With lengths becoming a concern , lets talk about Cables

[mantis]

Hello everyone,
When you build a killer pedal board and use the effect loop as well as the front of your amp, you got 3 cables running to your amp. So these cables can get kinda long. I prefer to keep them between 12-15ft each. So that's 45 feet of cable not including the 15 footer your using from your guitar to your board. Now you can look at 60 ft total length and that doesn't include the Patch cables between your pedals. That could easily add another 10 feet or more. So now your at 70 feet of cable from your guitar to your amp section of your amp.

My concern is the quality of these cables, the ability to reject noise, the ability to retain signal integrity.
1) What is everyone using in their rigs and why?
2) IF cost is no object , what cables would you use and why?

 

[Hank-]

Re: With lengths becoming a concern , lets talk about Cables

The planet waves classic series & mute type( ones that dont make a popping sound when plugging into the amp) series aren't durable & don't reject noise all that great. Didn't bother getting their custom series.

Their american stage series have been durable, noiseless & balanced sounding for me. I use these exclusively, they are a little stiff than normal but not too much to be a bother.

 

[Mincer]

Re: With lengths becoming a concern , lets talk about Cables

I use Planet Waves & George L's, but I don't have anything in any loop. This is for a Fractal direct to the PA.

 

[HiFiRebel]

Re: With lengths becoming a concern , lets talk about Cables

I don't have a loop in my amps so that helps. I use Mogami patch cables and usually Planet Waves or one of my remaining Monster cables for the long ones. But I am playing a blues/punk type of sound through single coils, so noise isn't the end of the world for me.

 

[mantis]

Re: With lengths becoming a concern , lets talk about Cables

I currently have a mix of Live Wire from Guitar center which I find to be very good cables especially for the money and Whirlind which to me seem to allow the guitar to sound it's best.
I have tried the Planet Waves Pedal board cable which I had some extra wire and built a 8 foot Cable to test and I found it to cut the high end down some. When comparing it to the Whirlind , It was very noticeable. This is what got me to go on a Guitar cable quest and learn about different cables to see which ones do the best job.

 

[devastone]

Re: With lengths becoming a concern , lets talk about Cables

George L's and Lava patch cables on my pedalboard, mostly because I like being able to make my own cables quickly. Most of the time I just use a Spectraflex or Monster from the guitar, but if I really care about the sound, I think George L's sounds the best.

Also,if you have buffers on your board, it kinda does a reset on length, so it's not like you just add it all up. A buffer changes the impedance of the signal so there isn't as much loss from cable capacitance. Same idea on the effects loop too. Point being, the most important cable is from your guitar to your pedalboard/amp.

 

[Darg1911]

Re: With lengths becoming a concern , lets talk about Cables

I still use, mostly, Mogami 2319 on my board with pancake plugs. Yes, I still solder. I use Lake Cable to make longer cords. Although, I use a GLS coiled cable from guitar to board in the bedroom. That coiled cable is effectively 20 ft. of cable length and it's associated capacitance, but, for whatever reason, it's a good sounding cable and doesn't noticeably roll off much high end at all. I use it for convenience. Neutral buffer early in the chain and signal integrity isn't much of a problem.

 

[SlyFoxx]

Re: With lengths becoming a concern , lets talk about Cables

Pete Cornish knows more about this than anybody.

http://www.petecornish.co.uk/case_against_true_bypass.html

 

[Rodney Gene]

Re: With lengths becoming a concern , lets talk about Cables

There is no fast rule, none. Ever.

Great cables are in abundance. Mogami, Canare, Evidence, George 'L etc...
Breakdown, longevity, reliability etc.. is one thing, tone is another. The most important thing in designing your signal chain is liking what you hear.

Really bad sounding cables are rare at any price. Really unreliable cables, less rare. I rely on capacitance loss for my sound. I often add a passive volume pedal in the signal chain when doing sessions. I don't use the volume pedal I just add it to the path.

As for 'where' buffers are best, it's all up to the sound you are getting or have learned to get.

Example that comes to mind is Carlos Santana. He uses a 50 foot cable from the guitar to the first pedal in the chain. He does this to tame the top end 'going in' using the 'loss' from the cable to get the best tone. From there he preserves this tamed tone by going into a Cornish impedance matcher (his first pedal) which keeps his tone preserved down the line. (And this is a player who is riding his tone and volume load as well)

It's holistic process, no way around it. If you like the sound of the Whirlwind/Livewire combo then for now you have found the cable for you. That's cause to celebrate.

RG

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: With lengths becoming a concern , lets talk about Cables

I use Divine Noise pre and post pedal board; George L's on the board.

 

[Diego]

Re: With lengths becoming a concern , lets talk about Cables

I can honestly say I've never given my choice of cables any thought from a tonal point of view.
And given that I use everything from vintage-style single coils to Alnico 8 firebreathers in constant rotation, my only concerns are reliability and noise.
Way too many variables in my choice of tone and pedals to "settle" for a formula.

 

[Rodney Gene]

Re: With lengths becoming a concern , lets talk about Cables

I can honestly say I've never given my choice of cables any thought from a tonal point of view.
And given that I use everything from vintage-style single coils to Alnico 8 firebreathers in constant rotation, my only concerns are reliability and noise.
Way too many variables in my choice of tone and pedals to "settle" for a formula.

Just the opposite for me bro. For years now Mogami is my brand.

Way too geeky about duplicating my signal path. I use well-made high-end cables for consistency and reliability, all custom made by me or for me. I get distracted when I hear when something is off with my cables. I found I prefer specific cables for direct recording and specific cables for live recording or live gigs.

In the last 8 months I incorporated Colossal Cables Sweet Fats ( http://www.colossalcable.com/product/sweetfats/) for live use and all hired sessions/videos etc. as a support to a friend.
But I limit them to one specific pedal board/amp combo and worked out where my buffers are. I enjoy it, RG

 

[Rodney Gene]

Re: With lengths becoming a concern , lets talk about Cables

I use Divine Noise pre and post pedal board; George L's on the board.

Same on my boards. I prefer George L's. Long as you check them regularly, they are really nice sounding cables and reliable for solderless. Good for effects loop as well.
Could never use them for guitar. Too thin and get bound up too easily.

Dig the look of those Divine Noise cables.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: With lengths becoming a concern , lets talk about Cables

I'm about to order a **** load of Lava coil cables because they are available in purple.

 

[HiFiRebel]

Re: With lengths becoming a concern , lets talk about Cables

I don't mind or even notice any tone issues with differnet brands. I adjust accordingly. The cable doesn't wvn cross my mind most of the time.

 

[some_dude]

Re: With lengths becoming a concern , lets talk about Cables

If I'm going straight in I'm currently using the tweed Fender ones because they look sweet. With a pedalboard I'm using some Planet Waves ones that are about 15 years old because they're the right length. Pedal interconnects are a mix of what I've acquired over the years.

I used to geek out over cables and whatnot, but after years of switching up between straight in and using pedals, changing pedalboard configurations, etc... I don't put a lot of thought into the details unless there's something specific that bugs me.

In general, I like around 25-30 feet of unbuffered cable, although I can tolerate up to 40 feet if I have to. Beyond that and I find the attack gets too blunted. I don't like going than about 20 feet because it "lets too much electricity through".

20 to 40 feet of unbuffered cable gives me a lot of leeway.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: With lengths becoming a concern , lets talk about Cables

I'm someone who takes full advantage of return and exchange policies, so I keep Monster cable receipts, and get new ones as they wear out. Monster cables are what I've always gigged with.

At home, I use an expensive Colossal cable that stays in good shape.

I used to use George L's pedal cables, but I've found Planet Waves to be more reliable since they don't come undone.

 

[EDX]

Re: With lengths becoming a concern , lets talk about Cables

pure curiosity, to the guys that use long cables to tame high end, wouldn't it be more effective to use a cable just long enough to let you move on stage or a wireless and tame the high end with the tone pot? i mean, that thing is there to be used, don't you defeat the whole purpose of that knob by shavin high end with cable, also adding more weight and occupying more space of your cases and gigbags by bringing 40 feet of cable when you only need 10 and ride the tone pot?

as said pure curiosity, as i'm a player that most of the time uses wild slashing mounts of ear raping high end to get a really crisp tone and when i want to sound warmer i turn my tone down

 

[HiFiRebel]

Re: With lengths becoming a concern , lets talk about Cables

I use 18'-20' cables for use on stage. I like to move around. Nothing to do with tone for me.

 

[Hank-]

Re: With lengths becoming a concern , lets talk about Cables

EDX, a high cap cable tends to shift the resonant frequency of the pickups, its different from turning the tone knob down, playing with different values of the tone pot cap is also an alternative but might not be same. A wireless unit, some that i know tend to emulate the capacitance load of cables, so one could adjust the params and get around the desired result of high cap cable, although then there are some that might think its too digital in feel lol

A coily cable is a more effective way of reducing length yet keeping the capacitance high since the overall length gets shorter because of the stretchy nature.