*Facepalm* Guitar Cables

[dubkitty]

i like the coily cable because it allows me to have 20' of length without getting tangled all over the floor, and particularly because it keeps the cord from the guitar to the board from dragging across the effect controls.

[Casavettes]

And most importantly, it looks cool

[foomanfat]

And most importantly, it looks cool

Well, of course.

[crohny]

If you want pre made I can only suggest Lava. I don't use anything else now.

[hbombgraphics]

bullet coily cable and no clue what the one going from the board to the amp is, it is nice but no clue and not going to check

Between pedals its hosa and livewire patch and some homeade pancakes
run a ton of buffered pedals so it matters much less

[DarkAxel]

wanted to ask... especially Casavettes

would you recommend the Vox coily cable? Did you notice any extra noise or anything? do the last long if treated properly?

[Casavettes]

I would recommend it for sure, I love it as much as one can love a cable.
I've had mine, give or take, for about 3 years or so? I play shows regulary and it hasnt failed me.
Also never had any problems with noise and I'm really fussy about any extraneous noise/hiss/hum of any kind so there's that.

I haven't tried a large amount of different cables so I can't fairly judge it against whatever else but, it's always done right by me.
And to attest to its durability I don't admittedly treat it with the care of a newborn infant and it still works like the day I got it.

[rustywire]

If you're trying to achieve "high end retention without sounding shrill or clipped" then making your own custom cable from low capacitance Mogami Microphone Wire might be the ideal solution. It has the nicest expensive satin feel, and is as maneuverable as a coil, only lacking the springy tension. But it's also remarkably light by comparison. W2333 has superior insulation and tensile strength which is good for snags. I'd go with 14-16' for that first length. http://www.mogamicable.com/category/bul ... nbalanced/ combined with switchcraft, amphenol or neutrik jacks and some quaity shrink tubing and you're golden. Learn to soldier if you haven't already, it's worth it. If you find your technique to be unacceptable then it's easy [and cheap] enough to order the materials and pay for pre-fabs made by someone you know.


The cable that plugs into the guitar is most important IMO. After that I use a hodgepodge of whatever fits or sounds right; a mix of various pre-fab and a few I've made from Canare wire & Switchcraft pancakes. For the first cable, I've been using some unmarked 12' molded RA straight cable of unknown origin, most likely Eastern Asian. Maybe early 80s Japan.
It is a weird one that reacts with microphonics when i flick it while reverb is engaged. Rolls of the highs a little bit, but less than a high capacitance coil. I also like Bullet, but neither sounds like it would be what you're looking for.

[Bartimaeus]

The Vox coily cables are nice. I've had two so far; the first stopped working within a few months, so I called the company and they sent me a new one, which has been working great since then(over a year I think)!

I also use a Lava cable which I like a lot.

[htsamurai]

this is one of those subjects where ILF and I would probably get into a drunken fist fight over. I'm all mogami. everything I have is mogami.
because anything else is either way shitty for my ears (might be conditioning, idk, idc, I feel I hear a difference) or way too expensive and I doubt I'd hear a diff at that point.

livewires are awesome for live use if there isn't too much distance to be covered. but for quieter settings and especially studio stuff, I really can't find anything to beat a mogami :/

[Ancient Astronaught]

AAhhh the good ole boutique cables convo..... I've been down many of these threads before.

So let's brake down my corksniffer collection:

Lava ELC Guitar>Board 15', Board>Amp 20', FX Loop Send+Return 20'
Mogami Platinum 20' x2
Mogami 2524 FX loop Send+Return 20'
Live Wire Elite 15'
Core X2 Bass Cables 12' + 20'
Lava Clear Connect 12'
Lava mini-ELC throughout both pedal boards

And probably a few more that I'm forgetting at the moment and a rack ton of shittier backup cables.

Here's the thing, I've noticed at a certain point the discernible amount of high end loss due to capacitance between different high end cables becomes negligible and almost a moot point. It basically breaks down to reliability and quality of the components. I'm hard pressed to tell the difference between the Lava ELC and Mogami Platinum sound wise in a live environment, but the platinum's are not as stiff and have hot-switch ends so I use them live and I use the ELC's in the studio (where the difference is audible, and the Lava wins...). The Core X2 bass cables are the absolutely heaviest duty cable I've ever encountered, they're thick, well built, and freaking bullet proof. I mean the ideaology of a high end cable is to prevent high end loss so you can't make a cable that "transmits bass better", so even though they are marketed kinda gimmicky they they are nice and I got em at blowout prices. I can say though that the Lava clear connect I have does sound the best in the studio for guitar>board, but its not as heavy duty as I like in a live use cable.

If your looking for relatively inexpensive cable and can solder yourself I highly recommend the Mogami 2524 and Neutrik or Amphenol ends. It sounds good, has good flexibility, and the capacitance is low enough that high end loss should be minimal.

[htsamurai]

^and guitar center carries em for cheap now too

[Ancient Astronaught]

^and guitar center carries em for cheap now too

Yup another reason I use them live; if something takes a shit on the road I can swing by GC and do a swap out.

[Chankgeez]

... I love it as much as one can love a cable.

TWSS

[insubordination]

Lava from guitar to board, Ssolid from board to amp, and mixture of Hosa, Soldered Sound and Planet Waves patch cables (whatever fits best based on current pedalboard configuration). Thought about ditching everything and re-cabling, but it has remained a thought only. They all work, so why bother.