Members CamaroKid2SS Posted February 17, 2019 Members Share Posted February 17, 2019 So I decided since I spent as much as I did putting together my retirement rig why not just splurge and get some Platinum Cables from Mogami. They were the best I could find around here. I couldn't believe how much my total was for the eight of these I needed. Good Lord! I got robbed i think. So I ask you guys, what do you use, and is there really a big difference that YOU hear? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted February 17, 2019 Members Share Posted February 17, 2019 Good lord! $69.95 for a 6' cable?! (https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PlatGtr06R--mogami-platinum-guitar-06r) And you say you bought eight of them?! That's $559.60 minimum just for cables. You could get a halfway decent guitar or amp for that. Even if I could hear a difference I'm far too cheap to own them. FWIW, I use Quantum cables (https://www.elderly.com/quantum-audio-designs-10-foot-instrument-cable-102813.htm), made right here in Missouri. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted February 18, 2019 Members Share Posted February 18, 2019 So I decided since I spent as much as I did putting together my retirement rig why not just splurge and get some Platinum Cables from Mogami. They were the best I could find around here. I couldn't believe how much my total was for the eight of these I needed. Good Lord! I got robbed i think. So I ask you guys, what do you use, and is there really a big difference that YOU hear? I use Mogami Gold's 18 footers. My pedal board use Lava ELC. Mogami makes a nice cable. I have been using these for a few years, but the last time I bought cables was decades ago, plus I have some homemade switchcraft ends with beldon wire. I don't think I would spring for the platinum ones at 6 " in length. I had a price point and didn't think the cost was bad. Do I notice a tone difference? Well not so much, but it depends what I am using of a guitar and amp and how much of a run I am doing between a guitar and amp. The cable on the "gold" is not too heavy and the connectors are nice. They don't seem to tangle and don't hum. Good warranty, or so I have been told. They are 59 bucks. I have 4 of them two sets with both straight 1/4" ends and 2 sets with a straight and right angle bend for SG's and 335's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CamaroKid2SS Posted February 18, 2019 Author Members Share Posted February 18, 2019 I use Mogami Gold's 18 footers. My pedal board use Lava ELC. Mogami makes a nice cable. I have been using these for a few years, but the last time I bought cables was decades ago, plus I have some homemade switchcraft ends with beldon wire. I don't think I would spring for the platinum ones at 6 " in length. I had a price point and didn't think the cost was bad. Do I notice a tone difference? Well not so much, but it depends what I am using of a guitar and amp and how much of a run I am doing between a guitar and amp. The cable on the "gold" is not too heavy and the connectors are nice. They don't seem to tangle and don't hum. Good warranty, or so I have been told. They are 59 bucks. I have 4 of them two sets with both straight 1/4" ends and 2 sets with a straight and right angle bend for SG's and 335's. Lifetime replacement, no questions asked, can't beat that. I have reentered the game rather clueless, but outside of overpaying for these Cables, I think I did ok. Oh wait, I did pay 1K for a Peavey cab lol. (Invective cab was worth every penny tho) I keep trying to post pic but it keeps saying file too large. Huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted February 18, 2019 Members Share Posted February 18, 2019 There're lots of free photo editors. FI if Paint can open it it has an easy resizer. Or retake the picture at the lowest res possible. 6 foot guitar cable? That itself sounds like a problem. Mogamis used to be the generic go to for engineers and audio pros but looks like they got ridiculous huh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted February 18, 2019 Members Share Posted February 18, 2019 Lifetime replacement, no questions asked, can't beat that. I have reentered the game rather clueless, but outside of overpaying for these Cables, I think I did ok. Lifetime of what? Most electronic companies and retailers are only on business 5~10 years. Once they go out of business or merge with someone else you warrantee isn't worth the paper its written on. Cost? Regular guitar cable cost between 10 and 25 cents a foot wholesale. High quality cable like Beldin cost may be 50 cents to a dollar a foot. If you aren't and electronic tech and don't have access to cable at wholesale costs bought in bulk, then you're likely to pay 100 ~ 200% above wholesale, and if you pay $10 a foot you're flat out ignorant when it comes to buying cable. Even if the cable has the best military style one piece plugs a 6" cable with the best plugs shouldn't cost more then $20, but that wouldn't include the cost to assemble it, and if you don't have access to wholesale costs and have to dig for the best options. you can easily spend $30 making your own cable. Most low cost sources for cable and connectors have dried up so you're typically better off just buying the cables pre made. you may get a dud every once and awhile, but touching up a cable or having it replaced is not that big a deal. The difference between a Beldin Cable and Magami as far as sound quality and durability go? You wont be able to prove the Magami works any better when it comes to passing audio or blocking noise and being able to hear it with your ears. The standard for a cable to produce full fidelity is actually pretty low and when you factor in what actually does influence the sound you begin to understand just how full of crap boutique cable makers are. Once the capacitance and resistance is below a certain point going lower isn't going to have any detectable difference in fidelity. Granted, cheap cables may only have 70% shielding which can cause hum and noise issues. What you want are cables with 95% or better. If the shielding is 99% spending $60 more to get 99.02% might make you feel good, but those two hundredths of a percent isn't going to mean jack when it comes to noise. Same thing with capacitance or resistance. The differences of a pico farad or a thousandth of an ohm isn't going to mean jack squat when it comes to influencing sound. Even if it did you could simply turn the volume to overcome the resistance or treble up to compensate for the capacitance. How bright or loud does your signal need to be before its enough. Its not like most guitar amps suffer from low volume or treble. Plus what's the first thing a guitar cable connects to at each end? A pot that produces resistance and a tone pot with a capacitor that removes top end. The very things you spent all that money on the cable to have low amounts of. Its not just on the guitar end either. The first thing the signal passes through on the way into an amp is likely a resistor that matches the impedance. On a tube amp you may have a 1M resistor to ground and a 68K in series with the signal. That shoots the companies snake oil sales pitches right out the window which leaves you with only 3 main factors when it comes to buying cable. Is the shielding above 95%? Are the cable and connectors durable? Did you get both at a bargain price? You bought Magami, you got rolled, big time. Warrantee isn't even a big factor. Whirlwind has a Lifetime warrantee too and they been in business for nearly 50 years. I have a couple of their mic and guitar cables and they work flawlessly. Cost for a 6' cable? $9.99 https://www.fullcompass.com/prod/262...CABEgKSoPD_BwE You can buy nearly 6 of them for the cost of one Mogami and if one goes bac, you can use one of the spares while you're waiting for the warrantee return on the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CamaroKid2SS Posted February 18, 2019 Author Members Share Posted February 18, 2019 Lifetime of what? Most electronic companies and retailers are only on business 5~10 years. Once they go out of business or merge with someone else you warrantee isn't worth the paper its written on. Cost? Regular guitar cable cost between 10 and 25 cents a foot wholesale. High quality cable like Beldin cost may be 50 cents to a dollar a foot. If you aren't and electronic tech and don't have access to cable at wholesale costs bought in bulk, then you're likely to pay 100 ~ 200% above wholesale, and if you pay $10 a foot you're flat out ignorant when it comes to buying cable. Even if the cable has the best military style one piece plugs a 6" cable with the best plugs shouldn't cost more then $20, but that wouldn't include the cost to assemble it, and if you don't have access to wholesale costs and have to dig for the best options. you can easily spend $30 making your own cable. Most low cost sources for cable and connectors have dried up so you're typically better off just buying the cables pre made. you may get a dud every once and awhile, but touching up a cable or having it replaced is not that big a deal. The difference between a Beldin Cable and Magami as far as sound quality and durability go? You wont be able to prove the Magami works any better when it comes to passing audio or blocking noise and being able to hear it with your ears. The standard for a cable to produce full fidelity is actually pretty low and when you factor in what actually does influence the sound you begin to understand just how full of crap boutique cable makers are. Once the capacitance and resistance is below a certain point going lower isn't going to have any detectable difference in fidelity. Granted, cheap cables may only have 70% shielding which can cause hum and noise issues. What you want are cables with 95% or better. If the shielding is 99% spending $60 more to get 99.02% might make you feel good, but those two hundredths of a percent isn't going to mean jack when it comes to noise. Same thing with capacitance or resistance. The differences of a pico farad or a thousandth of an ohm isn't going to mean jack squat when it comes to influencing sound. Even if it did you could simply turn the volume to overcome the resistance or treble up to compensate for the capacitance. How bright or loud does your signal need to be before its enough. Its not like most guitar amps suffer from low volume or treble. Plus what's the first thing a guitar cable connects to at each end? A pot that produces resistance and a tone pot with a capacitor that removes top end. The very things you spent all that money on the cable to have low amounts of. Its not just on the guitar end either. The first thing the signal passes through on the way into an amp is likely a resistor that matches the impedance. On a tube amp you may have a 1M resistor to ground and a 68K in series with the signal. That shoots the companies snake oil sales pitches right out the window which leaves you with only 3 main factors when it comes to buying cable. Is the shielding above 95%? Are the cable and connectors durable? Did you get both at a bargain price? You bought Magami, you got rolled, big time. Warrantee isn't even a big factor. Whirlwind has a Lifetime warrantee too and they been in business for nearly 50 years. I have a couple of their mic and guitar cables and they work flawlessly. Cost for a 6' cable? $9.99 https://www.fullcompass.com/prod/262...CABEgKSoPD_BwE You can buy nearly 6 of them for the cost of one Mogami and if one goes bac, you can use one of the spares while you're waiting for the warrantee return on the other. Well damn. What day is our final? I got to take Addy's and study for this one for sure! Thanks though, very educational post. Dare I ask you about tubes? I'm curious before I spend a mint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted February 18, 2019 Members Share Posted February 18, 2019 Well damn. What day is our final? I got to take Addy's and study for this one for sure! Thanks though, very educational post. Dare I ask you about tubes? I'm curious before I spend a mint. Different tubes sound different in different amps. Preamp distortion, is what it is, handy and gets the job done. They tend to work or not work. The power tube distortion is where the real tone lays. You tend not to notice them getting dull and lifeless until you replace them. Personally, I wouldn't spring a grand or more on a set on a quad matched set of RCA 6L6GC Black Plates, but you could. WRGKMC always writes up a nice reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted February 18, 2019 Members Share Posted February 18, 2019 . . . I keep trying to post pic but it keeps saying file too large. Huh? Irfanview is probably your best bet: https://www.irfanview.com/. a nice all around image editor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CamaroKid2SS Posted February 19, 2019 Author Members Share Posted February 19, 2019 Different tubes sound different in different amps. Preamp distortion, is what it is, handy and gets the job done. They tend to work or not work. The power tube distortion is where the real tone lays. You tend not to notice them getting dull and lifeless until you replace them. Personally, I wouldn't spring a grand or more on a set on a quad matched set of RCA 6L6GC Black Plates, but you could. WRGKMC always writes up a nice reply. So, to review, preamp 12ax7's ain't worth paying a lot for. They either work or don't. Power tubes are a bigger deal then, changes will be noticable when swapped? Got it. Thanks! I already bought a quad of JJ EL34's to try in my Invective. It definitely made it roar like a Marshall but took some low end out. That sound right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted February 19, 2019 Members Share Posted February 19, 2019 Actually preamp tubes determine the basic signal quality and as such deserve careful selection. If your V1 is too soft, your clean tone will suffer. Conversely if it's too stiff, you may find your gainier stuff brittle and harsh. But no, 20 bucks each should be the ceiling on the small tubes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CamaroKid2SS Posted March 23, 2019 Author Members Share Posted March 23, 2019 I learned a lot from this thread. Studied up on tubes and biasing my amp and can do it all by myself now. Thanks everyone. The invective is running Winged C's EL34's and all Shuguang 12ax7B's and sounds so sweet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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