The Steel Guitar Forum

If you are not using George L cables from Bill Ferguson, you should. We all want the best tone possible from our PSGs, the first thing we should do is use George L cables -- they make a positive difference. Plus, you will not find a better source for those cables than Bill Ferguson. He is very prompt in mailing your order and always answers any questions. A definite win-win. Gary Cooper, Atmore

George L cables Yes, George L connectors NO. I gave George L's a second chance awhile back but after trying to diagnose which cable went bad minutes before I was supposed to play on the main stage at a large country music festival, I said never again. It's not a matter of If those no solder ends will fail, it's when. I know you can just cut off the end and redo it but that's a pain especially when you're getting ready to play. Now I DO love the George L cable itself,I just solder on Neutrik 1/4" ends and never have a problem again. I know though alot of players swear buy the whole George L system, I just don't count myself one of them.

Sorry they didn't work out for you, Michael. I've been using them for close to 10 years and the only time I've had to re-do a plug was when I had to shorten a cable.

But, I'm not gigging a 6 string, so they just lay there with my steel 'till I pack up. Never had one fail. If I were a gigging guitar player though, I'd solder them also.

Yes, I agree with Michael---the CABLE is great and those connectors are AWFUL! That whole concept of 'solderless connectors' is just wrong--they failed on me so many times until I did just what you did---soldered on Neutrik or Switchcraft connectors and voila!----no more inter---inte--interm----intermmmmm-imtermittttt-inmtermittements--mittentent----no more troubles!!!

i have never had more than a couple of times over the years that a cable went bad on the job, but i usually keep about 4 extra cables in my seat. i wont ever solder a cable again....jack

Lucky I guess, but I've never had one fail. I always unplug by grabbing the connector, and not the cable.

I have had soldered wires break before. Always good to have a spare. That said, the difference, to me, in the George L cables is noticeably better. I ordered a cable from Bill Ferguson last Monday and received it four days later --- excellent service.

michael h.... i hope you learned your lesson that day. always have an extra cord or two.

my few george l's have lasted a long time with no trouble.

but i would have had another cord.

When I first started using George L cables I had a lot of problems. It was always the
angled ends that lost connection. I never have had a problem with the straight ends. The angled ends dont have a lot to grab on to so I think the problem was that I was pulling on the cord when unplugging. I haven't had any problems now that I'm more care when unplugging. I also carry a meter which makes it easy to find a bad cable

I just bought 20 feet of George L black and a gang of straight and elbow connectors. Before I start putting things together I've been wondering about a generous slathering of dielectric grease where cable and connector/grounding screw meet.

Has anyone done this before? It would greatly reduce chances of corrosion or atmospheric effects, but I wonder about any signal interruption, etc. This is a personal habit from automotive wiring fixes my whole life. I've also entertained the thought of using shrink tubing around the connectors.

Is it a waste of time?
Will it negatively affect anything?
Might it increase the lifetime of the connection?

corrosion or atmospheric effects are not the problem.
They're good cables, you just have to maintain them properly.
Keep the connections tight and you'll have no problems.

You don't want any lubricant on the gripping surfaces... the screw has to penetrate the insulation to touch the conductor, yet it has to grab it to retain the cord in the plug.

George L's to me may not be the best cable but they sure are convenient. I too have had issues with the angle plugs but not often.

Jeff Newman gave me a tip once. He said to push the cable firmly on the plug and give it a little 1/4 twist. Then screw it down. I do that with both the straight and angled plugs.

I carry a pair of good scissors and a screwdriver in my gig bag. If I have an issue with a cable I can very quickly repair it. Try soldiering a cable between songs.

Good stuff, thank you guys!

I've been using some of the original Lawrence cables for a few decades, but I do check everything out fairly often (George L "borrowed" the idea from Lawrence, but came up with the angled plugs on his own ). I find that if I've got a bit of an "evolved" rig with differing buffers an entire Lawrence rig runs too bright - all the other equipment is build with frequencies typical of more muffled cable in mind, so I end up using a few regular fat old guitar cords somewhere. I don't understand too much of the following:

http://www.billlawrence.com/Pages/All_A ... dSound.htm

...except that "a cable is a capacitor" and that seems to be enough to work with. Every "strat" guy I've heard carries at least one muffly high-capacitance cord around, it's just a global tone control and somewhat safer than throwing a blanket on the amp.

I have had trouble with the angled plugs but the regular straight ones work well.

I had nothing but problems with GL cables. I had a bunch of long cables I used for keyboards at one time. I ordered some good Neutrik angled plugs, cut the cables to the length I wanted (with the existing plug), and made the cords I needed. I totally eliminated GL cables except the 2 that go to my RP155 in the effects loop, but those will get changed soon. I noticed that I am getting a little more highs out of the new cords. Just what I needed.

Sorry to hear some of you don't like GL cables. I think you will find probably a 95% success rate. The key to the right angle is getting it set properly and then DO NOT twist the cap when pulling the plug out of the socket. Plus, put a GL cap cover on over the screw and you virtually eliminate the problem.

I assure you, if they were not the best, I would not sell them.

I've had many soldered cables fail over the years too.
The difference between GeorgeL and soldered is you can fix a GeorgeL with a pair of cutters only.
In 15 years, I have reterminated one or the other of my GeorgeL cables only twice. I keep an extra with me too.
You can get the initial assembly wrong such that it won't hold up very long. My guess is that is the negative experience some folks have had.

Exactly Jim.

The key to the stock George L's right angle connector is to NOT make a sharp bend at the top before screwing the cap on. Let the cap bend the cable and lock it into place. This is specifically mentioned in the installation instructions.

An even better solution is to buy the new style right angle George L's connector that uses a screw to retain the cable similar to the design of the straight connector. These new right angle connectors are as reliable as the straight ones.

Greg

You are right Greg, but sadly, the Master Series has been discontinued (the Right Angle with a set screw).

There was just not enough interest in the larger plug casings to keep production going.

By the way, I have 5 of the Master Series STRAIGHT plugs left in my inventory.

They originally list for $12.00 each. I sold them for $10.00 each.

I will sell all 5 as a package for $40.00 shipped.

Been using both the straight and the right angle for at least 120 shows a year for about 7 years with minimal problems, always solved in minutes with a little wire snip.

Been using both the straight and the right angle for at least 120 shows a year for about 7 years with minimal problems, always solved in minutes with a little wire snip.