Cables ........... Do you I have to pay that much for Mogami ......... ?

Dr.Mavashi

neonderthalotonalogist
I play heavy staff, gain. Have not upgraded my cables in a long time, but Lord, the prices on Mogami .......
 
There are different levels of Mogami. Not all Mogami is worth the price. Mogami golds are good, they haven't failed on me. The Mogami Platimums are a waste of money. Those, while good for a while, weren't rugged enough to last long and failed on me. But at least they are serviceable/repairable, since you can back off the strain relief and get at the connections to fix it.

I assume we're discussing mainly patch cables, since this is "The Pedal Board." Some of the best sounding patch cables I've used were just middle of the road stock ProCo Excellines or HOSA CPE cables. Other elite brands, like George L's that everyone raves about for clarity, just sound paper thin and weak to me and aren't worth the money - it seems they get clarity be removing low end, which is absolutely not what I need.
 
There are different levels of Mogami. Not all Mogami is worth the price. Mogami golds are good, they haven't failed on me. The Mogami Platimums are a waste of money. Those, while good for a while, weren't rugged enough to last long and failed on me. But at least they are serviceable/repairable, since you can back off the strain relief and get at the connections to fix it.

I assume we're discussing mainly patch cables, since this is "The Pedal Board." Some of the best sounding patch cables I've used were just middle of the road stock ProCo Excellines or HOSA CPE cables. Other elite brands, like George L's that everyone raves about for clarity, just sound paper thin and weak to me and aren't worth the money - it seems they get clarity be removing low end, which is absolutely not what I need.

I was talking about all cables from guitar to padal board, from pedal board to the amp, rack/EFX loop.
 
I think fancy cables do make a difference. Small, but if you can afford them, why not? I mean, people pay a lot for a Gibson Custom Shop. Same kind of law of diminishing returns when compared to something like a Gibson USA, Epiphone, etc.

I personally find the Planet Waves American Stage cables sound good enough for me.

But then again, small as though the difference may be, we're in a forum where people discuss the subtleties of a magnet vs a magnet made of the same material but with some bumps in it, LOL.

*EDIT* That kinda came off as me being a dick, LOL, but what I meant is different people value different things as having more/less impact in tone... with some sarcasm thrown on top. :p
 
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I don't spend crazy money on cables. Maybe $30 on a 15 foot cable, and it will last me many years of playing and recording. Currently I am using a few .make your own' Bill Lawrence cables that are about 20 years old, as well as a few newer Pig Hog cables.
 
I have been using the Amazon Basics cables they were blowing out for $2 a while back and have not encountered any problems or noise. I typically grab cables when I see them on sale but tend to stick to mid-high level (Pig Hog/Monster/Planet Waves/Fender/HOSA) except for these Amazon Basics, which pleasantly surprised me.
 
I grabbed about a dozen Mogami golds of various lengths way back when they were quite a bit cheaper, before they even released the platinum series.

Once you hit the board/amp the difference will be slim to none, especially if you have an ultra-low impedance pedal at the end of your chain and/or before any long cables like to and from the amp's loop or from the board to the amp.

TC pedals usually have great buffers so they can kill two birds.
 
How much a difference is a $60 cable going to make to my sound when I currently have an EQ, Tubescreamer, and noise gate combine for that cost?
 
To some extent, better cables are more reliable. I know we've all had more expensive cables that have failed, but it is less likely to happen.
 
To some extent, better cables are more reliable. I know we've all had more expensive cables that have failed, but it is less likely to happen.

+1 This. I have my expensive cables in the practice space and keep the Amazon cables for home use. I have some Amazon cables in the "band" gig bag for emergency backups.
 
A few years back I bought a few cables from Amazon. ~$12 a piece, 10' straight/angled. The manufacturer was called WBC (World's Best Cables). Supposedly Mogami components but assembled elsewhere. They don't sound bad and have held up well to home use.

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+1 This. I have my expensive cables in the practice space and keep the Amazon cables for home use. I have some Amazon cables in the "band" gig bag for emergency backups.

+2

You don't have to go crazy with cables, and different brands will have different capacitance which will slightly change your sound. But I've found that going really cheap on cables has always been a false economy for me - they just break. Usually at an inconvenient time.

I've been using planet waves and d'addario guitar cables for a while now and been pretty happy. They're reasonably priced, sound decent, and have been very reliable for me.
 
But I've found that going really cheap on cables has always been a false economy for me - they just break. Usually at an inconvenient time.

Like all of us, I have piles of cables. I had acquired many cheaper cables over the years that were bought at times when money was tight. I had one go crackly and started shorting out at a gig around 20 years ago. I got home that night and threw every crap and suspect cable in the trash in a fit of rage and ordered new Monster Cables, I still have them and they still work great. Now if I order a piece of gear and it shows up with a junk cable I don't even save it for "just in case" it goes directly in the trash.
 
How much a difference is a $60 cable going to make to my sound when I currently have an EQ, Tubescreamer, and noise gate combine for that cost?
They do make a difference.

But it depends on how picky you are. I for starters obssessed over the (pretty subtle) difference between the TS808, OD808, TS9, and OD9. In the end, I ended up liking the TC Mocambo the most, LOL.

But my point is output impedance, signal strenght, and whatnot aren't any difference in cheapie pedals. Especially when they're clones. So good cables make as much of a difference as if you're running all Klons.
 
They do make a difference.

But it depends on how picky you are. I for starters obssessed over the (pretty subtle) difference between the TS808, OD808, TS9, and OD9. In the end, I ended up liking the TC Mocambo the most, LOL.

But my point is output impedance, signal strenght, and whatnot aren't any difference in cheapie pedals. Especially when they're clones. So good cables make as much of a difference as if you're running all Klons.

My point was more so that if I were interested in developing a perfect instrument tone, cables wouldn't be the first place I would look. Unless your cable is a mile long, there's nothing the little bit of resistance and negligible capacitance can do to my tone that I can't change. The only thing that matters to me is that my cable has good solder joints on the ends.

Also, unrelated, but one of the biggest goofball thing guitar players do is assume that things that unintentionally effect their signal are bad. Guys will pick a rosewood fretboard because they want a "darker more rounded sound" but cringe when a cord does that for them.
 
I don't spend crazy money on cables. Maybe $30 on a 15 foot cable, and it will last me many years of playing and recording. Currently I am using a few .make your own' Bill Lawrence cables that are about 20 years old, as well as a few newer Pig Hog cables.

I've been using the pig hog metal cables for about a year now, good sound quality, very durable and they don't get tangled up like regular cables do. Lucky you being a pig hog artist you don't got nothing to worry about cable wise...
 
My point was more so that if I were interested in developing a perfect instrument tone, cables wouldn't be the first place I would look. Unless your cable is a mile long, there's nothing the little bit of resistance and negligible capacitance can do to my tone that I can't change. The only thing that matters to me is that my cable has good solder joints on the ends.

Also, unrelated, but one of the biggest goofball thing guitar players do is assume that things that unintentionally effect their signal are bad. Guys will pick a rosewood fretboard because they want a "darker more rounded sound" but cringe when a cord does that for them.
Well, the other thing that they tend to neglect, is that frequencies in a mix, are cumulative.

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I've been using the pig hog metal cables for about a year now, good sound quality, very durable and they don't get tangled up like regular cables do. Lucky you being a pig hog artist you don't got nothing to worry about cable wise...

They do have some new 'hex' cables that wrap really easily. I know I have a few XLR cables with this new wrapping...I am not sure if it made it over to instrument cables yet, but it really does work (I bought these cables myself, btw).
 
I wind my own. Particularly the amp to speaker cables. I can choose the plugs I like, determine the length, insulation and make sure it will survive on the road.
 
I use midline cables, and just don't see a need to get anything more expensive. I'll take a chance on cheap every once and again. Sometimes a win, sometimes not.

But I'm not doing any serious recording or anything. That might change my needs.
 
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