Cable length for 4cm

T

tofisi

Member
I was reading that cable longer than 6 meters start to lose the quality of tone. I'm planing to make 2 x Humbuster cable 2 meters long for fx loop and 2 meters from axe out2L to amp input. So I'm asking how long should be a cable from guitar to axe fx, 4 or 6 meters without losing any signal?
 
I used 4cm with my g-system.. I made them to the length needed and no more.. The rack alway sat on the head. Than being said before i separated the gsystem I was using it with four cables running to the front of the stage. It worked fine.

Guess this doesn't really help huh.. Short as you can :)


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There is no ''lossless'' cable not damping the signal. But some cables, (mostly the cheaper ones) will add more capacitance and inductive load to the guitar’s signal. The longer the cable, the more it adds.

A (longer) cable can make the signal sounding ''dull'' or, in a positive way, may ''warm'' the sound.

Some hightech audiophile cables can have the reversed effect. By damping less as usual, the sound may appear harsher as someone is used to.

In the end its up to taste and ears.

In my experience a decent cable of f.e. 6-9 m will not have an audible adverse effect to the sound, but ymmv.
 
tofisi said:
I was reading that cable longer than 6 meters start to lose the quality of tone. I'm planing to make 2 x Humbuster cable 2 meters long for fx loop and 2 meters from axe out2L to amp input. So I'm asking how long should be a cable from guitar to axe fx, 4 or 6 meters without losing any signal?
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Depends on the loop, and on the guitar.

If the loop is buffered, cable lenght in the loop doesn't matter that much. If it is not, it matters a lot.

If the guitar has active pickups, cable lenght from guitar to Axe doesn't matter. If it has passive pickups, cable lenght/capacity shapes the tone. The shorter the cable (the less capacitance), the less you will low pass the signal. However, this resonant filter is part of what we love about electric guitar...there is no right or wrong. You just have to tune it to your guitar, and liking. A 10 cm cable would make the guitar sound like it has active pickups, a 10 meter cable will make the guitar much darker with more upper midrange. Factor in cable capacitance, it varies a lot. A 20 pf/ft cable can be twice as long as a 40 pf/ft cable and sound exactly the same.
 
Thank you all for the clarification.

I asked that because I tried all three scenarios below with pedals on clean channel with Ibanez cables. And before I make my new cables (Mogami with Neutrik) I would like to know if my planned length will not affect sound with 4CM.

1. guitar = 4m > full tone OCD (true bypass) = 2m > amp input - clean channel's sound is good

2. guitar = 4m > full tone OCD = 4m > amp input - clean channel's sound is warm with less highs

3. guitar = 4m > moded DS1(buffer) = 4m > full tone OCD = 4m > amp input - clean channel's sound is almost the same like the guitar direct to amp.

My setup is: - JP6/piezzo
- Mesa boogie MK V (I must check a manual if it have buffered loop)
- Axe 2

And I would like to know in case if I decide to use for example 12 meters guitar cable, where is the best place to put a buffer for example DS1. Guitar to DS1 than to axe 2 input or put DS1 between axe 2 out2L and amp input.
 
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