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Post subject: Guitar Cables
Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 8:44 am
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What are some of the better brands of guitar cables? I have a cable I bought many years ago, thinking it was a high grade cable. I bought a Fender cable a few months ago and it made a big difference in the sound of the guitar. It sounded so much better with the Fender cable. :?:

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Post subject: Re: Guitar Cables
Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 10:48 am
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I don't know if they're a better instrument cord, or not, but I've used Samson Tourtek cords for quite a while with no problems. Some of it is personal preference too. Just about everyone has their favorites. Some players go for what ever is on sale too, and get along fine with that choice.

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Post subject: Re: Guitar Cables
Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:39 pm
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It is astounding how much difference a lower capacitance cable will make with a passive bass when you have a good amp with a good cab that has a horn and a good crossover or when patching in direct. On a lesser amp like a 1x12 combo it won't make as much difference. Also less improvement will be noticeable with an active bass.

There's no shortage of good low capacitance cables. Fender's high end stuff tends to be pretty good and have a "lifetime warranty." I have two Fender cables I use for rehearsals and practice that are over ten years old. I have 1 Elixir Premium and it is a real durable road worthy cable.. I have 3 Monster Bass cables of various lengths. I have 3 MIT Ripcord Bass. I have one Rapco that is at least 25 years old and going strong. I've got one custom Mogami and one custom Canare cable I had made up.

Without question the best bass cable for passive bass that I've ever used is the MIT RIPCORD BASS CABLE which has been discontinued for a couple of years. MIT has been around in the premium speaker cable market for a long time and still is. (Skywalker Ranch was built with all MIT cabling. MIT speaker cables cost from hundreds to thousands of dollars each depending on length.) MIT briefly made bass & guitar instrument cables and head to cab speaker cables under the RIPCORD name. MIT Ripcord musician cables retailed for about $100 to $150 depending on type and length. Frankly they were worth that. Ultimately MIT couldn't make as much money selling musicians $100 cables as they could selling studios and audiophiles $2,000 speaker cables so they discontinued the entire musician line. Fortunately right now Hello Music has some MIT Ripcord Bass cables listed on clearance. Nothing like them for a passive bass. Beats Monster Bass and the premium level Elixir cables I have. Also the MIT online dealer called "Audio Nerd USA" had some a few months ago, don't know about now. I got mine from Audio Nerd USA about 5 years ago. They look like this:

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No other cable that I ever tried made more difference with a passive bass as the MIT Ripcord. Makes little if any difference over any other good cable (such as the Elixir Premium) with an active bass though.

I fell out of love with the Monster Bass personally, but they are a very durable cable which is why I have 3 of them. I just think the Monster Bass colors the sound in a way I don't like as much now as I once did. Once I tried the MIT I had a new benchmark to go by and nothing else sounds as good with a passive as that.

There are little rectangular blocks inline on the MIT cables about 8 inches from each cable end. Somehow these inline devices bring the cable capacitance to nearer zero than any other cable. I do not know how this device works but someone else here might.

Image

The only way to describe the MIT Ripcord cable is totally transparent. With a single speaker bass combo you probably won't hear much difference no matter what cable you use though. I have an eBay alert set up for Ripcord cables. I want one more with the angled plug and the only ones I've found in the past two years have straight to straight plugs.

There are other premium cables I've not tried like Lava, Vovox and Allesandro Instrument Pro cables and probably won't try them either.


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Post subject: Re: Guitar Cables
Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 9:13 pm
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brotherdave wrote:
There are little rectangular blocks inline on the MIT cables about 8 inches from each cable end. Somehow these inline devices bring the cable capacitance to nearer zero than any other cable. I do not know how this device works but someone else here might.


Not sure how they work either, but they are shielding ferrules. I am sure that is part of the reason these cables are so good.

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Post subject: Re: Guitar Cables
Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 12:14 pm
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I like Fender KoilKords.


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Post subject: Re: Guitar Cables
Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 3:51 pm
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Post subject: Re: Guitar Cables
Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 9:40 pm
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I have had issues with Monster. Perhaps quality, perhaps me stepping on them? Strain relief on ends is weak, as are internal connections. Great cable if you don't tax them too much.

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Post subject: Re: Guitar Cables
Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 10:02 pm
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affprod wrote:
I have had issues with Monster. Perhaps quality, perhaps me stepping on them? Strain relief on ends is weak, as are internal connections. Great cable if you don't tax them too much.


Monster's have a lifetime guarantee. Swap 'em man!


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Post subject: Re: Guitar Cables
Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2014 12:21 pm
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atolleter wrote:
I like Fender KoilKords.


Usually "Curly-Cords" or "KoilKords" are higher capacitance cords, especially the olden 60's and 70's ones. I don't have any specs on current production ones but suspect they are much lower capacitance products, however still they in general will have a higher capacitance than a straight cord because of the design creating a substantially longer distance for the signal to travel.

I honestly think this was one tonal component from the 60's and 70's people overlook when trying to emulate a certain classic tone. Some players of that era are known to have used the curly-cords exclusively like Jimi Hendrix and countless others. You can have the same guitar setup, the same pedals and the same amps....but without that high capacitance curly-cord it just will not yield exactly the same tone!


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