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How important is the wire gauge for wiring?


pjackson92

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It'll work, but their insulation is pretty stiff and springy which makes running wires a bit of a pain at times, and the wires don't always want to stay when you put them. For me, that means messy looking projects so I usually opt for higher quality wire with cloth or a softer more playable plastic insulation.

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Basically wire is wire from a performance standpoint. I prefer solid core for guitars. Bend it where you want & it stays put. I think Radioshack makes a 24 awg solid. Guage doesn't really make a big difference until you get outside the guitar. A frinstance is your house wiring. If you have 12 awg wire you can safely run 20 amps. But 14 awg would get too hot running more than 15.

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Hey, pjackson92... I see you're typing about wiring. What kind of guitar are you building?

Is it going to be a serious guitar, something you get into playing that means something to you?

Were you a Radio Shack employee in the past? Do their products say, look at me, listen to me,

make me part of your musical experience?

Or are Radio Shack employees the only people

you can go on about your guitar and your guitar playing with,

and trip over them successfully?

 

You should try your local music store. They should have everything from

retro wire to live wires down there, ready to give your guitar and you a go.

How about some pre-existing wiring that already has lots of good vibes?

What about that old video-cassette player you turned on bringing dates home when you were younger?

 

I'd even go around saying you were a helper installing security systems and did Slash's house,

and used his left-over wire in your guitar, because he slashed and lashed you until you did.

That's more exciting. Doin'a'few'B&E's until you hit some gold stereo wire is better, better wire too.

You'd have a better chance'o findin'a bass-player that way too. Here's my over-view.

 

In my over-view... yeah... and you can thank C.S.I. Las Vegas for this influence,

we should start by looking at where you plug into your amp. Imagine electron flow starting there.

Now be one with the electron flow from your amp, where it goes to get to the pickups,

and where it goes coming back to the amp. That's the signal you're amplifying.

As we can surely agree, the stronger the signal received, the more amplification potential,

and less tendency to fold-back envelope parameters that create a lagging phase differential.

That's the sides of the signal in a too tight wire getting slowed down behind the main signal.

It's also the first distortion you're asking your amp to handle, all your signal, now with this shadow flow.

It doesn't matter if you're getting miked or direct injected, you're sending a phasal condition to your host.

Now think of this near speed-of-light flow going into your guitar, with all the parts in play.

Getting to hover around the pickups and come back intact is the best concerned for all.

Anything else that impedes the signal detracts from the pickups' signal.

You might want to defragment your guitar for optimum signal and bandwidth.

 

As a brother North American guitarist, I'm worried about you hanging around a Radio Shack.

I don't know if you're living to play the Woodstock of your flashbacks,

but your guitar needs to be a survivor for any rock gig.

You should start hanging around your local army surplus store,

maybe get wires there from some guys who know how to crawl through the mud with a radio,

and make a shack to survive the night, playing remote-control tank night-games.

They might even let you see some wires Made in the U.S.A.

 

How do you like my The Dollar Store inlays?

 

as always, John Watt

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Wire is wire. Period. Some may be easier to work with than others. The neatness of the job and the quality of your solder joints are way more important considerations. You're not asking a guitar to fly at 30,000 ft. Don't tell EVH that.

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Hey, pjackson92... I see you're typing about wiring. What kind of guitar are you building? Is it going to be a serious guitar, something you get into playing that means something to you? Were you a Radio Shack employee in the past? Do their products say, look at me, listen to me, make me part of your musical experience? Or are Radio Shack employees the only people you can go on about your guitar and your guitar playing with, and trip over them successfully?


You should try your local music store. They should have everything from retro wire to live wires down there, ready to give you and your guitar a go. And we're talking what carries the juice, the same electrons in your brain, so I'd want to feel emotional about them. What about that old radio you turned on bringing dates home when you were younger? There's some good vibes with attached wires that could use some transplanting. Grab some Fender or Gibson wiring so you can feel as authentic as possible, nowadays.


I'd even go around saying you were a helper installing security systems and did Slash's house, and used left-over wire in your guitar, because he slashed and lashed you until you did. That's more exciting. Doin'a'few B & E's until you hit some gold stereo wire is better, better wire too. You have a better chance finding a bassist that way too.


Inside an electric guitar, we're talking extremely short lengths of wiring. However, technically, the larger the wire the wider the travel path of electricity. This slows everything down, softening the tone and volume and all other aspects of conductivity. The onstage difference for softening tone and volume, for me, is using a 25' guitar cord instead of 10 or 15. I have the hot and ground in a mesh ground. I pull the mesh back from one end, unconnected, and attach it with the ground to the plug on the other end. This gives me a mesh ground around the wires. It's not as noisy standing or dancing around on it when I'm full blast and doesn't pick up cab radios or another guitarists' UHF-fm wireless as easy.


As a brother North American guitarist, I'm worried about you hanging around a Radio Shack. I don't know if you're living to play the Woodstock of your flashbacks, but your guitar needs to be a survivor for any rock gig. You should start hanging around your local army surplus store, maybe get some wires there from some guys who know how to crawl through the mud with a radio, and make a shack to survive the night, playing remote control tank war games.

They might even let you see some wires Made in the U.S.A.

Shhhh! That's classified.

A-ten-shun! And that's your ten fingers. Get it done, note-soldier.

How do you like my The Dollar Store inlays?


as always, John Watt

 

first your from Canada not the US. Second what the crap its only wire not some sentimental wood or anything. and I think your inlays look stupid...soryy but its the truth.

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This is the stuff I was referring to. It's what I've been using. I find it to be the easiest wire to use in guitars. Also it strips readily with teeth if you lack a proper wire stripper. Rat Shack has those too. No, not teeth, wire strippers!

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This is the stuff I was referring to. It's what I've been using. I find it to be the easiest wire to use in guitars. Also it strips readily with teeth if you lack a proper wire stripper. Rat Shack has those too. No, not teeth, wire strippers!

 

 

It does strip really easy off the solid core. I rewired a boost pedal I built with that stuff and it was really easy to work with. I didn't enjoy working with the stranded equivalent nearly as much though.

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I've often wondered this myself. It must be a cost issue. But at this price I can't see that being the reason. It must be something like the wooden bats in pro baseball thang. Tradition. Use of solid wire is a new paradigm.:lol:

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