Members stratocaster202 Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 My guitar teacher brought his $100 dollar patch cord to my lesson today. At first I laughed at him and said he's crazy. Made comments about 'oxgen stealing treble' etc. Then he swapped it with the one I was using and wow. His sound didn't just lose treble, but bass, and general tone. And all this through a shitty little fender Champ 30 DSP. I was expecting maybe a little roll off on the highs but nothing as crazy as that. He said it was even more pronounced through better rigs. Thoughts? I thought it was all snake oil? Is TGP right? What's happening to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JMR Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 yeah, I really need to get some nice cables some day. But for the $300 or so it would cost me to get really nice cables, I could buy a new cymbal or something. Cables just aren't exciting. One of these days, though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bruto Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 Bad or loosely soldered jacks are always a headache with cables. I've re-soldered too many to count. Good shielding helps tremendously, especially when playing live. The other big issue, especially with long cables, is impedance. Good cables usually have lower impedance than budget cables, keeping your sound clear. $100 still sounds like a lot for a good cable though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jersey Jack Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 Yeah, but every little chord on the pedal board has to be up to speed or else....the whole temple of cable-tone collapses. And that gets into serious $$$. Better not to know...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grantus Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 Quality cables do make a difference. Price and quality are not always closely aligned, however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve_man Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 I can tell a big difference in my Mogami Gold cable ($50) and my other, cheaper cables. If I could, I'd replace them all with Mogami. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ashasha Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 It's all about the capacitance per foot of the cable. The higher the capacitance per foot the shorter you are going to have to make the cable if you're looking to save money. The best value out there right now IMHO is the Bill Lawrence stuff which is rated at 20pf/foot which is ridiculously low. It is most definitely not snake oil for the most part. But there are a lot of people out there that will charge a premium or even a ridiculous price for something that really isn't that much more expensive to manufacture. And don't forget that the effect is actually the resonant frequency shifting which is fine, but in some cases it isn't desirable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brewski Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 fiber would solve the problem. Or you can use your ipod to connect your guitar to the amp. Im just trolling. - can't afford good cables so I'll just be a tool today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DavidMgT Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 I can tell a big difference in my Mogami Gold cable ($50) and my other, cheaper cables. If I could, I'd replace them all with Mogami. I have slowly replaced all my cables with Mogami Gold - they do indeed make a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve_man Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 Yeah...didn't really buy into the better cable thing...until I tried the Mogami... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Skyforger Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 I did notice a difference when switching from a Planet Waves cable to a Fender California cable, but it wouldn't be noticeable if you weren't looking for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stingxnj Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 Horse{censored}. I'm playing over 25 years and I still have Whirlwind cables that old that still work. They were cheap then and still are. Cheap as in cost not construction. Buy a cable with good ends and flexibility and be done with it. Anyone buying into the Monster or fill in the blank brand cables should spend some of that cash on a good shrink. As if the guitar heroes of yore even gave a thought to this {censored} and people are still going to great lengths to achieve their tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pixelchemist Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 cheap cable vs good cable = huge differnce... 60 dollar cable vs 300 dollar cable... not much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundcreation Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 Horse{censored}. I'm playing over 25 years and I still have Whirlwind cables that old that still work. They were cheap then and still are. Cheap as in cost not construction. Buy a cable with good ends and flexibility and be done with it. Anyone buying into the Monster or fill in the blank brand cables should spend some of that cash on a good shrink. As if the guitar heroes of yore even gave a thought to this {censored} and people are still going to great lengths to achieve their tone. Perhaps those cables you use and the ones those musicians used were good quality in the first place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_gunslinger Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 The only reason I use Monster cables is because of their warranty. I can't hear any difference with cables, IMO most of this high end audio stuff is snake oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members D Carroll Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 Yep. I use Lava Cables in the studio right now, and Mogami cables live. Good cables=good sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JoeBoy Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 True, but everybody is looking for something. They just never find it.Horse{censored}. I'm playing over 25 years and I still have Whirlwind cables that old that still work. They were cheap then and still are. Cheap as in cost not construction. Buy a cable with good ends and flexibility and be done with it. Anyone buying into the Monster or fill in the blank brand cables should spend some of that cash on a good shrink. As if the guitar heroes of yore even gave a thought to this {censored} and people are still going to great lengths to achieve their tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members crashclc Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 If you've got the hardware, try this little experiment. Signal generator -> Oscilloscope and Signal generator -> guitar cable -> Oscilloscope. Put both traces up on the scope at the same time, then vary the input signal over the audible range. Try a sine wave or a square wave. Watch the delta between the traces... if there really was this "big audible difference" that so many people talk about, there would be a sizable (and probably variable) difference between the traces. But my trusty old Tektronix lab scope says otherwise. I wish I could believe in this "big difference" but the science says otherwise (assuming the cable ends are properly soldered and the cable itself is in decent shape) so I'm happy to use el-cheapo Fender and Ibanez cables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members C-4 Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 Only those who haven't had the same experience the OP just had think cables don't make a difference.I use Evidence Audio cables but my next stop is Van den Hul cables. I definitely hear the difference. Those who don't hear a difference need not invest in better cables.A tone is only as strong as the weakest link from the guitar to the speaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Skyforger Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 Well, my old {censored}ty cables do sound like {censored}, and my new shiny cables sound better. But I've never paid over Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mechanoized Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 Mogami was the first cable I purchased that let me hear the difference between spending a couple more bucks on something decent instead of a $10 generic cable. Even through my cheap SS Marshall stack the difference was huge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Armchair Bronco Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 I build my own stuff using bulk Canare cabling. It's a good value if you know how to solder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Strenge Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 I wonder if anyone has any thoughts on the cables Monoprice sells. I was getting some usb and hdmi cables there (definitely the place to go) and took a flyer on a couple mic cables and TRS instrument cables along with an rca pair for my stereo. Holy balls those are some thick cables. Not that thick definitely equals good, but these are heavy, heavy gauge for dirt cheap and the connectors look good to me. 8 bucks for 25ft TRS cable, the only obvious problem with them is that they are freaking heavy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GomezAddams1 Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 If you've got the hardware, try this little experiment. Signal generator -> Oscilloscope and Signal generator -> guitar cable -> Oscilloscope. Put both traces up on the scope at the same time, then vary the input signal over the audible range. Try a sine wave or a square wave. Watch the delta between the traces... if there really was this "big audible difference" that so many people talk about, there would be a sizable (and probably variable) difference between the traces. But my trusty old Tektronix lab scope says otherwise. I wish I could believe in this "big difference" but the science says otherwise (assuming the cable ends are properly soldered and the cable itself is in decent shape) so I'm happy to use el-cheapo Fender and Ibanez cables. You'll never convince the golden ear crowd with mere facts and science. There is obviously a component of the electrical representation of sound that can't be measured with test equipment or viewed on an o-scope. I really don't understand why people find it so hard to understand that humans WILL perceive a difference if they expect to find a difference. You simply cannot trust your ears when doing these sorts of test. This is why double-blind testing was invented. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Armitage Posted January 18, 2011 Members Share Posted January 18, 2011 Get a cable made with Mogami or Canare wire and you're smokin' (anything beyond that, I can't hear a difference). You don't need to spend silly money. If you can't hear a difference, specially when you go back to your old cable (loss of airy highs), there's something wrong with the rest of your gear (eg. tone sucking peals), or your ears, or you're already using a quality cable. You can buy the cable yourself and make'm at home, or go to someone like www.lavacable.com and get them pre done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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