Guitar over Cat5 project 4

Done some testing in a 'real' environment now, and it's a qualified success.  It handles the FX send and return plus the channel control without a problem, even over 10m of cat5.  However the disappointment is that as soon as I add the input from the guitar it squeaks and feeds back like a bastard.  It just about copes over 1.5m but is unreliable over a longer run.  If I had any electronics knowledge at all there'd probably be an explanation.

So I will be using it live, as I hope it'll reduce setup/breakdown times.  Pics of the final setup to follow...

Guitar over Cat5 project 3

The stage end now looks like this:

In a metal box for protection from drunken dancing audience members with uprated jack sockets.

Inside view:

Next week - testing live!

Guitar over Cat5 project 2

Moved into phase 2, here's what I have now:

Basically a Cat5 socket connected to 4 bits of guitar cable with jacks on the end, and;

and a Cat 5 socket connected directly to 4 jack sockets.

Item 1 gets connected to the amp sockets: input, FX send, FX return and footswitch

Item 2 (stage end) connected by short patches to input/output of the pedal, guitar connected to the corresponding input socket.  For my test the amp I used had the wrong type of footswitch (momentary action rather than latching), so I had to plug the actual footswitch into the box.  All I'm really doing here is making an extension cable, but just using the medium of Cat5 rather than multicore!

BUT... the damn thing works!  No apparent crosstalk/interference/line hum/attenuation, even through a 5m patch cable.  I'd call that a success.  Next time, testing it in a proper band environment (rehearsal room)...

Guitar over Cat5 project 1

My stage guitar rig can be a bit of a bind when setting up and breaking down - it's configured thus:

Guitar plugs straight into amp
Effects send to Boss GT8 pedal
Output from GT8 to effects return
Additional cable from GT8 to footswitch allowing GT8 to switch channel

So all in all 4 cables involved.  I wanted to try & cut down, initially by using a 4-pair multicore, then I could bring the guitar input down to the floor, keeping to a single cable run.

But multicore can be a bit expensive, and I'm an IT network technician with access to lots of Cat5 cable, so I started to wonder...  Could I run the whole thing over Cat5 UTP network cable, put a RJ45 socket at either end then all I'd need is a patch cable of the correct length.

No-one as far as I can see on several Googlings has tried it, so the only way to find out is to experiment.


Today I have this:

which is an old guitar lead soldered to one pair of a bit of Cat5, punched down onto a socket module

and this

which is Cat5 cable punched down into a module with a jack plug on the end

Plug in the lead to my guitar, plug the 2nd bit into an amp*, connect with a 5m patch lead and... bingo!  It works!  No apparent loss of signal strength or quality.

*I did use a proper amp to test - the mini-Marshall is just to show schematic!

Next step is to put in the other channels and see if there's any crosstalk, hum or interference with the FX loop running backwards & forwards.  Watch this space.