Rattlesnake Cable Co. Snake Review

[DrewJD82]

I wanted to make a legit loom for my two rigs but when looking at the cost to get all the materials I knew I’d likely be hitting the cost of having one made by a company that does it all day long and wont trash half the materials in the process and I have zero interest in soldering MIDI cables.
I’ve seen Rattlesnake Cable Co on IG and figured I’d hit them up. It was the Sunday previous to this past weekend around noon and I think in 20 minutes later I realized I had a missed call on my phone as well as a text message from Hank stating he was calling from Rattlesnake to go over some details.

I texted back stating I’d be available after a certain time and said “as much as I appreciate the above and beyond on a Sunday, I’m in no rush, feel free to call me tomorrow”, but Hank called right when I said I’d be available. While you write in the initial contact page what you’re looking for, the call is good to go over some details, particularly the break away points on each end of the snake and how much slack you need. They start at 12” on the pedalboard side and I believe 4’ on the amp side to allow enough slack in case the snake is reaching in front and behind an amp or rack.

I think he sent me 3 proofs before we got everything right and what we didn’t catch on the phone, Hank caught via text as I had to send some pictures of my board so we could figure out if right angle jacks would work (they won’t, due to the shrink wrap tubing not allowing them to sit properly, they need 2” of clearance, IIRR). Shortly after our last text I had an email confirmation that my order was started and the following day I had a tracking number and the package was on its way! It’s a 30’ loom, while I’m not playing stadiums, every damn homemade snake I’ve ever made ends up dictating where I put my amp/cab, mostly because the breakpoints where things get plugged into different locations. Won’t be an issue now!

The storm made it take a few extra days but I picked it up this morning-

I love the feeling of well-made, heavy duty shit and this definitely fits the bill. @TSJMajesty laughed a few months back when I got excited over a pedlbalboard/case, this is no different.

The *only* thing I would change about this are the leather labels, these won’t be visible on a dark stage for shit so I’ll end up sticking some neon green Brother labels on them.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Nice! Two questions:

1. Was it reasonably priced?
2. Is signal loss a concern given cable lengths?

 

[SeeD]

 

[DrewJD82]

Nice! Two questions:

1. Was it reasonably priced?
2. Is signal loss a concern given cable lengths?

I think it was $330 shipped. “Reasonably” definitely gets defined in the owner’s mind with something like this, for sure. Between my shit-snakes breaking on me and never being long enough, I looked at this as a buy once, cry once thing that’ll buy me 30’ of not worrying about cables anymore. I’ve made plenty of my own ziptied snakes and then enjoyed practically sitting on my cabs because it wasn’t long enough or a cable broke and I had to replace it with a shorter one.

As for signal loss, I wasn’t too worried about as everything on my board is buffered, but I’m sure if you requested something long enough they’d likely ask you if you’ve considered buffers or not. Hank was really thorough on the phone with the stuff that you won’t normally think of due to not ordering looms everyday and they’ve likely pumped out enough by now.

 

[DrewJD82]

My bad, a snake is another term for a grouping of cables wrapped tightly in a bundle that keeps them nice and neat.

I’ve got some velcro left over from my board build in case the shoelaces are posing too much of a challenge. Just lemme know, I’m happy to send it over.

 

[Chocol8]

The *only* thing I would change about this are the leather labels, these won’t be visible on a dark stage for shit so I’ll end up sticking some neon green Brother labels on them.

Hmmm. I would just put dots of different colored glow in the dark paint on each one...and then forget which color is which EVERY FUCKING TIME!!! But that's just how I roll, YMMV.

 

[DrewJD82]

Hmmm. I would just put dots of different colored glow in the dark paint on each one...and then forget which color is which EVERY FUCKING TIME!!! But that's just how I roll, YMMV.

They offer colored shrink wrap specifically for this, but I’m way too picky about stuff like that and it would drive me insane looking down and seeing red, yellow, white and blue wires sticking off my board.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I think it was $330 shipped. “Reasonably” definitely gets defined in the owner’s mind with something like this, for sure. Between my shit-snakes breaking on me and never being long enough, I looked at this as a buy once, cry once thing that’ll buy me 30’ of not worrying about cables anymore. I’ve made plenty of my own ziptied snakes and then enjoyed practically sitting on my cabs because it wasn’t long enough or a cable broke and I had to replace it with a shorter one.

As for signal loss, I wasn’t too worried about as everything on my board is buffered, but I’m sure if you requested something long enough they’d likely ask you if you’ve considered buffers or not. Hank was really thorough on the phone with the stuff that you won’t normally think of due to not ordering looms everyday and they’ve likely pumped out enough by now.

For OCD and cable triggering satisfaction; that's not bad price wise. Looks clean!

 

[paisleywookiee]

That's a nice sack they gave you too.

 

[DrewJD82]

For OCD and cable triggering satisfaction; that's not bad price wise. Looks clean!

I don’t think you could have described my rationale any better!

 

[JiveTurkey]

I don’t think you could have described my rationale any better!

 

[DrewJD82]

I picked it up on the way into work and opened here in my office, one of my employees came in and asked what it was for, I told him my guitar. I gave this guy a bass a few years back and picked out an amp for him and gave him some cables, so he knew kinda what it was for and asked “You have to get special cable? and I said “No, but if you get one that looks nice like this people will think you’re really good guitar player” and we both laugh.

At that moment our elevator vendor walks in as I’ve got the loom in my hand, “Those are really nice cables! I never see cables like this unless someone has a really nice stereo in their house or something, this is for la guitara? You must be really good, that’s not cheap?” and my employee and I burst into laughter and I tell him “No, that’s why I got this, so people will think I am!”

 

[iaresee]

I think it was $330 shipped.

Is that to just put some loom around 4 separate cables? Or is it a multi-strand cable under the loom? Seems like a lot of money if it's the latter. Could have just bought 4 custom cables from redco or bpta and loom on amazon and probably saved yourself >$100.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

 

[TravisG406]

#montana

 

[DrewJD82]

Is that to just put some loom around 4 separate cables? Or is it a multi-strand cable under the loom? Seems like a lot of money if it's the latter. Could have just bought 4 custom cables from redco or bpta and loom on amazon and probably saved yourself >$100.

Well, I can feel the 4 cables n there, but they’re packed pretty tight, or there’s something additional wrapped around them aside from the exterior braiding. I can’t see down in there to tell and I’m not going to start yanking on the braiding to attempt to.

This is 50x more ‘because I can’ than it is ‘because I need’ and I paid for a service I can do on my own minus the professional finish, that’s always going to come with a price and I didn’t mind paying it to obtain a working example of a legit snake. I’ve made enough in the past that turned to shit after 4 gigs, hopefully I can avoid that on the backup I make for this one!

 

[Chocol8]

It has taken me a long time to learn that the money saved by doing everything myself is not always worth it.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Doing stuff fucking sucks sometimes

 

[DrewJD82]

It has taken me a long time to learn that the money saved by doing everything myself is not always worth it.

At least not the first time around, but yeah, there’s a difference between not being afraid to fail and wasting your time/money because your perspective or experience is only letting you see 75% of what you’re trying to pull off.

In the context of this, I used to make the amp-side of the snakes by plugging the cables into where they needed to go then zip-tying them at a point they all started going separate ways as I had it in my head I should have the braiding go as close up to the amp as possible so the cables are as protected as they can be. Eventually the weight of the snake would put stress on the jacks and I’d get breaks and because I was giving such minimal slack, I didn’t account for moving the cables once one or two were plugged in, putting stress on the braiding and the plugged-in jacks. The braiding on every loom I’ve made is a mess on the amp side until I end up taping it and it just looks sloppy.

They make their snakes with a 4’ breakout on the amp side so no cable is dependent on the location of another and the weight of the full snake isn’t put on the jacks, they’re just individual cables going from floor to amp. I could have made 50 more snakes and I guarantee I wouldn’t not have thought to do that, I’d just wrap a roll of Gorilla tape around the braiding and probably a bunch of it around the jacks, too.