MattinSTL
Sound Modulator
I've had a lot of people who want to build their own cables asking to buy bulk lengths of Musilux cable.
If you order a 500' spool of Musilux it costs .44 per foot delivered. $199 + $17-18 shipping. For the time and trouble to measure, cut, and ship lengths (plus the ability to mix and match colors) I'll only charge .49 per foot + shipping. That's only 10% over cost for the convenience of more then one color in a quantity of less then 500'.
As long as I'm in town you will get your cable within 10 days of ordering. If you want a color that I don't have already then I will most likely buy a spool anyway, as long as you want at least 25% of the spool (meaning 125' or more of that one color). Cable on the shelf is like a zero interest savings account... so I can't keep $2,000 worth of 10 Musilux colors sitting around, but if you cover part of the cost to get the new color then I'll consider it.
Standard colors like Black, Blue, Gray, and Red are no problem.
The minimum amount must be at least 100'... If I cut up (4) 25' lengths and ship them then I'm clearing a whopping $5 to do you this favor... so in another words... NOTHING for the time and trip to ship... so if I miss your shipping by a couple bucks or if it takes a couple days, then please cut me some slack. In the past the norm has been for everybody to pay LESS shipping then it costs me! I'll estimate it as close as I can. Shipping will be FedEx ground since it costs the least.
This will let everybody try out this great cable... even if you want to make them yourself.
The XLR connectors eat up 4.25" of length from any cable. So if you want to make a 10' long cable you need to add this amount to the length and then once the cable is properly built you will have exactly 10' of exposed cable.
If you want to have the best experience in building cables then you will need TWO wire strippers. There is a Klein Stripper that goes down to the smaller AWG sizes... The part number is 11057, it's got a blue padded handle and you must order it unless you're lucky. You will NOT find this one at a Lowe's or Home Depot. This is it, note the RED in front of the blue handle... NOT yellow like the (part number 11055) one's at Lowe's and Home Depot.
This is the stripper that you will use for the inner wires of either Musilux or even Canare StarQuad... your cable building experience will be a lot better if you get this stripper.
The other stripper you buy is far less important... but you will want one that can strip BIG cable... that is the stripper that you will use to get the jacket off of either StarQuad or the Musilux. StarQuad has a braided inner shield that you do NOT want to cut as you strip the cable... and using the proper size stripper is the key... Musilux has a conductive rubberized plastic inner sheath that you DO want to cut when you strip the cable... and again... cutting that without cutting the conductive wires (in the wrong place) is virtually impossible unless you spring for a good stripper that is in the right size. In both cases the outter cable jackets will be cut with a LARGE stripper. I use a smaller guage setting then you would if you're going to squeeze all the way down... then I go by FEEL. With the StarQuad you can feel the resistance as you get to the braided jacket... and with the Musilux... if you have a good, NEW, sharp stripper... and you do this in normal room temperature you can feel a "pop" as you get the inner shield before you're cutting anything on the inner cable jackets.
The best bang for the buck soldering iron is a Hakko 936... you want a solder STATION... NOT a soldering pencil! Be sure to get a fine tip, but not a needle fine tip... they make ultra fine tips and FAT tips... and both are bad for building cable. You want a tip that conducts heat well and maintains temperature while in contact with the metal of the wire and the connector. Any of the tips that are about the size of a toothpick at the end work well.
For solder I've been using WBT Silver solder, which is probably overpriced, but it's got a much lower melting temperature then normal solder and so you're not heating up the cable very much, which will help prevent any weakness induced at the solder point. If you get WBT then you can solder excellent joints as low as 600 degrees... and each weld takes literally a couple of seconds. (One thing I didn't mention, is that I do use an auto-feed that was very expensive... this makes soldering a breeze, but they are very high $$$.)
Good Luck... if you get some of the tools listed above things will go a lot smoother.
I've taken a hiatus from cables during the busy working season (as I usually do) but I'll probably get back to them towards the end of the summer.
If you order a 500' spool of Musilux it costs .44 per foot delivered. $199 + $17-18 shipping. For the time and trouble to measure, cut, and ship lengths (plus the ability to mix and match colors) I'll only charge .49 per foot + shipping. That's only 10% over cost for the convenience of more then one color in a quantity of less then 500'.
As long as I'm in town you will get your cable within 10 days of ordering. If you want a color that I don't have already then I will most likely buy a spool anyway, as long as you want at least 25% of the spool (meaning 125' or more of that one color). Cable on the shelf is like a zero interest savings account... so I can't keep $2,000 worth of 10 Musilux colors sitting around, but if you cover part of the cost to get the new color then I'll consider it.
Standard colors like Black, Blue, Gray, and Red are no problem.
The minimum amount must be at least 100'... If I cut up (4) 25' lengths and ship them then I'm clearing a whopping $5 to do you this favor... so in another words... NOTHING for the time and trip to ship... so if I miss your shipping by a couple bucks or if it takes a couple days, then please cut me some slack. In the past the norm has been for everybody to pay LESS shipping then it costs me! I'll estimate it as close as I can. Shipping will be FedEx ground since it costs the least.
This will let everybody try out this great cable... even if you want to make them yourself.
The XLR connectors eat up 4.25" of length from any cable. So if you want to make a 10' long cable you need to add this amount to the length and then once the cable is properly built you will have exactly 10' of exposed cable.
If you want to have the best experience in building cables then you will need TWO wire strippers. There is a Klein Stripper that goes down to the smaller AWG sizes... The part number is 11057, it's got a blue padded handle and you must order it unless you're lucky. You will NOT find this one at a Lowe's or Home Depot. This is it, note the RED in front of the blue handle... NOT yellow like the (part number 11055) one's at Lowe's and Home Depot.
This is the stripper that you will use for the inner wires of either Musilux or even Canare StarQuad... your cable building experience will be a lot better if you get this stripper.
The other stripper you buy is far less important... but you will want one that can strip BIG cable... that is the stripper that you will use to get the jacket off of either StarQuad or the Musilux. StarQuad has a braided inner shield that you do NOT want to cut as you strip the cable... and using the proper size stripper is the key... Musilux has a conductive rubberized plastic inner sheath that you DO want to cut when you strip the cable... and again... cutting that without cutting the conductive wires (in the wrong place) is virtually impossible unless you spring for a good stripper that is in the right size. In both cases the outter cable jackets will be cut with a LARGE stripper. I use a smaller guage setting then you would if you're going to squeeze all the way down... then I go by FEEL. With the StarQuad you can feel the resistance as you get to the braided jacket... and with the Musilux... if you have a good, NEW, sharp stripper... and you do this in normal room temperature you can feel a "pop" as you get the inner shield before you're cutting anything on the inner cable jackets.
The best bang for the buck soldering iron is a Hakko 936... you want a solder STATION... NOT a soldering pencil! Be sure to get a fine tip, but not a needle fine tip... they make ultra fine tips and FAT tips... and both are bad for building cable. You want a tip that conducts heat well and maintains temperature while in contact with the metal of the wire and the connector. Any of the tips that are about the size of a toothpick at the end work well.
For solder I've been using WBT Silver solder, which is probably overpriced, but it's got a much lower melting temperature then normal solder and so you're not heating up the cable very much, which will help prevent any weakness induced at the solder point. If you get WBT then you can solder excellent joints as low as 600 degrees... and each weld takes literally a couple of seconds. (One thing I didn't mention, is that I do use an auto-feed that was very expensive... this makes soldering a breeze, but they are very high $$$.)
Good Luck... if you get some of the tools listed above things will go a lot smoother.
I've taken a hiatus from cables during the busy working season (as I usually do) but I'll probably get back to them towards the end of the summer.
