Instrument and headphone cable in one

pauliusmm

pauliusmm

Fractal Fanatic
I have this idea to run one cable for guitar and stereo headphones.
The cable should look like this drawing i attached. bassically its like a normal guitar cable attached to a hedphone extension cable. I would just prefer to run one cable instead of these two.

I tried googling but couldn't find anything like this. What do you think of this idea, and where could i get something like that?
I could try wiring this myself but i guess i need a special kind of cable for that to carry 3 signals (guitar and stereo headphones).
 

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This may help get you started: Multichannel Star Quad

You'll probably have to build your own cable, but that's a good thing as you can make it the way you want it. The downside to a purpose built cable like this is if it break you can't run out and buy another, so you should have a back up or three if it's mission critical.
 
Maybe someone more knowledgeable can chime in, but wouldn't it be a bad thing to have two audio signals in one cable with only one shield? They'd be shielded from the outside world, but not from each other.
 
bkrumme said:
Maybe someone more knowledgeable can chime in, but wouldn't it be a bad thing to have two audio signals in one cable with only one shield? They'd be shielded from the outside world, but not from each other.
Click to expand...

Multichannel snakes are very common.

Here is the text from the link I posted earlier:

"Each channel is completely isolated and consists of 4 conductors surrounded by an overall braided shield encased in a color coded striped PVC jacket. Fine conductor stranding for flexibility, facilitates roll up and easy payout. The four conductor design provides superior EMI and RFI noise rejection in problem areas on stage.
Excellent crosstalk characteristics allow vastly different signals (-120dB mic, +4dB line, +10dB code levels) to be used in adjacent channels."

Should be fine. And if you need additional channels there are different configurations available.

I can see needing multiple sends from the guitar, ie. separate magnetic and piezo pickup signals, in addition to the headphone return. Not sure how heavy a cable like this would be in practical situation though, especially live stage work.
 
NY Guitarist said:
Multichannel snakes are very common.

Here is the text from the link I posted earlier:

"Each channel is completely isolated and consists of 4 conductors surrounded by an overall braided shield encased in a color coded striped PVC jacket. Fine conductor stranding for flexibility, facilitates roll up and easy payout. The four conductor design provides superior EMI and RFI noise rejection in problem areas on stage.
Excellent crosstalk characteristics allow vastly different signals (-120dB mic, +4dB line, +10dB code levels) to be used in adjacent channels."

Should be fine. And if you need additional channels there are different configurations available.

I can see needing multiple sends from the guitar, ie. separate magnetic and piezo pickup signals, in addition to the headphone return. Not sure how heavy a cable like this would be in practical situation though, especially live stage work.
Click to expand...

OK. So what I mentioned doesn't apply here because each channel of that snake cable is shielded. So if you get a 2 conductor multi-star-quad cable, it's essentially like having two fully shielded cables with one outer jacket. Add the proper connectors and you should be good to go.
 
bkrumme said:
OK. So what I mentioned doesn't apply here because each channel of that snake cable is shielded. So if you get a 2 conductor multi-star-quad cable, it's essentially like having two fully shielded cables with one outer jacket. Add the proper connectors and you should be good to go.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Of course because of the extra conductors, shielding and insulation it will be a bit bulkier/heavier. But I can't imagine that it would be more than something like an RC-13 cable, if you have used a guitar synth pickup.
 
I think this is one of the small projects you'll follow for a while, solder a custom cable and then find out a couple of weeks later that you don't really use it.
It's easy to make a properly working Y-cable on the side of the AxeFx, the plugs will be pretty close together - not too much physical strain unless you pull the cable really hard. But If you have two plugs on one cable where one has to go to the guitar and you have another plug that's going to the headphone, chances are that you have a female stereo jack plug hanging somewhere (hitting the guitar if you don't mount it to something like the guitar or strap or your clothes). Chances are that this won't hold for forever. I had a few of these brilliant ideas that I abandoned since they're not 100% stable for everyday stage use.

However - after all my negative thoughts... Here's how I solved this for my tube amp rig: PedalSnake.com
I bought the 7 channel base snake. The wireless was placed on top of my amp (backline) -> one mono lead to go to the pedal board (front),
one lead back to the fx loop, one to go back to the pedal board, one to close the fx loop and another one to the regular in of the amp. Then another one to switch the channels on the amp. I also powered my fx with the same cable. Wouldn't be possible without a snake. And the Pedalsnake is pretty cool as you can exchange the pigtails. So if you need other plugs at the ends, you just buy them without the need of soldering. I was able to set this up within less than 15 minutes. Not too bad for such a complex setup...

The only downside is that the DIN plugs are not exactly what I call compact. You'll loose a little signal on the way (compared to a high end cable), but if you put that into perspective with the distance the signal is travelling, it's pretty much ok. But I guess it's too thick & heavy for a guitar / headphone cable.
 
StarQaud

NY Guitarist said:
This may help get you started: Multichannel Star Quad

You'll probably have to build your own cable, but that's a good thing as you can make it the way you want it. The downside to a purpose built cable like this is if it break you can't run out and buy another, so you should have a back up or three if it's mission critical.
Click to expand...

Curious if SQ will work. I had some and just donated it to a church.
If you try it...pairs are blue/blue and white/white.
I question crosstalk in a common shield. Headphone levels may be too hot, and bleed causing a regenerative feedback loop.
I have the same issues...freaking cables get wrapped around my feet all the time!
 
Just thought of another scenario:
just get two slim cables : one for headphones and other for instrument and use a heat shrink tube to stick them together.
What about that?
 
pauliusmm said:
Just thought of another scenario:
just get two slim cables : one for headphones and other for instrument and use a heat shrink tube to stick them together.
What about that?
Click to expand...

I use a Mogami headphone ext. cable + guitar cable and those plastic spiral cable organizer gizmos.

Works great and I take it apart whenever to cobble together yet another idea :) I change my mind way too much.

Richard
 
pauliusmm said:
Just thought of another scenario:
just get two slim cables : one for headphones and other for instrument and use a heat shrink tube to stick them together.
What about that?
Click to expand...

I've seen this same idea but where velcro cable wraps are used to keep the cables neat but allow adjustment for reaching different places. It also easily allows you to replace one cable at time. Although again, it will be somewhat bulkier.
 
NY Guitarist said:
I've seen this same idea but where velcro cable wraps are used to keep the cables neat but allow adjustment for reaching different places. It also easily allows you to replace one cable at time. Although again, it will be somewhat bulkier.
Click to expand...

That's why I ended up with the headphone ext. cable in the bundle. That allowed me to deal with the strain relief of the actual headphone a little independent of the the guitar cable strain relief.

Richard
 
You could also use expandable tubing to cover two cables. Makes a very neat job of it.
 
082-320_s.jpg



$6.88 for 25ft. It's 1/4". you may need a bit bigger, but it is expandable.
 
TC-Helicon just came out with one of these at NAMM 2014 but apparently you won't be able to purchase one till Spring/Summer...
 
I would think that you would need some kind of signal buffer to allow you to run a non amplified signal the same length as the guitar cable, no?
 
What I really need is a wireless guitar setup like the Line 6 G10 that also transmits the headphone back. What's the use of having the guitar wireless if I'm still chained to the mixer with the headphone cable?
 
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