George L's Cables - WTF!!!!!!!

[Monsta-Tone]

Anybody here use George L's?
I recently bought a bunch of ends and a couple of the pedal board kits to neaten up my board.

I tested every cable when I made them. Some of them had to be remade several times to get it right because the hole where you stab the wire in is too big and it is very easy to offset the cable and end up not making contact on the center conductor.
I got my board together (took about 4 hours because of the above problem).

It's been a hectic week and I didn't have any time to try the board out before band practice yesterday.

I had 5 bad cables!!!!!!!!!!
Again, I tested them all before using them.
The simple act of plugging them into a pedal caused me to loose continuity on the center conductor!
Every time I would get the bad cable isolated, another would go bad from simply moving the pedal it is plugged into out of the way so that I could remove the original bad cable!

Now, before anybody chimes in and tells me how to make a cable, please keep this in mind:
There are no sharp bends in my cables (other than the ones inside the 90 degree connectors).
I was very gentle with the cables and only inserted them once.
I've been an electrician for 23 years.
The last 12 years have been spent designing and installing home theaters and lighting control systems.
I know how to make a cable!

Anybody else have this problem or did I get a batch of crappy connectors?

 

[rocknroll9225]

I've never used George L's personally but that's pretty consistent with everything I've heard about them.

 

[kdorsey]

Anybody here use George L's?
...the hole where you stab the wire in is too big and it is very easy to offset the cable and end up not making contact on the center conductor.

You got the wrong connectors for the thin cable. They make two sizes, .155" and .225". Maybe you got the .255 connectors with .155 cable? Don't try making it work because you'll just end up pulling your hair out.

I've used George L's for many years with perfect results. Once you get them together, they don't fail. Their solderless design is the most reliable.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

That's what I thought at 1st, but I got 2 of the pedal board kits with the .155 cable.
I got 4 of the 4 packs for .155 cable also. They are identical in size to the ones that came with the pedal board kits.
The holes where the cable exits the connector are not big enough for the larger cable.

I'm thinking that they were barely making contact on the center conductor, and then when I plugged them in, I moved it just enough to break the contact.
I bought only the 90 degree connectors to keep things nice and tight on the board, which is getting extremely full.

I will take a look at them again in just a few minutes.
I spent most of the afternoon installing a set of Mercury Magnetics transformers in my DC-5!

 

[domct203]

Man, I've been using George L's for years and never had those issues. I picked up 50' of .155 cable and a bunch of different style ends about 4-5 years ago and have re-made many a cable with zero issues. I haven't bought any as of lately so I hope it's not that they have lowered quality standards (ie. got cheap).

Dom

 

[bluestometal]

The other guitarist in my band uses George L's cables for all the amp loop and pedals connections and never had an issue in years. O course it's not the best to use it for guitar-->amp connection 'cause they're too thin and "delicate" and can be annoying after some time but he ofter moves his pedal board around the studio or the stage and more ofter plugs and unplugs the cables to switch pedals and so. Probably you had a defective set (very unfair and rare, gotta say). I really hope they didn't became cheap!

 

[BaldPaul]

I have loads of george L's solderless cables in my rig and love them. There is a bit of an art to setting them up properly. Too much of a bend at the plug is not good. Bend the cable just enough to get the threads started and no more. Once the cap gets a bite tighten it ALL the way down.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

I have loads of george L's solderless cables in my rig and love them. There is a bit of an art to setting them up properly. Too much of a bend at the plug is not good. Bend the cable just enough to get the threads started and no more. Once the cap gets a bite tighten it ALL the way down.

That makes a lot of sense!
I was testing the cable with a meter before even putting the lid on, so I was bending it after testing, then retesting.
I wondered about this, but haven't had time to get back to it.

Thanks guys! You've reinstilled the trust I need in the cables. Can't deal with troubles like that when we start playing live.

 

[jmontgomery]

I've been using mine for about 4 years now and never had a problem.

 

[nogalian]

I've been using George l's for ten years now and on occasion had the same , VERY, frustrating problem. The time consuming issue is finding the offending connection once your board is together. Kinda a hassle to say the least. Easy solution though!! Just clip and reinstall the cable usually takes care of it. I have often wondered why that happens though. Connection just seems to loose contact. You're not alone on this one bro!!
Keep rockin!!

 

[Monsta-Tone]

You know, it just occurred to me that I could do the following.....

Strip 1/4" of the outer insulation.
Then, strip another 1/4" of the outer insulation, but only slide it to the end of the wire, so that it fills the entire hole in the connector, but still makes contact with the ground.

What do you think?

 

[domct203]

You know, it just occurred to me that I could do the following.....

Strip 1/4" of the outer insulation.
Then, strip another 1/4" of the outer insulation, but only slide it to the end of the wire, so that it fills the entire hole in the connector, but still makes contact with the ground.

What do you think?

I think you are over-thinking it.

While I'm absolutly sure that will make the electrical connection to shield more reliable, the mechanical connection between connector & wire is going to be weaker, possibly compromising the electrical connection over time.

Then again, maybe I'm over-thinking it :lol:

When I first started using George L's, I had a tough time assembling cables because I was not cutting the cables well. When you cut the cable you need a very, very sharp cutter. I use a plastic tubing cutter like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blue-Plasti...106?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3374e06522
Your standard diagonal cutters tend to "squash" the wire and deform it into an oval making it tough to get good connections.

Dom

 

[gonzo]

Anybody here use George L's?

i've been using george l's cables since 1980.

in fact, i still have one of my original first cables, and still works.


i rarely ever have an failures, even with full time road work for 5 years, the only time i had a failure was if a cable was actually cut, or yanked so hard that the brass tip pulled loose.


i only use the straight ends, never the angled ends.

if you cut them dead straight across, push them in correctly, and set the hold screw just right, they just wont fail.

beyond that, i cannot imagine why people have failures with them.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

Thanks Dom,
My problem isn't that the cable is squashed, I have some super sharp wire cutters. My problem is that there is too much slop in the holes to properly align the cable with the center conductor pin in the connector.

The instructions said to strip 1/2" of insulation off for the 90 degree connectors.
I think that what is happening is that I am making contact when I stab the wire in, but just barely.
I've been testing the cable before I even bend the wire over for the cap.

When I bend the wire over, it moves just enough to not be making contact anymore.

When I stab the wire in, I have to try a couple of times to get it to line up. If I don't line it up properly, there is so much slop in the hole that the center pin can actually be touching the shield!
I think that the internal diameter of the hole is the same as the straight connectors, which to me is a design flaw.
If I don't strip the outer insulation off of the cable, the center conductor makes perfect contact every time. But....if I don't strip the outer insulation off, the shield won't make enough contact with the cap of the connector.

That's why I'm thinking I should leave just a tiny sleeve of the outer insulation right at the tip so that it lines up in the hole properly.
I thought about using just the straight connectors, but they wouldn't fit on my pedalboard.

 

[domct203]

I've never stripped a George L's cable. I just cut square and insert it in the connector until I feel it hit the center pin then push in about another 1/8 or so. The screw on cap has a conical cutter that will cut through the insulation and make contact with the braid when screwed on all the way.

I'll post some pics when I get home later.

Try it without stripping the cable.

Dom

 

[Monsta-Tone]

Thanks Dom, I'll try that.
The instructions said to strip 1/2" otherwise I would have just jammed them in there.

 

[domct203]

I've never stripped a George L's cable. I just cut square and insert it in the connector until I feel it hit the center pin then push in about another 1/8 or so. The screw on cap has a conical cutter that will cut through the insulation and make contact with the braid when screwed on all the way.

I'll post some pics when I get home later.

Try it without stripping the cable.

Dom

Hear ya go......

Dom

 

[Don]

Thanks Dom, I'll try that.
The instructions said to strip 1/2" otherwise I would have just jammed them in there.

I've been using George L's for years and have never stripped them, either. I cut the cable square with very sharp shears, push the cable into the connector until I feel the pin penetrate the end of the wire and screw on the cap while bending the cable as little as possible.

Mine look just like Dom's.

There was a learning curve to doing it right. Early on, I had problems with them, but they've been great for years now.

I found that the screw on caps seem to back out over time so I put a drop of Loctite on them.

If the instructions say to strip the cables it's a new way to do it.

From the George L's site

RIGHT ANGLE (see top diagram)

Cut your cable straight across. Remove the top
of your right angle plug and put the plug on your
cable. Bend the cable over into the slot on the
side of the plug just enough to get the top back
on the plug. (DO NOT TAKE YOUR THUMB AND
PUSH THE CABLE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE
SLOT!!) Screw your top all the way down
completely. This is your ground connection.

http://www.georgelsstore.com/faq.html

 

[Monsta-Tone]

:shock: Man am I stupid! I just re-read the instructions.
Apparently, I was reading the instructions for the right angle speaker connectors!

I'll replace all connections and probably have no more problems.

Thanks for putting up with me! :mrgreen:

 

[gonzo]

stick with the straight plugs.

zero problems, in 30 years.