top end cables .......... can change your sound

Keira-WitherKay · 2011-10-07T17:06:35+00:00

last night i was early to set up at the TJ's show run by Bob and fingerpicker was the sound guy , and fingerpicker mentioned he had bought a lot of top end c...

top end cables .......... can change your sound

ET-Phone-Home

Lol pun totally intended ?

Fingerpicker

ET Phone Home wrote: Just out of curiosity, what would you guys consider to be a high quality cable? I know absolutely jack about this topic and would be really awesome if I can learn more. ?

Mogami, Sommer, Monster to name a few.

Must be a few more out there?

Attila

George L. cable and connectors - Pro: you can fix a cable with a skrewdriver Con - should have soldered connections

I read that Cesar Diaz , "amp tech to the guitar gods", expressed his frustration with the fact that...after spending untold hours tuning-up SRV's amps, etc for recording sessions...SRV insisted upon using a Radio Shack curly cord for recording because of the capacitance, to tame highs.

Funny Quote : "Oh man, C'Mon

After all this time, search'n and practic'n, and play'n and doing open mics and gig'n and surfin the web, try'n to get a tone just like SRV I've bought his Fender named guitars, i bought the amps they said he used, I put the tubes in it like they say he had, I followed Diaz's suggestions that he gave Stevie and I even bought a black hat, wear cowboy boots and so much more........

when all the time it was simply the guitar cord!

Oh lord, the humanity!"

? ? ?

AlanRatcliffe

Mogami, Canare are the industry standards - both on stage and in studio. Both good sounding, flexible and durable cables. Evidence, Klotz and Belden are also excellent options. Yes, there may be slight sonic differences with long cable runs, but IMO not enough to worry about in most playing situations (and totally moot if you have a buffered, low-Z signal like after a pedal or with a pre-amped acoustic). Also, even with a longer run of a higher capacitance cable you mostly just lose a little high end (and presumably your amp as those tone control thingies?).

Having said that, I do like the Mogami, but it's a little thinner and stiffer and has more of a "memory" for kinks and twists from bad coiling, all of which make Canare a better stage cable IMO - but Canare has been difficult to get locally in recent years. I have a pair of 3m Carver cables for studio, which sound fantastic, but are thick, heavy and stiff as all hell, so I don't use them much.

Currently I also have a great sounding cable Gian from Guitartone lent me (with a Swart amp and Reverend Flatroc, but that's another story...) - made with Van Den Hul cable and Futuretech plugs. Sounds pretty much like my Mogamis, but is more flexible and has a woven nylon outer jacket. Not sure of the price, but if it's not too bad, I'll probably get a pair as my main stage cables.

Gearhead

Van den Hul = expensive ?
I have on more than one occasion easily resisted temptation to buy interlinks from them going for €120 a pair. Ouch.

needleshy

damn, thats a lot of dosh..... for a cable.

Jack-Flash-Jr

Based on what I've read the general consensus seems to be that high end cables are rip-offs (particularly monster) for the slight difference they make. I think reliability and ruggedness are what should be sought.
120 Euros for one cable, then a normal speaker cable in tha chain? Dunno.
But, as noted, don't know jack about the tech side. ?

vic

Attila wrote: There is little doubt that not all cable are made equal - capacitance is the main culprit ....from 95pf/m for the better ones to 150pf/m for the less expensive.. This is, however, looking at the cable only.

Note that everything in the equation has an effect - Pickups >> Pots Resistance >>Guitar cable >> Pedal>> Cable>> Amp Input Resistance. be it good or bad electrically and depending on what your are setting up for.

The flawed assumption that we all make is that everything we buy is plug and play matched, So if you want to tune your rig scientifically.... get the grey haired men in white coats to help.

imprompto A/B comparisons are always going to be subjective, unless they are done in a controled environment with a fequency sweep

Here's a good article on the topic

http://www.aqdi.com/cablecap.htm

slyd

Jack Flash Jr wrote: I think reliability and ruggedness are what should be sought.

+1 ?
You can always adjust your tonal qualities (on the amp or axe) to make up for the {minimal} losses incurred through other (cheaper, but quality) cables. :-[

MikeM

One decent buffer will also handle more cheap cable than most people are able to use.

Gearhead

slyd wrote: You can always adjust your tonal qualities (on the amp or axe) to make up for the {minimal} losses incurred through other (cheaper, but quality) cables

Completely disagree. No amp can make what the cable does not give. As long as you are talking heavy riffing it's fine, but in funky flanged chopping you need your sparkle. Yes you can turn up the presence but no it's not going to make up for what you loose.

Fingerpicker

This is the cable that I have been comparing Mogami to. The Beast at R150/m and the Spirit XXL at R40/m
Both perform well and look more stage tough than Mogami. The beast doesn't take solder easily.
Both very nice looking cables, the Beast has a checkered look from red and green colored copper shielding and the Spirit has a carbon fibre look due to silvery braided shielding cased in smokey grey plastic.
I hope these links will get you there.

www.broadcastlines.com/Sommer%20Grindycop%20Beast.pdf

www.broadcastlines.com/Sommer%20Spirit%20XXL.pdf