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Tip of the Week

If you are making your own interconnects or comm.`s leads and you feel like you need a third hand, then here's a tip:-

Get a pair of pliers and put an ‘Elastic Band` around the handles to hold them closed with a vice like grip.

Then place your (DIN, XLR or Phono) plug between the jaws of the pliers and away you go you have now got your two hands free to solder with.

You can vary the tension on the pliers by the size of the ‘Elastic Band` or by double wrapping the ‘Elastic Band`.

Happy Soldering

Mike

Which brand of pliers and elastic bands would you recommend to ensure optimum sound quality from the leads?

The brand of pliers is not important, so long as they are non-magnetic. I recommend Van den Hul "Hi-lastic" bands at �250 for a pack of ten.

That's got to be in the next "top tips" page in Viz!

No, seriously, thanks for the tip (well tinned of course)

Cheeerie

George

PS For Hikers outside of the UK, here's some info on Viz comic:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3590456.stm

And an example of their parody of womens magazines' "top tips" page, "as sent in by readers":
Viz Top Tips: "Why waste money on expensive binoculars? Simply move closer to the object you wish to view!"

Oh well, I suppose you really had to be there...

Well I own a pair of Meridian pliers and use the 800 series 'Elastic Bands'

Take a piece of wood, make a hole in it and screw a chassis part onto it. Ideal to put the plug in and solder it.

Top Tip:

Take any member of the What HiFi reviews team, and gently push a high quality RCA phono socket into each ear, plug first, and solder the cable of your choice onto the tabs of one of them. Now loop the cable around the reviewer's head, and with the first connection still firmly in place, start to work on the second plug. Repeat as necessary until the wiring loom for your system is complete. Alternatively, save time by lining up the entire editorial staff and produce several cables in sequence. Ensure each person has the fingers of one hand curled as if holding the handle of a tankard of ale. Then you have somewhere to rest your iron whilst preparing each cable length.

Cheers

George