[sdiy] building your own instrument/patch cables

[Dave Leith]

Switchcraft makes molded true 1/8 inch cables that fit their jacks
correctly. Buchla uses these.

Someone on the Muffwiggler forum was trying to arrange a group buy. I
have some of these cables (ARP) from the 70's and they are still
working.

http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3133

Dave

On 3/4/09, Tom Arnold <xyzzy at sysabend.org> wrote:
> On Wed, Mar 04, 2009 at 02:33:06PM -0600, Horton wrote:
>  > Hey, guys - I'd like to try to build some of my own 1/4" instrument
>  > and patch cables. They're so expensive and hard to find in certain
>  > shorter lengths, and I need a million for my modular synth anyway. Can
>  > somebody recommend some good web tutorials on doing this? How about
>  > some general advice if you've done it, too?
>
>
> Its not "cheap" to build'em yourself and do a nice job.
>
>  Best price I've found on Switchcraft 280 plugs is $1.99ea. ( guitarcenter )
>  although you can occasionally find them cheaper there ( on sale for $1.55
>  when I last bought'em ) buy 50 and get free shipping.
>
>  I lucked out and got a 500' roll of Philmore brand 1 conductor with shield
>  mic/insrument cord for $119.  Quality is tolerable but its no Belkin.  So
>  even if you luck out and catch sale prices on stuff you're looking at $4.10
>  for a 4' patch cord plus the time to assemble it.  Dont forget a few cents
>  for strain relief like heatshrink tubing.
>
>  Looking for a quick price comparison, the Horizon cables I used to buy which
>  are Horizon branded cable ( about the same as the Philmore ) with
>  switchcraft plugs and come in 8zillion colours, are $7.99 pre-made for a 15'
>  cable.  If you made your own you'd only save a dollar or so.  And odds are
>  yours will all be black, maybe with different colour strain relief.
>
>  Its not much savings and a lot of time.  Not a big deal for me, making
>  cables is something I can do to keep my hands busy while I watch TV or
>  something.
>
>  Now, when it comes to 1/8" cables, I've yet to find any off the shelf that
>  weren't molded connectors, or had tolerable metal connectors.  They are
>  usually the cheapest crap connectors they could find.  I make my own with
>  Belkin cable and Neutrik connectors and they are better then any I've seen
>  commercially although more expensive ( connectors 60cents and cable about
>  15cents/foot ).  They are seriously tedious to make however.
>
>
>  --
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>   - Tom Arnold       -  Free Synth DIY webspace http://www.sdiy.org
>   - SynthGeek        -
>   - BBD Fanatic      -  "...is it a virus, a drug, or a religion?"
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