Cables, cables, cables....

[Ancient Astronaught]

Just wondering if anyone has actually tried and tested mogami, lava, monster and regular cables to see if there is any difference in them. I myself am sceptical and i'm more interested in build quality as i def put my stuff through the ropes. I'm looking to upgrade all my cables and basically trying to figure out if it's actually worth the money or not to spring for the top shelf stuff.

[Gunner Recall]

I rolled my own mogamis a little while back after years of using those cheapo store brand cables, I certainly noticed a difference. Had to re-EQ my amp for the change in the mids/highs.
Also got a lava coily. I mostly got it for the coily factor so I don't trip over shit...sound wise I guess it's on par with the mogami? Didn't notice as large of a change in sound.

You'll save a ton of money if you make them yourself.

[Holy Schnikes]

I have a Lava Coily and Sommer Grindycop Beast, both from Lava. Also use Lava's pedalboard kit. I heard an immediate difference, fuller more healthy signal making it to the amp. Service and support paired with Lifetime Warranty is hard to beat.

Note: I didn't make cable changes until my board exploded out of control, basically doubling in size! With all the cheap cabling I was using, my signal was suffering something major. Could be why the improvement was so noticeable with my setup. The Pedal Kit is
especially bad ass and a HUGE SPACE SAVER!

Finally, if you possess the skill and knowledge, save the $$ and DIY, as mentioned above.

[sylnau]

I'm using 12'' Gotham GAC-1 Ultra Pro (by Lava Cable).
And for the pedalboard... Evidence Audio Monorail with Lava plugs.

I don't even need a buffer since I use them... I have 11 pedals on my board.

The Gotham are very good for the price.

[Ancient Astronaught]

Thanks for the input guys! I was looking at lava's pedal board kit but the price is steep. I'm thinking of going with mogami. I've started to run into the same problems as you guys, the more pedals i add the more degradation i'm noticing, i have some monster cables but from what i've found they really dont hold up as well as you would expect and the guys at guitar center i'm sure are tired of seeing me for swap outs. Well i think im going to pull the trigger on some mogami's and report back on my findings.....

[Holy Schnikes]

I don't even need a buffer since I use them... I have 11 pedals on my board.

My experience as well.

[hazelwould]

I too made my own mogami. I got stuff from redco.com I think.

[Ancient Astronaught]

Anyone have experience with canare cable? I've been looking into making my own and now i'm not sure what to go with. There are great reviews of both the mogami and the canare and it seems the audiophiles and studio guys go with canare and the live guys go with mogami. Any insight?

[Ancient Astronaught]

Update: After talking to Mark with B.A.T. for quite a while i pulled the trigger on the LAVA ELC instrument cables and the ELC patch cables with regular ends (I also picked up a mini elc pedal board kit second hand) i've been rocking them for about 2 weeks now and all i have to say is WOW! Handling noise is non-exsistent, major reduction in ambient noise/hiss, the mids and high knobs on my model T actually make a real difference, presence increased, chord clarity improved (even on the neck pickup running both the lstr and pharaoh full bore) and the construction is top notch! These cables do have a break in time and the more i play them the more i hear them warming up. So anyone considering getting monster cables, look at LAVA IMHO they blow monster away in every way, construction, tone and reliability. Me and the guitar player in the last band i played in both sat down and tried them against cheapo cables, livewire, and monster, nothing was comparable in any way to the LAVA's..... we even tried different guitars (prs, jackson, gibson, agile) and different amps (mesa triple rec, sunn model t and ?sorrado?, 5150) and both of us agreed they were far above the pack in quality! Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread!

[jrmy]

Cool. So are the ELC the solder-free ends?

[Ancient Astronaught]

no they are the Extremely Low Capacitance cables with really nice neutrik ends, they work great if you use alot of pedals especially high gain fuzz boxes and stacking delays. The mini-elc pedal board kit comes with the solder free ends, their awesome if you have alot of pedals crammed on your board.

[Baxandall]

I only use Mogami gold these days. Riffer gave me a coily lava that's pretty nice too but the straight section at the end isn't long enough to feed through my strap and that pisses me off.

They really do make a difference over cheap stuff.

edit: I should clarify that the Lava cable wasn't a gift but an exchange. I wouldn't want riffer to get a bunch of requests for free cables.

[Ancient Astronaught]

I'm not digging the coily cables, i have a hard enough time keeping straight cables from tangling together i can't imagine having a few of those im my cable box. I feel like the cable fairy would have a freakin field day. Plus i'm more about performance than appearance when it comes my cables, i have enough eye catching gear. The ELC are as thick as my monster speaker cables so i know they'll last and not get tied together as easily but just in case i take them time to coil them correctly now. Riffer is the one who hooked me up too, great guy on all aspects and his customer service is top notch!

[Ancient Astronaught]

btw did your mogami's have a break in time also???

[hbombgraphics]

I'm not digging the coily cables, i have a hard enough time keeping straight cables from tangling together i can't imagine having a few of those im my cable box. I feel like the cable fairy would have a freakin field day. Plus i'm more about performance than appearance when it comes my cables, i have enough eye catching gear. The ELC are as thick as my monster speaker cables so i know they'll last and not get tied together as easily but just in case i take them time to coil them correctly now. Riffer is the one who hooked me up too, great guy on all aspects and his customer service is top notch!

I have 2 coily and they actually don't tangle
I throw them all over it is pretty sweet

I have a bullet coily and a radio shack one I have had forever

they hold up really well, and I do think they add sometihng cool tonally to the sound, can't really describe it but it is more than just aesthetics.