i knew this, but sometimes you get wrapped up in other stuff

[JeffB]

And forget just how much difference something like a cable can make.

Several months back, I bought a replacement main cable. Mostly for its vintage looks and supple nature.Not a cheap cable mind you,but not overwhelmingly expensive.

Ive struggled at times with weird high end goings on in my rig for awhile. Didnt matter what guitar or pedal, amp, or tube/s. But it was harsh. Also kinda wish i had a bit less mud. I was always dialing back mids and treble..and not getting the clarity I wanted as a resullt.

But my dumbass totally overlooked it. Try a new pedal. Try some new tubes. Need brighter pickups. Etc. Never even thought of grabbing the old cable. And I know better.

Well today i found my old cable and for grins decided to try it. Harsh highs gone, less muddy/ better string seperation,and more low end. Now i can raise the treble content and mids in my rig and get a sharper more punchy sound.


Dont overlook the less glamorous gear.

[That90'sGuy]

Re: i knew this, but sometimes you get wrapped up in other stuff

Cables and buffering are the two most overlooked aspects of tone. You'd be amazed how improving both will drastically change the tone of whatever you're using for the better.

[GuitarDoc]

Re: i knew this, but sometimes you get wrapped up in other stuff

+1

[WhoFan]

Re: i knew this, but sometimes you get wrapped up in other stuff

i've had issues with cables before that drove me nuts... thought i had a bad noisey pedal once and returned it, it was the cable all along... played a show once with that cable and under the stage lights i had horrid hum and hiss that kind of wrecked the show for me... it was the same cable

guy i worked with had his amp and his guitar into the repair shop many times for a high pitch noise that was always in the background... it was his instrument cable...

i've been using medium grade cables by Rapco for years... some people swear by higher priced cables, but some say they make little difference... hard to say who i believe

[atreidesheir]

Re: i knew this, but sometimes you get wrapped up in other stuff

This should be a sticky somewhere.

[stratsandaks]

Re: i knew this, but sometimes you get wrapped up in other stuff

Good advice, I think we've all been bitten by a bad cable at some point

[Diego]

Re: i knew this, but sometimes you get wrapped up in other stuff

Yup. Once my Ibanez started sounding muffled and just terrible and my Strat was fine.
Nothing I did helped. Replaced the pots on the Ibanez, nothing. Changed pickups, nothing.
After 3 days of struggle, I started trying with other cables.
All the missing clarity came back and the Strat was a goddamn icepick! A cheap cable I had after my last pedal, into the amp, ruined everything.

[crguti]

Re: i knew this, but sometimes you get wrapped up in other stuff

This should be a sticky somewhere.

in your brain

[JeffB]

Re: i knew this, but sometimes you get wrapped up in other stuff

Ive also noticed the noise level went down.

Stupid me.

[Grindspine]

Re: i knew this, but sometimes you get wrapped up in other stuff

JeffB, just for reference, what cables were you using (good and bad)?

A long time ago, I used Horizon instrument cables. They were noisy and had terrible solder points, despite the "premium" guitar cable look of the nylon braiding on the outside.

A friend of mine used Mogami for a while, but his tone was fairly dull on the high end, though they were low noise.

I tried Monster P500 Rock cables, but found the high end abrasive.

I settled on Monster P500 Jazz cables. The high end is clear, but not harsh. The thick shielding has just enough capacitance to leave the high end mellow but not dull. The cables are durable and low noise.

My friend who had previously used the Mogami tried my Monster P500 Rock cable and loved it; way more crisp than the Mogami he had been using. The brighter high end happens to work better with his rig than it did with mine.

So, especially with a 18-21" main cable between the guitar and amp, my friend and I could definitely hear the difference between those four cables. We both settled on Monster, though we prefer two different types of Monster cable based on how we want our amps to sound. Since I use a rack system (Mesa Triaxis with 2:Ninety) I have since swapped out all of the audio cables to Monster Jazz while using Hosa for MIDI and Horizon cables (resoldered tips) for tip-ground switching.

Once you get to a certain level of quality, personal preference is a huge factor. Cheapy, noisy cables will definitely be cheapy, noisy cables though. Cables are factor to a guitar setup that should not be overlooked!

[JeffB]

Re: i knew this, but sometimes you get wrapped up in other stuff

I could tell. But people here get really polarized over cables and turn into little beeatches. Kinda like with Gibson threads.

So I will refrain.