So fortunately the wires seem to be color coded so we can just cut the thing, figure out what's what at the plug end and then resolder the wires into the new plug . . . . the copper is PROBABLY the common ground with the red either the right or left ...
Wires ready to solder into the new plug, yes the copper DID turn out to be the common ground . . .
First one done . . .
All soldered up . . . I was smart and remembered to check diameters before starting soldering, so there are 4 layers of heat shrink tubing around the wire to fill the hole on the plug and for strain relief . . .
All done, I really enjoy these much more than the 'cheap' pairs I have been using . . . MUCH flatter response than almost all bass heavy cheap pairs I've been trying/using for a while now (some of them are really unusable for anything for bass heavy modern stuff . . . and that's just NOT my thing) . . . . unfortunately the pug is to big to fit through the opening in my phone case but I'll take that for the better listening experience.