What are some good guitar cables?

leevc5

leevc5

New member
I mean it seems like cables are lasting a shorter and shorter time. I'm getting tired of replacing them. I think 90% of the cables now must come from China and have a built in failure device like water heaters and car batteries.

Anyhow, anybody find some cables that have some longevity?
 
Re: What are some good guitar cables?

I have had some Monster cables for 9 or 10 years. Also Groove Plugs silver series. Though I have done some repairs. Part of their longevity is how they are treated, which may not always be in one's control.

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Re: What are some good guitar cables?

Learn to solder, so you can repair your cables. Handy skill to have. Or at the very least, buy quality cables that have a Lifetime Warranty.

I'm not super picky about cables. I have some Mogami, Planet Waves, Spectraflex, Rapco Road Hog, Fender, ProCo and Live Wire Elite from Guitar Center. The braided Spectraflex are very durable. I am not a fan of Monster Cables, though.

Unplugging a cable by just yanking or the cord is a guaranteed way to cause a cord failure. Refrain from stepping on them. Take care of them and wind and store them properly and they will last a long time.

Bill
 
Re: What are some good guitar cables?

I have more cables than I can remember, including Monster, Mogami, Live Wire, Planet Waves, Dimarzio, and George L's Reds. I don't have any cheapie cables, because they truly do sound inferior to a premium cable. If you can't hear something as clear as that, then music isn't your bag. I've always felt especially inspired by Monster, and I don't care about the internet hate. My ears decide. Flame on biatches. :cool2:

I think think the coiled Lava cables look very groovy, although it's impossible to justify paying the high price for them when I love what I already have.
 
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Re: What are some good guitar cables?

Make your own. I use only Neutrik and Amphenol plugs and Canare or Mogami cables. The worst thing that can happen is the solder breaks from repeated drops. I'll just solder it back on. Planet Waves especially the molded one is not recommended.
 
Re: What are some good guitar cables?

My favorites are DiMarzio (Metallic) guitar cable. They had a pretty rigorous test through Guitar Player magazine some years ago and subsequently won their top award.
 
Re: What are some good guitar cables?

My cable collection is made up of Monster, Live Wires, & Planet Waves. They're all guaranteed for life, so I can replace them for free if they ever fail; none of them have failed. I don't gig, so that may make a difference.
 
Re: What are some good guitar cables?

I have had a dimarzio lead for around 10 years now. I struggled with cheaper **** for awhile but ended up getting the dimarzio one used on ebay and its been fine. I can't be too ****ed with pedals anymore so i really only need the one good cable out the front.
 
Re: What are some good guitar cables?

Planet Waves and Monster seem to be the ones I've used with the most sucess. I have some Mogami ones I picked up recently as patch cables.
 
Re: What are some good guitar cables?

I like my Planet Waves and George L's cables the best. The George L's is just a little stiff, and doesn't coil easily, but it really has held up. For patch cables, I use Bill Lawrence solderless, which are much easier and better designed than the George L cable kits.
 
Re: What are some good guitar cables?

Lava Cable is great but a bit pricey. Pig Hog is awesome, cheap, and has a lifetime warranty. And the Planet Waves stuff is really nice, too.
 
Re: What are some good guitar cables?

I make my own with Van Damme XKE & Canare GS-6 cable and Neutrik gold-plated connectors. They are tougher & sound nicer than most of the other cables I used to use (regular molded plug Monster's/Planet waves/Fender's/Grover's etc..)
 
Re: What are some good guitar cables?

I have some monster cables
Got the braided Carvin cable which is indistinguishable from the 5 dollar musicians gear cable

I measure them all against the George L

And yeah the George L doesn't drape as well as the others but it is clear.and kinda bright
 
Re: What are some good guitar cables?

When I started Playing guitar , my Uncle turned me onto Whirlwind Guitar cables. They seem to last forever but honestly not many stores even carry them.
Monster cable is a well respected cable brand and I personally haven't tried them but I have used them in my line or work which is Home Audio Video Theater Multi room Audio etc.
Today I don't play out and all my cables work and have for 10 years now. I own Live Wire , Whirl Wind and a few George's Music House cables. None of them have failed.

I have not done a Shootout or anything like that with Guitar cables which by the way is mental for me as I'm a HUGE home cable guy. I've been wanting to do so but I do notice a Slight more clarity when I use my Whirl wind cables.
 
Re: What are some good guitar cables?

I've gone through a ton of cables in the last 9 or 10 years, mostly bought Monster, Planet Waves, Mogami, and Live Wire in 15-25 foot lengths and all of my patch cables are Live Wires. In terms of tone I like the Mogami the best and the other three sound pretty equal to my ears. Longevity wise the Monsters have yet to have any go bad, one Mogami went bad, 2 or 3 Live Wires (not counting patch cables), and I think 5 of 6 Planet Waves have died.
 
What are some good guitar cables?

Spectraflex makes really good cables.

For patch cables, I like Mogami for reliability, but Lava cable with the low profile plugs for saving space on a pedalboard.
 
Re: What are some good guitar cables?

I've mainly used Monster, Planet Waves & Fender Tweed. I really like my Fender Tweed cables but have an issue with one of them (was used by another guitarist and then had issues so I'm assuming user issue on that one.) That being said, I have a ton of Fender Tweed cables (long for guitar and short for pedals) so to have only one issue it not too shabby IMO.
 
Re: What are some good guitar cables?

Boogie Bill said:
Learn to solder, so you can repair your cables. Handy skill to have. Or at the very least, buy quality cables that have a Lifetime Warranty.l
Click to expand...

This, big time. Most people don't even take advantage of warranty, keep your packaging. I have a drawer for this and have saves $100's both in self-repair and warranty.

MkIII Renegade said:
I have more cables than I can remember, including Monster, Mogami, Live Wire, Planet Waves, Dimarzio, and George L's Reds. I don't have any cheapie cables, because they truly do sound inferior to a premium cable. If you can't hear something as clear as that, then music isn't your bag. I've always felt especially inspired by Monster, and I don't care about the internet hate.
Click to expand...

Although I agree with don't buy the uber-cheapies, the return of sound quality vs price quickly turns marginal. The difference between a $8.00 and $25.00 20ft cable is huge, but buying a $70.00 will not yield the same improvement. It maxes out quickly IMO. As far as your 'then music isn't your bag' comment...I doubt many people who have only been playing a handful of years can tell.

As for Monster...good quality, but overpriced, especially in their 'higher end' line. Most of their hate from this comes from their consumer products such as HDMI cables and such.
 
Re: What are some good guitar cables?

I've had exceptionally good luck with the planet waves american stage cable. The grounding in it is in a mesh/net format, i have abused it quite a lot and haven't had any sort of shorts develop in them along the wire. The noise rejection is also great with these, not the brightest sounding cable either. They are a little stiff though but not way over the top.

I had the opposite experience with their Classic series. The stage series is really worth the extra over it imo

On a side note, while its a good thing to be able to repair a cable that has developed a problem near the plug but some of the cheapies i used before would develop shorts along the length makjng it unusable or worthless to waste time fixing them.
 
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