How to correctly wind instrument cables?

[spycam]

Well, i thought about such idea that i'm not doing that right.

Because at the live gigs i often have to fight with confused cables, on the other hand, i thought about the idea that wrong winding somehow harm cables in the long run...

So, what would be the ideal way to wind long instrument cables so once i'm on stage and have very little time to open my rack case put my cab and amp head on stage and wire the cables to the head and guitar, etc...?

Pics would be nice, as i imagine it's not easy to explain

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

When I was about 14, a producer told me that I should always wind cables this way: 1: Take one end of the cable and use your other hand to straighten any twists from the cable. 2: Take the remaining end, too, in the same hand as the first. 3: Fold the cable in two (always putting both ends in one hand) until it's of a handy lenght. 4: Make a simple knot out of the folded cable. That way the cable is easy to open just by pulling the knot open and it wont twist or end up in knots. That was probably a very confusing explanation, but I can't describe it any better

 

[Noumenon]

I do it like jhakwe described.

 

[Arjen W.]

Yeah, I've learned it the same way as jhakwe, works fine. I think he explained it good enough. Just fold the cable a few times and make a simple knot in it, this is the best pic I could find, hehe:

Just make that knot with the folded cable.

 

[STINNETT]

Maybe I'm too anal, but I would not want to put any knots of any kind in my cables. I don't even like to twist them or bend them too tightly.

I hold the first end with one hand, and with the other hand I roll it in about a 10-12" loop, allowing it to hang freely, and giving the cable a slight twist as I create each loop so that it falls nicely into place. Then I shake it a bit to even out the loops and I wrap a velcro tie around it. This feels like the nicest way to treat a cable in my book. If you roll your cables like this from the start, they will become trained to roll that way and it will be super easy. Then I lay them in a storage container, or in the case of my home studio, I hang them on a hook on the wall.

Some people do the "over/under" thing where they twist every other loop in an opposite direction so that it unrolls super fast with no curls.

 

[STINNETT]

...and I get extremely annoyed when somebody starts wadding up my cables.

Handling your cables well pays off. I've got tons of cables that I've had for literally several years; I can't remember the last cable failure I had.
Friends of mine go through cables constantly....

 

[2012]

OVER UNDER!!!

 

[Arjen W.]

Maybe I'm too anal, but I would not want to put any knots of any kind in my cables. I don't even like to twist them or bend them too tightly.

Yeah well, when you just make a light knot without any tension on the cable I don't think it can do any harm. But my cables are cheap-ass anyway, so what do I know. Never damaged one in four years though.

 

[JeffTD]

Keep in mind you're making a loose knot out of a cable that's been folded end-to-end a few times, so its not like you're tying a not in a single strand of cable.

 

[Chryst Krispies]

It's all in the wrist. It's all in the wrist. It's all in the wrist. Sing it wit me.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

Maybe I'm too anal, but I would not want to put any knots of any kind in my cables. I don't even like to twist them or bend them too tightly.

I hold the first end with one hand, and with the other hand I roll it in about a 10-12" loop, allowing it to hang freely, and giving the cable a slight twist as I create each loop so that it falls nicely into place. Then I shake it a bit to even out the loops and I wrap a velcro tie around it. This feels like the nicest way to treat a cable in my book. If you roll your cables like this from the start, they will become trained to roll that way and it will be super easy. Then I lay them in a storage container, or in the case of my home studio, I hang them on a hook on the wall.

Some people do the "over/under" thing where they twist every other loop in an opposite direction so that it unrolls super fast with no curls.

Identical to what I do and I to get really pissed when I see someone rolling up ma cables incorrectly or hand them to me in a nest of madness.

P.S. My cables always unroll nice as well.

 

[beyond dead]

twist ties are one of my best friends aswell as the cardboard sleeve the cable comes in

 

[Kirknewm]

I grab one end of the cable in my hand, bend my arm at 90 degrees, and wrap the cable around my arm from my thumb to the elbow, kind of like how you roll up a vaccum cord. Works well for me, and it's fast.

 

[JeffTD]

I grab one end of the cable in my hand, bend my arm at 90 degrees, and wrap the cable around my arm from my thumb to the elbow, kind of like how you roll up a vaccum cord. Works well for me, and it's fast.

Yeah, but this puts a ton of unnecessary strain on the cable. I'd maybe do it with heavy ass speaker or power cables, but not instrument or mic cables.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

The knot won't do any harm, to the cable. Anssi Kippo (the producer I was talking about, probably best known for Children of Bodom) told that he hadn't bought a single instrument or mic cable in eight years since they never seemed to break in his use

It's all in the wrist. It's all in the wrist. It's all in the wrist. Sing it wit me.

Eeexactly. During my short 'internship' Kippo kept slapping my hands and saying "INCORRECT WRIST MOVEMENT" until he thought it was good enough, haha

 

[elmuchoescadawg]

I grab one end of the cable in my hand, bend my arm at 90 degrees, and wrap the cable around my arm from my thumb to the elbow, kind of like how you roll up a vaccum cord. Works well for me, and it's fast.

This is a pretty good way to kill the cables as is the knotting method as well. If you think the cable is a load of copper strands anything that bends too far is causing some trands to be pulled on and the others to be pushed against.

Maybe I'm too anal, but I would not want to put any knots of any kind in my cables. I don't even like to twist them or bend them too tightly.

I hold the first end with one hand, and with the other hand I roll it in about a 10-12" loop, allowing it to hang freely, and giving the cable a slight twist as I create each loop so that it falls nicely into place. Then I shake it a bit to even out the loops and I wrap a velcro tie around it. This feels like the nicest way to treat a cable in my book. If you roll your cables like this from the start, they will become trained to roll that way and it will be super easy. Then I lay them in a storage container, or in the case of my home studio, I hang them on a hook on the wall.
.

When I first got trained up by touring engineers this was the only way they would let me coil cables.

 

[Arjen W.]

Keep in mind you're making a loose knot out of a cable that's been folded end-to-end a few times, so its not like you're tying a not in a single strand of cable.

Yeah, I realize that. Still there's not a great deal of tension if you don't make tight folds. But I can imagine, if your cables are real expensive and/or fragile it might not be the best method.

 

[sparkyness]

jeez....you put any ol' simple thing on the interweb and folks will analyze the hell out of it

....get a roadie....

 

[::XeS::]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArqOk8rlopE

At the end there is a good technician that explain how to correctly roll cables

 

[KeithRT99]

^that's how we roll cable at school.