
19
SECTION 7 – Make and Connect the RCA Cables
Step 1 – Make the 12" output cable
In this section we will make two vintage style RCA cables for connecting the spring reverb tank to the drive
and recovery circuits.
3) Insert this wire end through one of the RCA plugs so that the 1/16" wire end comes out of the hole in
the tip of the plug. Solder the 1/16" wire end to the tip of the plug.
2) Strip away about 1/16" of the insulation
from this wire end and tin the wire.
1) Push down the shielding on one end of this wire to expose about 1” of the insulation. Fan out the
shielding at the end by pulling it away from the insulation with your fingers.
1”
1/16”
4) Let the tip cool and then push the shielding back up
toward the RCA plug’s sleeve base. Solder the frayed
shield end to the sleeve base, being careful not to burn
through the wire’s insulation.
Solder the shielding to the sleeve base by forming at least two solder joints
on opposite sides of the base. Touch the soldering iron to the base of the
RCA plug only, do not apply the soldering iron over the wire’s insulation.
5) Measure resistance between the sleeve and the tip of this RCA plug with an ohm meter to make sure
they are not accidentally shorted together.
Tip
Sleeve Base
Cut a 12” length of 22 AWG tin braided wire and follow the steps below:
6) Repeat the same process to add another RCA plug to the other end of this wire.
Cut a 14 ½” length of 22 AWG tin braided wire and use the remaining RCA plugs to make another cable
just as you did for the 12" cable above.
The insulation burns easily, so when
soldering the wire to the tip try not to
rest the tip on the end of the insulation.
Bad:
The plug tip is resting on the end of the
wire’s insulation and will likely burn through it
while soldering.
Good:
The plug tip is positioned away from
the end of the insulation to avoid burning it.
Two Solder Joints
Check the resistance on both cables from tip to
tip and from tip to sleeve.
From tip to tip you should measure 0 ohms
and from tip to sleeve you should get a
resistance that is too high to measure.
Step 2 – Make the 14 ½" input cable
0
Ω
> 20M
Ω
Tip
Sleeve
Tip