Cable

StephenGiles · March 13, 2021, 06:57:35 AM

I tried an experiment to disprove the cable cost rip off!! I connected my Les Paul Junior to amp using various leads from ultra thin Virgin Atlantic headphone cable to £20 for 1 metre rip off - result was no difference in the sound whatsoever. Agreed that the thicker cable is tougher, but to hoodwink us that the expensive cable is "better quality" is rubbish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

anotherjim · March 13, 2021, 07:02:21 AM

Thick heavy cable & plugs cause damage to jack plugs in my experience. The extra weight and forces cause more wear & tear on the jack sockets and where pcb mounted, break solder joints. Guitar mounted sockets are also troubled.

Mark Hammer · March 13, 2021, 09:02:08 AM

It will depend on length, as well as the bandwidth of what one is feeding it, not to mention the input impedance of the amp and things like volume-pot value. And...um...we'll toss in the age of the ears, for good measure.

I regularly recommend to people who inquire about buffers, that they try plugging their guitar directly into their amp using the longest cable they have (or perhaps joining two cables using a pedal with true bypass in bypass mode), then plugging their guitar into the amp using the shortest workable patch cable they have (even if it means having to stand right up against the amp to accommodate the connection). The difference in bandwidth is striking, whether using better or worse cable (though I have to admit never having done the same comparison using worse and better long cables to assess the relative impact).

I would imagine there are some pickups whose tone will be more audibly affected by cable than others. Maybe one of the reasons why LPJrs are so revered is because they sound great no matter what cable or other gear one uses.

stallik · March 13, 2021, 09:12:57 AM

20-25 years ago, I bought a good length of Proel HD low capacitance guitar cable and made up my own 5-15m leads with decent plugs.

They sounded no different to the rubbish cables I had been using but lay flatter, kinked less and wound up easily. Never had a moments issue and I became used to them. Today, they're ready for replacement. One looked like it was rotting from inside out. Nothing lasts forever.

I'd picked up full reel of guitar cable in the Maplin sale for £8. Horrible looking and feeling, thin as a thin thing and not something I would have purchased at full price even in an emergency. Guitar cables made from it tangle like freshly dug worms and I hate them. Passionately. They sound just the same though.

Mark Hammer · March 13, 2021, 09:34:22 AM

For my last band, we bought a big spool of Belden 8410 and made cables for everyone from that. Still using them 40 years later, although they have gotten progressively shorter as I had to clip, strip and resolder the ends to plugs when they got intermittent from all the bending.

iainpunk · March 13, 2021, 04:48:24 PM

''sticky'', easy to break and tangle-prone cables are just awful. i really don't mind paying a premium for not having to hassle with sh1tty cables. ofcourse the tone doesn't change, its a cable, duh, but the amount of hassle and agony really makes a difference!

cheers

Nasse · March 15, 2021, 10:27:35 PM

Mostly been using ready made ones lately, they sure are better now than in the old days. I was fifteen years and had 50 Watt tube amplifier and bass player said I should use my most bad quality crackling cable as speaker wire and the other between amp and guitar. One that come free with wah wah pedal could be used as microphone, but we use to take shoes off indoors. Think i tried super stiff tv antenna cable once for guitar. But there is useful trick to use shielded cat5 cable for microphone or balanced line

iainpunk · March 16, 2021, 07:58:27 AM

QuoteThink i tried super stiff tv antenna cable once for guitar.

i have one of those on a shelf, used to use it between pedals board and amp, because its tough as nails.

cheers

Mark Hammer · March 16, 2021, 09:54:14 AM

It IS "tough as nails. But like a nail (and speaking as a Hammer, I *know* nails), it sure doesn't bend easily.

iainpunk · March 16, 2021, 10:37:52 AM

Quote from: Mark Hammer on March 16, 2021, 09:54:14 AM
It IS "tough as nails. But like a nail (and speaking as a Hammer, I *know* nails), it sure doesn't bend easily.

it need not bend, its taped to the floor anyways, in between amp and pedals, i don't want it to move anyways, so that's a virtue!

cheers

edit: also, nails bend on me all the time, that's why i use screws most of the time.

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