Quality Cables?

[MikeVt]

Hey guys - what standard 1/4" mono cables do you find work best, and are the most reasonably priced?

I tend to like cables with an angled jack on one end, but they always seem to fail prematurely on me. I recently bought one from Planet Waves, and I'm really impressed with the build quality - but stocking up could easily drain my wallet.

Any other recommendations for reasonably priced, high quality cables?

Mike

 

[SteveB]

Mike,

I never use anything but Belden cable with Switchcraft plugs. They're cheap and reliable and sound fine to my ears.

 

[beej]

Bill Lawrence makes low capacitance cable and it's not expensive. Good stuff.

 

[phatduckk]

i think i read a post by someone who seems like they had the perfect cable strategy ...

so they said that planet waves had a lifetime guarantee; so they got 2 ... one to use and the other to "keep safe". if #1 went bad theyd send it in for the guarantee thing and use #2 untill #1 was shipped back ... something like that. sounded like a good plan.

 

[shamus63]

Monster Cables with the angled-end seems to be the ticket for me. I also use their speaker cables.

 

[Dcareaga]

Evidence Audio makes the best cables, hands down.
They are also the most expensive. I use their Speaker cable because it gets less wear and tear. Their Guitar cable is too expensive for me to be running around on stage with.
Planet Waves makes a Great cable, I use one with an angled end now and again.
Mostly I make my own out of Switchcraft Plugs and Mogami 2524 cable sounds great and Cheap!

 

[jeffrey]

Monster Cables with the angled-end seems to be the ticket for me. I also use their speaker cables.

Me too.

 

[tommyindelaware]

i use these oddly enough !!!!!they are inexpensive....sound great.......reliable .....and i REALLY like the company !!!!!
Ernie Ball
Ultraflex® Cables
(1 Straight / 1 Angle)
Color: Black
20 Foot (6.1m): product # 8098

if your somebody who simply can't be satisfied w/ an excellent cable just because it's not very much money.......dimarzio has an ep1715 & ep1721 . 15' & 21'.
dimarzio are VERY reliabe & sound excellent. also.......the dimarzio one is not unreasonably expensive.
i seen a monster guitar cable the other day for $180.00 bucks .
are people REALLY that stupid ?????????

 

[Jimi D]

i seen a monster guitar cable the other day for $180.00 bucks .
are people REALLY that stupid ?????????

Apparently, Yes... I've a/b'd a dozen different Monster Cables over the years (A/V, instrument, speaker), and when compared with good quality cables from other manufacturers, there are never any audible or visible differences that I could discern on my equipment. Since I own good stuff, I have concluded that Monster's claims are probably about 90% bull****... ymmv, but I think they're selling voodoo and lies...

 

[francric]

Planet Waves here...........

 

[SteveB]

EB cable specs?

What cable and plugs are used on the Ernie Ball cables?

I've never seen their cables in a store (I probably didn't look thoroughly). Now that I know they make 'em, I will certainly give them a try.

I tried their guitar polish based on Tommy's recommendation, and I love the stuff. It's the only polish I've used that doesn't leave a waxy residue.

 

[blackspy]

Bill Lawrence makes low capacitance cable and it's not expensive. Good stuff.

I just checked these out, do you know how they compare to the George L cables? They seem to be similar.



This thread is of particular interest to me, since right now my cables are basically a mix of digiflex and whatever they have at the store that seem decent. My short patch cables are the very, very cheap kind, and I suspect this is having a detrimental effect on my tone.

...watching all the responses with interest.

 

[Darth Tater]

As the home audio guys already know...

"ANYTHING but Monster Cable is good...."

 

[neastguy]

bayou cables is the way to go!! I love em....

 

[CudBucket]

Evidence Audio makes the best cables, hands down.

Mostly I make my own out of Switchcraft Plugs and Mogami 2524 cable sounds great and Cheap!

Hi. Do you have directions or a link to some? I've made my own AC power cords and audio/video interconnects before but that was with Canare solderless plugs. I've never done guitar cable before.

Thanks.

Dave

 

[beej]

I just checked these out, do you know how they compare to the George L cables? They seem to be similar ... My short patch cables are the very, very cheap kind, and I suspect this is having a detrimental effect on my tone.

I haven't tried George Ls. I like the BL cable but can't really compare it to other makes (the price is right and you get a whack of cable plus connectors to go with it so you can make your own lengths). I'm a fan of BL in general, and I've spoken to him about the effect of capacitance on a few occasions.

For getting clean tones, low-cap cable (whatever kind you like) is really important, as capcitance added by the cable will shift the resonant frequency peak of your pickups down, causing you to lose highs. For distorted tones, this is an advatage- you want more oomph in the mid range and less in the highs, so cable really doesn't matter as much. Some guys I've met go so far as to use low-cap cable and switch in different capacitors at their guitars, so as to simulate the effect of different cables on the fly. (A few cents spent on capacitors and resistors can save you hundreds on new pickups.)

Anyhow ... for the smaller runs between effects, I don't think there's as much necessity for great cable- the capacitance effect depends on distance, so small pieces won't have much of an effect. Taking capacitance out of the picture, you'd just want something with high conductivity that's well shielded. That's probably any good quality cable (and not necessarily the expensive stuff).

 

[dfrady]

I've tried several differnt brands of cables over the years, but the ones i am most fond of are ProCo. I have one ProCo cable that i have had for 10 years now, and it's still just as good today as when it was when i bought it.

 

[edensdad]

I guess I'm in the minority.

I've had good luck with Monster Cables. Cables may look different on a oscilliscope (frequency response, signal strength, etc), but all good cables sound the same to me, the difference is in the reliability - I don't want to be resoldering ends - ever - I want to play guitars not fix them. The Monsters have stood up to my abuse quite nicely for years.

>^..^<

 

[shamus63]

You'd have to be a real __________ to spend $180 on a guitar cable! Me, I only spent $45 delivered for the guitar cable, and about $25 for the speaker cable.

Neither one of them have failed me, unlike the slightly lower-priced run-of-the-mill cables.

 

[gproud5150]

I also use Ernie Ball cables. They very low noise and use Switchcraft ends. Great bang for the buck.