Educate me on instrument and speaker cords

[Spaceboy]

I've always used cheap cords, but I recently purchased a Planet Waves instrument cable because I was having connection problems with a guitar input with the cheap ones. Something about the Planet Waves cable seems to hold in the the input more firmly, so I was having the disconnection issues anymore. I also realized how much better it sounds, and now I want to upgrade to quality cords. I've heard some people talk about Planet Waves being subpar quality, so what else should I get? I'm going to need around 4 speaker cables for head/cabinets, 3 long instrument cables, 6 patch cables, and probably 2 relatively short cables for the pedalboard. I would need something that has a large shielding around the jacks, because that's the reason the PW cable is more stable in the guitar input.

 

[Ancient Alien]

You get what you pay for.
Except in the case of Monster Cable.
You way overpay for garbage.
The end.

 

[Spaceboy]

You get what you pay for.
Except in the case of Monster Cable.
You way overpay for garbage.
The end.

What brands are quality, but not unbearably expensive? I'm curious about the common preference among you gearheads.

 

[~Abstract~]

Mogami
Canare

Make your own with Neutrik ends.

 

[jet66]

There is certainly a lot of fact, myth, opinion, and hype on this topic. I think there is a point where the price vs. quality may not be what I would call justified, but it depends on how much you are willing to spend vs. how much difference you can expect to/will actually hear. (And 'different' doesn't always make something 'good,' 'better,' or 'best,' just... 'different.')

For instrument and effects patching, I prefer to split the difference and build my own cables. You can buy Canare and Mogami cable and Neutrik and Switchcraft plugs from suppliers, make your own leads to the exact lengths you desire, and save quite a bit of money vs. buying ready made cables with those same components. One of the big factors in higher-end cables is the capacitance rating. The lower the number, usually the 'better' it is, ad it tends to roll off less high end the longer the cable is. A well-made cable with low capacitance and good construction/materials will typically sound better longer due to better durability than a truly 'cheap' cable. If you are happy with the sound you are getting with the PW's, I wouldn't worry about replacing anything. There are plenty of people who are perfectly happy with that brand. I've been using the Mogami wire with Neutrik plugs, from Redco. I can make a 15' cable for about 50-60% less than a pre-made costs. I might try Canare and Gotham next, just to see how they compare.

The Mogami sounds fine, so I'm not feeling like I may be missing out on something. I think that is a part of the mythos, that a lot of us fall in to, that there will be that one cord, one pedal, one pick, one pickup that is going to turn our contentment (or hatred, lol) with our tone in to sheer auditory bliss. IMO, it's just not realistic, beyond a certain point. I can't listen to my tone through my current rig and accept the idea that adding a $250 10' cord is going to make my eyes pop out of my head. But then again, I'm happy with an amp that cost me $650 used, from a brand that many on the internet despise. So take that as you will.

With speaker cables, I haven't really experimented too much with the various 'exotics.' As long as the wire is of good quality and the gauge is adequate for the distance and amount of power I am pushing, that is all I really look for. It's not as critical (IMO) as the properties around a line or passive signal in a guitar cable. Right now I am using a Horizon (I believe...) speaker cable, probably rated for far more than the 50 and 100 watt amps I use with it.

 

[~Abstract~]

Some folks...myself included...actually like the high end rolloff. I use a LiveWires 40ft exclusively on my TW clone. (before the EB Volume pedal...and another 20 footer connecting volume pedal to amp)

 

[moltenmetalburn]

You get what you pay for.
Except in the case of Monster Cable.
You way overpay for garbage.
The end.

PLUS 1000!

 

[Spaceboy]

What are the problems with Monster? I've gotta say, the lifetime guarantee is attractive, and the "rock" cables are carried locally and within my price range. Mogami cables have also had some mixed reviews after reading various articles and boards on the subject through Google. I'm sure they're better quality than what I'm used to, but the plug shielding available don't have the thickness of Planet Waves, which is something I really like since it's solved my connection problem with the Ibanez JS100. It's not the input either, it's been replaced twice, but cables with cheap or small shielding have just enough wiggle room to sometimes cutout or lose some signal while playing. I'm still looking into other brands, but at the moment I'm looking for cables that come complete, I'm not confident that I could properly splice the cables and jacks together myself, but then again I won't learn if I don't give it a shot. I've never done anything involving electronics really, besides installing pickups.

 

[skoora]

I don't know about other Monster cables but their studio pro series speaker cable made a noticeable difference to me vs. regular Horizon or Ernie Ball. More lows and more volume. I've had a 3ft one for over 10 years that is my go to speaker cable when recording is important.

If you like the highest treble response you can get when recording and part of your rig has no strain put on it eg. pedal board I recommend George L. Best top end response I've heard, no soldering required to put ends on and very small, so, easily routed in racks and pedal boards.

If I was gigging now I would just get something sturdy feeling but relatively inexpensive and just have a few backups. I don't see any tone improvement value in super high dollar instrument cable, especially in a loud rock scenario.

 

[Tawlks]

A good solution is to go to RadioSpares and pick up some Neutrik (is that how you spell it?) plugs for about $2 a piece, solder them yourself, this also means, if your cables do fail, you can just cut the end off and solder on a plug. (George Ls is a similar idea) and not spend loads on extra cable, cables very rarely break in the cable, it's usually at the plug if there's an intermittant connection problem, so you're saving 20 foot of cable and one plug essentially by buying a new plug and soldering it rather than buying a whole new lead. Flexable ends, IMO are not a great idea, you'll always get more real flexibility from the cable itself anyway.

As simply as it can be said, "Intrument cables are for intruments and speaker cables are for amp head to cabinet connections"

Instrument cables are shielded to reduce noise, speaker cables are un-shielded and made of much heavier gauge wire, they are designed for a heavier load.

- If you use a speaker lead as a guitar lead then you'll hear some hiss/hum/buzzing/interference, this is because they are unshielded
- If you use an instruemnt lead as a speaker lead you may run the risk of fucking up your Output Transformer.

*Stop reading now if you don't want to read me rant about PW cables*

I've used Planet Waves cables due to being on a budget and not finding much else locally/in the UK. I've personally had bad experiecne with PW cables, they're not of super quallity. What I've learned, and the amp tech I see confirmed for me, is that the flexable ends are not actually a great idea, I've had one break under not all that much strain over time (looping through my strap to the input on the side of my guitars, not tightly) and show bare wire. and because i'ts incased in rubber, any connection issue associated with the end of the cable cannot be repaired by soldering.

You get what you pay for with cables, I have no experience with Monster.