How do you store your cables?

[Rich]

A] Coiled using the cable's natural twist and then fastened in a round?

B] As per A but then fastened as an '8'?

C] Quickly coiled round your hand & elbow ignoring the cable twist?

D] Shudder.

[Woodwind]

It's either A or D for me.

 

Figure of 8 gives me the creeps somehow and anyone doing the elbow/hand wrap should have all their cables confiscated.

[Waddo Soqable]

Roadie fashion, no 3 😁

[BigRedX]

Apart from one OBBM Jack lead lead that will only sit properly coiled, I have for the past 30+ years "coiled" my long leads by looping them in halves until they are at the right length to knot loosely in the middle. Despite this being supposedly terrible practice not a single one of these cables as failed during this time. IME, any other storage method results in a case/bag full of leads resembling photo 4 no matter how carefully I coil and clip them.

[Waddo Soqable]

^ like the man said.. They always end up like no4 whatever you do with them anyway... 

[nilorius]

19 minutes ago, Waddo Soqable said:

Roadie fashion, no 3 😁

Absolute C to me 😜

[Lozz196]

A, I just figure they’ll last longer that way, tho have nothing to substantiate the theory 

[MichaelDean]

I did a degree in music tech. In our first studio session, we were shown how to do A and that was the expectation of the studio. The beauty of it is when you've got long runs. You can pretty much hold on to one end, throw the lead and it shoots out in a straight line to your destination. Or you can uncoil half and leave it there tidily next to a mic stand rather than have excess leads going everywhere. 

[Downunderwonder]

Even a regular guitar cable is way nicer to use when stored per A. I don't have ties though.

 

What is this natural twist you speak of? Cables develop twisting from being incorrectly coiled.

[Phil Starr]

It's an interesting question. Essentially about how cables break.

 

First of all I've always had a system. Without organisation cables tangle with each other and set up time is considerably extended. Untangling cables under time pressure inevitably seems to result in a certain amount of tugging which is probably worse for cables than any frowned upon method of securing a cable from untangling. It's many years since I last allowed anyone to wind my cables for me  I've always run the PA so I have a lot of cables probably £1,000 worth or more (actually a lot more as I must have a couple of hundred cables at least, OMG!)

 

For at least 40 years I used the method shown to me by , of all people, Jim Marshall. Round my left elbow fed through a loop of finger and thumb on my right hand, so not held tightly and allowed to find it's own shape, then tied in a figure of eight with a couple of winds of the last bit of cable. No sharp bends and almost no failures of cables over many years. The few failures I've had have pretty much all been at the plug end and fixed by removing the last six inches/15cm of cable and resoldering/replacing the plugs. Its easily the fastest method and no tangling in the box. Once cheap cable ties became available I switched to those in the middle. so sort of hybrid of 2 and 3.

 

Recently I've been playing with people who have trained in music tech, frankly it's been easier not to enter debate with them about cables and I've adopted method 1. It's slower and I now get more tangling in the box, but I look professional. Watching them wind their own leads they usually have the loops far too big, end up with a very loose coil and they tangle easily. I've realised they are probably being taught to wind for a studio or stage where cables are hung rather than boxed and tangling isn't an issue.

 

I've found myself wondering why I don't go back to the quicker and less tangly method. If 90%+ of failures are of the plugs and I've had single digit failures of actual cables over 40 years then the thesis that arm winding breaks cables is clearly not true. I've 40 year old speaker cables that still work. Most of the failures have been of poor quality cables too. If a cable costs £15 and it's life is reduced by 5% then I've saved 75p, is that a good return for an extra couple of hours winding over the life of the cable? 

 

Honestly I don't think it matters much how you wind, buy good cables, be gentle with them, don't make them do sharp bends  and don't let them get tangled.

[jrixn1]

54 minutes ago, MichaelDean said:

In our first studio session, we were shown how to do A and that was the expectation of the studio. The beauty of it is when you've got long runs. You can pretty much hold on to one end, throw the lead and it shoots out in a straight line to your destination. Or you can uncoil half and leave it there tidily next to a mic stand rather than have excess leads going everywhere. 

 

Is what you are describing over/under?  Whereas method 'A' above is just straight coiling.

 

 

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by jrixn1

[Suburban Man]

2 hours ago, BigRedX said:

Apart from one OBBM Jack lead lead that will only sit properly coiled, I have for the past 30+ years "coiled" my long leads by looping them in halves until they are at the right length to knot loosely in the middle. Despite this being supposedly terrible practice not a single one of these cables as failed during this time. IME, any other storage method results in a case/bag full of leads resembling photo 4 no matter how carefully I coil and clip them.

YES! Exactly so: half and half and half again (repeat until in a suitably neat bundle) followed by a loose tie to keep them together.  There is a logic to this, since you are twisting the cable, but in different directions, so the net result is zero twists.  

[Woodinblack]

COmbination of A or D depending on how fast we leave. However, if I am not careful the singer will wrap them and he uses E - C then tie in its own knot

[gafbass02]

A.. Every single cable for the band’s entire set up gets meticulously wrapped and taped for storage after every show. Takes a minute, but it’s ultimately worth it. 

[Lfalex v1.1]

None of the above?

 

I store them like rope. In half, in half again and tie them in a bow.

 

Never had any cable failures,  so I guess it's ok?

[Ed_S]

It's always the under/over method for me, but I don't start with the connector pointing away from me or direct my thumbs like the guy in the video a few posts back. I just use the index finger and thumb of the hand feeding the cable to roll it alternately back and forth and create the loops towards the hand collecting. It messes with the heads of my thinner-strung bandmates who are very much A and D merchants respectively, and know never to touch my cables.

[police squad]

I'm depping in a band and the singer has a hose pipe like drum for the mic leads. When you put another lead of the drums, you just plug it in to the last lead on there and wind. It is utter genius. In fact I'm going to adopt this for my rig when I have to mic everyone up (it's only once a year this gig, but the mic cables would be safe coiled this way)

[Owen]

20 minutes ago, police squad said:

I'm depping in a band and the singer has a hose pipe like drum for the mic leads. When you put another lead of the drums, you just plug it in to the last lead on there and wind. It is utter genius. In fact I'm going to adopt this for my rig when I have to mic everyone up (it's only once a year this gig, but the mic cables would be safe coiled this way)

I used to do that when we had to set up our Church in a school hall every Sunday. Inevitably there would be people helping who were not cable friendly. Using the reel meant it there was no cable cruelty happening. 

[chris_b]

Never mind roadies. . . .  I was shown how to look after cables by an electrician, so it's always option A.

 

My Whirlwind instrument cable has celebrated its 40th anniversary.

[ezbass]

2 hours ago, police squad said:

I'm depping in a band and the singer has a hose pipe like drum for the mic leads. When you put another lead of the drums, you just plug it in to the last lead on there and wind. It is utter genius. In fact I'm going to adopt this for my rig when I have to mic everyone up (it's only once a year this gig, but the mic cables would be safe coiled this way)

I’ve often thought a reel of some description would not only make sure they don’t twist, it should also be a faster way of putting them away.

[Mottlefeeder]

I use A, but keep the cable ties separate from the cables when playing. When I pack up, I know how many cables to collect by the number of cable ties that I have.

David

[rushbo]

Mainly 'A', sometimes 'C' and (hangs head in shame) very occasionally 'D.'

 

Up until about five years ago, I used the "ever-decreasing halving" method that a few people mentioned earlier in the thread. I never had an issue with any cables, doing that. In fact, the only issues I've ever had were with broken/dodgy connections in the jack. Now, I buy good quality leads and look after them. I haven't had to change a faulty one for years. The key seems to be to avoid tieing the cables too tightly, so whenever I used the "halving" method, I was always careful to make the loosest knot that would keep the cable together.

 

Method 'A' makes the cables very easy to unfurl, but the "round the elbow" method is by far the quickest - well it was for me. Don't tie the cables too tightly and don't pull them out of a bass or amp by the cable - always grip the plug. Aside from that, any method that gets the job done is probably fine.

[police squad]

6 hours ago, ezbass said:

I’ve often thought a reel of some description would not only make sure they don’t twist, it should also be a faster way of putting them away.

it is. very quick and easy. I am going to do this, I just need a reel. (oh, we use them at work, I'll get one monday!!)

[Downunderwonder]

9 hours ago, Suburban Man said:

zero twists

Is what it's all about. Jim Marshall would never have got an audio lackie job in a TV production company.

[gjones]

None of the above. I tie them in a loose knot

 

Never had a lead fail on me in decades.

 

 

Edited July 2, 2023 by gjones