Guitar cable?

[drone46]

What do you guys recommend for a good guitar cable?

 

[00Sleven]

I prefer Klotz myself

 

[Prospector]

I have tried a bunch of high end cables over the years, including ones that are significantly more expensive, and my favorite is the Mogami gold series.

 

[00Sleven]

I have tried a bunch of high end cables over the years, including ones that are significantly more expensive, and my favorite is the Mogami gold series.

Those are good too.

 

[JMP]

My local shop stocks the Ernie Ball cables, so that’s what I bought. They’re excellent.

 

[Deftone]

Mogami Gold

 

[tzd]

D'Addario works fine for me.

 

[bblooz]

We used to have Time Warner, but they switched it to Spectrum.

 

[ErictheRed]

You really just need something with good strain relief, that's the #1 thing to look for. People will bring up capacitance, but are you going to measure the capacitance of a cable in a store? Capacitance doesn't vary much brand to brand in my experience, anyway.

 

[bblooz]

Oh, mea culpa, you guys were talking about instrument cable. Mine are made by chinese Monster monkeys.

 

[5F6-A]

I use Vovox. Great quality. Lava is cool too is you are in the US. Both are fairly stiff, though.

 

[jkes01]

These are my go to cables at the moment. Great for the price.

Kirlin IWB-202 BGL Woven Guitar Cable Straight/Right Angle - Black Metallic

Kirlin's Woven/Braided 20AWG OFC guitar cables with 1/4" straight to right angle plugs - Black Metallic

www.philadelphialuthiertools.com

 

[northernguitarguy]

Meh. I dunno. I think this is one of those things that I avoid the cheapies....but also the 'high-end'. Some of this is snake oil. Remember 'gold plated plug' RCA cables?

FWIW, I have a basic Yorkville cable (Long and McQuade house brand) that's 20 years old and works fine.

 

[5F6-A]

I'd have a look at the capacitance of the cable. Listen to this quick video I did some time back. I compared a high capacitance cable (darker sounding) to a low capacitance cable (brighter) of similar quality.

 

[freefrog]

What do you guys recommend for a good guitar cable?

Depends on your needs... Do you want something sturdy or do you want to affect your sound in a subtle way?

In both cases, there's no obvious correlation between price and "quality". I've had cheap MIC cables way more sturdier than expensive Fender low capacitance models, for example.

If you want a cable giving a high mid focused warm tone to passive pickups, consider a very long one, or a curly/coily cable - or a "Yellow cable": I don't know if this cheap brand is sold in all countries but it stands among the most capacitive brands I've ever measured (thre times more capacitance than average = the warm dark sound generally obtained with 9m of cable, but with 3m of Yellow cable only).

If you want crisp, pristine & detailed high frequencies, consider short and/or low capacitance cables but there's no need to spend much money in it: Sommer (German brand) builds a cable which has AFAIK the lowest capacitance on the market (three time less than average) AND it's sturdy AND reasonably priced: it's called "Sommer LLX" (and not "XXL", which is a different model). EDIT: avoid Sommer "Black Zilk": this one is low capacitance (I've measured it @ 61pF per meter with a lab LRC meter) but NOT sturdy at all. Proof that brand alone is not a reliable criterium of choice IME/IMHO.

If you want a cable giving the sound of your pickup "direclty", consider an Atlantic Audio ZeroCap cable...

In any case, keep in mind that low capacitance is better for clean hi-fi tones and not necessarily for drive sounds.

Personally, I use Sommer LLX + a box with a rotary switch adding or disabling several capacitors from hot to ground: it allows to emulate various lengths and/or capacitances of cable. It's useful when I plug a Strat in a cranked Marshall: it avoids my ears to be split by treble frequencies and it gives a beefier tone.

Oh, and... a good iron solder is your friend. Even cables with molded plugs can be repaired: if it fails, just cut the molded plug and solder a metal screwable one instead...

Last but not least, there's boatloads of vids to echo the one shared by our friend 5F6-A: you might find "your" cable in one of these YT vids.
Example including the Sommer LLX that I mentioned:

FWIW and YMMV. Sorry for the way too long answer: it's Sunday morning here and the house is sleeping so I try to spend my time silently, if not helpfully( LOL).

Good luck in your quest...

Footnote: http://www.shootoutguitarcables.com/guitar-cables-explained/capacitance-chart.html

 

[tazzboy]

Analysis-Plus Black Oval Cables is what i have been using for the past few years.

Black Oval Cable by Analysis Plus

Our famous Black Oval is a workshorse cable. It's quiet, flexible and sounds great. A truly high-end cable at a great price.

analysis.plus

 

[Southwest]

Klotz for me too. Mine has been with me for the past 25 years. Gigged hundreds of times and never let me down. I bought another for when the POS that Marshall include with Code amp foot-switches fails. I'm guessing that the new one and the old one will both outlast me.

 

[rogue3]

You really just need something with good strain relief, that's the #1 thing to look for. People will bring up capacitance, but are you going to measure the capacitance of a cable in a store? Capacitance doesn't vary much brand to brand in my experience, anyway.

^ this
To the op: Once i started playing live,about 1990,i always,always,always(!) looped my cord between the guitar body/strap, then into the guitars input jack, whether playing live,or at home,without fail!
All my cord end plugs survived the years and still have 100% continuity, with no issues.
Strain relief!

go forward to one minute...

A good guitar cable is only as good as a 100% continuity end plug. Capacitance doesn't matter squat when your end plug has been brutalized from repeated yanking.

Whirlwind leaders have the best strain relief in the business,in my experience.Certainly extremely long lasting end plugs,because of the rubber end extension,but, do the loop as well!!!

 

[dspelman]

Two answers here:

One: buy anything with the lifetime warranty/easy return. Generally a mid-range one of these will last you a long time and sound good.

Two: Buy cable and ends in bulk and make your own. I use Mogami or Canare cable and Neutrik ends. They're as good as the best lifetime warranty cables, cost about a third as much, and you can make them the lengths you need. I generally make a bunch of cables, toss them in a bag and then pull them out as needd.

 

[rogue3]

You really just need something with good strain relief, that's the #1 thing to look for. People will bring up capacitance, but are you going to measure the capacitance of a cable in a store? Capacitance doesn't vary much brand to brand in my experience, anyway.

^ this!

What do you guys recommend for a good guitar cable?

To the op: Once i started playing live,about 1990,i always,always,always(!) looped my cord between the guitar body/strap, then into the guitars input jack, whether playing live,or at home,without fail!
All my cord end plugs survived the years and still have 100% continuity, with no issues.
Strain relief!

go forward to 1:10...

A good guitar cable is only as good as a 100% continuity end plug. Capacitance doesn't matter squat when your end plug has been brutalized from repeated yanking.

Whirlwind leaders have the best strain relief in the business,in my experience.Certainly extremely long lasting end plugs,because of the rubber end extension,but, do the loop as well!!!