This episode of Gear Geek on making your own audio cables is not the most exciting episode I plan on releasing but I hope it will be one of the most educational and open a new door for many of you. I feel this is a skill almost every guitar player should have. If you are the type of guitarist that simply plugs in straight from your guitar into an amp and never plans on taking it any further than I applaud you for keeping things simple. But if you are anything like me and have a some-what complicated setup then I can’t stress how vital cable-quality is to your guitar tone and overalll stability of your guitar rig.
Making your own cables is not rocket science. It’s a skill that many of you can master in a very short period of time. I have spent many hours researching different cables and connectors and have narrowed my search down to four companies that I find make the best cable and connectors. Canare and Mogami are my favorites for cable. Switchcraft and Neutrik are my favorites for connectors. Canare is usually a little cheaper than Mogami but I find Canare to be a little more durable. Canare also comes in variety of different colors which I find to be helpful. Mogami instrument cable has shielding that is wrapped and Canare has shielding that is braided. Braided shielding adds time to making cables as you will see in the video. Switchcraft connectors are probably my favorite because they are very durable, reliable and usually half the price of Neutrik connectors. But I find Neutrik to be a little easier to work with.
There are a lot of different opinions out there on how to make the best sounding audio cables and I am not saying that my techniques are better than everybody else’s. I would love to see feedback from all of you regarding my techniques and if you have any comments or tips please express them. Gear Geek is here to help you as well as myself. -Mike Spreitzer
i think I might replace the cables in my rig with Mogami cables. Right now i have my GCX set up with planet waves solderless cabels, and its pretty much because i’m not the greatest at soldering, but with the band looking to go on the road soon, i think i need to make my rig more reliable.
Hey Brian,
Be warned about sodlerless cables. Planet Waves makes great stuff, but I don’t trust those cables for touring.
I have to agree indeed, although, I’m not a touring guitarist, I can say the solderless are not even the best for just general day to day abuse, although this is just my own opinion, they are good for making quick rigs, or throwing in somewhere to get a sense of measurement between pedals and rack units, but to be honest, soldered is the best way to go. More reliable, and if you start your own soldering, its a good skill to have, as I have even taken to doing my own pickup changes as well.
I found this to be a fascinating episode of Gear Geek, because I have just learned a NEW skill! Currently, I use Snap-Jack Cables, by zzyzx. These are the kind that have magnets on the ends, and I use these because the room I practice in is small & I was ALWAYS stepping on my cables, then they would be YANKED out of my guitars; reeking HAVOC on the instruments’ input jacks. With Snap Jacks, they will simply disconnect, thus saving the inputs, and YES, the magnetized ends are Heavy Duty! Anyway, for my pedals, I use Hosa Cables (the ones Buckethead uses), and they seem to be working fine. Nonetheless, they do not seem to be as Heavy Duty as Mike’s Canare/Neutrik combos. After seeing what Mike uses, I find that I could benefit from some SERIOUS upgrading! I cannot wait to try doing this, myself, and THANK YOU again, Mike, for sharing this fantastic idea! You have been all over the WORLD, playing your PHENOMENAL, BUTT-KICKING, BRUTAL Music, and if these work for YOU,,,,then I think EVERY guitarist would and could benefit from this Video!!!
I agree with you also Adam, I learned alot from this, and even got into doing my own pickup changes, as I was saying in a reply to Mike a few min ago
Im really greatful the time was taken to share the info 
Just having some trouble actually watching this video. It keeps telling me it’s private…..
I can’t watch this episode cause it is saying its private
I have the same problem
Did Anybody Ever Find Out How To Watch The 2nd Part Of The Video?
Same Here. Not Sure What The Problem Is.
Dudes, is this video gonna get corrected or is it just not available anymore? I watched the first one and am very intrigued with continuing to gain knowlege on this subject. \m/ Thanks \m/