Cable Snake?

[msuscorpio]

Yo, do any of use or have you used a cable snake to connect a pedalboard with pedals in front of the amp and also in the effects loop. Essentially I am looking for one with 3 channels. Most I find are 2, 4 or 8 channels. I'm guessing I'll probably have to ahve a custom one made. If tha's the case, I'd like to integrate the footswitch cable in with it if possible. Is the 8 pin DIN cable an odd duck?

 

[jb's 52]

Yo, do any of use or have you used a cable snake to connect a pedalboard with pedals in front of the amp and also in the effects loop. Essentially I am looking for one with 3 channels. Most I find are 2, 4 or 8 channels. I'm guessing I'll probably have to ahve a custom one made. If tha's the case, I'd like to integrate the footswitch cable in with it if possible. Is the 8 pin DIN cable an odd duck?

I just made my own using that black wire wrap stuff they have for computer cords and such. I picked it up at Home Depot. At one time, I had three instrument cables and the 8 pin DIN cable in it. Now, I just run w/o a loop so one instrument cable and the 8 pin. They only come in 6' lengths though, so I have to tape three of 'em together. Thought about doing the shrink wrap thing as well, but I don't think I'd be able to reconfigure the amount cabling without cutting the wrap off.

 

[msuscorpio]

Ok, thats what I'm thinking of doing. Ive emailed asking for a couple quotes on a custom snake cable but Im betting it will be cheaper to make my own even with the price of high quality cables. I'll probably buy a spare 30ft 8pin DIN from the Mesa store to throw in there. Possibly a good quality extension power cord too in the chance I show up to a gig with no power up front.

 

[mkVplayer]

If you haven't heard of these guys you might want to check it out.
http://www.pedalsnake.com/
I like mine a lot but I haven't looked into connecting the MkV footswitch with it. If it was a 5 pin DIN it would be no problem but I think for the higher pin count DIN connectors you probably need some sort of custom cable. It still beats running separate cords though and you can power pedals off it too if you use pedals.

 

[msuscorpio]

I did check out pedalsnake but if I'm going to spend that much, I would want the 8pin DIN integrated into it.

 

[pivot]

Ok I owned the cable snake for about a half year. At first it was ok until I compared the 1/4 cable to a monster cable. Lots of cable noise. It could have been the wear and tear mine took or they might have changed the construction of the cable but it sits in a box now. I suggest that you make your own and use some kinda of cable tie to hold them together.

 

[msuscorpio]

After weighing the pros and cons of making my own vs. having a custom one made including the cost, I decided to go the custom route with the footswitch cable integrated, 30 ft long. The company I went with is best-tronics.com. It actually will work out to be a little cheaper this way too. I worked with a guy named Jim throughout the quote process who was very helpful. I was concerned with signal loss like you mentioned, Pivot (especially with 30ft runs). But, the 1/4" cable they are going to use (CA-0446) has one of the lowest capacitance rating you can get at 20pF/ft. I don't know exactly what that means but I do know the lower the number the better as far as signal loss goes. There are tons of crappy off the shelf cables out there with a rating of 60 or more. here's a write up on the cable specs http://www.best-tronics.com/guitar-cable/pdf/CA-0446.pdf. And here is a comparison to between two other highly reputable cable manufacturers, Canare and Mogami http://best-tronics.com/guitar-cable/pdf/CA-0446Comparison.pdf. Also, it's made in the USA and it's always great to buy American, that is if you are an American of course, lol. Lifetime warranty too. I'll write up a little review once I get it......and NO, I am in no way affiliated with best-tronics. I'm just a dude in a band trying to make my gigging setups/tear downs quicker and easier Cheers!

 

[pivot]

Bad ass let us know how it is I used these guys "http://www.pedalsnake.com/" really helpful but the cable when I bought it a while back didnt hold up (about 5-8 years ago). Im sure the company has gotten better. Best-Tronics cables look allot better. You could always add a buffer or booster if it does suffer any.

 

[jb's 52]

After weighing the pros and cons of making my own vs. having a custom one made including the cost, I decided to go the custom route with the footswitch cable integrated, 30 ft long. The company I went with is best-tronics.com. It actually will work out to be a little cheaper this way too. I worked with a guy named Jim throughout the quote process who was very helpful. I was concerned with signal loss like you mentioned, Pivot (especially with 30ft runs). But, the 1/4" cable they are going to use (CA-0446) has one of the lowest capacitance rating you can get at 20pF/ft. I don't know exactly what that means but I do know the lower the number the better as far as signal loss goes. There are tons of crappy off the shelf cables out there with a rating of 60 or more. here's a write up on the cable specs http://www.best-tronics.com/guitar-cable/pdf/CA-0446.pdf. And here is a comparison to between two other highly reputable cable manufacturers, Canare and Mogami http://best-tronics.com/guitar-cable/pdf/CA-0446Comparison.pdf. Also, it's made in the USA and it's always great to buy American, that is if you are an American of course, lol. Lifetime warranty too. I'll write up a little review once I get it......and NO, I am in no way affiliated with best-tronics. I'm just a dude in a band trying to make my gigging setups/tear downs quicker and easier Cheers!

Cool find...but DAANNNG 30 FEET!!

I can't seem to get on a stage half that size!!! Mine's 18' and I still have the remainder coiled back by the amp.

 

[mkVplayer]

After weighing the pros and cons of making my own vs. having a custom one made including the cost, I decided to go the custom route with the footswitch cable integrated, 30 ft long. The company I went with is best-tronics.com. It actually will work out to be a little cheaper this way too. I worked with a guy named Jim throughout the quote process who was very helpful. I was concerned with signal loss like you mentioned, Pivot (especially with 30ft runs). But, the 1/4" cable they are going to use (CA-0446) has one of the lowest capacitance rating you can get at 20pF/ft. I don't know exactly what that means but I do know the lower the number the better as far as signal loss goes. There are tons of crappy off the shelf cables out there with a rating of 60 or more. here's a write up on the cable specs http://www.best-tronics.com/guitar-cable/pdf/CA-0446.pdf. And here is a comparison to between two other highly reputable cable manufacturers, Canare and Mogami http://best-tronics.com/guitar-cable/pdf/CA-0446Comparison.pdf. Also, it's made in the USA and it's always great to buy American, that is if you are an American of course, lol. Lifetime warranty too. I'll write up a little review once I get it......and NO, I am in no way affiliated with best-tronics. I'm just a dude in a band trying to make my gigging setups/tear downs quicker and easier Cheers!

Are you going to have three separate cables wrapped in one, including the MKV footswitch cable? Does it also include a some sort of power cable for the effects on the pedal board?

 

[msuscorpio]

Yeah there will be 4 cables total wrapped into 1 with some sort of heat shrink wrap. 3 1/4" and the 8-pin DIN cable. It does not include a power cable though. Im sure I could have added that option if I wanted. But worst case scenario if there's no power I can get to front center (im the singer too), i can daisy chain off my other guitarists floor setup.


Yeah, 30 ft might have been a bit overkill, lol....But I was on stage last saturday with my current setup using 18 footers and they were way too short. I actually stepped on one and lost my signal in the middle of one song....god that sucked! I dont want to ever be in that situation again where I don't have enough slack and that could happen. I can always coil it up behind my amp.

 

[msuscorpio]

Well I got the cable loom yesterday. Seems very well constructed and the cables and connectors are of very good quality. The only thing is with my floor setup, I wish I had got the breakouts, especially on the footswitch cable longer than 12". Maybe 18" or so. Ill probably end up just getting an extension for that cable. The amp connection side is a bit tight, but 12" should work ok. The sound quality seems great so far and even though the runs are a combined 30 ft longer than my individual cables, in my limited time playing last night, I thought there was an added bit of clarity. The only thing I would question is the skin stuff that they used to wrap it, will it hold up over time. But as long as Im not running it over concrete or something like that a ton, I dont see why it wouldn't.

On a side note, my amo seems to have that "crackling " issue that others have discussed on here when you first turn it on. Im hoping its just that I need to let the tubes warm up more and not that I need 12ax7 replacements. I hear V1 is a bitch to change out. I changed out my power tubes about a year ago so I dont think it's them.