Marking cables

[tgs]

I'd like some tips for how to mark cables. I'm putting together a live recording rig at the moment, which of course involves a lot of cabling. I'm using color rings for the XLR to at least divide them into groups of 8, but I'd like to add more detailed information as well.

I've checked a few systems, but the ones I recognize from before have turned out to be quite costly. I want something pretty simple, but the labels need to stay on as well and stand the test of time.

I guess if I lived in USA I could probably go in to a store and pick what I need off the shelf, but it's a bit trickier on this side of the pond, hehe. So any tips on something that's available in Europe, or better yet in Sweden, are most welcome. Also I hope to not spend a fortune as well!

 

[-Noodles-]

In all honesty, I've found that marking cables with big numbers (1,2,3 etc) and then splitting my looms into groups of four with cable ties gives me all the flexibility I need.

I'm not entirely sure how you'd label them further as each job is different?

 

[tgs]

In all honesty, I've found that marking cables with big numbers (1,2,3 etc) and then splitting my looms into groups of four with cable ties gives me all the flexibility I need.

I'm not entirely sure how you'd label them further as each job is different?

Ah, well what I want to do is of course to mark them with numbers, sorry I wasn't clear about that. My question is HOW best to do it, without having to deal with labels that fall off or sticky residue.

 

[ratsapprentice]

http://www.cablecraft.co.uk/Products/easi_clip_markers

?

 

[StefTD]

my mother owns a little "machine" (not electrial, just mechanical) to label little bags with food and stuff.
I just tried it once with an old cable and it worked, that was pretty cool because you can just print it all
on the "tape", put the cable in the machine and cut it off.
After that it just looked a bit like the clip markers ratsapprentice posted.

Used it alot because almost everybody around here claimed that they own your good quality cables at shows
and it sucked, that way I was able to say "hey dumbass-look, the marker says "Stef's guitar"!"
I marked everything, guitar cables, mic cables, speaker cables, even my patch cables in my rack were labeled.

 

[JeffTD]

Gaff + sharpie.

 

[YoRich]

Gaff + sharpie.

this

 

[guitarguru777]

Gaff + sharpie.

If its a live rig then +100000 on this. As you want the flexability to change things later. If its a permanent setup with very little change of it changing drastically then Cable ties with bundles of 4 cables then just put a label on them.

 

[ahjteam]

For my FOH multicore cable I have done it with cableties + keyrings. Red = insert, Yellow = Send, Green = Return. I think I paid ~0.20€ for each keyring and even less for the cable ties. For XLR multicore snakes (talking like 16 in and 4 out channels), just write to the XLR connector so that the numbers are facing the same way (usually up). Also if you are talking about just separate XLR cables, just don't buy black cables. Not that there is anything wrong with black cables, but it's WAY easier to spot your brown/blue/green cables from the houses black cables.

 

[sprack]

For home I use 2 bands of colored electrical tape.

 

[lolzgreg]

I usually put a dime sized-yellow sticker on the cable connector barrel, write what I want on it in permanent marker, and wrap clear tape around it once; it wont come off this way, and is easily removable later.

 

[tgs]

What ratsapprentice suggested was the first thing that came to my mind and I could find them here in Sweden too, but the problem is that they sell in large quantities and getting a set of 0-9 will be way too expensive in the end.

Gaff+Sharpie=sticky residue and a mess after a while. Also, it doesn't look very good.

Clear tape: the glue gets try after some time.

And to clarify: these are snakes that I want to mark. Even if I went with gaff+sharpie, it would mean a big lump of 24 tape markers in each end. I need something that looks more "elegant".

 

[JeffTD]

Gaff = no sticky residue - that's what it was invented for and why it's used live.

 

[Dalinkwent48@aim.com]

gaff and sharpie works, or gaff and heat shrink, or a p-touch and heat shrink. or a sharpie right on the physical connector.For most of my snakes I use a p-touch and heat shrink.


Gaff will leave a residue but its on rare occasions, (excessive heat, or if you leave it on for like years)

 

[tgs]

Gaff will leave a residue but its on rare occasions, (excessive heat, or if you leave it on for like years)

Yeah that's the problem. Tends to get a bit hot behind the rack, especially in sweaty venues. I need a permanent solution with labeling that won't fall off or become a mess over time. Also, seems to be difficult to get gaff tape over here anyway; for most people it's synonymous with duct tape and few retailers seem to care about the difference, hehe.

Clear heat shrink would work, together with some kind of number stickers I guess. Just finding it a bit hard to find clear heat shrink for some reason. I also checked special label makers for cable marking but that again is too expensive.

 

[Dalinkwent48@aim.com]

Yeah that's the problem. Tends to get a bit hot behind the rack, especially in sweaty venues. I need a permanent solution with labeling that won't fall off or become a mess over time. Also, seems to be difficult to get gaff tape over here anyway; for most people it's synonymous with duct tape and few retailers seem to care about the difference, hehe.

Clear heat shrink would work, together with some kind of number stickers I guess. Just finding it a bit hard to find clear heat shrink for some reason. I also checked special label makers for cable marking but that again is too expensive.

If you're talking about show setups where its only up for a few hours the heat behind the rack shouldn't be much of a problem for the gaff. I was more talking about like all day outdoor shows in the summer sun type of heat.

 

[LoudNoises]

Electrical tape and a sharpie!
Cheap and you can colour code all your cables,
and everyone on here should have copious amount of electric tape for when they are wrapping up cables at the end of a session

 

[arv_foh]

if gaff+sharpie doesn't suite you, try these

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Hosa-LBL-466-60-Cable-Labels/dp/B000YYJLKM[/ame]

 

[ratsapprentice]

Electrical tape gets so sticky though. Not a problem if the cable's being used in a studio where it isn't getting bent around.
It might sound stupid but it's actually really unpleasant, especially if you're a geardo.

I'm sure you could find some of those numbered plastic clips for cheap on ebay?

 

[egan.]

I just number my XLR's with a paint pen. I've also had no issues with e-tape or gaff. IME the adhesive won't run or dry up on either for at least a year and if it does just get some "goof-off," clean the ends and re-label.