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#288763 - 13/10/11 06:33 PM
Re: Electric guitar cable help
[Re: S&P]
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elkay
Professional Forumite!
Registered: 23/11/05
Posts: 386
Loc: Croydon
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In simple terms, the difference you hear between cheap cables and those of better quality is down to capacitance. Better quality cables have lower capacitance, which allows more of the higher frequencies through. So, cheap cables can sound rather closed and dull, whereas high end boutique low capacitance cables can be almost hi-fi. However, having said that, all the extra brightness and clarity would not necessarily be pleasant to the ears, and might not be to your taste. These would be ideal for sound systems, but not necessarily for guitar. I personally find some of the very expensive cables a bit too brittle sounding. It's ultimately down to personal taste. For instance, Jimi Hendrix was reputed to favour high capacitance cables for live performances.
Over the years I have accumulated quite a large collection of cables, including GeorgeLs, Planet Waves, Monster, Fender, etc, and a couple of cheap freebies, about a dozen in all. Out of curiosity I took them all out and did a comprehensive comparison, using the same guitar and amp settings. The freebies were almost immediately eliminated. Thereafter, all the other reasonably priced good quality cables sounded virtually identical, with perhaps the GeorgeLs having just a touch more clarity, but verging on the brittle. In conclusion, I would recommend avoiding cheap cables as well as super-expensive high end cables, and concentrate instead on reasonably priced good quality cables, with particular regard to strength and durability (and also pliability, as stiff cables that won't lie flat on the floor can be a constant irritant as they keep tripping you up, like the GeorgeLs). This is just my opinion though, as I'm sure some boutique cable users might argue otherwise. Incidentally, with all these cables at my disposal, the one I use most of the time is an old fairly cheap Proel which serves me best.
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#288768 - 13/10/11 10:11 PM
Re: Electric guitar cable help
[Re: The Tiggs]
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Lotus
Professional Forumite!
Registered: 08/08/11
Posts: 147
Loc: Stafford
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Thanks guys.
Sounds like I've done what most of you would have done and gone for a mid-range cable price-wise
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#289634 - 13/11/11 08:25 PM
Re: Electric guitar cable help
[Re: S&P]
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Mazornus
Be Nice (I'm New!)
Registered: 13/11/11
Posts: 6
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I always used to buy longest cable my budget could take, which was a mistake; I suffered pretty bad tone loss.
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#289637 - 13/11/11 09:30 PM
Re: Electric guitar cable help
[Re: Mazornus]
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Oldjono
Professional Forumite!
Registered: 15/09/09
Posts: 852
Loc: Dorset
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Go wireless... Only joking. Don't buy moulded jack plugged cables unless you have a soldering iron and a Maplins nearby. Oh yes, when attaching a new jack plug you have to scrape of the shine before the solder sticks. Also a tip from an pold pro is, when you solder a new jack plug on wrap some of the white PTF around it before you screw the body back on and... how many times have we forgotten to put the spring into the cable body first? Doh!
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#296308 - 25/04/12 08:50 PM
Re: Electric guitar cable help
[Re: S&P]
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steelystrings1
Be Nice (I'm New!)
Registered: 25/04/12
Posts: 10
Loc: Derbyshire
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Hi
As an ex sparky then electronics engineer I have always made my own cables, from cheap to expensive plugs and cables. Decent cables do make a difference.
However I have just brought (as a trial)a snap jack magnetic cable (Ebay is the cheapest by far) The differance in audio quality amazed me from the onset,and I don't upset the Mrs if I pull a lead out "live" sure you all know what I mean.Plus if I trip over a lead I don't pull my guitar/amp over. Highly recomended.
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