Cable management

[richardmac]

I don't mean those f*ckers who raise their rates every 6 months, I mean the cables in your gig bag. I seem to approach the issue one of two ways:

A) At the end of the gig, shove all the cables in a bag and worry about sorting them out later, or

B) Stand there like an idiot taking forever to velcro-tie each cable and put them neatly in a bag.

 

For those of you who only bring 3 cables to a gig, this is not an issue, but for anyone who runs a more complicated setup with tons of cables, how do you approach this? Are there any neat techniques or gimmicks or inexpensive devices that you use to best manage your cables?

[Tomm Williams]

Slightly different application (SR) but I seperate my cables into 3 different bags. 1/4", short xlr's, and insert cables. Don't roll them or anything, just throw them in the right bag. Works for me. I have an old zip-up bag about the size of a small toaster filled with all my various connectors.

[MDLMUSIC]

I don't velcro them, but I do wind them up loosely around my hand then stick them in a big cloth bag I got from Ikea. I keep guitar cables in a different bag than speaker cables...too hard to tell the difference on a dark stage.

[b_goatman]

We use cloth ties with loops on the end, loop the cables in a circle and tie them. We then put them in black gear bags (bought from M. Friend when on sale), that have tags with labels such as:

 

Mic Cables

Spkr Cables

Extra Spkr Cables

etc.

 

For our PA rack case, I leave everything I can wired-up for quick set ups.

[Miko Man]

Assuming you can't use a standard patch snake with equal lenght tails, are your gigs enough alike in set-up that you can assemble a standard bundle with approximately the right lenghts pre-bound? That would give you one big cable to roll, which might be enough of a time savings. Alternatively you could just wind the cables up on a spool or reel. You just connect them and reel it in. If you have two standard cable lenghts you could use two reels. Whether that works for your rig, I obviously can't know. YMMV. Mark C.

[Notes_Norton]

Wind them up and put them in the road case, where they will invariably try to mate with each other and come out all tangled.

 

Seriously, they don't mate with each other in the case, they do that on the floor while you are gigging.

 

Notes ?

[richardmac]

I can't bind my cables because they all go in different places - I have three guitars which all have their own cables, plus a floor pod plus which has its own cable, plus a keyboard and iPad which have their own cables and all go different places. Plus four speaker cables that go separate places. If I had a rack full of keyboard modules it'd work.

 

I guess I ought to try maybe attaching the velcro tie to each cable - that might help. I also like the idea of having separate bags - that is a good idea.

[leftyjay]

i went to the dollar store and bought some of these. i have a lot of cables and i just attach one of these to each cable.

cables are something that you must have plenty of extras and need to take care of them. i roll them up at the end of each gig. makes setting up a breeze.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

I b ought a bunch of cloth straps, about 10" long, w/ velcro on one end, from a 99 Cent Only store...they came in various colors, so I bought several of each and use red for PA cables, blue for mic cables, yellow for guitar cables, green for extension cords, black for Aux. Easy enough to wind and tie cables at the end of the gig, thus avoiding have a bunch of cables to untangle later.

 

BTW, got two of these Musician's Friend gig-bags some years ago, and the first one has held up so well that I've never taken the 2nd one out of it's shipping carton. Surprisingly roomy for the price (about $30, at the time)!

 

[Louis Schwartz]

I also wind and velcro tie all my cables when I break down the PA, using those ties that loop and attach to the cable itself. The mic cables all go in one bag (a semi-soft case originally made for a medium sized mixer). Interconnects and adaptors go in a large side pocket on that bag. The speaker cables all go in a big gym bag. My guitar cables go in the large lap-top computer case that I use for all my guitar stuff (preamps, pedals, power supplies, etc.). I velcro tie most of the power cables to the handles of the items they go with (the powered mixer, powered monitor/speaker, my combo amp). The power cables for other items go in the case I use for the guitar stuff, as does my power strip and a smaller extension cord I sometimes use. My big extension cord gets velcro tied with a BIG velcro tie, and then just goes in the trunk.

 

If I'm not organized about this stuff I will lose things, and I can only afford to do so much replacing!

 

Louis

[OneThing]

I like to loop my cables into about an 8" diameter circle and then tie off with Velcro. Having done it so many times, I can do it lightening quick. I also use Cable Cuffs. You can get the at Home Depot. They work great and if you get different sizes, you're set for any size cable runs.

[Shaster]

Yep you absolutely want the velcro tie that attaches to the cable. Home Depot makes some inexpensive ones but there are better, but of course more expensive ones out there.

 

With a bit of practice you can wrap cables the right way very quickly. When I do a band gig I've easily got ten speaker cables, twenty to thirty mic cables and a bunch of AC cables, with a snake or two, depending. But even on a small solo gig I still wrap my cables the same way - over/under.

 

here's a so so video of that I found on youtube; starts about a minute in. It's a bit sleepy but....

there are better videos out there, you just have to look.

 

What the video doesn't seem to mention is that for mic cables, if you over/under and join the male and female ends together, it's even easier to unwind the cable. Just grab near the ends and toss and then uncouple - it takes 2 seconds instead of ten to thirty the traditional way (if you've got tangles and the cable won't lay flat). And if you're doing thirty XLR cables that's 15 minutes saved. Some techs might shudder at joining the ends, but they would also shudder at velcro. Personally I like velcro over cable ties - call me a rebel! I also colour code my cables using the velcro.... red for XLR, yellow for speaker, green for AC, blue for guitar, orange for midi and so on.

 

Whether or not one ever gets the hang of over/under or just uses over/over it pays to take care of your cables. A little extra time at the gig wrapping cables can save time and expense later. And try and transport the cables in something that won't let them move around too much. A lined milk crate or utility box, or even a canvas cloth bag that fits the cables.

 

For a solo performer, properly maintained and cared for cables are almost more important than in a band IMO. Because you're the only one up there when something crackles, everyone knows it's you!

[Mike McLaughlin]

Since I'm using the Bose, I only have 3 cables, two XLR and one quarter inch guitar to wrap up. My setup is nearly identical each time, so I found it easy to pre-coil the XLR cables with Velcro ties leaving loose ends the right length for my setup. At the end of the gig, I just coil the remaining loose ends, and place them in my bag. Not a problem.

[stos2]

I've got an idea that works great for me. Bear with me.

 

Other than my guitar, I also have a mic feeding a Digitech vocal harmonizer (floor pedal), Boss Blues Driver pedal, iPad mounted to my mic stand (backing tracks and lyrics and songs btwn setS) all going thru a Bose L1 4 channel mixer, also mounted to my mic stand. The output of the mixer goes to my Bose L1 Compact. Finally, I also have the power cords to my harmonizer, pedal, iPad and mixer.

 

Ok, here's the cool part. I have all the cables mounted to my mic stand along with my iPad and Bose mixer. The mixer and iPad I remove from the stand for packing up and transporting. The cables and wires remain on the mic stand. They are wrapped in cunvoluted tubing you can get at Radio Shack. It's the stuff used in automotive wiring. I tiewrap the "harness" to my mic stand. I have a boom stand with a round base. So I also attach a small power strip to my stand base. This way I never have to unpack or repack cables. They are always the right cables and right length. The cables look neat in appearance on "stage". And the wear and tear of the cables is minimized because I'm not constantly coiling them up. For transporting it, I just put the whole thing in a speaker stand type zippered bag. Works like a charm. I get to a gig, open the bag, pull out my "mic stand assembly", mount my iPad and mixer and connect the pedals and connect to my Bose PA. All this takes about 15 minutes. I never have to even think about how and where things are connected.

 

I'll try to post a pic.

 

Dave