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08-08-2010, 08:21 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Pittsburgh, PA | | | help me with my cable related tone loss
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So I decided last year that i wanted some higher end cables. I ordered a ton of Canare GS-6 and a bunch of high end neutrik ends. I had our tech make 2 18' cables and 5 small patch cables for my board. I realize this is a long stretch of cable, but I sometimes need cables this long. To my ears, the Canare is the best sounding in its price range. I made the mistake of plugging directly into my head with 1 18' cable at sound check last night and was overwhelmed at how much more highs and high mids there are than when I run my normal setup. I have 5 true bypass pedals and 1 buffered pedal....a dredgetone angler, which has a very transparent buffer. I removed the angler from my board and plugged directly from bass > angler > amp with 2x 18' cables and there was still the same loss of tone. Shorter cords aren't particularly practical because I regularly play on some big stages.
Do I need a dedicated high end buffer pedal? I thought having a quality buffered pedal did that. What can I do to get back the tone thats lost with around 40' of cable? I realize that I can EQ some highs in but its not as natural as it sounds going directly into my head.
I'm having so many personal crises lately regarding my tone...any help or actual product recommendations would be greatly appreciated. |
08-08-2010, 08:23 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Brisbane, QLD, Australia | | | Usually tone loss results in a reduction of the higher frequencies, not an increase...
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08-08-2010, 08:24 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Pittsburgh, PA | | | yes, i am loosing highs and would like to get them back. |
08-08-2010, 08:24 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Brisbane, QLD, Australia | | | Oh, the wording suggested it was the other way around.
You're using around 40' of cable yeah?
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08-08-2010, 08:27 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Pittsburgh, PA | | | yeah, an 18' to my board, 5x 4-6" cables on the board, and an 18' to my head. |
08-08-2010, 08:27 PM
|  | OVNIFX
EXAR pedals rep for North & Central America | | Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: PDX, OR | | | It sounds like the Dredgetone buffer is not so great at buffering. Transparency is a good quality, but it's not necessarily a sign of sufficient lowering of the output impedance.
I would recommend at least trying out a different buffer, and placing it at the very end of the pedal chain. |
08-08-2010, 08:28 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Pittsburgh, PA | | | bongo, would you have a certain one in mind? |
08-08-2010, 08:29 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Brisbane, QLD, Australia | | | Have you tried each pedal individually? Maybe something isn't bypassing properly. If it's sounding fine without pedals in your signal chain then it suggests it might not be the cables.
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08-08-2010, 08:44 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Pittsburgh, PA | | | yeah, i've done that. i pulled them all off of my board and had a similar loss with each one in the middle of the 2 long cables. jake....thanks for helping me brainstorm here. i appreciate the help. |
08-08-2010, 08:47 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Brisbane, QLD, Australia | | | Tried going direct to amp using each cable separately? Maybe one isn't quite doing the job.
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08-08-2010, 08:48 PM
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EXAR pedals rep for North & Central America | | Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: PDX, OR | | Quote:
Originally Posted by fitz420  bongo, would you have a certain one in mind? | Oh, there are a number of decent ones out there... The main "rule of thumb" is to find one that doesn't have a volume knob, and is instead just fixed at unity gain (more or less). Or where the maker says the level knob is a true gain control, and not a passive attenuator.
Toadworks Big Banana or Radial PB-1 are two examples. Or the Barber B-Buff ( http://www.barberelectronics.com/B-Buff.html ), though you'd have to put it in a housing, with jacks, or have Barber do that for you. And it seems like I've seen a dozen from small-time pedalbuilders, but I can't remember the specifics ATM. |
08-08-2010, 09:07 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Pittsburgh, PA | | i've read some postive reviews on T1M's mini buffer and think i might go this route. does anyone here personally have any experience with it? http://www.this1smyne.com/product_li...b-mini-buffer/ |
08-09-2010, 03:34 AM
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Owner/designer [sfx] | | Join Date: May 2006 Location: London - UK | | Quote:
Originally Posted by bongomania I would recommend at least trying out a different buffer, and placing it at the very end of the pedal chain. | +1
There are other 2 tests I would try:
- The pedalboard without Angler but with shorts cables. This will help you understand if the pedalboard has impact on the tone-loss.
- Long cables with just one true-bypass pedal. This should help you hear the impact of the cables.
As a buffer you can use any Boss pedal designed for bass or the Tech21 VT Bass ...or this 
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