George L Cable - Plug Inconsistencies

Gordon Hartin · Post by **Gordon Hartin** » 8 Jul 2010 11:50 am

I have been using George L Cables for about 10 years. I have about 15 of them that I have made. Last weekend when I was plugging into an amp, the amp made a loud noise, similar to the sound of touching the other end of the cable.

I tested a few other cables and noticed, some plugs fit very snug into the input, while others jiggled around slightly. The ones that Jiggled slightly made the amp act up. And I also made sure the input jack tighten, which it was.

I didn't test all 15 cables, but was wonder if any other people have had issues with a slight size inconsistency with George L plugs. These were they basic straight plugs.

Gordon

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 8 Jul 2010 11:57 am

I have that problem when using those plugs with my Fender Steel King. That's the only time I've noticed it.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 8 Jul 2010 12:24 pm

I haven't had any problems with George L's (straight plugs) on anything. My Guitar, Goodrich Matchbro, Hilton Volume Pedal, POD XT and Peavey and Fender Amps.

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 8 Jul 2010 2:12 pm

I have 2 different size George L plugs. They are for different diameter cables. I'm not sure if they still do it like that. Bill Lawrence used to make them also. I think they are a little different too.

Keith Hilton · Post by **Keith Hilton** » 9 Jul 2010 1:27 pm

I quit using them as the connection is poor at best.

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 9 Jul 2010 8:51 pm

So Keith, what kind of cables work better than George L's?

Keith Hilton · Post by **Keith Hilton** » 9 Jul 2010 9:08 pm

I use cables that are soldered. The capacitance of the guitar cord is not that important once it comes out of a pre-amp. Using the Hilton Pedal you have a pre-amp that boosts the strength of the signal first thing. The guitar cord from the pickup to the pedal is only 3 feet long, so there won't be much capacitance loss using any old guitar cord. If you are running long guitar cords without a pre-amp, I suggest checking out guitar cords that use high quality Belden cabel.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 10 Jul 2010 7:29 am

I've had good luck with these:

Hook Moore · Post by **Hook Moore** » 10 Jul 2010 8:31 am

GeorgeL are just about the only cables I have used in many years. Never had an issue..
Hook

Jon Hyde · Post by **Jon Hyde** » 10 Jul 2010 11:39 am

I've been using George L's for a couple years now and I like them. But twice I've had them fail on me during a gig. Recently I played a gig and I was getting a smaller than normal amount of volume and my amp was feeding back and sounding microphonic if you tapped it on the top. Turns out my cable needed to be re terminated - once I figured it out it was an easy fix but it took a trip to the amp repair dude for me to figure it out...

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 10 Jul 2010 11:54 am

I've been using George L's cable/plugs since the 80's when they first came out. I've had one connector that I had to reterminate. No other problems.

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 10 Jul 2010 6:54 pm

I had to reterminate (cool term)a GL cable only once because someone stepped on it and actually broke the shielding layer. I made it into 2 shorter cables

Lynn Oliver · Post by **Lynn Oliver** » 10 Jul 2010 11:38 pm

In my experience, the .225" cable can have reliability problems when used with right angle connectors. I even found one section of cable that simply would not make a connection with a straight connector--until I shaved off some of the outer jacket under the screw.

Jeff Hyman · Post by **Jeff Hyman** » 11 Jul 2010 7:22 am

Jack Stoner wrote:I've been using George L's cable/plugs since the 80's when they first came out. I've had one connector that I had to reterminate. No other problems.

Ditto.
I keep a spare straight and angled tip, and a small cutter in my seat. Never needed to use either to date. The one time I did readjust, was the 90 degree connector. I had to make sure the cable was pushed inside with some extra pressure before tightening to cap (not a screw like the straight ones). After tracking down the problem, the entire event cost me 2 inches of cable and about 60 seconds.

Erv,
What brand are the ones you posted?

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 11 Jul 2010 8:07 am

I find that there's a little bit of an art to the George L's plugs. It's good to have a clean slice, and then make sure that the center conductor is centered and not bent off to the side. When it goes in the plug, it has to line up with that center spike or needle that injects itself into the center conductor wires. If that's off, you can have a bad or faulty connection. Also, the ground screw has to obviously make a nice connection. I've had great luck with the stuff.

The fat wire into the small right angle plugs is sketch though, and I don't trust them to be nearly as rugged. Ok on pedalboards or fixed items, but not on a cord that's gonna move around a lot.

And I do notice that the George L's plugs do seem just a hair thinner than the standard 1/4". In some amp input jacks, they can be thin enough to cause some play and even in some cases can let the jack's internal mute switch make contact. This can mute or partially short the input causing a weak or intermittent signal. I only notice this with some newer amp jacks and not those found in vintage amps.

B

Keith Hilton · Post by **Keith Hilton** » 11 Jul 2010 8:46 am

If you love George L guiar cords, my advise is to keep using them. My personal choice is to have a soldered connection. My reasoning is probaby tempered, because 60% of the pedals I get in for repair have nothing wrong with them. People are constantly being fooled by faulty guitar cords. So, if you love George L guitar cords--by all means stick with them.

Lynn Oliver · Post by **Lynn Oliver** » 11 Jul 2010 10:12 am

I've started using Neutrik NP2RX-B connectors with .225" George L cable. They are easy to use as long as you don't mind soldering, and they are solid enough to inspire confidence.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 12 Jul 2010 7:04 am

Jeff,
Those are CoreX2 cables and plugs.
I usually buy mine from Musicians Friend.
They have a kit available or, I notice now that, they have the plugs and cable available separately.

Ken Metcalf · Post by **Ken Metcalf** » 12 Jul 2010 7:45 am

I have had probs with the newer angled ends...
The old Bill Lawrence and G.L. ones were bullet proof!
I noticed G.L. has a new line of heavy duty ends.
I wonder if it is in response to the apparent diminishing quality of the newer regular angled ends?
I have slowly weeded them out on my set up...
Too much fooling around with them for me.

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 12 Jul 2010 7:51 pm

For me it's not the solderless connection inside the end that's the problem. I have found that the shafts of the George L plugs are thinner than most others, and therefore fit loosely in some modern jacks--the kind that are enclosed in plastic. I can't use George L cables with my G & L guitars, for example, because of the frequent and unpredictable loud buzzes of intermittent contact, sometimes when as far as I can tell everything has been held absolutely still. The same cable will work fine in another guitar with the older style jack.

Jeff Hyman · Post by **Jeff Hyman** » 12 Jul 2010 11:39 pm

Erv Niehaus wrote:Jeff,
Those are CoreX2 cables and plugs.
I usually buy mine from Musicians Friend.
They have a kit available or, I notice now that, they have the plugs and cable available separately.

Thanks Erv.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?q=CoreX2
The reviews were interesting.
Have you had any issues with the hex nut stripping?
The GL's use a flat screw driver which works solid.
I like the feature on the CoreX2 where the screw depth is predetermined.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigati ... ge+l+cable

Gordon Hartin · Post by **Gordon Hartin** » 13 Jul 2010 5:23 am

As I said earlier, I have been using George L's for over ten years. I have not had any problems with them other than the one I recently noticed.

Again, this was not a problem with the connections of the wire, but that a couple Plugs might be slightly smaller, cannot tell by looking at them, but do not lock in as firm to the amp input as some of the others. Some slightly wiggle, while others do not.

This was done using a Twin Reverb, so Lee Baucum's results with his steel king, could point to fender inputs being a bit more sensitive to slight plug size differences.

Gordon

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 13 Jul 2010 6:33 am

Jeff,
I've never had any problems with the CoreX2's.

Pit Lenz · Post by **Pit Lenz** » 13 Jul 2010 6:55 am

Yes, the (angled) plugs are definitely a tad thinner than other 1/4" Plugs.
I used one with my Strobostomp´s Input jack, and always had power supply trouble, as the input also switches the power like in most stompboxes. To my surprise I then found out, that I could wiggle the plug in the input jack, closing and removing ground contact with the jack´s sleeve.

Now, after I´m using a Switchcraft plug there, all is safe.
I still like the GeorgeL´s, though....

Bob Estes · Post by **Bob Estes** » 13 Jul 2010 2:53 pm

I have used george l's in peavey and evans amps for 30 years with no problems. I got a fender steelking and the plugs were loose and pop and crack and could not use the cables. Went down to the local music store and tried the plugs tn every peavey and fender amp, and they were all tight except the steelking and the new twin. I think the problem is in fender imputs being a different size, not the george L's being wrong. My buddy Jack Kondora got a steelking and had the same problem.