Why cable capacitance matters, with audio comparisons

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

The recent thread on cable capacitance pushed me to want to hear how it affects our playing. So I fiddled around with multiple cables, styles, picks etc and discovered a major reason not to ignore it. Cable capacitance definitely affects tone - the higher the value, the duller and darker the tone. But it has (at least) one other significant effect. Differences among strings, picks, playing styles etc are more dramatic and better heard with low capacitance cables. Smaller changes in picking position relative to the bridge are more easily heard. Differences among strings are more apparent. For example, differences among lead lines are more apparent when played with different picks and styles. Harder, brigher picks produce sharper attacks and greater definition of individual notes, while smooth soft picks (like the Dunlop 204 and the ProPlec) seem to generate smoother lines that sound a bit more legato and a bit less staccato.

First, I measured the capacitance of several of my cables to find two that were widely disparate. The lowest I could find was 175pF and the highest was 550pF. Then I recorded the same passage through each cable as closely as I could replicate it with 3 different picks on the same guitar recorded directly into a 96/192 M-track DAI and captured in Audacity. Nothing was changed at all except the cables and the picks. The volume and tone pots on the guitar were fully up. I did my best to pick about midway between the end of the fingerboard and the bridge saddle. There is no processing at all, except that I normalized the tracks to keep the average volumes within a dB or two. High frequency peaks are a dB or 2 higher through the low capacitance cable and from the harder brighter picks.

My conclusions are that a low capacitance cable is audibly more responsive to picking and playing style. Subtle tonal dynamics that are not readily apparent through the high capacitance cable are more clearly heard and appreciated through the low one. A low capacitance cable seems a bit more demanding of technical precision, in that it reveals more of the attack of each note. The 204 hides a bit of imprecision in timing and picking stroke while the harder, brighter picks are more revealing. If you want to play a smooth legato line with an acrylic or Lexan pick that has a sharp point or edge, you have to gently stroke the strings and avoid rest strokes. But the same characteristics let those with stellar technique play faster but more precisely controlled lines with the harder and sharper pointed / edged picks. One of the surprising things to me about this comparison is the big difference in the tone of the lowest notes (near the end of the clips). The ending run goes down to a low C on the 7th string (64 Hz).

The softest and smoothest pick was a 2mm Dunlop 204 (polycarbonate), the intermediate was a 3mm Dunlop Jazz Stubby (Lexan) with a sharp point, and the hardest and brightest was a polished acrylic 2mm pick with a precisely beveled edge from Pinter Guitars. The guitar is my Eastman 810CE7 - a 17x3.3" fully carved archtop with a floating KA over a spruce top & maple body, TI JS113s plus a 75 thou Chrome 7th tuned to A. I think the differences are obvious - see if you agree. Here are the short comparison clips:

550pF Dunlop 204 (polycarbonate)



550pF Dunlop Jazz Stubby (Lexan)



550pF Pinter (acrylic)



175pF Dunlop 204 (polycarbonate)



175pF Dunlop Jazz Stubby (Lexan)



175pF Pinter (acrylic)



And here's the head from Groovin' High on my Benedetto Bravo 7 with set KA and TI JS112s plus a 75 thou Chrome through the 175pF cable. The same conditions apply - tone and volume pots wide open, no processing at all (not even normalization on this one) , and as close to identical picking strokes and position as I could get. The differences were more subtle through the 550pF cable, and this post is already too long. But I think the point is clear from these. I was surprised that the Benedetto seems to be even a bit more sensitive to cable capacitance than the 810. See what you think:

204 2mm polycarbonate



Lexan 3mm Dunlop Jazz Stubby



2mm acrylic

[Cunamara]

I was not so rigorous but my own experience with low-cap cables is similar; I use George L's. Going to wireless has brought an even greater sense of transparency, and I like not tripping over the danged cable...

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