I think a couple of years ago, I would’ve thought twice about writing about this topic… cables. Actually, I would have written it anyway, because this is less about the “sound of different cables” (which was a highly debated subject years ago, when cables like the Monster ones or the first signature cables came out), but about the quality of cables and how they can affect your rig.
Let’s face it, you can spend hundreds, even thousands (depending on how many you need/how big your rig is) on good cables. And sure, it seems kinda pointless to buy a $100 cable if it costs more than your first electric guitar… there are priorities, and it doesn’t make sense to spend a load of money on cables if you are not happy with your guitar or your amp yet.
However, once you have a good setup, with a decent amp, good guitar and a few FX, you might wanna think about investing in some good cables, really. And that’s what a lot of people seem to avoid… sure, I understand why some people might think “Ok, I have like a hundred bucks, and there is this cool new stompbox that might be fun, I’d much rather get that than some expensive cable”.
As I said, I understand that approach… after all, cables seem to be some mundane little detail, or something that isn’t as important as, say, a cool pedal. However, low quality cables DO affect your sound, and it’s kind of a waste to have a great amp and a killer guitar and connect them with a low quality cable that kinda sucks up the sound.
Lets not get into too many technical details (capacity, bad quality plugs etc.), but isn’t it kinda pointless to get killer pickups, pedals with true bypass, point-to-point wired boutique amps and then use some low quality cable? It IS an essential part of the chain, especially if you keep the signal chain simple and clean.
And that’s not the only thing to consider… reliability is another one. I have seen some shows by upcoming local bands (or “student bands”) with some unnecessary breaks because the guitarists cable broke (low quality plugs)- or even worse, one of the cheap patch cords on his board broke, and he had to find out which one it was… or simply went with his guitar straight into the amp, bypassing the pedals, just to continue playing ASAP… which is too bad, because he sure would have enjoyed to play the rest of his show with his pedals too…
I even remember seeing a Richard Marx concert on TV where something like that happened. One of the guitarists used a cable and didn’t even have it looped through his guitar strap (which can prevent some damage when you step on the cable, might prevent the plug from breaking, or rather, the solder joints in the plug from breaking).
Suddenly, the guitar was off, and Richard had to entertain the audience for like 10 minutes, telling jokes (he actually did great, a true pro), while the guitar roadie replaced pretty much the whole rig of the guitarist, even the amp. And then, that guitarist checked his main cable (from the guitar to his FX) and realized it had broken.
Now, lets not get into things like “first order of business: when looking for the problem, bypass everything and plug straight into the amp to see whether there is a problem there” (to figure out where the problem actually is).
He actually broke his cable, most likely because he didn’t have it looped through the strap, and I think even without that, a
Neutrik plug might have prevented that problem.When I started out, I used all kinds of cables for quite a few years. Not only because of my financial situation, but also, because I really didn’t think there’d be a sound difference with better quality cables. I even had some of those low prize patch cables… the kind that breaks very VERY easily when you step on them, and if they do, you can’t even open them to fix it with a soldering iron.
Then, I purchased my first really good amp, and also got me a rack, and I figured “Ok, I have a decent amp, good guitar with good pickups, so why not wire it up with some decent stuff”. A friend of mine worked at a music store, so I got some low prizes at that store. I bought a box of Neutrik plugs plus like 20 feet of cable.
I cut them to the exact right length, soldered the plugs to the cable and instead of having several feet of cable curled up in the back of my rack, I now had everything at the exact length I needed it.
And once I plugged in, I realized that suddenly, the stuff sounded different. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but when I AB’d the old cables with the new ones, I noticed a clearer sound… I had always thought that the stomp boxes and stuff had caused the loss of treble, or had thought that the microphonics were something to accept, but suddenly, I had way less of all that.
On top of that, it actually was a good feeling to not have to worry about a cable breaking in the middle of the show… I never broke one again.
And, based on the recommendation of another friend, I actually made a backup of each cable in my setup and put them into a roadcase, just to be prepared. It kinda sucks to have to stop a show because of a broken cable, only to find out that you don’t have a spare part, or have to replace the 15″ patch cable between your Wah and overdrive pedal with the 9 feet cable that is the only spare one you have left.
Later on, I tried several different cables (incl. the aforementioned
Monster Rock cable), until I figured what kind I like. Once again, with a beginner setup or whatever, it doesnt make sense (or a big difference) to use highend cables, but the better the setup gets, the more you should consider using those.
Try it out! If you have a standard, off the shelf cable, compare that to a highend one (borrow one from a store or a friend or whomever). Plug the guitar straight into the amp, use different amounts of volume and gain, and try to find the difference… you can even involve a friend who also plays for some “unbiased” opinion.
For the pedal board, you don’t necessarily need $50 patch cables between each pedal, but at least, do away with the 50 cent patch ones that break so easily… get something a bit more reliable, and it might even improve the sound.
A good cable will usually last quite some time, its not like you need to replace them every month, and you can fix them when they break too. And some companies even offer a lifetime warranty!
These days, I use mainly
Klotz cables (Thanks so much for providing me with LaGrange and Titanium cables!), and it is obvious that their low capacity does affect the sound (add to that the “silent plug”)… better midrange, better balance, no microphonics. I demonstrated this to students of mine as well (mainly to raise their awareness for all this), and they noticed the difference clearly, being quite surprised.
There are other great cables as well, like the
Cordial,
George L. and
DiMarzios I still use sometimes, as well. Fortunately, these days, there are quite a few companies offering high quality cables (and they don’t necessarily mean you go broke, either!), so I really recommend to pass on the next cool pedal, make the investment and get some decent cables (and backups)… they will most likely improve your sound even more than a great pedal could.
Of course, all this only reflects my own personal opinion =)
Here is the next in the series of basic picking exercises you can implement into your practice regimen. As I said before, doing basic picking exercises that focus on the most difficult part of the technique (snychronization, speed, string-crossing etc.) can be way more rewarding than trying to learn the technique by working on some insanely fast, long picking solo.
I wanted to post a few of my favorite picking-exercises. My approach to exercises is that they are supposed to focus on the difficult parts of a technique. Sounds obvious, but a lot of people seem to work on very very long exercises, which is good, but I always preferred to focus on little segments to work on the difficult parts, and then apply the technique to actual licks, solos and improvisations.
