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i had some monster cables delivered yesterday. there's a lot of contention about them. some people think they sound better, some worse, some can't tell the difference. some say they last forever, some say they fall apart as quickly as any other cable. i needed some new cables, so i weighed my options, and figured that as long as they sounded *As good* as the cables i usually buy, i couldn't go wrong with the lifetime warranty.

we'll see how this goes. i'll report back after rehearsal tomorrow to see if there is an appreciable difference in tonez.

im a fan of monsters, if i could id get all my cables monstered out.
but thats quite expensive, so i use livewires for patches and monsters to guitar and amp
idk what it is about them, id like to say they sound nicer, i generally believe it. but i have no proof

I had Monsters once. I still use the patch cables, but the 10 footers I bought took a shit way quicker than any of the cheap-o's I have ever bought did. I won't buy another...

A guitarist I play with is obsessed with Monster Cables, but literally every time we play out, another one of them fails, while the crappy no-name cables I bought five years ago are still going strong. I dunno...

Also, I heard on NPR that the guy who owns Monster Cables is literally lawsuit crazy, and tries to sue any other company that has "Monster" in its name. There's a family-owned company in RI that makes monster-themed mini-golf courses, and the guy's suing them, even though their business has nothing in common with his except for the word "monster." Now, I'm sensitive to branding issues, but that's just ridiculous. For that reason alone, I'm not too interested in supporting Monster Cables.

the ruling is... i did not notice any difference in my tone, better or worse. at this point, if they hold up decently, then with the warranty i should do ok.

they *are* lawsuit crazy. as i understand it they even sued over the movie Monsters Inc.

am i the only one that buys spools of cables and makes their own?
i've always thought the jacks are the weakest link when it comes to shorting out and therefore give a lot of attention to that area.
monster cables used to have a slightly larger jack that would actually bend your input jack out of place...then when you'd use another type, it's would be all loose and shite. i don't know if they ever addressed that prob or not.

canare, mogami, george L's are what i usually use...with switchcraft jacks...and a shorting jack on the instrument end.

elwd

My bandmate often makes his own... I lack soldering skillz (something I also need to address), so I am at the mercy of the retailers... or my bandmate, and he's got enough on his plate that I feel bad asking him for anything more...

you'd think i would. i've build pedals for myself fairly often, but i've never rolled my own cable.

Cables are probably the easiest thing to start with if you're learning soldering. There's not a lot of troubleshooting since there are only 2 points on each mono connector.

Just don't solder while drunk. You may catch on fire!

there are a few solder-less cable making kits you can buy from various cable makers (george L, lava, bill lawrence all get rave reviews)...handy if you need a buncho different lengths but suck at soldering

a buddy of mine bought one of those solderless pedal cable kits... i believe it was the lava, and raved about it. conversely, someone i know with george l's loved the tone but hated them for reliability. if he kicked his board the wrong way, no sound.

I don't really dig solderless, though all I've used is Planet waves.

They liked to screw up...

I use Canare cable with Neutrik ends. GS-6 for the big stuff, and a thinner 2-conductor mic cable for patch cables.

masked elwood wrote:am i the only one that buys spools of cables and makes their own?
i've always thought the jacks are the weakest link when it comes to shorting out and therefore give a lot of attention to that area.
monster cables used to have a slightly larger jack that would actually bend your input jack out of place...then when you'd use another type, it's would be all loose and shite. i don't know if they ever addressed that prob or not.

canare, mogami, george L's are what i usually use...with switchcraft jacks...and a shorting jack on the instrument end.

elwd

I do the same.
I use either Switchcraft or G&S plugs.
The G&S silent plug is normal size, while the Switchcraft is a tad large, it will fit a Strat jack even though it looks looks it won't.

I like the flexibility and colors of the Canare cable.

I once thought about color coding every thing, blue clean, red distortion, yellow and orange for modulation but decided that was too anal even for me.

I do have a 34 year old Pro-CO Life Lines cable that has never had a problem other than being a tad stiff (and dirty, it was white when new).

Cables are a very good way to learn to solder, and judging from a few I've repaired, a lot of companies train their people right on the assembly line.

Now if I could just find a roll of purple cable I know I'll be able to play a lot better.

MM

I bought a $50 cable't from Lava Cable.....didn't even last a year.

I don't think I'll do the high priced cable thing any more.