Instrument Cables - Make your own

[jelle]

That's what I use too.
Neutrik plugs and still going strong after 8 years. Low noise when moving the cable on the floor and very transparent. Get gac-1.

[butwhatif]

Awesome stuff, fine stranding, lasts forever, very flexible, i use gac-3 for mic cables

[selloutrr]

IMPEDANCE. Meter your cable as you make it. You want less then 0.01 ohms over 25ft.

Make servicing your cables as regular as putting new strings on your intruments. They get abused and matter.

Continuity will tell you if a wire is broken, but it wont tell you the impedance. The impedance tells you if it has broken strands, bad solder, oxidation, etc.

You can have the best components offered and if you don't make sure you have a good solder it can be worse then a cheap cable.

It's hard to go wrong with switchcraft and neutrik connectors, canari, beldon, mogami cable. Quad star for stage use.

[Structo]

I like Neutrik plugs as well.
The strain relief system they have really works well and the plugs are easy to assemble.

The way I understand why gold is used on connections is, that while gold is not the best conductor available, it is totally non corrosive, in other words it doesn't oxidize.

So in that respect it works very well to have gold plating on copper or silver because it is always a constant, lasting connection.

[brentm]

I do like the Neutrik Silent plugs. They're spendier, but it's nice not to have to hit your tuner or put your amp on standby to swap guitars.

If you're still looking for cable, I highly suggest the CA-0446-NN cable from Best-Tronics. Amazing cable at an affordable price... the specs were better than most that I could find. I remember reading the guitar cable shoot out with all kinds of high end cables reviewed. I spent some serious money on another brand cable in that review, infact, outfitted my entire rig with the stuff. Later I stumbled upon this cable and liked it much more than the expensive cables I'd bought. Live and learn...

Here's the spec sheet.

http://www.best-tronics.com/guitar-cabl ... 446-NN.pdf

[Colossal]

Later I stumbled upon this cable and liked it much more than the expensive cables I'd bought. Live and learn...

Brent,

By "liked it much more" did you like the tone (or lack of it) better?

Thanks.

[brentm]

Later I stumbled upon this cable and liked it much more than the expensive cables I'd bought. Live and learn...

Brent,

By "liked it much more" did you like the tone (or lack of it) better?

Thanks.

They're very clear, and more high frequencies are retained when running at longer lengths (which may or may not be desirable). I always struggle describing what I hear, but that's the best way I might describe it. If you decide to give it a try, I'd recommend going without the nylon overbraid. And I don't doubt their list of endorsers. I've seen the same cable in a gear review with Brad Paisley's guitar tech. He had this exact cable on his Zwrecks in the youtube vid. I guess the reason I say that is their website and marketing material just seems a little amateur compared to their competition. But proof is in the puddin.

[M Fowler]

I think you fellows forgot about this past thread.

http://74.220.215.222/~neampfes/ampgara ... 0e3ca7aae5

[ampbldr2]

I too will never by store bought again. I went with the Mogami w2524 cable with Neutrik Gold TS connectors on about half of my cables (instrument+pedalboard). High quality stuff and very pleased with my tone. I even went and changed out my speaker cable with Mogami w3082.

The only thing I did not like was I went and cheeped out on some of my ts connectors and bought 8 NYS-224G connectors. These are made in china and branded REAN by Neutrik. I had a shorted continuity reading from one of these jacks most likely due to me inserting the plastic sleeve to soon onto a hot solder and melted through and then shorted to the metal casing (duh).

Money well spent for sure. I got alot of cables for the amount I spent.

[rogb]

George Ls .155 and Amphenol jacks in straight and 90degrees for patching and guitar.

I put the George L in the oven on a low heat for a few minutes and then stretch it out on the floor until it cools to get the "auto coil" out of it.

[Structo]

I tried the Canare GS6 before and wasn't very impressed.
Then I looked up the specs and it is 49pf/ ft.

That is fairly high capacitance for a high end guitar cable.

If you have a really bright amp then using a cable that is bit more capacitive can help even out the tone.

But for most amps I like my cable to be around the 25-35pf/ ft.
It just sounds clearer.

The Mogami 2524 cable has been a industry standard for many years.
It is 38pf/ ft.

I have two good cables to and from my pedal board.
Guitar to pedals is Sommer "Grindy Cop Beast". (where do they get these names?)

And from the board to amp is a Sommer "The Spirit".

The Grindy Cop Beast is 31pf/ ft
http://www.sommercable.com/3__produkte/ ... _3085.html

The Spirit cable is a low 24pf/ ft
http://www.sommercable.com/3__produkte/ ... _3080.html

I also like the Neutrik connectors.
Great strain relief system and very sturdy.

I put a Neutrik Silent plug on my last cord and like it a lot.

[selloutrr]

I'll have to check mogami and canare data sheets to be sure but the Sommer cable seems to have a smaller AWG and strand count which would account for the lower pf rating in the data sheet, but one for one it's a higher pf.
More strands / higher AWG should = better signal transfer, or at least better stage life. which is the advantage of a Quad Star, having a backup wire already soldered in place to prevent complete failure.

It would be interesting to build a 20ft cable of each manufacture using the same connectors and meter the impedance as you solder so they are the same. (or as close to 0.00 ohm) to ground as possible. Then put them through the paces and see how they sound, perform, and hold up over a month of constant use. Meter again and see if any have been damaged. the impedance will raise as strands break.

[Structo]

The Spirit is 20ga and the Beast is 22ga.

The Spirit has a 19 strand center nd 100% shielding.

Not sure how that translates to capacitance or durability but I have used the Beast
as my primary guitar cable for about five years.

The newer SPIRIT XXL cable is 18ga and has 26pf/ ft which is a very good number for a guitar cable.
The shielding on Sommer cable is top shelf and I don't detect any noise when moving the cable around.

There is also the newer Colonel Incredible which has two conductors which are 7 strand, 22ga with 40pf/ ft which would be good for a balanced cable.

Shielding is 100%

BTW, I bought both from Lava Cable preassembled.

I've learned a lot by seeing how they made their cables.

The Canare GS6 knocked a lot of the highs down making the signal sound muddy to me in
comparison to the Sommer cables.

[vibratoking]

It is not wise to only consider the capacitance of the cable that you use. In fact, the final tone is influenced by the cable capacitance plus many additional factors that have nothing to do with the cable itself. Negative reviews of a specific cable mean very little unless all the factors are considered.

For example:

The Canare GS6 knocked a lot of the highs down making the signal sound muddy to me in comparison to the Sommer cables.

Tom, I'm not picking on you, but you must also consider the pickup, pot and amplifier (or other load such as effects) characteristics in order for this statement to be meaningful to anyone else. I find the GS6 to actually be pretty good with some guitar and amp combinations. It's a great cable with a Strat and my Express. A little muddy with other guitars/amps. YMMV.


BTW, 0.1 Ohms is very hard to measure with a typical meter because of meter limitations and because of the resistance variation at the meter clip connection point. There is nothing magic about 0.1 Ohms IMO, although I understand that less resistance is better.

Here is a pretty good analysis for anyone that is interested. This analysis considers frequency response, which is only part of the whole picture, albeit a very important part. A time domain analysis should also be considered, but is not included.
http://terrydownsmusic.com/technotes/gu ... ables.html

[rogb]

I tried the Canare GS6 before and wasn't very impressed.
Then I looked up the specs and it is 49pf/ ft.

That is fairly high capacitance for a high end guitar cable.

If you have a really bright amp then using a cable that is bit more capacitive can help even out the tone.

But for most amps I like my cable to be around the 25-35pf/ ft.
It just sounds clearer.

The Mogami 2524 cable has been a industry standard for many years.
It is 38pf/ ft.

I have two good cables to and from my pedal board.
Guitar to pedals is Sommer "Grindy Cop Beast". (where do they get these names?)

And from the board to amp is a Sommer "The Spirit".

The Grindy Cop Beast is 31pf/ ft
http://www.sommercable.com/3__produkte/ ... _3085.html

The Spirit cable is a low 24pf/ ft
http://www.sommercable.com/3__produkte/ ... _3080.html

I also like the Neutrik connectors.
Great strain relief system and very sturdy.

I put a Neutrik Silent plug on my last cord and like it a lot.

Tom, thanks for the tip, just received and fitted 2 on my regular cables, fantastic!!!!!!!! Really well made, these look like they will be my go-to plug from now on.