Which wires connect to what for recabling?

[WhoaTony]

Hello everyone,
 
New to this forum, I apologise in advance for being a massive noob. I only recently discovered the joys that audiophiles share. I still only buy equipment on the cheap, until recently using a pair of HD238s and a cmoy amp for portable listening. The HD238 plug has now worn down, and bent a bit, so the sound on the right ear cuts out regularly.
 
Anyway, I couldn't find a definitive answer to this question, and I'm afraid of messing up. I just wanted to replace the plug so that I can continue using the cans, the only replacement plug I could find was an unused pair of Apple earbuds, but it is the new plastic plug version, so I think it would suffice. I stripped both wires, and now I am confused.
 
The HD238 cable has a red, blue and copper wire. The Apple earbuds have a red, green, intertwined red and green, and copper wire. Are there any steps I should know about before proceeding? I assume these wires are also insulated as certain how-tos have mentioned. I have a little (tiny) bit of soldering experience, and all the necessary equipment.
 
Thanks in advance.
 
EDIT: messing around with colours

 

[Raguvian]

This would probably be better off in the DIY section, but:
 
On the HD238, the red is most likely the right channel and the blue is most likely the left channel. I say most likely because when I was reterminating my Shures red was left and blue was right, at least according to the Neutrik diagram. Copper is your ground.
 
I'm assuming the new Apple earbuds have an inline mic attached? The red wire is your right channel, the green your left (most likely), and copper will be ground, with the intertwined wires being for the mic. The best thing to do would be to hold all the wires together so they contact, and then either use a multimeter or just plug the headphones into a music player and make sure that the left and right channels both work properly.
 
Also, a Neutrik plug is about $5-10 shipped and is far more durable than the Apple plug and is very easy to disassemble and solder together. That would be a better long term solution than using the Apple plug.

 

[StackNZ]

You should always have a multimeter on hand when you're doing soldering. The tip of the jack, is the left channel. Right is the ring. Sleeve is ground. From this you should be able to find which wire so which as the colours don't always match up. However, ideally your job would be made many times easier if you bought a purpose made jack that's designed to be soldered. I took this picture to help you identify the parts of the jack. Happy DIY'n

 

[WhoaTony]

Thanks for the replies guys, and I'll put this in the right section next time.
 
The earbuds for the Apple plug didn't have a mic... but hm, maybe that is the case.
Yeah, I don't have a multimeter, so I guess I'm not fully equipped.
 
Well, so long as I'm not shorting anything out, I'll give it a go...
 
Also, I'll have a look into that neutrik plug, I just needed a instant solution based on what I have on hand.