guitar cables

[marshall]

What are the best cables out there for a guitar. I am just using some cheap stupid cables right now that buzz really bad.

[Jammy]

I use planet waves...and there great. No buzz, Gold connectors, available in 2, 5, 10, 15, 20 feet and they have a lifetime warranty; if one breaks, post it back to them and they send you a new one, no questions asked!
-better shred than dead-ANDY

[Gearjunky]

The best out there are real expensive. Zaolla, Two Rock, Evidence, Belden, Mogami, Canare, Crystal clear. They will run you from 100 to 160 for a single cable.
There are many options depending on your needs.
A basic cable is good for most people. You can get the George L's, Planet waves, whirlwind, Monster, pro co etc..
Check out this article
http://pub217.ezboard.com/ftonemerch...picID=37.topic
Remember, this stuff is recommended for higher end gear, or you will be wasting your money.
I use Evidence with Nuetric ends in my main rig. My other rig is all george L's with a pair of evidence for my guitar to foot board, and to the rack.
It makes a WORLD of difference.

[the.godfather]

I too would go with Planet Waves, mainly because they are the best for the money.

It will only set you back about £20-£30 for one. And like Andy said, if it breaks just send it back!

Gary - The.Godfather

[JESTER700]

That article was unscientific to say the least, and smacks of typical audiophilia.

A cable can never ADD treble, so George L's CANNOT be "too bright"; all the OTHER ones could, possibly, be "too dull". Also, what's with the *supposition* that the .155 L's couldn't be sturdy, particularly after GP's test of cables that proved the L's as the sturdiest out there?

This kind of thing is interesting reading, but only use it as one data point, and listen for yourself. Cast the ol' hairy eyeball at any tests done by a reseller, since the possible ulterior motives are obvious.

Belden, Mogami, & Canare aren't THAT expensive; certainly not "boutique" cable. But IMO L's is fine, and anyone saying it sounds "choked" would need to back that up with a double blind test before I'd listen.

[darren wilson]

I really like my George L's cables. They seem to suck less treble out of my sound, and i really like how light and flexible they are. Almost as good as going wireless.

Gold-plated plugs on cables really have no value unless you have gold-plated jacks on your guitar, effects and amps.

[ScottB]

I buy bulk Mogami cable and Switchcraft ends and make 'em myself. I like to keep the cables between my effects as short as possible. I can make them with about 1-1/2" of cable showing if I use right angle plugs.

[pawel]

I'm using Klotz or something and it's been pretty good on me...

[microdmitry]

Originally Posted by Gearjunky

The best out there are real expensive. Zaolla, Two Rock, Evidence, Belden, Mogami, Canare, Crystal clear. They will run you from 100 to 160 for a single cable.
There are many options depending on your needs.
A basic cable is good for most people. You can get the George L's, Planet waves, whirlwind, Monster, pro co etc..
Check out this article
http://pub217.ezboard.com/ftonemerch...picID=37.topic
Remember, this stuff is recommended for higher end gear, or you will be wasting your money.
I use Evidence with Nuetric ends in my main rig. My other rig is all george L's with a pair of evidence for my guitar to foot board, and to the rack.
It makes a WORLD of difference.

I bought some good Canare cable for about 30 cents a foot (here: http://www.markertek.com/MTStore/pro...Item=GS%2D6+BK their price right now is 51 cent per foot). Neutrik jacks were like $2. Overall my guitar cable cost me $7-8, no more than that. It's a great guitar cable for studio use. I wouldn't use it on stage, the cable feels "stiff" and curls up pretty easily. Canare GS-6 cable is the best guitar cable money can buy I think. A friend of mine tested several brands of guitar cable for Musical Equipment magazine (Russian magazine, comes out monthly). He had built a rig to do relay switching between the cables to be able to compare them side-by-side and switch from one to another _while_ playing. This (remarkably) was a blind test. The folks who operated the rig did not participate in listening evaluation. Canare GS-6 took the first place as the most transparent cable. I trust his result 100% 'cause I spent 6 years in the university with him and know he would be the last guy to be affected by placebo effect.

[JESTER700]

Originally Posted by microdmitry

I bought some good Canare cable for about 30 cents a foot (here: http://www.markertek.com/MTStore/pro...Item=GS%2D6+BK their price right now is 51 cent per foot). Neutrik jacks were like $2. Overall my guitar cable cost me $7-8, no more than that. It's a great guitar cable for studio use. I wouldn't use it on stage, the cable feels "stiff" and curls up pretty easily. Canare GS-6 cable is the best guitar cable money can buy I think. A friend of mine tested several brands of guitar cable for Musical Equipment magazine (Russian magazine, comes out monthly). He had built a rig to do relay switching between the cables to be able to compare them side-by-side and switch from one to another _while_ playing. This (remarkably) was a blind test. The folks who operated the rig did not participate in listening evaluation. Canare GS-6 took the first place as the most transparent cable. I trust his result 100% 'cause I spent 6 years in the university with him and know he would be the last guy to be affected by placebo effect.

Even those who are aware of placebo effect aren't necessarily immune to it, but it sounds like it was a "better designed than usual" test. I really wish this sort of thing were the norm. Unfortunately, they aren't. And there was still no ABX switching to determine if there even WAS a difference. Assuming that there even IS a difference is going too far.

My first eye opener on this was in the 70's when Stereo Review mag did a well designed ABX test of a half dozen hiFi amps from a 40watt Pioneer receiver to a pair of $5000 Julius Futterman monoblocks, and a few points in between. What they found was, with high quality cabling and sources agreed upon by the "golden eared" participants, most *could not* pick out a difference between 2 amps. The Futtermans & the $100 receiver? Nope. There were a couple trials wherein differences appeared, but they were slight, and only just beyond chance. Of course, before the results were revealed, the participants had all kinds of opinions on what was better than what, and how they were absolutely "certain" of this n' that. "Not so fast, bucky. Turns out you were wrong on which amp you THOUGHT was X. If you can't even matchthem, how can your opinion on ANY differences account for squat?" The participants were generally quite surprised, to say the least.

I would love to see these kinds of tests done regularly, but I doubt it will be. It's in nobody's interests - the mags don't like them, because then they can't write all their prose about "better liquidity" and such bull$h!t. Advertisers don't like it, because on average, people would buy cheaper stuff. Stores don't like it for the same reason. Even the buying public don't like this stuff, because much of our forum time is spent "discussing" what's better than what.

Sorry for rambling. The skeptic in me took over.

[microdmitry]

Oh, man, when I've read about the monoblock I thought you were gonna argue that one absolutely needs $14K (length - three feet) cables to listen to music properly. You nearly gave me a heart attack. Those high-end nuts are the nuttiest nuts out there. We have a guy at work who (when the stock market was good) had spent $50K+ on his audio system. I've tried to explain him why CD's are a really crappy format (you know, increasing discretization errors in the highs, very limited dynamic range). This was WAY above his head, thus he dismissed it on the basis of him owning a $10K CD player. So those high-end equipment makers have a really nice market segment to milk - undereducated gullible people with too much money on their hands. Make it look exotic, jack up the price into the stratosphere, buy a couple of reviews in magazines and you got'em drooling.

This is not to say that a good guitar cable isn't a must, though, it is pretty much the only cable in the chain that really can cause audible effects. So whoever is looking for a good cable should get himself some Canare, Mogami or George L and sleep good at night. After all, Jimi Hendrix played through a stupid curly cable, and look at him up there in the Pantheon.

[dot-dot-dot]

Mine are Klotz LaGrange with big Neutrik jacks for stage leads, and Sommer Spirit with little Neutrik jacks for patch cables. Cheaper than even guitar shop budget cables, and better than pretty much anything you'll find in a shop.

[JESTER700]

Originally Posted by microdmitry

I've tried to explain him why CD's are a really crappy format (you know, increasing discretization errors in the highs, very limited dynamic range). This was WAY above his head, thus he dismissed it on the basis of him owning a $10K CD player. So those high-end equipment makers have a really nice market segment to milk - undereducated gullible people with too much money on their hands. Make it look exotic, jack up the price into the stratosphere, buy a couple of reviews in magazines and you got'em drooling.

Actually, I think CD is a GREAT format. Sure, there is better now, but for the costs back when it first came out, the decisions as to sampling & bit rate were well considered, IMO. In average rooms with average systems, the vast majority of people will not hear a difference going to 24/96. Throw in the fact that most people are listening to overprocessed pop tripe or heavily distorted rock and think 128k MP3 is "acceptable quality".

On my own system, I think I hear a difference between a source I record at 24/88.2 and its dithered down version at 16/44.1. But the difference is subtle enough that I wouldn't be surprised if I could no longer detect it in a double blind test.

[mike777]

Monster "Rock", "Jazz", or "Studio" series. I also like the ProCo "Defender" model quite a bit They also make a braided model called "Sir Tweed" that I like. I've also never had problems with my Spectraflex cable. I've had it for nearly 10 years.

Mike 777 Haug

[saTa]

i use a Monstercable ... but as it goes into my effects and the cables between the lil boss thingies are cheap it shouldnt do too good

time to replace those, i reckon... ack...