I used George L’s for years, and while it didn’t bother me to use them, I did notice that after a while - even just sitting on my board in my studio and being moved around very little - the connections tended to need repair. Again, not a big deal, but still kind of a PITA. Still, cheap and cheerful to fix or replace.
Ultimately, I went to special-order soldered connections; recent ones I’ve bought have been the Evidence Audio pedalboard cables, only with soldered plugs instead of the screw-in ones (I get them from Sinasoid, who do a nice job).
If Evidence cables have a sound, it’s certainly as nice as the more expensive Van den Hul I’ve also been using, and as nice as the PRS/Van Damme patch cables I also used until I needed different configurations. Compared to the George L’s, I’d say the sound I get with the Evidence or Van den Hul interconnects might be just a touch rounder, with fuller low mids.
Being the lazy type, I just order the cable, plugs, length, plug orientation, etc., from the cable building page on the Sinasoid website. They have a new mini plug that’s as tiny as can be. It’s pretty nice, and of course they would come out with it after I already built my pedalboard!
Also, to keep things organized, I ordered a couple of Van Damme cables in a different color with Neutrik plugs with colored end caps (red for output, while for input) to use with the pedalboard’s loop. So at teardown after a session, (sometimes I move my guitar stuff out of the way to accommodate other musicians) everything’s easy to identify.
However, if I was building my own cables again, I’d use the Evidence Audio with screw-in connections. The plugs create a very sturdy connection. There are times you get what you pay for, and it winds up being nickels and dimes in the long run when it comes to cables. In fact, I invested in good mic and interconnect cables for my studio gear in 1991. I still use them daily. I’ve never had one go bad. So that’s pretty good value.
