rashayritto
Off-Topic Lurker
Hey guys just wanted to share my good experience with Evidence and my thoughts on their fairly expensive flagship cable, the Lyric HG
Customer Service
Back when I purchased a 10 foot Lyric HG from them it was around 100 dollars. I think they're a little more expensive these days. Anyway the first one developed a short after about a year and a half. Tony was very quick to reply to my email asking me what kind of set up I was running it into (placement of jacks, where the stresses on the cable where forming most, etc) and sent me a replacement with two right angles and some shrink tube reinforcement at certain spots. Fast forward 6 or 7 years and that one has finally developed some shorting problems where I need to wiggle it around to get my signal from crackling. Once again he responded to my email within an hour and asked how the double right angle worked for me and if I needed a different plug configuration. Anyway my second replacement is on its way now.
The Lyric HG cable
I'm not the same player I was when I originally purchased this in that I no longer suffer from GAS or find boutique products remotely interesting . Honestly I wouldn't recommend it to everybody because of how fat and stiff the cable is. That solid copper core and all the protection around it really adds up to a cable you have to wrestle with. That said it feels tough as **** and definitely has its own tonal character in that it has no tonal character compared to my average everyday livewires. You might not think your guitar cable has a drastic tonal character but once you A/B it with this cable or other boutique cables the difference is pretty stark. Thats a pro or con depending on who you are and what you like. I want to say it has a higher dynamic ceiling which would explain why my attack hits a little harder without plateauing. The most notable difference from an average cable is clarity. Definitely more top and low end with lots of definition in the mids getting through. I don't think its a difference any listener would be able to put their finger on but it definitely can add a nice something to cleaner styles. For someone who lives in gobs of distortion like me, however, it sort of feels like a learning tool. I feel like I can't rely as much on the amp to make lazy playing sound better because so much definition remains under the dirt. I haven't used it regularly for a long time because I feel like my poor technique gets put on full blast when I use it haha
Would I buy again?
Honestly, nope. While I think making it my main cable again would help force me out of a lot of bad playing habits the cost is really a lot to try and justify. If I were to pick the best reason to stick with it, it would be the great personal customer service and lifetime replacements--but even then brick and mortar brands like Monster do lifetime warranties as well, I think. Its the last remaining relic of my younger naive days when I was buying up gimmicks left and right to show to my friends. Now that I know who I am as a player and composer I know exactly what I need and how to use it well. There isn't any room left for new gizmos and technologies in my attention span. Once the new cable arrives in the mail I'll definitely try to use it when I feel I need its specific characteristics on a recording. For example I plan to use the replacement on one part of a song where heavily distorted downtuned guitars are ringing out sustained power chords lower on the neck. Right now the recording is lacking the oomph I need there and trying to fix it in post or at the amp hasn't made me 100% happy with it.
FWIW my younger brother plays bass and likes to steal this specific cable all the time for long periods because he loves the way his signal hits the front of the amp when he wants the punch and how complex it sounds on softer dynamics. He's probably the only reason why this one developed a short as he's pretty careless with other peoples things :lol:
The Lyric HG is not snake oil but it is definitely a luxury item for the guitarist with money to spend on diminishing returns in tone (so basically, not me)
Customer Service
Back when I purchased a 10 foot Lyric HG from them it was around 100 dollars. I think they're a little more expensive these days. Anyway the first one developed a short after about a year and a half. Tony was very quick to reply to my email asking me what kind of set up I was running it into (placement of jacks, where the stresses on the cable where forming most, etc) and sent me a replacement with two right angles and some shrink tube reinforcement at certain spots. Fast forward 6 or 7 years and that one has finally developed some shorting problems where I need to wiggle it around to get my signal from crackling. Once again he responded to my email within an hour and asked how the double right angle worked for me and if I needed a different plug configuration. Anyway my second replacement is on its way now.
The Lyric HG cable
I'm not the same player I was when I originally purchased this in that I no longer suffer from GAS or find boutique products remotely interesting . Honestly I wouldn't recommend it to everybody because of how fat and stiff the cable is. That solid copper core and all the protection around it really adds up to a cable you have to wrestle with. That said it feels tough as **** and definitely has its own tonal character in that it has no tonal character compared to my average everyday livewires. You might not think your guitar cable has a drastic tonal character but once you A/B it with this cable or other boutique cables the difference is pretty stark. Thats a pro or con depending on who you are and what you like. I want to say it has a higher dynamic ceiling which would explain why my attack hits a little harder without plateauing. The most notable difference from an average cable is clarity. Definitely more top and low end with lots of definition in the mids getting through. I don't think its a difference any listener would be able to put their finger on but it definitely can add a nice something to cleaner styles. For someone who lives in gobs of distortion like me, however, it sort of feels like a learning tool. I feel like I can't rely as much on the amp to make lazy playing sound better because so much definition remains under the dirt. I haven't used it regularly for a long time because I feel like my poor technique gets put on full blast when I use it haha
Would I buy again?
Honestly, nope. While I think making it my main cable again would help force me out of a lot of bad playing habits the cost is really a lot to try and justify. If I were to pick the best reason to stick with it, it would be the great personal customer service and lifetime replacements--but even then brick and mortar brands like Monster do lifetime warranties as well, I think. Its the last remaining relic of my younger naive days when I was buying up gimmicks left and right to show to my friends. Now that I know who I am as a player and composer I know exactly what I need and how to use it well. There isn't any room left for new gizmos and technologies in my attention span. Once the new cable arrives in the mail I'll definitely try to use it when I feel I need its specific characteristics on a recording. For example I plan to use the replacement on one part of a song where heavily distorted downtuned guitars are ringing out sustained power chords lower on the neck. Right now the recording is lacking the oomph I need there and trying to fix it in post or at the amp hasn't made me 100% happy with it.
FWIW my younger brother plays bass and likes to steal this specific cable all the time for long periods because he loves the way his signal hits the front of the amp when he wants the punch and how complex it sounds on softer dynamics. He's probably the only reason why this one developed a short as he's pretty careless with other peoples things :lol:
The Lyric HG is not snake oil but it is definitely a luxury item for the guitarist with money to spend on diminishing returns in tone (so basically, not me)
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