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are expensive fancypants patch cables worth it??
i've been making these george ls for a while. they're cool because the board is really neat with all the custom lengths and angles i need, but it's a pain in the ass and the connections never last very long. one of them shorted out the last show so i just swapped them all out with those cheap-o warwick colored patches. everything sounds great now! should i consider some more expensive ones like the fulltones?? does it even matter when you're running like a dozen pedals??

If your pedals are all true bypass and you have a lot of patch cables, then you might hear a difference.

Here's how to test it: Bypass all your pedals. Sound good? Now plug your guitar directly into your amp. Sound better? If it sounds better plugged straight into the amp, you -might- benefit from higher quality cables. More cable will always suck more high end, though. No matter the quality. And price doesn't necessarily mean it's better.

The cables that go from your guitar to your pedals, and your pedals to your amp are probably much more critical.

But, no. Fulltones and anything of the sort are not worth the cost. They claim to fix problems that don't exist by using cable that could only benefit NASA. Or lying. Usually lying.

Lava stuff has been nice in my experience...
I used to use cheapo hosas but as my board got bigger and bigger I started to get loads of noise, and not the good kind.

I think money spent on super-amazo cables would be better spent on a cable tester to make sure there are no shorts on my cheap cables. I know that length comes into play but as far as gold tip and blah blah blah I just don't buy it. Monster always made claims about the quality of their cables and those are the ones I mostly had problems with. Over the years I've driven myself crazy looking for a short here or there that I couldn't place where it was coming from: Guitar to amp? Amp fx loop to pedals? Pedal fx loops? A nightmare, especially on stage. I bought a cheap Behringer cable tester and it has virtually eliminated that hassle.

i believe in hi end cables as far as i only have them in my chain. the same as with the power supply: a cheap one *may* fry your expensive pedal. a cheap cable *may* harm your sound.

but i think, it is like religion... some believe, some not.

btw, i like sexy cables:

univalve wrote:btw, i like sexy cables

AND SEXY PEDALS!

i've always used the cheapo no name colored patch cables and whatever random long cables i jacked that were lying around a rehearsal space. i've had very few problems with cables over the past 8 years or so that i've been playing shows... that being said, having a quality cable for the guitar > pedal board makes the most sense to me since that cable will see the most stress.

sort of OT rant
i never really understand "my shit sounds better with just the guitar > amp than through my pedal chain"
obviously there will be some small volume/frequency losses because you're going through x number of feet of cabling by the time you reach your amp, but you gain SO MUCH MORE by having those different sounds available. i offer these humble suggestions:

1. tailor your amp eq volume to match the pedal chain signal with the guitar>amp signal.
2. guitar > buffer > pedal chain > buffer > amp
3. deal with it and have awesome pedal blasters

I use pretty cheap patch cables and I've never had a problem with one, most of the marketing around those expensive cables is complete bullshit. Obviously getting cables that are made well enough to be reliable is good, but after that there's no point spending more imo.

smallsnd/bigsnd wrote:

univalve wrote:btw, i like sexy cables

AND SEXY PEDALS!

Now I want one of those new TAFMs! Mine is pretty but those...

smallsnd/bigsnd wrote:sort of OT rant
i never really understand "my shit sounds better with just the guitar > amp than through my pedal chain"
obviously there will be some small volume/frequency losses because you're going through x number of feet of cabling by the time you reach your amp, but you gain SO MUCH MORE by having those different sounds available. i offer these humble suggestions:

1. tailor your amp eq volume to match the pedal chain signal with the guitar>amp signal.
2. guitar > buffer > pedal chain > buffer > amp
3. deal with it and have awesome pedal blasters

There's definitely a difference when I plug my guitar straight to amp vs through my pedals. There's less treble, so I turn up the treble on my amp.

stepping on brain melting pedals > signal loss

thrushes wrote:are expensive fancypants patch cables worth it??
i've been making these george ls for a while. they're cool because the board is really neat with all the custom lengths and angles i need, but it's a pain in the ass and the connections never last very long. one of them shorted out the last show so i just swapped them all out with those cheap-o warwick colored patches. everything sounds great now! should i consider some more expensive ones like the fulltones?? does it even matter when you're running like a dozen pedals??

cheap cables have always worked for me. when i was first building my board and stacking more than 10 pedals, i did experience a lot of tone loss (i play a jazzmaster and i love my chime). it turned out to be careful buffer placement. i've got about 18 on my board now and threw a TC corona in somewhere around the 3rd row (with the internal buffer switch on) and it seemed to clear up everything. i've got a POG2 running after 4 dirt pedals and a pitchfactor and for some reason, the POG2 also cleans up the tone. can't figure that one out.

the only reason i would see if to get different cables is to perhaps tighten up space, so i have been considering pancake connectors.

great band, btw

smallsnd/bigsnd wrote:

univalve wrote:btw, i like sexy cables

AND SEXY PEDALS!

i've always used the cheapo no name colored patch cables and whatever random long cables i jacked that were lying around a rehearsal space. i've had very few problems with cables over the past 8 years or so that i've been playing shows... that being said, having a quality cable for the guitar > pedal board makes the most sense to me since that cable will see the most stress.

sort of OT rant
i never really understand "my shit sounds better with just the guitar > amp than through my pedal chain"
obviously there will be some small volume/frequency losses because you're going through x number of feet of cabling by the time you reach your amp, but you gain SO MUCH MORE by having those different sounds available. i offer these humble suggestions:

1. tailor your amp eq volume to match the pedal chain signal with the guitar>amp signal.
2. guitar > buffer > pedal chain > buffer > amp
3. deal with it and have awesome pedal blasters

Pretty much this, except I break cables left right and center.
I buy the cheapest ones with a life time warranty.

Higher quality cables will reduce tone lost. That's a fact, and I don't think anyone will dispute it.

That being said, high quality cables don't always cost obscene dollarmonies, and most of the ones that do cost obscene dollarmonies come with a bullshit sales pitch that claims it will fix your tone loss, make you grow four inches taller, and attract women.

I've used Hosa heavy duty patch cables for about five years. They do the job and I think they were $4 each. Not exactly pricey. I could probably get some better patch cables, but there really isn't a reason for me to.

And for the record, if you have 27 pedals on your board, the cables could be made of braided Jesus hair and you'd still have tone loss.

Noise... wrote:Higher quality cables will reduce tone lost. That's a fact, and I don't think anyone will dispute it.

That being said, high quality cables don't always cost obscene dollarmonies, and most of the ones that do cost obscene dollarmonies come with a bullshit sales pitch that claims it will fix your tone loss, make you grow four inches taller, and attract women.

I've used Hosa heavy duty patch cables for about five years. They do the job and I think they were $4 each. Not exactly pricey. I could probably get some better patch cables, but there really isn't a reason for me to.

And for the record, if you have 27 pedals on your board, the cables could be made of braided Jesus hair and you'd still have tone loss.

i personally do not dispute that. however, i think that if one wires/buffers things up appropriately, the loss can be negligible. this is, of course, depending on one's taste. i do hear a slight difference with headphones, but not so much through my amp.

at the end of the day, electricity is electricity and length of travel is length of travel.

Noise... wrote: cables made of braided Jesus hair.

this i would buy

I love the Lava mini ELC solderless kit since I started running a shit load of pedals.

I definitely get a stronger, fuller signal with them but most important to me is the cable and plugs are TINY and you can pack pedals incredibly close together with custom runs, way easier than getting standard patch cables to cooperate, imo.

univalve wrote:btw, i like sexy cables:

Sommer GCB throughout??

I use these for my instrument cables, easily the best sounding/coolest looking cable I've tried! Insanely quick attack and well balanced tone. Also, they're nice and light and easy to handle, not stiff and heavy like lots of fancy cables.

the commentary i've seen from folks on guitar forae who use the kit-plug cables is preponderantly pro-Lava/anti-George L, like 95% to 5%, so overwhelmingly so that i'd almost have to go Lava if i go that direction. cost keeps me from going over to Lava cable kits, in addition to the fact that i change the board around frequently and would thus wind up with a lot of odd or redundant cable lengths. i've been mainly using 6" Hosas with the flat ("pancake"?) 90° metal plugs, which are a compromise between cost and space-saving; for longer pedalboard runs i use 1/2/3 ft. Rapcos with standard 90° Switchcraft plugs, which rule like one of the more competent second-tier Bonapartes.

IMO the biggest problem causing folks' perceived problems with signal degradation in their effects chain is running shitty effects that degrade signal. i'm sorry, but if you're running an Electro-Harmonix dealers' display of a pedalboard, you have to expect that your tone is going to get ruined. it's not the cables' fault...it's all that shit the cables are connecting that's your problem.