Cable placement with an amp and Sansamp bass Driver.

[chetorch]

I have searched for monster cable on here and have noticed that it is a heated debate as to whether or not they are worth having. I don't know which other cables are good for bass but I have used a monster "rock" cable on my electric guitar before and it has been good to me.

my question is, where in the signal chain should I put the "better" cable? would it be necessary to use all same cables?

one more question, which cable is good to use for a bass setup? I have used cheap cables before and do not want to go that route. however, I cant afford Mogami status cables either

thanks for any input!

[guroove]

Doesn't matter, but I prefer to put the 'better' cable first. I like the more flexible / longer cable in the bass. I have a PRS cable and a monster. The PRS goes into the bass, and the input of my first pedal. The Monster goes from my last pedal to the amp.

[walker rosewood]

Your signal chain is only as good as the weakest link. iow it doesn't really matter where the 'bad' cable is.

[Gearhead17]

Do not buy anything by Groove Plugs - noisy, terrible fitting 1/4" connectors. If you shake the cord, you lose signal and so on.... Avoid bargain cables and you should be fine.

You do not need to buy Monster Cables to get good bass tone. I highly recommend Planet Waves Cables - they make the 1/4" jacks extra heavy duty to resist abuse around the jack. Very helpful!

You do not have to have the same brand of cables either, but mixing junk cables with good ones, the bad ones will still make noise and destroy your tone.

[chetorch]

thanks guys, this is exactly the kind of help I needed!

definitely no more cheap-o cables for me.

I will take a look at the planet waves cables, I figured Monster Bass cables would be better, since its marketed for Bass.

[Von Felgenhauer]

Originally Posted by chetorch

thanks guys, this is exactly the kind of help I needed!

definitely no more cheap-o cables for me.

I will take a look at the planet waves cables, I figured Monster Bass cables would be better, since its marketed for Bass.

Its just that, marketing. I prefer to make my own cables for my pedal board. If you are handy with a soldering iron it will save you mulah.

[vivifiction]

Originally Posted by Von Felgenhauer

Its just that, marketing.

Couldn't have said it better myself! Don't fall into the trap. I run monster cables and they work great, but don't spend the extra money they want on a "bass" cable.

[Gearhead17]

Originally Posted by Von Felgenhauer

Its just that, marketing. I prefer to make my own cables for my pedal board. If you are handy with a soldering iron it will save you mulah.

+100

Guitar Center typically marks up cables around 20 to 50%. Making your own or finding someone who can is a great way to save money.

[chetorch]

awesome, well I am not very good at soldering and don't really know any techies but Musicians friend usually has fair prices, correct?
I guess I don't really need the "bass" cable from monster, just thought it might add a little somthin' to the tone.

I'll look into other cables.

[TimmyP]

I like cables made from ProCo 120SX wire. Hopefully this stuff is still available.

[MrCincinnati]

Save up and buy mogamis from a local retailer. It's like buying a Porsche and cheaping out on the fuel and oil.

Local because if u ever need a replacement its quick and painless.

[walterw]

i once tried a monster bass cable on guitar, and it sounded so bad i thought the amp was broken

very lossy, high-capacitance cable. stay away.

that said, the crucial spot for the cable is plugged into a passive instrument. that's where any loss is going to happen.

once you've gone through a buffered pedal, the cable just about ceases to matter.

with active basses, it just about doesn't matter anyway; a big part of the onboard preamp's job is preventing loss from things like crappy cables.

[steveksux]

Originally Posted by chetorch

awesome, well I am not very good at soldering and don't really know any techies but Musicians friend usually has fair prices, correct?
I guess I don't really need the "bass" cable from monster, just thought it might add a little somthin' to the tone.

I'll look into other cables.

Most likely the "bass" cable is poorer quality high capacitance cable that looses treble content, therefore making your sound more bassy than a "normal" (higher quality cable). Would be more noticeable with passive bass (high impedance more susceptible to hi freq losses due to high capacitance cable), probably not noticeable for any low impedance source like an active bass, or coming off the output of any electric amp/device.

So if you have passive bass, keep cable short as possible also, capacitance is directly proportional to length of the cable also. Good luck finding capacitance specs on cables.

Get any cable that has a lifetime warranty if you're not handy with a soldering iron. Boutique cables are expensive snake oil.

Randy

[walterw]

Originally Posted by steveksux

Good luck finding capacitance specs on cables.

it's actually not that hard. spectraflex and dimarzio's version are both excellent low-cap cables at sane prices.

george L is super-low cap, but might be a bit fragile for bass-to-amp use.

[uhdinator]

guitar pickups are more sensitive to impedance issues from cables or pedals. Cable gauge, quality of wire/shielding and the quality of the terminations on the end plugs can effect impedance/tone more than on a bass. higher impedance makes a darker tone/reduces high freqs (if i switch my studio pre amp to hi impedance with a good condenser mic that is low impedance it kills the top end) really long cables can do this also, thats why you don't see 50' guitar cables.

Monster cables for bass have 2 solid core wires plus braided wire and a shield, guitar cables have one solid core and braided wire plus a shield. Their theory is that multiple gauge braids and the solid core enables all freq transmitted equally to enhance tone.

Supposedly lower freqs are conducted better on heavier wire hence the 2 solid cores on their bass cables. Their 1/4' jacks are slightly oversized to fit tighter in a jack also (some gear the jack will not fit into)

Thats why the bass cable does not sound so good on guitar, its prob higher impedance cable an rolling off some of the highs (not great if you play slap style bass) but prob okay for the deep blues player tone.

Planet waves makes the sleeve flared at the sleeve to increase a tight fit and has the same guarantee. I think any higher end cable is worth it if you only have to buy it once and when it falls apart you swap it for a new one.

I prob have $250-$300 worth of cables just for my bass rig, BUT I will never pay for another cable if one craps and they all do at some point.

[MrCincinnati]

Originally Posted by uhdinator

Planet waves makes the sleeve flared at the sleeve to increase a tight fit and has the same guarantee. I think any higher end cable is worth it if you only have to buy it once and when it falls apart you swap it for a new one.

I prob have $250-$300 worth of cables just for my bass rig, BUT I will never pay for another cable if one craps and they all do at some point.

+1

[jaywa]

IME all commercial grade instrument cables are about the same in quality and what impacts tone quality more than brand, is length. Active or passive, my rule of thumb has always been to keep all cable lengths as short as possible while still maintaining the mobility you want and need. Now, whether that means you'll get better results running a 20-footer from your bass to the SansAmp and a 5-footer from the SansAmp to the amp... or two 12-footers... I don't know.

I just switched to wireless so now I roll wireless receiver > tuner > SansAmp > bass head, with the cables between the receiver, tuner and SansAmp all being patch cables (1 foot or less) and a 3-foot cable between the SansAmp to the head.