Samson Tourtek Instrument Cables. Never had an issue with them at any length. Same thing with their Speaker Cables also.

am i the only one that uses monster cables?

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No, I do.

I use the speaker cable, long cable to and from pedal board as well as the short cables between pedals. I used to work for GC so I could get a discount on them, but I would've used them regardless. The best part? When they go bad, just take them back to the store and they'll swap them no questions asked! On that note, I haven't had one go bad yet and I've been using them for 12 years!

I also use Monster for my home stereo connections.

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The mind is like a parachute; it doesn't work unless its open-FZ

thanks for your help.

i went on the lava website and it looks really good. When you click on the buying guide on the bottom he puts the cables in rank order which was good. Looks a bit biased maybe to their own makes of cables?

Evidence Audio scores really high with them and i have heard nothing but good reviews. Yes they are quite expensive but you can a slight difference. Everything is balanced more with the cable the highs, lows and mids are very balanced which i believe makes a good cable.

When i was buying Hi Fi equipment most people want to hear a lot of bass like brands like Bose just have bass bass and a bit of treble. But people love that as its bassy. With me? But a good manufacter would capture the real sound that the musician/producer wanted in the studio/live situation.

I believe the evidence audio cable has got this right.

Opinions?

If you are at all gigging, PLANET WAVES CABLES WITH THE CIRCUIT BREAKER.

'Used one for playng bass at 202 Masses and services, there are a lot of times you need to be silent.

Pricey, but lifetime guarantee and superb cables. 'Have a bunch of them.

I like Rodam instrument cables. You can't always get them here but they come with an unconditional lifetime warranty. Even if you stomp on them with the heel of your cowboy boot and cut the inner braids it doesn't matter, they will replace it but you do have to present your reciept for a replacement. They're an excellent quality cable, too.

On the subject of George L cables it has been suggested on other discussion boards that brass ends give a warmer, fatter tone than standard nickle plated ends but that's a discussion for pure tone snobs. Fine nuances of difference in electrical conductivity of various metals will go unnoticed by the average player. I use George L cables on my pedal board because you can custom make your cables to any length you like. Don't like the standard 6" because it's too much of a stretch from the Wah to the next pedal? Make it 7.5" or 10.75" if you want. Have a double row pedal board and need a 21.25" cable to go from one end to the next? No problem. Out side the pedal board I couldn't be bothered to spend the extra coin on George L.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

I play bass. A few personal observations about cables.

If I ever find a WIRELESS that sounds as good for bass as a high quality cable and is as dependable I might give it a whirl. The new Line 6 Wireless stuff is close. When you do an A/B comparison to a cable the more expensive Line 6 stuff is the closest yet. Anyone looking to go wireless should check it out. I don't gig as much as I used to so wireless is not a high priority for me right now.

I certainly can hear the difference between a very cheap cable and a quality cable like Mogami or Monster. Obviously people who say that never actually did comparisons.

Not only does the cable itself matter, but the plugs matter too.

Gold plating actually is an extra layer of metal OVER chrome usually. Just adds an extra layer of metal with no real benefit other than looking pretty. Chrome plugs are just as good.

Back in the late 60's through mid 70's I used CURLY CORDS. Awful. They went bad every few weeks. Total junk.

From there I went to Rapco. I still have one Rapco cable that has worked since about 1980. I still use it.

I was using the Fender Electrovolt cables that were made by Whirlwind for several years. They were OK and really cheap.

I bought my first Monster Bass cable and the improvement in signal level and tonal range was significant over the Fender Electrovolt. I bought two more Monster Bass cables almost immediately and relegated my Electrovolt cables to practice. About all I don't like about Monster is that they have a very hard insulation on them that tends to hold the coiled up shape permanently and makes the cables very stiff.

Next I bought one M.I.T. RIPCORD Bass Cable and found it was absolutely the best sounding bass cable EVER. It blows the Monster cables away. I was going to buy more of them but MIT stopped making guitar cables to concentrate on speaker cables. If you ever run across one I suggest buying it. These sold for 100 to 150 dollars new and were WORTH it. Wish I could find one more of them. (MIT's speaker cables go for 1,000 to 3,000 dollars.) This is my favorite cable and I baby it because I'll probably never find another one. (If anyone has a MIT Ripcord BASS cable with one right angle and one straight plug to sell, please contact me through my website's contact page.)

Most recently I have added an ELIXIR cable. It sounds more transparent than the Monster Bass Cables, but no louder. It does have less coloration. It is stiff and bulky but sounds really good. I don't like the way they are packaged. Otherwise a good heavy duty cable. Really thick and stiff.

The longer the cable, the more signal loss and higher capacitance you will have. Usually 20 feet is enough and I wouldn't go longer than 25. Just more to wrap up anyway.

The capacitance of the cable on an active bass matters less than on a passive bass. Same is true for the cable running from your pedalboard to your amp if you use something like a SansAmp that is on all the time because it boosts your signal.

YES you can mix cables. I typically use about 5 different brands at a gig for different things. The George L's are great for wiring the pedal board but in lengths longer than a few feet the George L's want to tangle up a lot.

All instrument and microphone cables should be COILED in a circle, not clenched in the middle like a length of rope which puts strain on the shielding.

If you are a bassist try the Planet Waves large gauge speaker cables. Very nice and highly recommended. Just slightly smaller cable than automotive jumper cables.

Believe me, I arm myself to the TEETH with knowledge. I am the first to be skeptical of more expensive equipment. I don't buy hype. In fact, to be honest, I'm never buying a Fender guitar again, in my LIFE. Maybe parts but definitely not complete fender guitars. (Unless it's vintage.) Because I know that equivalent quality is available for much cheaper elsewhere.

And yes I know my physics and understand the theoretical science behind it. But I have actually cut apart lots of different types of coaxial cable... and believe me, the shielding is NOT the same from cable to cable.

So let's go back to physics.

The shielding of a cable is in essence a Faraday cage, yes? The shielding redistributes the electrical charges that would normally be exerted on the inner conductor by the surrounding stray electromagnetic fields, and grounds them.

Therefore the most ideal faraday cage, in the case of a cable, which is essentially a long cylindrical conductor, would be a solid, hollow pipe of conducting material. This is essentially the idea behind building an amp - you encase it in a big solid steel box which shields it. Of course, in the case of a cable this is impossible because a cable must be flexible. Therefore the shielding is braided, which approximates a flexible solid pipe of conducting material. The question is: How closely does the shielding approximate a flexible solid pipe?

The cheapo coax cable does a terrible job of approximating a solid pipe. The shielding is wound very sparsely and loosely, leaving many holes through which EM interference can penetrate, and then - get this - wrapped in cheap tin foil. This stuff is a nightmare to solder with.

Mogami shield braiding looks like it came from heaven. That's how neatly and tightly wound it is. And unlike the Monster Pro Rock, which is too tough for its own good (mine was twisted and somehow ripped right off the 1/4" connector, purely because it was so inflexible), the Mogami is nice and flexible.

So even from a purely science and physics standpoint, not all cables are equal. And of course there, like anything, are varying degrees of quality.

I, like you, thought for a long time that cables don't make a difference. Perhaps for six or seven years I felt that way. But the end difference is the tone. And when I actually took the time to A/B a Mogami with an equivalent Monster - with a pair of ears seasoned with a few more years of tone-chasing - and saw the difference, I never looked back.

And like I said, if you really want to save money, buy a roll of mogami cable and some connectors and you can build a top notch cable for what, maybe 8, 10 bucks apiece? But personally, I think $50 is a small price to pay for a cable that is as good as that, and can be replaced without question for the rest of my life.

Hi Dean: no need - Mogami are available over our side:

http://www.canford.co.uk/Products/30-92 ... 2893-CABLE


Matter o' fact, yes. As good an option as any, I'd say. A Rolls-Royce choice all the way from Sussex.

http://www.petecornish.co.uk/cable1.html

Go for it.

Cheers - C

supah

heres what im looking at.
i just got back into playing after 15 yrs away.
just stopped one day and didnt look back.
funny thing is i packratted my gear all that time.
a few months ago i knocked the dust off everything.
took all my guitars in, had everything set up again,
yadda yadda yadda.
so i was extremely worried about my cables.
didnt even try them but went to the store to buy all new.
saw the tags on the new monsters and said
"screw that shiot". played through a couple of the high end stuff
listening to the sales guys best pitch.
still "hell no".
went home and tried out all my old cables.
dozens of them. still sounded good and as good as what i had just played through.
i would think that todays cables would be far away better than
yesteryears gear. heads above noless.
i didnt hear the slightest differences.
the newest cables i remember getting before i folded up was a
shipment from whirlwind i got to "test out".
of course i kept them. they were middle of the road back in the day.
that was 16 yrs ago even. i would think that all the new stuff on the market
would blow mine away. i didnt find that to be the case at all.
mine are built just as good at i bet 1/2 the price if we could compare
then and now. more expensive isnt always better.
theres some seriously expensive junk out there.
im not saying that all cables are equal mind you.
what i am saying that theres a level of better quality and after that its just marketing. i dont and wont buy marketing.

cool thanks.

Yes i have now tried pete cornish and evidence lyric cable.

Pete cornish seem louder more top end brighter sounding cable whereas the evidence audio seems more balanced everything is more together.

Haven't tried Mogami but all these companies have great reviews....

That's fine, and if the quality level isn't worth the money to you, more power to you. But what you said before was that there is no difference... And that is incorrect.

between the mid grade and the "high end", the major difference is the price. of course theres gonna be a difference between radioshack and
the mid grade cables.

I tried a Monster cable after hearing all of the hype. It failed after just 2 mos. Maybe it was a lemon but I've had quite a bit of bad luck buying "better", more expensive, cables.

i use planet waves cables. They sound great and have never let me down. Also if they do ever break, they have a lifetime warranty and they will send you a new one if it does