Cables...do you think they make a difference?

[aleclee]

I've been all over the place cable-wise. I have 25 year-old Live Wires that roll off a fair bit of high end, some O[SUP]2[/SUP]-free audiophile-type cables, and a number that fall somewhere in between. For me, as long as I'm consistent in what cable I'm using, it makes a bigger difference with tube amps than with my AxeFx because I can account for "cable EQ" with the tools in the Axe. With my tube amps, I was generally partial to the cheaper ones because I liked the rolloff. Now, I can just tweak my high pass parameters and I'm good to go. :geek

With that tweakability, as well as my expanded use of wireless, I now tend to go for the more transparent cable because it's more consistent switching between cable and wireless.

 

[jetspeed747]

The only audible difference is capacitance. Don't believe any of the nonsense about directionality, "micro-distortions", skin depth, etc. If you truly want the lowest capacitance possible then use a short cable into a buffer.

The reason capacitance is audible is that it forms a low-pass filter with your guitar electronics. The more capacitance the lower the cutoff frequency. Pretty simple.

Personally I look for durability over all else and use 10 footers.

Cable manufacturers would like you to think there's more going on. There isn't. And please, for the love of Peter Griffin, don't get suckered into buying special power cords.

This is very, very good advice. Cable companies are making money hand over fist on ideas that just don't have any bearing on tone at all.

 

[Sidivan]

I used to think it was snake oil. Last year my beloved cable I had for 10 years crapped out. It's only a $30 cable, so I jumped online and ordered a new one. In the meantime, I used a cable my singer had and frigging hated it. It was like it didn't respond as well. when I got the new one, I a/b'd the two cables and my whole band + my wife could tell the difference. Love my conquest cable.

 

[aleclee]

Forgot to mention earlier, one area where cables can differentiate themselves is in microphonics. Particularly if you're playing through a high gain rig, a microphonic cable can be pretty irritating.

 

[Phostenix]

I started looking at low capacitance cable to reduce the loss of highs when I roll back the volume on the guitar. I picked up a 10' Elixir because they claimed 11pF/ft & I wanted to see if that was true. It measured 116pF. I notice a significant difference in tone (resonant peak of the pickups is higher) and less loss of highs when rolling back the volume. Although I can understand people liking the sound of high cap cables, I liked the difference on all of my guitars.

Then, of course, Elixir stopped making cables.

 

[UnsungHeroGuitars]

Try not using one with your electric and see how quiet it gets.

You simply can't argue with that

 

[Ben Randolph]

My initial reaction is to approach cable claims with extreme skepticism. The home theater world is rife with overpriced snake oil in the form of cables that are supposed to prevent signal loss from your digital signal or whatever.

My ears may notice a slight difference from cable to cable. I have a 20+ y/o Proco cable that saw duty in terrible garage bands I was in as a teenager and honestly it sounds great to my ears with the Axe-FX.

Mainly, I use these in my rig: Armor Gold Cables

They're durable, look great, and are reasonably priced. Whether they improve tone is debatable. I can tell you they don't "detract" from my tone whatsoever.

For XLR cables I use Monoprice. Solid and cheap.

 

[LAYGO]

I couldn't imagine a 10' tether to my rig. I've got a 30' & sometimes feel it's too short. I've considered creating a 'snake' with a potential patch panel on the front of my case & then maybe a 10' would be adequate.

 

[barhrecords]

IMO, the quality of the wire, shield, jacket, connectors, construction all matter. A correctly constructed cable using durable connectors and wire is better than one made incorrectly or with components that fail.

For passive guitars cable length definitely changes tone; all other things being equal.

My strat sounds best with a 25' foot cable. It rolls off the highs just exactly like I like it

The snake oil is that cable *price* matters. There are great cables that don't cost an arm and a leg.

Richard

 

[Trazan]

The only audible difference is capacitance.

YES! Thank you.

Cable manufactures seriously piss me off. The dishonest ones, that is. I bought an Evidence Lyric HG, just to check it out...but will never buy another one from Evidence. Not because they're bad cables, but because they lie to my face. It's not a matter of opinion, it's using pseudo science and the power of suggestion to deliberately deceive. This is the paper that came with the cable:

 

[plexi59]

Man, I'm surprised they didn't say anything "fragile harmonics" in "crystal lettuce" in there, LOL. Everyone knows you need toobz for electrons to survive.

alexander dumble coments on the tube amp - YouTube

YES! Thank you.

Cable manufactures seriously piss me off. The dishonest ones, that is. I bought an Evidence Lyric HG, just to check it out...but will never buy another one from Evidence. Not because they're bad cables, but because they lie to my face. It's not a matter of opinion, it's using pseudo science and the power of suggestion to deliberately deceive. This is the paper that came with the cable: