None of the BBS compatible coils have shielding in the cable, other than from what I hear the newer versions of the S-12 coil, and that was (I guess) only done because they needed shielding cable to make those coils for the FBS versions of them. The BBS units have a pre-amp in the coil which boosts the initial RX winding (receive coil) signal to make it less prone to signal degradation, EMI, or signal strength as it travels up the longer BBS (Excal/Sov) coil cables, as they are both meant to hip or chest mount for both land and water (Sovereign included in this respect).
The SEF coils should use the same 4 wires. From memory, when I fixed a cable short in my 12x10 I bought used, there are 4 wires like other coils- 2 for the TX winding (which the meter also feeds power form in PARALLEL, so no loss of voltage to the TX winding), and also an RX receive signal and a ground wire. Once the RX signal is received by the control box, a 5th wire (ID signal) is sent from the control box back down to the meter. This 5th wire is only present in the meter's cable, as the meter plugs in between the control box and the coil. That 5th line is sent down the meter's cable to the meter, so no need for it beyond the meter down to the coil.
I can't remember the particulars of the coil cable wire colors in my 12x10 when I fixed it, but if you just cut the cable behind the plug and then match up the colors to the right pins on the plug, the job would be simple.
However, why are you doing this? If it's for cosmetic or weight reasons then worth the job, but if it's for performance reasons I saw no benefits to either a shorter cable, or not using a meter. Here is the pictorial I did on that. A shorter coil cable had no impact on that...
http://youtu.be/1CRxPoJ6O7o
