Cordial CGK 175 BK

It is okay for normal straight jacks, but approach with caution if you want angled jacks.

After years of using George L's solderless jacks and cable I purchased this cable to try out the Neutrik Timbre jack. With the extremely limited space inside this specialist jack it was extremely difficult to assemble with this big fat inflexible cable.

EDIT: I would like to qualify my previous assessment.
Never, I mean ... NEVER ...EVER, have I come across such a f*#%!g awful cable. Making up jack cables has been a 'bread & butter' task for nearly fifty years but what is normally a three minute job is transformed into 45 minutes of frustration.

Unless you like wasting your time, look elsewhere for your cable.

If you don't know much about cables, and you don't want to get so deep into that; this one is the 'go to' choice. It looks like you can not go that fancy with cables, but actually some features can make your cabling life easier.
Cordial CGK 175 has really tick outer isolation, which makes it durable, easy to wrap it, and not interfere with other electro magnetic fields ( electro magnetic interferences cause some static noises, which is not the case with this cable) Also, the signal wire is well isolated and easy to solder to any kind of plug, and the ground shielding is wrapped around really well, so easy to work with.
I particularly use these for my guitars and pedals and i don't have to think about my cabling at all.
Don't have to mention that price per meter is really affordable.
So convenient!

I purchased a few meters of this for making my own patch cables. Since it is thicker than most other instrument cables, I expected it to be quite stiff, so I was surprised by the softness and the flexibility of it. It is not like one of those cables that act more like a spring than a cable. Also, it is relatively easy to work with in terms of stripping the outer jacket, removing the conductive shield and then stripping the insulation of the inner conductor, which is much thicker than on most other instrument cables. If I had to name one downside, I would say that the braided shield takes some time to unbraid with a toothpick or something similar, so for those who want to save some time and do not mind paying a bit more, I would recommend the Cordial CGK Road 75 cable. Judging by the specifications provided on the Cordial website, it is exactly the same cable as the CGK 175 (same conductor diameter, same capacitance, same thickness, and so on) but the CGK Road 75 has a spiral shield instead of a braided one, so there will be no need to unbraid it. Since I only needed three cables, I did not have an issue with spending a little bit more time on that, but those who plan on making more cables, might want to consider this factor.

I really like to build my stuff on my own, and so did I with my cables a while ago. No brand offered high quality cables with the components and lengths I needed - at least not for a good price. So I took my soldering iron, the Cordial CGK 175 and some Neutrik plugs - and after a few years of doing gigs, playing at home or in the rehearsal room I am still happy. Other cables had a lack of treble when they were 6 meters or longer (which is a physical phenomenon because of capacity and no voodoo!), but these can get very long and still sound bright and good. I use this cable between pedals, in my effects loop, from guitar to pedals and from pedals to my amp. (four times three meters (plus pedal cables)!) Sounds as bright as plugging in directly without loop or pedals.
Robust, good sounding, flexible, not too expensive .. No reason to me to not buy this again! Great stuff, thanks to Cordial.

This cable is of good quality, it has a detailed and clear/bright character that does not colour the sound much, shielding is weaved, it is slightly thicker than standard cables. It is the opposite of Sommer The Spirit Black Zilk cable, which is a colouring cable and has an interesting smooth "compressed/flattened" sound.
I play mostly music between rock, grunge and metal and I'm also quite sensitive when it comes to guitar sounds.
In combination with my aftermarket humbucker on my Pacifica I find the sound of the Cordial CGK 175 very good.
I made the cables my self using Neutrik connectors.
The Sommer has Hicon connectors.

I have bought this cable many times. It is the softest cable with a cross-section of 0.5-0.75 mm of all that I have had. But in January 2025, they sent me a harder cable... and this one just pisses me off. You can't use it.
The old cables are more rubbery and smooth, and the new one is a little rough and plastic.
The manufacturer doesn't care...

I tried different Sommers, but the old Cordial was the best.
Capacity. All my cables have CGK175, it corresponds to the declared 88 pf/m.

I will look for something else.

July 11, 2025. I bought another one to try... The cable is of the same poor quality (I will never buy it again...