Guitar Wiring - What do you guys use?

kizzer

I've recently wired up a control cavity for a guitar with some cloth/push back wire and although it works fine, I didn't like the way it frayed at the ends. To cover this I used heat shrink on the ends, which looked neat, but took more time.

Is there any sonic reasons for using Cloth wiring? Or is it just an aesthetic choice?

What do you guys use?

Sporky

Looks and the ability to just push back the insulation.

I use teflon jacket 7/0.2, colour coded so I can tell what's what.

Megii

I've just made a "loom" for a semi acoustic, where I used the vintage braided shield/cloth covered inner wire stuff, as it seems to make sense for that job, to me anyway. But working in a shielded control cavity (and I always shield them with copper foil) then I just use plastic insulated stuff, and not too thin - for reasons of robustness as much as anything.

Alegree

Vintage accuracy. But it is quicker to use too.

WezV

It's important to realise there are at least 2 types of cloth covering out there and some work better than others.  

The good stuff cuts cleanly and doesn't fray too much as long as you use sharp snips.  At most, the ends can look a little fluffy.  It's quick to use and looks nice

Then the other type sold by some uk suppliers.  It starts to unravel as soon as you cut it.  Rather than fluff you are left with long strands sticking out and a total mess.  It's harder to work with because you can't see wire strands and need to spend time tidying up afterwards

Alegree

WezV said:

It's important to realise there are at least 2 types of cloth covering out there and some work better than others.  

The good stuff cuts cleanly and doesn't fray too much as long as you use sharp snips.  At most, the ends can look a little fluffy.  It's quick to use and looks nice

Then the other type sold by some uk suppliers.  It starts to unravel as soon as you cut it.  Rather than fluff you are left with long strands sticking out and a total mess.  It's harder to work with because you can't see wire strands and need to spend time tidying up afterwards

That's true.

I stock both, and one is basically a woven covering that acts like normal plastic coverings, and the other is the good vintage stuff. But there's a significant cost difference between the two.

kizzer

Sporky said:

I use teflon jacket 7/0.2, colour coded so I can tell what's what.

Where's a good place to get it from?

sweepy

You can always paint the ends with nail varnish to stop them fraying

ICBM

A really good source of thin, flexible and easily soldered wire in many colours, ideal for guitar or pedal wiring is…

Find an old Scart cable and cut it open. There must be literally millions of them out there - if you can't find one in your own house, most charity shops have any number of them for 50p each. There's enough wire in just one to last you for a couple of years of DIY electronics work at least.

paulnb57

Wisdom @ICBM I'm off up to the loft, where I know there are a couple of Scart leads...great idea!

kizzer

Typical! I went to the tip the other week with a bunch of old electronics including a bunch of scarts!

Sporky

kizzer said:

Sporky said:

I use teflon jacket 7/0.2, colour coded so I can tell what's what.

Where's a good place to get it from?

I think I got mine from RS - it was years ago, I bought a 25m reel of each colour, still got most of it.

ICBM said:

Find an old Scart cable and cut it open. 

Sounds like the beginning of a ritual to appease the AV demons. I approve.

To be fair, SCART is only about the fifth worst AV connector I can think of quickly...

sixstringsupplies

I use the "vintage" style push back cloth wire - either the Gravitt style or the AllParts stuff.

It has no impact on tone as some might have you believe, it just looks cool and is easy to work with.

I've also started using some solid core cloth wire from HotRox which is great for connecting toggle switches to pots etc...

It's very easy to use but some charge a mini fortune for it - I will be looking out for old scart leads from now on! Great shout.

streethawk

Second for Gavitt.
 It's nice stuff, imported loads for my harnesses a while back.