F*** patch cable!

JohnPerry

Having replaced all my George Ls with Evidence there is no comparison when it comes to reliability 

samzadgan

i spent a bit of time last night (its morning here now, so hence late reply to all the recommendations) researching patch cables. I also ripped up my board and reset it, with half of it not wired up as I dont have enough patch cables to replace all the lava's. The half that i wired up were with the cheapo cables i had stashed away and some new MXR pancake ones.

I then went on a mission to find the faulty lava cable...so at the end of the chain i put in one lava cable at a time...out of the 14 lava cables that i had on my board, 8 were were made that crackly sound! By the time i finished it was 11pm...so i went to bed.

Now i have to decide between, buying pre-made cable or making 8 lava cables.

The issues with buying pre-made...from the way my board is set up and limitations around needing various lengths of patch cables and the fact that my pedals are all top mount jacks and power...the only option is the multicolored ones, Which i guess is not a huge problem...On the other hand...Lava cables will end up looking neater

dindude

samzadgan said:

i spent a bit of time last night (its morning here now, so hence late reply to all the recommendations) researching patch cables. I also ripped up my board and reset it, with half of it not wired up as I dont have enough patch cables to replace all the lava's. The half that i wired up were with the cheapo cables i had stashed away and some new MXR pancake ones.

I then went on a mission to find the faulty lava cable...so at the end of the chain i put in one lava cable at a time...out of the 14 lava cables that i had on my board, 8 were were made that crackly sound! By the time i finished it was 11pm...so i went to bed.

Now i have to decide between, buying pre-made cable or making 8 lava cables.

The issues with buying pre-made...from the way my board is set up and limitations around needing various lengths of patch cables and the fact that my pedals are all top mount jacks and power...the only option is the multicolored ones, Which i guess is not a huge problem...On the other hand...Lava cables will end up looking neater

Lava do a pre-made soldered version of their mini jacks I think but you have to order from the US website.

samzadgan

actually how hard is it to make soldered patch cables?

i mean...i can do solder work on pickup swaps...are cables that much harder??

hotpickups

samzadgan said:

actually how hard is it to make soldered patch cables?

i mean...i can do solder work on pickup swaps...are cables that much harder??

I can solder some up yeah. However it will take me days to do many. Whereas the lava plugs I can do many in and hour or so 

saint_ivey

hotpickups said:

Lava, Evidence, George L's aren't they all much of the same thing. How different can they be?  I know one thing though, my hands were ripped up trying to assemble the original ELC lava plugs. Tightrope ones were much easier. Can't see why Evidence should be so much dearer?

End of the day I've had no trouble with my lava assemblies but then I don't keep moving pedals around. Once their positioned they're positioned for some time

Evidence Audio are completely different. They're made differently, sound different and you can physically hang your weight from an EA cable and the connector will hold and still work. True story... a mate tried it.

https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxR_lsa8RL8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEaoX6Ef9tw

hotpickups

saint_ivey said:

hotpickups said:

Lava, Evidence, George L's aren't they all much of the same thing. How different can they be?  I know one thing though, my hands were ripped up trying to assemble the original ELC lava plugs. Tightrope ones were much easier. Can't see why Evidence should be so much dearer?

End of the day I've had no trouble with my lava assemblies but then I don't keep moving pedals around. Once their positioned they're positioned for some time

Evidence Audio are completely different. They're made differently, sound different and you can physically hang your weight from an EA cable and the connector will hold and still work. True story... a mate tried it.

https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxR_lsa8RL8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEaoX6Ef9tw

Yes I've seen the demos. I might try them one day if my faith in lava dissappears from breaking etc. Hell of a price difference though

ICBM

samzadgan said:

actually how hard is it to make soldered patch cables?

i mean...i can do solder work on pickup swaps...are cables that much harder??

It's not that hard, although there is a technique to learn like most things. I can do one in a few minutes, and I'm not exactly doing dozens of them so I'm sure I'm not the fastest at it.

It's very useful to have an old scrap box-type jack socket that you can clamp in a bench vise to hold the plug while you solder to it, otherwise you tend to need three hands.

eaudio

samzadgan said:

@dindude exactly...i had a bunch of EA solderless too...and they were great...but like you say, all of these can only take a certain amount of plugging and unplugging.

Hi Sam,  when I read you say that my cables can only take a certain amount of plugging and unplugging, are you basing this on a "nagging feeling" as Dindude expressed over any solderless system? Or is it based on the actual fact you had one of my solderless patch cables fail on you?

I don't think Dindude said he had one fail; but I understand him trying to protect his feelings. Feelings are pretty powerful, especially after what most solderless solutions have put people through over the years.

I don't blame your suspicion. I'm stuck trying to convince people it's safe to smoke my cigarettes after all they've read online about these silly contraptions.

Hopefully 20 years from now the kind endorsements here will prove true. What I've invented is superior to soldered patch cables --- not just in terms of sound quality but reliability.

If you have had any actual experience otherwise I would be grateful to know and remedy the situation.

Best regards,

Tony

samzadgan

eaudio said:

samzadgan said:

@dindude exactly...i had a bunch of EA solderless too...and they were great...but like you say, all of these can only take a certain amount of plugging and unplugging.

Hi Sam,  when I read you say that my cables can only take a certain amount of plugging and unplugging, are you basing this on a "nagging feeling" as Dindude expressed over any solderless system? Or is it based on the actual fact you had one of my solderless patch cables fail on you?

I don't think Dindude said he had one fail; but I understand him trying to protect his feelings. Feelings are pretty powerful, especially after what most solderless solutions have put people through over the years.

I don't blame your suspicion. I'm stuck trying to convince people it's safe to smoke my cigarettes after all they've read online about these silly contraptions.

Hopefully 20 years from now the kind endorsements here will prove true. What I've invented is superior to soldered patch cables --- not just in terms of sound quality but reliability.

If you have had any actual experience otherwise I would be grateful to know and remedy the situation.

Best regards,

Tony

Hey Tony,

I have 2 Lava kits and 1 of your kits...i bought them a good 2-3 years ago when i was going away from pre-made into solderless cables. I was moving to a big pedalboard with about 10-15 pedals  at any one time and the way the pedals needed to be arranged over the board was not going to work with fixed pre-made lengths.

In the last few months i've noticed the noise and crackling sounds becoming more and more from my pedalboard. So to answer your question firstly, what I'm saying is based on an assumption of the cause (of plugging and unplugging causing the issue) but the noise and issues are fact.

Like i mentioned in my previous post, i went through all my patch cables last night and there were 8 cables that were making those sounds, and within that, i think it was 6 Lava and 2 of yours. But saying all this...I'm in no way bagging out your cables or lava cables. There could be so many reason for these issues, starting with me assembling them (user error), and all the way to general wear and tear etc.

My frustration, and the reason for this thread stems from the fact that I tried to build my own cables and its failed, albeit after 3 years later, and the fact that pre-made patch cables wont actually work with my set up due to the type of pedals and how i have set up my pedalboard means that i've cornered myself into one solution. As a result i was looking for other options.

hope that explains it....and in the end, i will most likely end up just saving my money and remaking new ones from spare cables...because after its all said and done, 3 years ain't bad.

one thing I will say is this...in the past 3 years where i've had both yours and Lava on my board...I have had to remake Lava cables, and every now and again i've had to tighten up the screw on the lava plug...but yours have been solid through out the period (barring more recent issues). I'm not saying that for browny points, but thought i would share my long term experience with both systems.

ThePrettyDamned

Sam, if you want reliable (as in, the most reliable) cables, nothing compares to full size neutrik or neutrik angled jacks. 

They are tough as hell, easy to make (if you've got a third hand), not too expensive and they have an ingenious system where screwing it up actually provides tension relief. The hardest bit is screwing them up as it gets very tight but it's worth it. 

I've not used solder less cables as, other than size and picking your own lengths, I don't see the point - and if you make your own or have a handy friend you can choose your lengths anyway. 

Ultimately I wound up with kabl cables, who sadly doesn't make them anymore. He used pancake jacks and they were perfectly adequate for pedalboard use and utterly reliable through many changes. They're not as good for top mounted as they're wider, but for top mounted jacks, do yourself a favour and get proper neutrik angled jacks. They're bigger but not enormous, and you won't find better. 

simonk

Completely agree with @ThePrettyDamned.
I had a soul destroying couple of months with a bunch of Lava solderless cables, the failure rate on them was unacceptable. The Evidence seem better, but the cost is ridiculous - sixty quid for 5 patch cables..!
I make my own from Van Damme cable and Hicon pancake jacks. Each lead costs £3-£4 and takes me around 3-4 minutes. And not one has failed.

hywelg

Its all down to how much you f**k about with your pedal board.

I started making my own with Neutrik RA jacks. Ultra reliable but bulky as hell.

Then GAS took over and I had to find a lot more room on my board, so I went with George L's. These were far too unreliable and eventually they went.

Then Lava Mini-ELC and I've had them ever since. They are fine but they do come loose and if I get a signal problem its usually because one as come a little undone. Never had crackling or noise off them. Off course they were quite a bit dearer than the Tightrope version, which came out after I got the mini-ELC.

boogieman

I made up my own patch cables with Hi Con pancake plugs and Spirit cable and they've all been fine for years. I've found the cheap readymade coloured ones are fine for a while but then they start cutting out. A bit of contact cleaner sometimes sorts it out but it's a PITA.