Recommended wire for 3 way box toggle

Sarge

Recently wired up a 2xhb guitar and had no wire for the switch, in a pinch I used a USB cable just to make sure everything was functioning properly.
Obviously this isn't great and I believe has introduced the noise I'm hearing. 
What would you guys recommend? 

Funkfingers

I recommend that you bin the box switch and replace it with a sprung leaf type.

The wiring task requires three-conductor + shield cable.

Danny1969

A USB cable is shielded and has 4 conductor so will work fine. The shielding on most USB cables is actually very good normally, being a high speed serial connection it relies on it's diff pair and shielding to avoid noise and errors. 

The shield needs to be grounded though

Sporky

What you've got is fine for the application.

For pedals and guitars I use 7/0.2

Sarge

Danny1969 said:

A USB cable is shielded and has 4 conductor so will work fine. The shielding on most USB cables is actually very good normally, being a high speed serial connection it relies on it's diff pair and shielding to avoid noise and errors. 

The shield needs to be grounded though

I think the quality of the cable I used was poor, the individual wires are very very thin and it didn't have a shield (it was the 3rd cable I'd butchered and none had a shield) 
I'm hoping a cable of more substance will be less noisy, or is the switch cable not even a source of noise? 

Danny1969

Sarge said:

Danny1969 said:

A USB cable is shielded and has 4 conductor so will work fine. The shielding on most USB cables is actually very good normally, being a high speed serial connection it relies on it's diff pair and shielding to avoid noise and errors. 

The shield needs to be grounded though

I think the quality of the cable I used was poor, the individual wires are very very thin and it didn't have a shield (it was the 3rd cable I'd butchered and none had a shield) 
I'm hoping a cable of more substance will be less noisy, or is the switch cable not even a source of noise? 

Ah sounds like micro USB cables you have butchered ...a lot of these don't have shields as they are mostly used for charging and are very short. Real USB cables for printers and audio interfaces etc are heavily shielded. 

A cable can't add noise as such but an unshielded cable can allow RF noise to be induced in the circuit. On a short run inside a guitar this is not normally much of a problem but it's a good idea to use shielded cable as it's so cheap anyway. 

Check your joints and use 60 / 40 solder rather than unleaded if poss

Sarge

Danny1969 said:

Sarge said:

Danny1969 said:

A USB cable is shielded and has 4 conductor so will work fine. The shielding on most USB cables is actually very good normally, being a high speed serial connection it relies on it's diff pair and shielding to avoid noise and errors. 

The shield needs to be grounded though

I think the quality of the cable I used was poor, the individual wires are very very thin and it didn't have a shield (it was the 3rd cable I'd butchered and none had a shield) 
I'm hoping a cable of more substance will be less noisy, or is the switch cable not even a source of noise? 

Ah sounds like micro USB cables you have butchered ...a lot of these don't have shields as they are mostly used for charging and are very short. Real USB cables for printers and audio interfaces etc are heavily shielded. 

A cable can't add noise as such but an unshielded cable can allow RF noise to be induced in the circuit. On a short run inside a guitar this is not normally much of a problem but it's a good idea to use shielded cable as it's so cheap anyway. 

Check your joints and use 60 / 40 solder rather than unleaded if poss

Thanks for that.
Yeah it was a micro usb, lesson learned I suppose 

ICBM

Sarge said:

I think the quality of the cable I used was poor, the individual wires are very very thin and it didn't have a shield (it was the 3rd cable I'd butchered and none had a shield) 

I'm hoping a cable of more substance will be less noisy, or is the switch cable not even a source of noise? 

The switch cable is the main source of noise on a typical 2HB guitar with the switch in the Les Paul or Explorer/Firebird positions.

The thickness of the internal wires doesn’t matter at all, the only important thing is that it’s shielded, preferably either foil or fully braided - if it’s foil you need to connect the bare wire to ground, if it’s braided then any part of the braiding will do.

Actually a box switch is better shielded than an open-frame one - their issues are more to do with reliability, but if it’s working well I would not rush to change it.

Sarge

ICBM said:

Sarge said:

I think the quality of the cable I used was poor, the individual wires are very very thin and it didn't have a shield (it was the 3rd cable I'd butchered and none had a shield) 

I'm hoping a cable of more substance will be less noisy, or is the switch cable not even a source of noise? 

The switch cable is the main source of noise on a typical 2HB guitar with the switch in the Les Paul or Explorer/Firebird positions.

The thickness of the internal wires doesn’t matter at all, the only important thing is that it’s shielded, preferably either foil or fully braided - if it’s foil you need to connect the bare wire to ground, if it’s braided then any part of the braiding will do.

Actually a box switch is better shielded than an open-frame one - their issues are more to do with reliability, but if it’s working well I would not rush to change it.

Thanks a lot! 
Like I say it wasn't shielded, I just used one of the wires from ground to ground. 
New cable on order.
The box switch is fine, I've never had one fail on me yet, and they seemed to fare well for all the Matsumoku guitars I've had over the years  

Sarge

Thanks for the help chaps, ordered and installed some Hosco shielded switch wire, and new pots all round while I'm at it.
All noise now eliminated. 
cheers! 

ICBM

Good result .

I forgot to say that I usually use 4-conductor pickup cable for this job if I need to replace it, and just ground the remaining core (black normally) for good measure.