Expensive cables are BS

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I'm using Lava Soar instrument cables and a Mogami speaker cable. Definite improvement in tone from my previous no-name brands!

-C
 
I just spent $200 rewiring my pedalboard and building a snake with Mogami cable, switchcraft and the gls pancakes that Friedman uses. I had cheapo GC cables and ends before that and I can honestly say that I was not like "WOW!! What a difference!!"

I will say that I do feel better knowing I have much better quality...even though I cant say it sounds night and day different :confused:
 
PS - may I ask, was Hendrix's "tone" actually what he was known for? Or was it his incredible ability to tear music a new asshole with his avant garde playing and approach to the guitar and the amplifier?

I don't think Hendrix-had-a-coily-cable-so-all-cables-are-the-same-or-snake-oil is a valid argument. Hendrix also played an upside down strat, and regularly mashed his guitar IN to his speaker cabinets and air-fucked the shit out of this position till things fell apart either physically or sonically.

No. People cared less or perhaps not whatsoever of the cables they chose to use back then. Clapton, Hendrix, Krieger, Rhino Reinhardt, and all those cats cared less about what they used to plug in. It was musical revolution man! The acid alone would have altered everyone's listening experience. The "music" was what "moved" people, the "wall of sound". But now it's an industry, and technology has gotten in there like none other - it's just business as usual, but for more sophisticated purposes, more sophisticated tools are required.
 
Ventura":2cgwjjdt said:
PS - may I ask, was Hendrix's "tone" actually what he was known for? Or was it his incredible ability to tear music a new asshole with his avant garde playing and approach to the guitar and the amplifier?

I don't think Hendrix-had-a-coily-cable-so-all-cables-are-the-same-or-snake-oil is a valid argument. Hendrix also played an upside down strat, and regularly mashed his guitar IN to his speaker cabinets and air-fucked the shit out of this position till things fell apart either physically or sonically.

No. People cared less or perhaps not whatsoever of the cables they chose to use back then. Clapton, Hendrix, Krieger, Rhino Reinhardt, and all those cats cared less about what they used to plug in. It was musical revolution man! The acid alone would have altered everyone's listening experience. The "music" was what "moved" people, the "wall of sound". But now it's an industry, and technology has gotten in there like none other - it's just business as usual, but for more sophisticated purposes, more sophisticated tools are required.
Thats why I like Lowes 16g lamp cord for all my marshall cabs :lol: :LOL:
 
spirit7":3j11nlfr said:
I'm using Lava Soar instrument cables and a Mogami speaker cable. Definite improvement in tone from my previous no-name brands!

-C
I'm using Lava Soar and Vovox speaker cable after I re-wired my entire rig with the stuff and let me tell ya, my rig looks AWESOME!

As far as sound differences go from the cheap cables I had before? Ummm... well... DID I MENTION HOW AWESOME MY RIG LOOKS NOW!!! :lol: :LOL:

Anyway... I hear no discernible difference. I think I spent like $1200... An expensive lesson I'd say... But damn... it sure looks cool!

Steve
 
I love my Solid Cables Arc Ultra's.

LOVE THEM.

Nial's business is a class act and Portland is lucky to have him.
 
Here's a thought...if real el cheapo cables and touring grade cables "suck tone" (meaning loss of high end in most cases), why not just keep cheapos and use a buffer to liven stuff up? Seems like a much cheaper alternative!
 
BrokenFusion":2xwncbxj said:
A standard coily cable was good enough for Hendrix...

...and everyone else that made all the classic shit we know and love. There was no expensive cables for them...or boutique anything.
 
Or buffers? The reason I am mentioning this is trying to decide whether or not I want to bother with one and if it is hype. My pedals aren't true bypass, they are BOSS and MXR and digitech with supposed buffers built in.
 
how many people would sign up if I made a 10ft Reveal Guitar cable, and a 3 ft SIREN II speaker cable, and started a "cable tour box"??
 
If Hendrix exploded on the scene today with his Strats, dimed Plexi's, Y-split coiled cable and Big Muff, everyone here would say his tone sounded like shit.
 
steve_k":3lemij7r said:
If Hendrix exploded on the scene today with his Strats, dimed Plexi's, Y-split coiled cable and Big Muff, everyone here would say his tone sounded like shit.
:thumbsup:
 
nevusofota":2clsbzn2 said:
steve_k":2clsbzn2 said:
If Hendrix exploded on the scene today with his Strats, dimed Plexi's, Y-split coiled cable and Big Muff, everyone here would say his tone sounded like shit.
:thumbsup:


This.

But IIRC, much of gear they (Hendrix, etc.) used was state-of-the-art / top-of-the-line back in the day too (at least when they hit it big, not in their struggling artist days). When Hendrix played his Strats and Marshalls, weren't they usually new or new models? They certainly weren't vintage like we mean today...By comparison, if you are using an amp today (2012), that was new in 1969, that would be like Hendrix using an amp in 1969 that was made in 1926!

Maybe the basic gear they had at the pro level was high quality compared to the everyday stuff, but I remember some shit gear I had that was made in the '60s/'70s...quality is not the first word that comes to mind.
 
Ventura":q1ivukyv said:
PS - may I ask, was Hendrix's "tone" actually what he was known for? Or was it his incredible ability to tear music a new asshole with his avant garde playing and approach to the guitar and the amplifier?

I don't think Hendrix-had-a-coily-cable-so-all-cables-are-the-same-or-snake-oil is a valid argument. Hendrix also played an upside down strat, and regularly mashed his guitar IN to his speaker cabinets and air-fucked the shit out of this position till things fell apart either physically or sonically.

No. People cared less or perhaps not whatsoever of the cables they chose to use back then. Clapton, Hendrix, Krieger, Rhino Reinhardt, and all those cats cared less about what they used to plug in. It was musical revolution man! The acid alone would have altered everyone's listening experience. The "music" was what "moved" people, the "wall of sound". But now it's an industry, and technology has gotten in there like none other - it's just business as usual, but for more sophisticated purposes, more sophisticated tools are required.

Very good point. Someone I think on TGP once made a comment about how (paraphrasing) "half you guys would likely not be satisfied with Hendrix's exact rig if you had it". I don't think he was wrong.
 
As far as cables go I use a planet waves guitar cable, and I make my own speaker cables. I have gone through a lot of cables, noting too high end, but I find that the planet waves smooths the treble out a bit which to me is great. I have some that are darker, and some that are very clear, but to me are a bit too bright.

Like anything else cables are part of a system, and can make a difference that can be hard to create with an eq becasue to me it changes the feel. It is like adjusting the volume, or tone control on the guitar, hard to create that same change with EQ. But I think for playing live good shielding, and durrability are the biggest factors which you also get with a higher end cable.
 
Really what it comes down to is most of the pros we know and love spend less (if any) time mincing and wingeing over their cables, and more time playing and creating music. They're good because they play - LOTS. Thats what musicians and artists do - they work their craft - not pontificate over what cables are better in what applications...

Whatever.
 
Threadkill^
everyone get offline and get back to the woodshed :thumbsup:
 
Study up on capacitance. That is the issue in guitar cables, most important in the non-buffered run from instrument to first device in the chain.

Cable performance would be EXTREMELY easy to measure with an oscilloscope and a FSA. Is this done? Nope.

Ergo caveat emptor.
 
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