "I took a photo of my ohm meter... It didn't help." Enzo 8/20/22

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Enzo View Post
                I used to make cables, then I realized that the cost for the materials and the cost for a finished cord were the same from my supplier (Rapco/Horizon). And premade cords had a warranty. They would put any end I wanted on any cable, no extra fee. Never took more than three days to custom one up, most end combinations were already in stock.
                Look, I wouldn't go into any kind of production making cables... period. Boring.
                I’d consider building some of them to order, only if I could assemble them parts to product in under 20 min.
                But, I'll probably never buy a commercial cable for myself ever again either.
                Lets say your looking for a high end instrument cable 10-25' (using canare, mogami, etc. and good hardware). Can run anywhere from $30-friggin' ridiculous.
                we'll keep it between $35-65 using comparable parts.

                I can get the cable I used above (probably canare's best instrument cable offering) for $.89 per foot from Marketek (Canare-gs-6-guitar-instrument-cable-per-foot-black), and the G&H plugs from Allied for $2.57 per (G&H bf2pnnn).
                So, if I wanted a 15' cable, I'm looking at $18.49 in parts; add $3 or so in heat shrink for a total $21.49 minus shipping cost. There's no way someone is buying the equivalent cable for that, and I'm only talking about materials. I'm not saying that my technique couldn't be improved, there's always new things to learn. But I'd put my build up anything commercially available.

                Having said that, I agree that it'd be tough to sell it commercially and make it worth it. This is more an exercise for someone wanting to make a handful of instrument cables.
                Last edited by SoulFetish; 03-19-2020, 06:51 AM. Reason: just rephrased something which could have been misinterpreted.
                If I have a 50% chance of guessing the right answer, I guess wrong 80% of the time.

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