Making your own amp to cab speaker cables

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GuitarseGuitarse Frets: 165
Is it safe to make your own speaker cables, if so, what grade of cable to use, and are standard 1/4" jacks OK to use? (or shall I stop being a tight arse and buy some?)


Cheers

Al
Never ever bloody anything, ever!
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Comments

  • SporkySporky Frets: 27568
    Standard jacks are fine.

    For cable, either some bog standard speaker cable or some mains will do fine. I bought a reel of Pro Power stuff from CPC a few years back - it's more flexible than most mains, but electrically either will do the job.
    "[Sporky] brings a certain vibe and dignity to the forum."
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  • CirrusCirrus Frets: 8481
    edited October 2013
    Yeah, Neutrik 1/4" jacks are pretty much the standard, well built and easy to work with.

    As for the cable, it can be anything. Use cut up extension lead cable if you have a spare. All that really matters is that it's conductive metal and not too narrow a gauge.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71950
    2-core mains cable and the proper turned Neutrik plugs.

    There's nothing better for guitar amp to speaker no matter how much you spend, and you can easily spend a lot more for something inferior.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • CirrusCirrus Frets: 8481
    edited October 2013
    Case in point: I spent £15 each on two really thick 1m cables with huge jacks. Looked DA BOMB. It's got to be good, right?

    Only it's actually stupid.

    The cable is heavy enough to potentially band/ warp amp and cab sockets.

    The jack plugs are so thick I can't use them with my AC30 without them catching on the wooden back panel

    The turning circle of the cable is daft: I need a good 30cm of clearance behind my amp and cab to plug them in.
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  • vizviz Frets: 10643
    Mods, can we sticky a "use orange lawnmower cable for speaker cable" thread please?
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  • GuitarseGuitarse Frets: 165
    Thanks for the tips! 2 core mains cable and Neutrik plugs, here we come!
    Never ever bloody anything, ever!
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  • ROOGROOG Frets: 554
    I use reused (thick) 2 core multi-strand HiFi speaker cables and a bundle of old telephone exchange 1/4" patch plugs I seem to have acquired, they're chunky!  

     

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  • I have taken the mains leads off various consumer durables (and some industrial equipment) that was being junked. Ordinary jack plugs from Maplins, cut wire to length, solder. Job done :)
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  • thermionicthermionic Frets: 9498
    Neutrik make a jack plug specifically for speaker cables. Dunno what makes them different, or if they are any better, but they are reasonably priced.
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26742
    I keep a power cable off our old vacuum cleaner specifically for when I next need speaker cables
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  • martmart Frets: 5205
    Neutrik make a jack plug specifically for speaker cables. Dunno what makes them different, or if they are any better, but they are reasonably priced.
    It's designed to cope with very thick speaker cable, and I think it has a consequently larger casing, which might give problems plugging into certain amps.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71950
    Neutrik make a jack plug specifically for speaker cables. Dunno what makes them different, or if they are any better, but they are reasonably priced.
    Larger cable entry. Unnecessary for a guitar amp though... and it's still not as good as this one:


    NP2C


    The reason this one is the best of *all* plugs for speaker connections is because both the tip and the sleeve connections are single, turned piece of metal with no joins. This makes them the most reliable, which is the most important factor in speaker connections - since an open circuit can blow the amp's output transformer.

    Any other plug type will have a riveted metal-to-metal contact in the ground side at least, which introduces a potential failure point.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11788
    Cirrus said:
    Yeah, Neutrik 1/4" jacks are pretty much the standard, well built and easy to work with.

    As for the cable, it can be anything. Use cut up extension lead cable if you have a spare. All that really matters is that it's conductive metal and not too narrow a gauge.


    most jacks have that horrible thin little bit in the middle with a hole drilled through (to solder to) for the tip

    the Neutriks are so much better. My soldering skills are weak, but even I can solder well into the lovely bucket in the middle of the Neutriks. Well worth the money.

    I have made quite a few using these - also the socket version to make a cable for when you want to use a cab's driver with a different head

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  • GuitarseGuitarse Frets: 165
    I thought the amp to cab speaker cables that you can buy always seem unnecessarily long, so making up my own shorter ones seemed like a good idea, until it was pointed out to me that the reason why they're longer is because people would pick up the cab, forgetting to unplug the cable and snap them off, leaving a load of hassle getting the snapped jack out of the socket.

    Good tip, and an easy mistake to make, so longer cables it is!!




    Never ever bloody anything, ever!
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  • CirrusCirrus Frets: 8481
    Guitarse said:
    ...the reason why they're longer is because people would pick up the cab, forgetting to unplug the cable and snap them off, leaving a load of hassle getting the snapped jack out of the socket.

    See my post from a couple of weeks ago...  :\">
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  • bignormbignorm Frets: 191
    Ive always used orange garden two core mains extension cable and Neutrik jacks, its cheap, not too thick and coils easy enough.
    Its orange for easy visual recognition for numpty roadies, but thats not a problem these days.
    I now use a speakon connector on the cab end coz i had a problem with the plastic socket making an intermittant connection with the heavier neutrik jack.
    Its over kill for a 60 watt amp but at least it doesnt play up anymore.

       
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  • dannyboy82dannyboy82 Frets: 147

    Hi,

    Bumping up this ancient thread as I have just had a speaker cable made for an extension cab to be used with my Princeton combo.

    It was custom made by designacable.com (really good service by the way) as surprisingly no one else seems to sell them.

    Is this safe to use with the multi strand HiFi cable?
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  • ecc83ecc83 Frets: 1589

    +1 for the solid shafted Nukies in fact best for any "gigging/portable" cable*. Good point also about making sure they cannot go open circuit but do also put a bit of silicone sleeving down the hot pin, especially if a transistor amp is a possibility. A shorting 'whisker' will not bother a valve OP stage but could quickly wreck a transistor jobbie.

    *For 'fixed site' semi-static use, home recording, patch bays e.g. cheaper plugs and foil screened signal cables are fine.

    Dave.

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  • dannyboy82dannyboy82 Frets: 147
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  • dannyboy82dannyboy82 Frets: 147
    Hopefully that worked! Thanks
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