Mini 3.5mm Aux Cable

They say when there's a need there's a way! Okay, to be honest, this is a want.
What I have pictured here is my Vox AmPlug and Creative SoundBlaster E3 (BT Mode to an iPhone 5 16GB white/silver). Connected to it is a 6ft (1.8m) 3.5mm six cable. So... It drags behind me as I'm trying to jam out for some guitar practice! 

Hence the need for a smaller cable. 1 ft cables are hard to find so I e-mailed AVshop.ca for some 3.5mm connectors and Mini-mic Cable. 
20' of cable and 2 Rean NYS231BG connectors.

Each connector comes in 3 pieces, the plug itself, a antishort, and the housing (this one happens to be metal, yours may be plastic depending on what model you buy).

Stripping back the end of the cable I find a red, white and in shielded wire. I have no clue which is what part of the Jack, not that it really matters, but...

Because I'm a former TLSS tech with experience in cable repair, I can disassemble my older cables to show you that Red-Tip, White-Ring, Ground-Sleeve. You're welcome!

Now comes the assembly.
First, strip the end of the cable, in this case I've already done this.

Second, slide the housing, followed by the antishort, onto the wire. Forget this step, and you'll have to start again!

Third, burn back the nylon strands on the wire, DO NOT BURN THE WIRES OR TARNISH THEM. If you do, cut the end off and re-strip the wires! I used an Iroda MicroJet Torch for this.

4th, strip back the red and white wires; ensuring you've snipped enough to work, but not too much or it'll be out the back of the housing. Experience and foresight are key here. In your case you may have to make one wire shorter than another. Make sure you have a good amount of wire left, if you've clipped off too many strands this can impede the signal, cut it and try again.

Next up, mount up, tin up! Apply solder to the tabs of the connector. I like to scratch the inside of the ground clamp to allow better adherence of solder. The scratching is completely optional. If you don't know about tinning, there are many excellent tutorials on YouTube and the Internet.

Next up, solder the wires as per the determined arrangement: red-tip, white-ring, ground-sleeve.

Now that it's all soldered up, BEFORE you close the strain relief and cut the wire, measure out what you need. For me the best option was to bring my guitar down to the workshop and measure out by hand. I pinched the wire and added 3 fingers (about 2 inches) and came out to about 20" of wire in the end.
Notice I moved the sound card to the strap. Not everything works out the way you might think at first.

Now just repeat with the other side of the wire. DO NOT "FINISH" THE CABLE ON ONE END YET! It has not been tested!

Now that both ends are soldered, and there are no obvious faults, we shall perform what I call a "Round-Robin" test. With a multimeter, we test each conductor, and each connector against the other connectors and it's common connector. If anything except Tip-Tip, Ring-Ring, or Sleeve-Sleeve has conductivity, then we have a problem we must diagnose.

On my cable I tested Sleeve-sleeve, which is good, but then Sleeve-Ring also had continuity (it was conductive) therefore I located a short on the first end, and de soldered, cut the wire, and retried the connection. This is why we have the extra 2" on the end, so we can afford to screw up.

After cutting, repeat the soldering process, and testing again. The connections on both ends now passed for me. An in-perfect cable will produce imperfect sound and could damage equipment.

Now it's time to close it up.

First squash the sides of the strain relief towards the cable.

Then bring down one side.

Now squish down the other side,

Slide the anti short over the entire connection. I know the cable sheathing is sliced, do as I say, not as I do.

Screw the housing onto the jack.

Looking good? 
Now close the strain relief, and pull the antishort on the other side, and make it look pretty too!

Now test continuity round-robin one last time, as pressing the strain relief could have damaged the cables internally.

Mine passes! Now I'm off to practice guitar! Peace out, rock out everyone!
Now that I've had some practice, and tested the cable (It works! Sounds good!)
Full disclosure time!

Provided for free:
Tools and equipment pictured; most belong to my dad's company, Prime Mechanical Co. 

Tools Used

Hand Tools: 
  • Mastercraft Flat Screwdriver

  • Mastercraft 5" Vise (Model: 57-9005-2)
  • T-Stripper (Wire stripper)
  • Wilde Water Pump Pliers
Power(ed) tools:
  • Soldering Iron (PowerFist 35 Watt Pistol Grip Soldering Gun)
    • A new tip for the gun was also provided by PM
    • Associated solder and flux

My tools:
  • Wire Stripper (Mastercraft) (They don't sell mine anymore, I've had them for years)
  • Multi Meter (Mastercraft #52-0064-4 is the modern equivalent, I have an older model)
  • An old leather work glove (to protect the connector from the vise)

Provided at a discount to me:

Components:

  • 2x Rean NYS231BG Connectors (AVshop.ca)
  • Vox AmPlug (Cosmo Music Canada)
  • Squire-Fender Stratocaster (Full Duncan Pick-ups)
Other Components:
  • 3628, 2 conductor+Ground Microphone Cable "Mini Mic Cable" 
    • (Special Order Item from AVshop.ca)
  • Creative SoundBlaster E3 (Canada Computers)

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