Guitar cables What is our favorite cable???

rjgtr · Post by **rjgtr** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 11:21 am

One way cables are just cables where the shield is only connected to one end and + and - are on the inner wires (like a Mic cable). This supposedly makes the cable less noisey. Planet Waves cables are wired this way.

I do think it is funny, everyone considers the 60s the era of great guitar tone and all those guys used cheap cables.

sub · Post by **sub** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 11:25 am

Leif_Bodnarchuk wrote:I didn't see the price tag, the band paid for it!

Leif_Bodnarchuk wrote: And it was an accident how we actually had it around.
I have yet to seriously "R+D" any cable. You really need to do stuff side by side, A/B it all. The mind is fragile thing!
And it's best to have believable figures on hand before any munufacturer tries to "wow" any musician. Words like "rich," "thick," "bright," (ad infinitum) are all totally subjective terms and should be avoided like SARS.
In my bitter, grizzled opinion anyway.

You are right!

sub · Post by **sub** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 11:29 am

rjgtr wrote:I do think it is funny, everyone considers the 60s the era of great guitar tone and all those guys used cheap cables.

You are right! (also)

Leif_Bodnarchuk · Post by **Leif_Bodnarchuk** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 11:41 am

rjgtr wrote:One way cables are just cables where the shield is only connected to one end and + and - are on the inner wires (like a Mic cable). This supposedly makes the cable less noisey. Planet Waves cables are wired this way.
.

It does make the signal less noisy - if you have a phase inverter on the other end, like in a proper mixer.

As far as I know, they haven't yet come up with this system for guitars - someone should. Mind you, if you had a good preamp in your guitar, you would be doing well - the slightly higher output would travel a little more safely down longer cables.

And now we come to the impedance thing which confuses me to a certain degree.

rjgtr · Post by **rjgtr** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 11:45 am

Well it is isn't exactly a mic cable, so it isn't a balanced signal. It doesn't need a balanced input, like on a mixer. The minus is just ground in this case, not an out of phase signal like in a balanced signal. Shielding on one end only does help from making your guitar a bigger antenna and there's sound reasons for using it.

Leif_Bodnarchuk · Post by **Leif_Bodnarchuk** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 11:50 am

Yes siree, shielding on one end only can in some cases eliminate a ground loop; a la DI box ground lift switch.

sub · Post by **sub** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 8:37 pm

Hey guys look at this..............

http://kendrick-amplifiers.com/Merchant ... ry_Code=03

Of course it's relative........

Leif_Bodnarchuk · Post by **Leif_Bodnarchuk** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 8:48 pm

If I owned a shop and someone came in and asked for a bass cable, I'd think someone was playing a prank on them.

Like tartan [plaid] paint.

But I suppose this is the nineties...

sub · Post by **sub** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 8:56 pm

I think so....... i don't quite follow you

Billy Batz · Post by **Billy Batz** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:41 pm

Leif_Bodnarchuk wrote:And now we come to the impedance thing which confuses me to a certain degree.

lol. It confuses everyone to some degree.

Flames1950 · Post by **Flames1950** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:49 pm

Billy Batz wrote:
Leif_Bodnarchuk wrote:And now we come to the impedance thing which confuses me to a certain degree.
lol. It confuses everyone to some degree.

Larry probably understands it all..........

Bluesbishop · Post by **Bluesbishop** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:22 pm

I'm with country boy shane on this...CHEAP. I buy what's on sale..or my brother sends me free cables...I have bags of cables my bro sends.
I was reading Stevie used the cheapest cables he could find...even radio shack. He thought the high end cables" let too much electricity" through them.

Clapton, Beck, Page, Hendrix, Betts, Montrose, SRV..I'm sure all of those guys used "cheap cables" and we all try to attain to their tone!

shakti · Post by **shakti** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 6:15 am

bluefuzzguitar wrote:Paul,

You have to realize that I'm not a hifi freak at all. Before the EA cables all I used was medium-quality cables of any affordable brand. SRV used to say he disliked high-end cables because 'they pass too much electricity'. I couldn't agree more cuz that's what they sound like to me as well and especially the increased treble response. I've been given lots of different high-end cords to try out and rejected each and every one of them because of the bigger signal I got. If you're as hard a picker as I am you actually need your equipment to almost literally tone down the onslaught some or your speakers will come pushing thru the cloth! Hence my choice of Van Zandt Vintage Plus pickups whose output is only slightly higher than normal, a 5751 in V1 of my Super Bass and medium-quality cables.

The medium-quality cables were before I discovered the EA cables. This is in fact the first and ONLY high-end cord I really like. And yes, it makes a huge difference. The great thing about these cables is they don't sound hifi at all. They'll give you the same 'feel' as a cheaper cable but the difference in sound and clarity is very noticable. We're talking warmth, smoothness, just a very natural, organic sound. These cables were made with guitarists/bass players in mind, not hifi freaks. Which is why I don't like the George L's which definitely sound too hifi to my ears.

Mike

I just had to say that this post probably tipped me in favour of buying an EA Lyric HG cable, and I could not agree more with all that's been said. Wonderful, wonderful cable! Super-warm, smooth, detailed, relaxed...everything the GL cable I had used was *not*! I thought the GL sounded good because it was more detailed and preserved the treble response better. Listening to the EA, I now realize it put an artificial emphasis on treble and upper mids! All the harshness went away with the EA, to the point where I could almost turn up the treble on the amp even more!

Now I am curious what it could do on my pedalboard...but I am worried about the stiffness of the cable and the relative size of Neutrik plugs over the GLs...do you think it makes a big difference on a pedalboard? I am using a VHT Valvulator first in the chain which kind of colours the signal more than anything (in a good way, using one of those beautiful Tesla E83CCs!).

wdelaney72 · Post by **wdelaney72** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 3:05 pm

Horizon cables for me.

Billy Batz · Post by **Billy Batz** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 3:07 pm

I use GLs only because of the reliability factor. I can just snip a bit and put on another 4$ tip and be all set again. That makes them really the cheapest and most reliable cables. I cant have anything else live. But I dont play much anymore so I definitely have to try these out. When I get an extra $125. I was planning to before. Where did you guys get em?