Need some cable advice

[Lux84]

I need some cable suggestions for home practising, right now i have two quality 4.5m klotz la grange cables one from guitar to beggining of the effect chain, and one goes from the end of effect chain to amp input. those two cables are cool. i have Blackstar HT-5 Combo for home using, it's my practising amp right now. the thing is... i bought some cordial patch cables, i am using two of them from the effect loop to Boss Digital Delay and there is noticeable some annoying noise from amp when i turn the pedal down noise dissapear. i have those cordial patch cables for the whole effect chain, but i am a bit dissapointed, those cables kind of suck. so i have look for planet waves and elixir cables, and i am confused about which are better... or worth extra money.. i already have one PW Speaker cable for extension cab, but i have't check it, because i am waiting the extension cab to come.. so, which are worth extra money, Planet Waves or Elixir ?

[everdrone]

Re: Need some cable advice

I like ones that I can take to GC and exchange when they die

I have had a lot that have died! I recommend Monster since they are easy for GC to exchange for you since that brand is the most conspicuous at their store. I returned a monster cable last year with no probs. I have other cables for my pedalboard and a mogami, but for the rest I finally switched to monster pro 1000 for everything, speaker and instrument cables. maybe a little better sound

[uOpt]

Re: Need some cable advice

I'm not confident that your evidence supports a one-side blame toward your cables.

Can you be more specific about the noise and when it goes away?

[Bludave]

Re: Need some cable advice

Cables are a very important part of our signal chain. About 10 years ago I started rebuilding my pedalboard. I wound up completely rewiring my board and I elected to use George L cables. I have never replaced them. They are still operating as they should today. George L cables come in two different styles; a .225 which I use to connect my boar to the amp and my guitar to the board, they als make a .155 for connecting pedals. I sue both and have yet to experience a total failure. I have had some terminals come loose and this will cause some static, but other then that.... they work great.

[SlyFoxx]

Re: Need some cable advice

I'm not confident that your evidence supports a one-side blame toward your cables.

Can you be more specific about the noise and when it goes away?

This^^

True some cables give a slightly better sound but I've never run across a cable that flat out just didn't work unless broken or corroded.

[LReese]

Re: Need some cable advice

Yea - I'm more inclined to think its your Digital Delay in the loop than your cables. Try plugging 1 cable from send to return and see if the noise is still there.

Boss units I know of except for the DD-20 aren't designed for use in the effects loop. Some amps do have loops that will work with pedals, so YMMV.

I used to use Bill Lawrence cables, but am liking Mogami 2524 cables I made. Might go back to Bill Lawrence for my board - they're pretty easy to work with and very clear sounding.

[Dr. Vegetable]

Re: Need some cable advice

As others have said, you should hear very little (if any) difference between cheap and expensive patch cables unless they are physically damaged. I have used el-cheapo Radio Shack molded patch cords for many years without any problems. Higher quality patch cords may have better audio characteristics and/or better durability or warranty coverage, but a noisy cable is a broken cable.

Just be sure you don't use speaker cables for line level signals, or shielded cable to run speakers. Shielded cables protect the delicate, low-voltage signals from picking up noise, but have added capacitance that is undesirable when running a powered signal. Using speaker cables for line signals can allow interference to get in there - especially if you run them near AC power cords, computer network cables, or other electronic equipment.

I would first test each effect individually using the two "quality" cables you have to see if one of the effects is responsible for the added noise. Bad pedals can introduce noise into your signal, and even good pedals can amplify the noise that is already there.