BillFitzmaurice.info

So what do you do when a friend comes across 62 feet of 30 year old snake cable? You build 'em a couple of stage snakes.

This was originally a fan-to-fan snake, but the ends were a mess. So, I cut 'em off and started fresh.

I'll re-use the old switchcraft connectors on one of the snakes and the other will have all new. This is an 11 pair cable. Was most likely an 8x2 or 4x4 with a spare cable. All of the old snakes had an extra pair in case one had a break internally.

I'm going to use all 11 to build one 11 send snake 20 feet long for the drummer and the other will be a 42 foot 8 send and 3 return snake for the front of the stage. While this is the band that I built out the split snake rack that houses their in-ears, they occasionally may need to run monitors up front for opening acts or other situations.....so, we can get 3 up front without having to run cables back to the rack mixer that sits toward the back of the stage off to the side.

I'm trying to keep this a budget build for them. Finding metal boxes to use for the stage end is really hard. The only ones I found were too expensive. So, we are going DIY on this thing.

The best configuration I could come up with was a 1U rack panel punched for all 11 connectors in a row mounted on a plywood box. So, I got started on it yesterday.

Before diving into the build, I thought I'd drop in some pics of my table saw sled. That gets talked about some now and then, so here's mine.

It's made of an MDF base because it's heavy and flat. The front and back rails along with the runners are 1x Red Oak.

It has dual runners so that it glides in both slots on the saw. That's more stable and stays lined up better.
I built this many years ago. The two holes in the base let me hang it on my pegboard so it stays safe from getting knocked around. It still cuts perfect 90s. I just use a block of wood and a spring clamp for creating a stop when doing repetitive cuts.

I used it on this project to cut the pieces to length after ripping them. I could have used the miter saw, but with these lengths, it was easier to create a stop than with the miter saw.

Here's the pieces all ready to be assembled.......can't do it today - have a sound gig in a couple of hours.

Click on the pic and it will re-orient. Don't know why they sometimes turn sideways....
More to come later.......

Pics tend to align with the longer dimension horizontal. When you take a pic with a phone rotate the phone 90 degrees. If you use a camera and crop it crop with the longer dimension horizontal.

Bill Fitzmaurice wrote: ↑Tue Apr 13, 2021 12:34 pm Pics tend to align with the longer dimension horizontal. When you take a pic with a phone rotate the phone 90 degrees. If you use a camera and crop it crop with the longer dimension horizontal.

Typically I take pics in landscape, but sometimes it just looks better in portrait. Funny though, when you click on the pic is shows it correctly.

One of the head scratcher on the build was how to attach some kind of strain relief for the cable on the wooden box. First thought was the relief used on electrical boxes......the problem is that they aren't long enough to go through 1/2" ply. I could always rout out the ply to make it thinner, but then you couldn't access the tightening screws.

Next thought was to just use a metal plate for the end cap on that end. I found some plates for a 4 gang electrical box with a knockout in the middle. That could be cut to size and attached to the end......one problem.....then I'd have no place to screw the rack panel.

So, I married up both ideas. Kept the wooden end plate so I'd have a place to screw in the rack panel, but drilled a hole in it and cut down the metal plate to fit on the backside held by screws. That way everything has what it needs to connect and the strain relief is accessible from the inside.
Once that was figured out, I was ready to assemble the boxes........remember that freeze we had down here in Texas a while back? Well my Titebond II obviously didn't like the weather conditions in the garage - it was more like paste than glue. So, I'll be making a trip to HD in a bit to get some new glue.

I sure hope it didn't have an effect on my Duratex......

I enjoyed a walk through the thought process, Bruce. You came up with a pretty slick solution. Looks good AND functional.

I read somewhere that Duratex changed their formulation to be frost resistant. Question is, was yours pre or post reformulation?

I look forward to continued progress pics and updates!

Got 'em all glued up, rounded over the edges, filled the nail holes, and gave 'em a little sanding.
Put a couple of coats of flat black on 'em today.
I have a gig in a couple of hours, so Duratex will wait. I like to apply all the duratex in a single day. Because it dries so fast, I can get 3 coats on over a few hours. Then they can sit and cure for a few days while I work on all the connections.

Gig'n on a Thursday night... what a rock star

Seth wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 7:53 pm Gig'n on a Thursday night... what a rock star

It was my fifth show out of 7 in 10 days......I'll be glad when Sunday gets here.....I'm tired. At least tomorrow is a playing gig - I need a dose of the Les Paul through the Boogie..... Then sound again Saturday for an afternoon show.

Duratex finished a couple of days ago.....
Today was all about making holes.......88 of 'em to be exact.

First, it's drilling 22 3/8" holes for the Greely Knock-out punch. If you are building rack panels - this tool is a must. Spent years drilling holes with a step drill bit....nasty, messy, and metal shavings everywhere.

The punch makes perfect holes and leaves little discs to throw away....
Next, had to decide whether to orient the connectors in-line or side-by-side. Inline looks better, but side-by-side will be easier to unplug cables and to label....
After lots of little 1/8" holes (44 of 'em), the connectors are secured and the panels are finished.
This is the end plate with strain relief installed...

In a day or two, I'll start building the fans and soldering all the connectors in the box.

Looks nice, Bruce. Well done!

One thing I neglected to point out was there was a little flex in the panels.....I'm used to using 2U panels -they are a bit stronger.

So, I put a support block in each one to shore it up a bit.
Started wiring up the first panel today. Stripped back the snake to get some clean pairs. The quality of this 30+ year old snake is wonderful. The foil shield didn't just unwrap and fall off like the newer stuff. Actually had to cut it.
Cut all the pairs to the proper length. You'll notice that I doubled back between the third and fourth connector. I wanted plenty of room to add some heat shrink to clamp onto.

Put a little heat shrink on the end of each connector to keep the foil in place, but it probably wasn't necessary. Looks good though.
I buttoned up that box and will start the second one tomorrow.......forgot to shoot a pic. I'll get that in the morning.

Got the second panel wired up this morning......while I was doing it, I thought about something I always do that might be helpful to others that are starting to build their own cables.

Cables often come with different color schemes......black and white, red and blue, or in the case of older snakes - there can be a rainbow of colors (as there is with this one). What I've always done to keep straight on what goes where is to always put the lighter color in pin 2 and the darker in pin 3. Of course, the drain or ground is always pin 1 in XLR connectors. That way, I don't have to look at the other end to figure out what goes where.

Here's the back of the second panel....had to remember that three of the connectors are returns, so the pins are a mirror image of the other connectors.
The two boxes are finished......next we are on to the fantails.....

Fans get to start from scratch with a clean cable cut. Peeled back 16 inches of jacket, then used 3/16 heat shrink on each pair, leaving it about 3/4" short on the end. Then a piece of 1/2" locks in those pairs to the snake.
Every cable I've built for the last 10 years starts out with the connector in my small pair of vise grips....just finger tight to hold it in place. The drum snake used the old Switchcraft connectors. A bit of a PITA to get 'em clean enough to solder the new wires, but my trusty solder sucker takes a lot of the anguish out of it.

After each connector got soldered, an additional 2 inch piece of heat shrink covered the wires and gave the strain relief a little girth to latch onto.
Drum Snake is finished....... It got labeled with the input name instead of numbers as it is built specifically for this drum kit.
On to the front-of-the-stage snake.....

Looks familiar......right?
This one got all new Neutrik connectors. 8 male for inputs and 3 female for returns should they ever need to run monitors up front (they use in-ears, but occasionally there is an opening act).

Labels aren't perfectly straight.....but, that's not something that falls under my "need for perfection" anal tendencies.


This project is buttoned up, tested, and ready for a gig.

If any of you are sitting on an old snake that doesn't get used anymore, consider cutting it down to 25-30 feet and using it for a stage snake. Much cleaner stage, shorter individual cable runs, and faster setup and tear down not chasing 30 foot cables all over the stage.

How long are your shorter cable runs, Bruce?

Tom Smit wrote: ↑Sun Apr 25, 2021 8:41 pm How long are your shorter cable runs, Bruce?

The drum snake will be all 10s and 15s. The front snake will be 10, 15, and maybe a 20. Much better than doing 30 foot runs. Might even be a 5 footer for whoever is closest to the snake up front.....acoustic DI or Electric DI.

I have their cable box. I'm going to test all of 'em and cut some down.....no need in having a 25 footer to go 10 feet.