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As Jazz guitar covers such a broad range of style and sound, do you care to share the guitar cable that you wish someone would make, and if youve found the 'one' for you, could you mention the guitar the amp and the cablle that joins them together?
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08-30-2021 04:07 PM
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I like George L's cables. They are among the lowest capacitance cables one can buy, although capacitance seems to affect some guitars more than others. I think it is more noticeable with clean rather than distorted tones. And some people like the sound of a higher capacitance cable; Hendrix's clean tone, for example, was at least partly due to the high capacitance of the coiled cables that he favored. Cable capacitance shifts the resonant peak of the pickup which changes the sound. I find that a low capacitance cable results in an audibly clearer sound which is easier to adjust and EQ for the tone that I want. Cable length is also an issue in this; if your cable's only 6 feet long, it really doesn't matter what its capacitance rating is because the distance is so short; if you're using a 25-50 foot cable, capacitance becomes more of a pertinent issue.
In addition to that though, cables need to be tough. If the conductor or shield become easily damaged if somebody steps on it, for example, that's a bad thing. Plugs need to be securely attached to the cable; George L's plugs are solderless and easy to repair if the connection becomes damaged. Some cables are prone to picking up noise if the cable is moving around on the stage or is stepped on. I have other cables which have problematic noises and signal dropouts that I've never been able to solve, so the damage is somewhere in the cable itself rather than at the ends. My George L's cable has been trouble free for 10 years.
All that being said, there are a lot of really good cables on the market these days compared to 40 years ago. The D'Addario/Planet Waves cable is also quite good and is inexpensive, for example. Capacitance is a bit higher than with the George L's but lower than with the much more expensive Mogami.
In my case, my primary amplifier is a clone of the Fender 5E3 tweed Deluxe circuit. I have several other amps that I use as well, including a Polytone Baby Taurus, Acoustic Image Clarus 2r through a Raezer's Edge 12 inch cab, Roland Cube 60, Egnater Rebel 30. Guitars include carvetop with floating Classic 57, GB10, Tele, a sort-of Strat-like partscaster, semi-hollow with humbuckers, nylons strings with piezos...
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Vovox are the best I've tried. Great sounding, and I like the material because it never gets sticky or dirty.
Also they have great insulation and remain without static when you play over plastic/static enticing floors (which you sometimed get in clubs).
Having said that, a 100 euro 12 feet Vovox is the only cable I ever had fail on a gig. The sound started cutting out, and during the brake I frantically cut and redid some suspect George Ls I had on the pedalboard.. only to find out it was the vovox
I had it repaired though..
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Not trying to be a wise guy, but I guess I'm cable agnostic. It needs to stay plugged in, be flexible and not make a racket when you move it around. I gigged with a curly for about 10 years. It did get dirty and sticky. I have straight ones now.
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i recently finished converting my studio setup to all Mogami Gold cables.
i'm very happy with the sound i'm getting.Last edited by dogletnoir; 09-10-2021 at 07:00 PM.
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I'd like a lead that doesn't ever get tangled :-).
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Maybe 20 years ago I was part of a big production and bought a dozen instrument cables, some of this and that. Afterwards I continued to use those cables until they failed, and they all did fail years ago except two which I am still using to this day. That is really all I ever needed to know about instrument cables - Mogami.
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All you need is a Van Damme cable with Neutrik connectors.
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Klotz, you can thank me later
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+1 for Klotz! I bought a Klotz Funk Master cable about 10 years ago, gigged with it and still works as new. Great sounding cable!
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I've checked bunch of different cables last years and was cable agnostic until I've started playing with ZZYZX Snap Jack +/- 10yrs back. Back then it was one of the best cables. Then they broke, had to replace and moved back to standard Fender cables...and started to looking for another good cable
After some struggling with "high quality" well-known cables I've pulled a trigger on Mogami Gold - was the best shot so far!
I think it is similar to Klotz Titanum series. Now I'm only using Mogami Gold with neutrik jacks - this is very good cable and you don't have to spent a lot of $$.
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I've never had a cable I thought sounded any better than any other cable.
I intentionally add capacitance by rolling off the treble, at least somewhat, so if the cable doesn't have much capacitance, I'll end up adding some.
I do care that they are mechanically strong, but I don't really know how to judge that. The last two cables I bought were Monoprice.
I always use a pedalboard and sometimes two amps, so that's three cables and a spare in the bag. It's helpful if they're different colors. That way, I can always tell which one to plug where and, if one goes bad, I can easily see which one it is.
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I just care that it doesn't break, so I look for good strain relief. Other than that, for my strat I need two straight plugs and for my archtop and semi I prefer a right angle. Plus, I like having a couple of lengths of each (e.g., 15' for for stages and 10' for home), shorter ones for connecting between effects and the amp, plus even shorter ones to go between pedals. I've got a drawer full of all the above in a random selection of brands, some with cloth and some with rubber covers (also at random), bought at different times as needed. I've never been able to tell whether a cable makes any difference in tone, and I think if I could it would drive me nuts trying to figure out which is "best". So I'm glad I can't, and have not fallen down that particular rabbit hole.
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...since you asked, here is the moment, to admit my stange expectations, not in particular order
- smooth and opaque surface
- flexible, no traces any rigidness
- not screwable, not disassemblable jacks
- must not have any part made from gold (because of price...)
- supposedly manufactured in place, where quality control exist, and raw materials are also controlled. Currently I have no idea, how to know this is satisfied or not for a particular product, so I am going for Fender or Roland, do not ask why...
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As cable capacitance is measured in pf/m *(pico farads per meter) ive always wondered how much effect the pf value of the cable actually has. Its variance on sound quality is small compared to say your amp’s tone settings, where the effect is in far larger measurable terms.
Course i was a lowly ET, not an EE, and as the EEs always said WTF a tech know?)))
Seriously im in the solid construction, good flexibility, and a spare in the bag camp.
Take a look at the following to see how minute the pico farad is(“puffs” to an ET)
* relative capacitance measures:
Micro Farad (uf) 10 to the -6
.000,001 Farad
Nano Farad (nf) 10 -9
.000,000,001 Farad
Pico Farad (pf) 10 -12
.000,000,000,001 Farad
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The most important expectations for me are durability and RF filtering. Unfortunately, there are no data out there to indicate which ones have better noise filtering. Recently, I bought 4-5 cables which have silent plugs which is a pleasant feature- easy on the ears and the speakers.
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My only requirement is a Neutrik silent plug at the guitar end and max. 10 ft Cordial cable. A local guitar tech makes these, and the price is sensible.
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I A/B'd some high quality cables at a local store a couple years ago and was sold on VoVox. I could literally hear the difference.
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I was saddened a couple years ago when my trusty cable guy -- Death Valley Cable Company -- shut down; he had excellent cables for great prices, and a rather informative web site that knocked down some of the mythology of "good cables" (i.e., 100% unicorn tail hair threaded inside 101% directional silver wires, etc.). Fortunately, my stash of DVCC cables keeps on workin'! [Here are some other myths provided by Intex.]
My ear is just "OK" with this high-tech stuff, but the biggest difference I ever heard was comparing my old Monster Cable "Jazz" model to a Klotz cable: it was the proverbial "blanket over the speaker" experience, with the Klotz coming out as clear and "pure," and the Monster was a garbled mess!
I like clear, sturdy, and not-too-pricey cables; with DVCC gone, I've purchased (and enjoyed) others from Rattlesnake Cables.
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Long enough to reach the amp.
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I use D’Addario or Live Wire (Guitar Center Brand). Works for me. Unless you’re running 50 to 100 feet of cable I personally think your wasting your money on low capacitance cable.
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I was too a cable agnostic. Only thing I knew was durability and that’s why I started to make them my self. Neutrik plugs (no noiseless, too much moving parts!) sng Gotham cable, that was the brand that my fellow pro sound guys used.
Then I had a home with so much space that I could bring my rig to my room. To save the mess By using a shorter cable, 2 metres instead of standard 6 m. Once I had a gig coming and decided to test the gig rig at home. 6 m cable to pedal board and 6 m cable to Vox AC30. I was what? Who turned my guitar’s tone pot to 5?!
Then I stopped being an agnostic. I started to research the phenomena and tried some lower capacitance cables. The lowest was a Elixir cheapo cable. (Not made any more.) Uuhhh, too bright!
At the end I found Klotz La Grange cable. Sounded wonderfully clear but no harsh. Checked the type of the cable used and ordered is a long bunch. (Didn’t find nearer than northern Germany.) And made 3 cables 4 m from it with those old black straight Neutrik plugs that I bought in mid 90s in one end and an angled Neutrik in other end.
But! With the jazz rig this is too clear! There I use only one 3 m Sommer session mk II Cable cable, which I made two (one spare). Nice musical and clear enough sound.Last edited by Herbie; 09-01-2021 at 04:37 AM.
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I want it to work, without static, not break, and easy to cleanly wind. That's all.
I was at an outdoor "dancing under the stars" concert the other night, and the singer's mic kept cutting in and out. I thought, jeez, don't you bring a spare xlr cord? Then I realized that the cutting out was happening on certain sides of the pa off and on, so who knows what was going on there.Last edited by Woody Sound; 09-01-2021 at 08:41 AM.
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If You want to look around in this rabbit hole, You can start here:
Audio Cables Compared and Recommended
The author of that site has a compressor rabbit hole too! Very enthusiastic! And informatic for us bystanders.
Compressor Reviews
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That is quite a comprehensive and informative site.
Originally Posted by Herbie
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