Cable from amp to guitar advice please?

[Tim Clark]

...except the two that were Mogami cables.

+ 1 on Mogami. I use them for both guitar and vocal mic, won't use anything else.

Also use XLR cable from guitar DI/effect box to PA rather than 1/4" cable.

[JCat]

Is it important to buy an expensive guitar lead (what are they called) for guitar to amp please?

Not at all.
But it's important that the cable is of adequate quality for your needs. In general it means;

• Soldered, serviceable quality plugs.
• Strain relief
• Shielded instrument cable, that is long enough and has the right capacitance for your application (lowest possible capacitance may not always be preferred).

[Richard1234]

Thats really interesting guy, thanks so much for the information. In the end I went for set of Fender, as suggested by one of the earlier replies. I expect once I have the guitar set up, and am playing regular. I'll get e feel for what's good for the sound I want?

Cheers again to all.

[v281]

…The lifelong guarantee does not help You when You are playing in a concert hall on a saturday night and in the middle of Your solo the cable starts buzzing and muteing…

Which is why one should always carry a spare cable or two…

[Herbie]

Which is why one should always carry a spare cable or two…

So true!

In fact this is how the ”lifelong guarantee” should work: one should get the new cable before anything happens!

[DanielleOM]

I like cables where the manufacturer uses Canare instrument cable and Neutrik connectors. A number of cable companies use them. Markertek, a supplier to the broadcast industry is one source. If prepared to wait a few days you get them in the length and color you want. Colored cables are a joy if you ever host an open mic with multiple instrument and mic cables. I find you will appreciate Canare before and after the gig if you take care of it. Canare just seems to have the right amount of stiffness / memory where it easily uncoils and wraps. Too many cables out there are a pain to wrap at the end of gig and kind of maintain a memory of every little twist and turn the cable has gone through.

[dconeill]

... Should I keep believing that the reverb was weak/inop due to this loose connector, even when the guitar signal was sufficient to be amplified?

Tony D.

If you put the possibly defective cable back in the signal chain and the problem re-occurred, then yes.
If not, maybe.
Something changed - maybe it was only the cable, maybe there was something else you changed without being aware of it.

And you really shouldn't hijack a thread with a posting on a different topic. This was a thread with a newbie's questions about what connecting cable to get. Your posting was hardly that.

[Irishmuso]

I make my own cables, using George L cable and Neutrik plugs..

I have several cables with Neutrik plugs which have the little outer sleeve that means that if the cable is removed from the guitar without first turning off the amp - shock! - the other musicians aren't deafened by the noise. They should be mandatory in my opinion.

[sgosnell]

I like the 90 degree silent plugs. That's the end I normally use at the guitar, and the silent feature is really nice. What it does is short the tip and ring any time the plug isn't in a jack, so it's completely silent even if lying on the floor, where cables without them can buzz, and it also prevents the pop when the plug is inserted or removed. I have some older cables with standard plugs, and I won't throw those away, but I don't often use them. Silent plugs ftw.

[Jonathan0996]

Don't get the cheapest cable you can find, and don't go for the uber-expensive cables. Most people can't hear the difference between a good cable and a designer cable.
Find a moderately priced cable at a moderate length. No longer than 15 feet. It'll be fine.

[Richard1234]

Brought a Fender one in the middle price bracket, so should be ok? So I'm right in thinking always turn off the amp before removing the lead/guitar cable, yes? Amp came last night, tiny little thing, should be just enough to annoy my neighbours.

[docsteve]

Yes, always turn the amp down or off before plugging in or out. The neighbours will thank you, and so will your own ears.

[mr. beaumont]

Brought a Fender one in the middle price bracket, so should be ok? So I'm right in thinking always turn off the amp before removing the lead/guitar cable, yes? Amp came last night, tiny little thing, should be just enough to annoy my neighbours.

Yep.

And good call on the mid priced cable. I think I've found in almost all electronic accessories, like cables, the cheap stuff is cheap for a reason and the expensive stuff is overpriced.

This often goes for wine at the supermarket too

[Woody Sound]

Maybe you need this:

Access to this page has been denied.

[Herbie]

Yes, always turn the amp down or off before plugging in or out. The neighbours will thank you, and so will your own ears.

A decade ago I saw Nick Lowe in the concert and from him I learned a neat trick to make the guitar changes silently. See pics. Works on any amp!





I knew that Lowe is a song writing genius but he is a technical genius too!

[Woody Sound]

A decade ago I saw Nick Lowe in the concert and from him I learned a neat trick to make the guitar changes silently. See pics. Works on any amp!


I knew that Lowe is a song writing genius but he is a technical genius too!

Been doing that for decades. If that make me a genius, I'll take it!

[Woody Sound]

One thing I'd like to mention is that fabric-covered cables tend to tangle less. They're often called "braided". Ernie Ball makes an 18 foot braided cable around US$35. There are many manufacturers.

+2 on the braided cords. The don't tangle, easier to wind, and they don't get your hands all sticky after winding from a night on a gunky floor. But ALWAYS have a spare handy. These are a real bargain:

Amazon.com


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[Alter]

The most expensive cable I ever bought was a 100€ vovox that sounded glorious (and was a bit clearer then the George L, especially on acoustic rigs). But it has also been the only cable I've ever had to crap out on a gig (and a high paying session one.. I saved it by standing still the whole second set, couldn't even stop to change it since it was a music theater thing with no intermissions... haha still remember it..). And I'm always careful with cables, it was also only months old at the time. I repaired it and still use it, but it was the last expensive cable I bought.

I use what pretty much people here recommend, 30-40$ cables, George L for years with no problems, and canare/mogami cables with Neutrik jacks. However, if you need to repair a cable for any reason it's much easier to assemble a George L perfectly than it is to solder a cable perfectly, especially if you don't have all the tools to stabilize and desolder it.

I have also noticed that in lessons over the years, the same cables that stay problem free when I use them, tend to break after a couple of years when students are using them. So how you actually handle a cable when pulling etc makes a difference.

[frabarmus]

I use Reference cables.

[Woody Sound]

ps - As long as you're learning, you might consider calling them "guitar to amp" cables. And welcome.

[Herbie]

I think they used to be simply called "guitar cords". But I see now that Fender calls them "instrument cables".

Avoid coiled cords, the wires inside break very easily - I've found them very unreliable.

Generally, metal plugs are unreliable. The cable clamp wiggles back and forth causing the centre conductor to break inside the plug. Also they often use a riveted construction using a phenolic insulator. The phenolic dries out over time and shrinks and the rivet then doesn't hold tight anymore causing an intermittent connection.

I've found plastic "molded" plugs (the plugs are molded to the cable) to be very reliable.

Cheers
Avery Roberts

Well, generally speaking there is many kinds of a plastic molded plugs, and the worst versions are just as easy breaking as the worst metal versions.

Most metal plugs are reusable. If the cable fails, You can fix it. You can’t do that with molded ones. Best metal plugs (Switchcraft, Neutrik etc) are designed so that if the cord itself is good, the assembly is done well and the user does not spoil it, cable lasts forever. (Of course the plastics detoriarate during decades and the copper inside the cord gets oxidised, but relatively speaking.)

[sgosnell]

The only issues I've ever seen with metal plugs is with cheap ones, with no strain relief and too large a hole in the rear, where the cable goes through, allowing the cable to move inside it. With a good plug, there is no movement of the cable at all, and the cable inner conductor will never fail, nor will the solder joint. Using phenolic in a plug is cheap, and not a good idea. Get a real plug, like a Neutrik, and it will be far more reliable than any wrapped in plastic. I just won't even think about buying one of those.

[pingu]

Neutrik gold plated jacks
basically unpreakable

[sgosnell]

The Neutrik aren't actually gold plated, they're gold-colored hard brass. At least the older, slightly larger, models I have are. You can also get nickel instead of the gold colored brass. Any of the NP series plugs will do the job, whichever color they are. They're easy to assemble, no need to solder the braided shield, just the center conductor, and once assembled, the cable will not move unless it's disassembled. I'm not a big fan of Switchcraft, and I only have a few plugs of that type, mostly because I don't throw many working devices away. The cables I normally use all have Neutrik plugs, and I have never had one of those fail in use. Once the chuck is tight on the cable, it cannot move or be pulled loose without destroying the cable inside it.

[pingu]

1299028[/URL]]The Neutrik aren't actually gold plated, they're gold-colored hard brass. At least the older, slightly larger, models I have are. You can also get nickel instead of the gold colored brass. Any of the NP series plugs will do the job, whichever color they are. They're easy to assemble, no need to solder the braided shield, just the center conductor, and once assembled, the cable will not move unless it's disassembled. I'm not a big fan of Switchcraft, and I only have a few plugs of that type, mostly because I don't throw many working devices away. The cables I normally use all have Neutrik plugs, and I have never had one of those fail in use. Once the chuck is tight on the cable, it cannot move or be pulled loose without destroying the cable inside it.

sorry I stand corrected on the gold thing ….

mind you their site says gold
NP2RX-B - Neutrik