Cables - for the hundred and forty-leventh time

Re: Cables - for the hundred and forty-leventh time

Boogie Bill said:
Planet Waves....?

Bill
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The specs on the Planet Waves cable look very good, but some of the differences that some might see as significant:

Capacitance:
Best-Tronices CA-0466 20pF/ft
Planet Waves 28pF/ft

Conductor:
Best-Tronics 20 AWG
Planet Waves 22 AWG
 
Re: Cables - for the hundred and forty-leventh time

Today I ordered 70' of the CA-0446 in red, 12 G&H strait ends, 20 G&H angled ends, 4' of 1/2" heat shrink with the adhesive, and 2 #188 Switch Craft strait ends with the .453" exit hole for turning my longer than need be speaker cable into 2 speaker cables. I'll have enough to do what I want and then some. All for $148.87, and that includes shipping. Such a deal! Should be here Saturday or the beginning of next week.
 
Re: Cables - for the hundred and forty-leventh time

The other ones are Road Hog by Rapco, or Canare. You can buy the Road Hog cables cheap at GC, but I think Rapco also has a premium cable. The specs on the RH cables were fairly impressive, especially considering the price. Check them out.

Another thought would be to check out Klotz, but I'm not sure if they sell just cable. Canare does sell cable, there are many boutique guys that use Canare.

I don't want to have to spend a huge amount of time and energy and MONEY fussing over a lot minutiae, so I use moderately priced cables that offer good value and reliability. Don't get too deep into specs...it can drive you crazy.

Bill
 
Re: Cables - for the hundred and forty-leventh time

Yep, they absolutely will. You just have to research the best you can, and then just say enough of the BS and do it!
 
Re: Cables - for the hundred and forty-leventh time

J E C said:
Today I ordered 70' of the CA-0446 in red, 12 G&H strait ends, 20 G&H angled ends, 4' of 1/2" heat shrink with the adhesive, and 2 #188 Switch Craft strait ends with the .453" exit hole for turning my longer than need be speaker cable into 2 speaker cables. I'll have enough to do what I want and then some. All for $148.87, and that includes shipping. Such a deal! Should be here Saturday or the beginning of next week.
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Pretty much the same thing here! The red cable is a pretty damn tight fit with the right angle plugs, but it can be done :)
DSC_0165[1].jpg
the great thing about the red cable is there is no way you will get it confused with someone else's gear not only cos its red, but because you can't just buy these cables. You have to put them together yourself.
 
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Re: Cables - for the hundred and forty-leventh time

I received the Mogami Gold 2524 cables (the first of three different brands/products I ordered). They are significantly better than the no name cable I was running from guitar to board. It resulted in the proverbial blanket off the speaker effect ... a fuller sound with more highs and seemingly more detail all across the frequency spectrum. Then I took some good connectors and wired up an old Prolink 500 Monster cable that had quit working and could not discern any difference between it and the Mogami.

I am anxiously awaiting arrival of the Best-Tronics cables that shipped yesterday, and the Lava cables that still haven't shipped.

In my closet is a large plastic storage tub with a pile of cables that don't work that I will probably repair and give to people who just want to play and are not particular about the sound.
 
Re: Cables - for the hundred and forty-leventh time

Lazarus1140 said:
I received the Mogami Gold 2524 cables (the first of three different brands/products I ordered). They are significantly better than the no name cable I was running from guitar to board. It resulted in the proverbial blanket off the speaker effect ... a fuller sound with more highs and seemingly more detail all across the frequency spectrum. Then I took some good connectors and wired up an old Prolink 500 Monster cable that had quit working and could not discern any difference between it and the Mogami.

I am anxiously awaiting arrival of the Best-Tronics cables that shipped yesterday, and the Lava cables that still haven't shipped.

In my closet is a large plastic storage tub with a pile of cables that don't work that I will probably repair and give to people who just want to play and are not particular about the sound.
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In my experience the 500 series Monster is a little brighter than Mogami 2524, but the difference isn't huge. However once I got used to Mogami I found the Monster hyped and can't really stand to play through it anymore. I'm really curious how the Best-Tronics stacks up as I like the braided cover they offer and I need to make some more cables.
 
Re: Cables - for the hundred and forty-leventh time

dystrust said:
I'm really curious how the Best-Tronics stacks up as I like the braided cover they offer and I need to make some more cables.
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They are a bargain if the sound is only half as good as the price, but you need to order enough to offset the impact of freight and handling cost.
 
Re: Cables - for the hundred and forty-leventh time

To lessen the cost I went with the non braided cover. The non braided is $.69 a foot, and the braided is $1.04 a foot.
 
Re: Cables - for the hundred and forty-leventh time

J E C said:
To lessen the cost I went with the non braided cover. The non braided is $.69 a foot, and the braided is $1.04 a foot.
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That is exactly what I did! :beerchug:

The other benefit of leaving the braided cover off is that now the cable will fit into connectors more easily.
 
Re: Cables - for the hundred and forty-leventh time

The cable and ends arrived Wednesday. I made some up yesterday. All the ends are G&H and appear to be of high quality, and I really like them.
I made three different lengths of main cable. The one from guitar to the first pedal is not marked. The cable from last font end pedal to font of amp, has a marking band on only one end. The 2 cables for the FX loop have a marking band on both ends. I should have put 2 marking bands on each end of one of them to make is easier to identify the FX "in and out'". I used thin walled heat shrink for the making bands.
For strain relief I used some thick walled heat shrink that has adhesive on the inside, and ran it over the outside of the ends.
The patch cables are cut to 9". I wasn't as concerned about strain relief with these, so I used thin walled heat shrink on the inside of the end barrels. Doing it this way allows for more flexibility.
photo_1 (10).jpgphoto_2 (7).jpg
Now I would really like to try them out, BUT......... my amp has gone on the fritz! ARG!!!
I am hoping it is a power tube issue. The V9 tube is..... doing some weird, bright blue, buzzing, arching cr@p!
And of course it happens that Mesa Boogie is only open Monday through Thursday.
Did I say ARG!!! already?
 
Re: Cables - for the hundred and forty-leventh time

I got my power tubes replaced and have tried out the new cables, and I have got to say........
I can definitely tell a difference in the sound. I think it is much better. There is more high end coming through, but it's not piercing. Before I didn't care channel #2, but now I am liking it better.
 
Re: Cables - for the hundred and forty-leventh time

OK, dumb question guys.... Is there a wire stripper that makes this process easy? Like how there is an easy stripping tool for coax cable, clamp, spin, pull and you have a prepped cable for soldering?
 
Re: Cables - for the hundred and forty-leventh time

gibson175 said:
just be aware that the covered cable stuff i linked you is pretty thick. Thicker than what you specified.
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I don't care how ****ing thick it is. Hand it over with all speed.
 
Re: Cables - for the hundred and forty-leventh time

J E C said:
I got my power tubes replaced and have tried out the new cables, and I have got to say........
I can definitely tell a difference in the sound. I think it is much better. There is more high end coming through, but it's not piercing. Before I didn't care channel #2, but now I am liking it better.
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Not to be the contrarian, but it would be difficult if not impossible to know whether the cables made a difference when you changed another variable (the tubes) at the same time. I would say that the reverse could also apply to the tubes, but it's pretty much a given that replacing tubes, especially "tired" power tubes, generally makes a noticeable difference. I'm not saying that the cables didn't, just raising a point.
 
Re: Cables - for the hundred and forty-leventh time

You have a good point Darg1911, both would have/could have made a difference. One thing is for certain, I have never gotten along with channel #2, even when the amp was new. I could also tell a difference in the sound by switching between the cables that I had before I made up the new ones. I should hook everything up with the old cables for a comparison.
 
Re: Cables - for the hundred and forty-leventh time

J E C said:
You have a good point Darg1911, both would have/could have made a difference. One thing is for certain, I have never gotten along with channel #2, even when the amp was new. I could also tell a difference in the sound by switching between the cables that I had before I made up the new ones. I should hook everything up with the old cables for a comparison.
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I'd probably do the same thing just to see if I actually hear a difference. Problem is that if it's subtle, then without being able to do an instant A-B, it would be hard to eliminate the inherent human bias. Really, if there is a notable difference, I would think it would most likely be because of a difference in capacitance between what you had and what you now have. That's not hard to hear between low C and high C cables as the distance starts to add up. I think it would be worth the swap just for future reference as far as knowing what cable to buy in the future.
 
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