What brand of effect patch cables are best for bass?

[mettec]

I have a few effect pedals that I'm starting to use again but would like to know what brand of patch cables would be good for a bass signal other then Monster Cable? I need (5) 6" or 12" cables and don't want to spend lots of money on them either.

[Lowpro]

>.>

Monster cables are the best for the money.

If you don't want to spend too much money look into Livewire cables. Or planetwaves but I've never seen patch cables for Planetwaves, just the lil "doiturself" kits they have.

[bongomania]

Monster cables are complete crap, especially for the money.

I use Bayou and George L. cables, both of which actually do provide real quality per dollar, and not just some phony hype like Monster.

[shamrock&roll]

I use George L's.

[ErnieD]

I just recieved my first 18' instrument (blue) cable in the mail this last week. Used it first time Saturday. I was using and still have my 7yr old 12' Monster cable ( that I believe trashed my G&L input jack) dont think I'll be using it anymore. I was able to order what I wanted from Butch, straight at one end, angled at the other, the right length for my needs. Cant see anything super special by looks alone just good workmanship, good quality hardware and cable. And best of all, the cable doesn't kink up like my Monster always did. It just feels quality and again I got it to my specs.

[Lowpro]

Bongo, I have heard a lot about the great quality of George Ls, and Im sure that putting a Monster next to a George L there's some difference in quality, but dude, ONE 6" patch cable is 16.95...

http://www.georgelsstore.com/cables.html

That BETTER be like a half dozen, because 16 bucks for a freakin' patch cable... in the immortal words of Daffy Duck, I demand you shoot me now ( free donut to whoever can tell me who said that, NO GOOGLING!)

Monster cables are fine, a LOT of players use them and don't fuss over them. Now, if you HAVE the money, and have used AND prefer George L's, then by all means, it's a free country, who am I to tell you what to do; but we're talking about economic feasibility here X.x

Just make a note. Buying a cable's like buying an instrument. Quality is everything, but it's also in your eyes, no one elses. If you like the sound you get then more power to you. Shop around for sure, take your time.

[bongomania]

I never paid that much. I pay $3.50 per plug and $10 or so for a 50 foot spool of coax cable. It works out to around $8 for a patch cord, one which (a) is the perfect custom length; (b) fits neatly and discreetly around the pedals on my board; (c) weighs very little; (d) does not damage input jacks the way oversized Monster plugs do; and (e) does not have any artificial EQ shaping the way some Monster cables do.

[vegas532]

[quote=bongomania;4681694]Monster cables are complete crap, especially for the money.QUOTE]

+10,000,000!!!!

[Lowpro]

Hmm, does assembling those require soldering or are they designed to just be those attach and twist, like the planetwaves? Because if it's the latter, I might look into it, mostly because I'm deciding to actually buy a board for all my pedals rather than have this 3 inch platform rise which is a poor excuse for a board...

[vegas532]

Originally Posted by ErnieD

I was using and still have my 7yr old 12' Monster cable ( that I believe trashed my G&L input jack) dont think I'll be using it anymore.

Let me verify that for you...I used to use Monster until I got tired of techs having to fix jacks!

[bongomania]

The George L's just twist (or screw) on, no soldering. In fact, the only complaint I have about them is that they come unscrewed sometimes, if you move the cables around much. So they're perfect for "fixed" installation on a pedalboard or in back of a rack, but very troublesome as instrument cables or if you are inclined to rearrange your pedals much. I use the Bayou cables for the more active applications.

[JanusZarate]

mettec, just to clarify...

As long as you're getting a high-quality patch cable, there's really no such thing as the "best" bass cable in terms of sound - not at the patch cable level, anyway. Don't buy into the hype about "bass-specific" cables. If a cable sucks for one instrument, it'll suck for all of them.

In my experience, short patch cables don't demand the highest quality out there. It's nice to have a patch cable that will withstand nuclear winters, but sonically, there is no difference unless you're buying a crappy cable (*cough* *cough* HOSA *cough*).

However, for long instrument cables, quality materials are certainly essential, but you don't necessarily need a Monster cable - there are equally good cables out there for MUCH cheaper prices; the only thing they have going for them is a really good warranty arrangement with GC.

Now, onto the really good stuff...

LiveWire and other similarly-priced brands are perfectly fine, but for quality construction, durability, customization, and price, I'd highly recommend looking into a DIY cable kit (Planet Waves or George L's - it's all personal preference on this one, because they're equally good), or looking into some of the fantastic custom cable makers out there like Bayou Cables.

I opted for Planet Waves because the connectors are extremely durable and far less prone to the issues George L's connectors can have if you do a lot of re-arrangement. The drawback is that they're bulky.

[PocketGroove82]

Granted, I don't use a many effects but the guitar players I know and trust use George L's. I don't like them as standard "guitar" cables as they don't like to lay flat because they are very thin so the coating really stays "tight", but they sound good, look good, and are easy to cut to length.

[needmoney]

What do people think of the multipack of Hosa patch cables? I can get them local for cheap. I'm using Hosa Speaker leads and they've served me very well.

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by needmoney

What do people think of the multipack of Hosa patch cables? I can get them local for cheap. I'm using Hosa Speaker leads and they've served me very well.

Run. Far Away.

RUN!

On a serious note... I used to own one of those multipacks. They seemed fine in terms of sound quality (granted, I was using a simple practice rig at the time... they probably sucked, but I didn't notice! ). However, they weren't very reliable - a few of them failed on me. The connectors are pretty fragile, as are the insides of those cables.

I bought two packs of them overall, and I eventually sold off all of the ones that worked fine.

It's the cable to use if you're desperate and low on cash. I couldn't recommend it as your main set of patch cables...

[needmoney]

Hmm so I should probably change my speaker cables too... Ideally I'd love to get a whole set of different cables from Bayou, but my display name says it all.

[James Hart]

Originally Posted by needmoney

What do people think of the multipack of Hosa patch cables?

work fine for me.

[needmoney]

Just to be clear, I'm talking about these ones.. http://www.bayoucables.com/store/cat...products_id=61

They look pretty quality to me. Sure they're no George L's or whatever, but they're priced well.

[syciprider]

Tara Labs.

[The BurgerMeister]

people often think that it's only monster that has the wonderful lifetime warranty arrangement with GC. in fact, livewire, mogami, planet waves, and even hosa have the exact same warranty. just read the labels, and you'll see. that being said, i've done COUNTLESS monster exchanges in my 2 1/2 year GC tenure (at least one a day). i've exchanged a fair amount of livewires, far less planet waves, and i can count on my hands the number of mogami exchanges i've done.

i use mogami for the long cable runs and planet waves for my patch cables. the planet waves do-it-yourself kits don't come unscrewed like the george l's, but they are quite a bit bulkier by comparison. i'm quite happy with them. i'm sure i'd like the george l's and bayous as well.