Yeah if you wanted a cable that would suck the high end you could buy any old cheapO high capacitance Guitar cable for $3 and be good to go.
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Bass cables different than guitar cables?
- Thread starter Acoustic356
- Start date
Never use a guitar cable for bass! The notes are too wide. Never use snare key to tune a tom. Never charge your laptop in a lamp plug. Never use a banjo pick on a mandolin. Never hang a P bass strap on a Jazz. Never take musical equipment advice from a consumer package goods salesperson.
A little off-topic, but I have been frustrated at the lack of quality in cables I've purchased recently. I used to sell pro audio gear for a living, but a lot has changed since those days. There is no way I would ever purchase something like a Monster cable. Even if I could notice a difference in sound, for live applications any quality boost would be negligible to the audience. So I don't buy high end cables, ever, but what's leftover seems to be pretty awful. I have a bag of busted cables here that each got maybe a dozen uses, whereas back in the 80's we'd use the same cables for years, soldering one every now and then.
If anyone wants to send me (via PM) a recommendation for a decent brand that is both reliable and not hugely budget-busting, that would be welcome.
You're talking like this has changed. :> I now use 14- or 12-gauge and I get it by buying heavy duty extension cord and cutting the ends off. If you buy the stuff for outdoor use you can sometimes get it in green or blue.
Disagree. Monster stuff is average quality but with Very Thick Rubber around the same-old-cheap cable and Very Clunky[TM] cheap electro-plated connectors. I occasionally end up with one because it's the only "average quality" cable on a wall of "fall apart before you get it home" cables. This is how they survive. Because the average consumer looks at nothing but cost, and those that do want quality look at nothing but "look how thick that cable is".
You might not believe this little fella but it'll cure your asthma too.
Who you jiving with that cosmic debris?
Who you jiving with that cosmic debris?
Yea, seems that might be so for some of their products. The speaker cable I in inherited is ancient - probably some of their earlier product, and is very good. I guess maybe they built their name initially on quality product then started skimping out on crap later?
anyhow - I won't be buying it LoL
I wish people would stop calling them "guitar cables", they're INSTRUMENT cables!
Only guitar players would be so bold as to assume that it's specifically designed for guitars.
Only guitar players would be so bold as to assume that it's specifically designed for guitars.
It takes a lot of power to move bass, so you need a strong conduit to transport it obviously. If you use a guitar lead for a while, pick it up and feel how warm it is. That's because it hasn't got the gauge for bass. If you were to continue, you'll notice it will begin to melt.
Ha-Ha, yeah that 500 milliVolts (half a Volt) in the wires is really building up 0.0000005 Amperes of Current 
Buy a good cable and two spares, you're good to go.
(You can sell one of em to your guitarist right before go time....for a somewhat kinda sorta modest profit margin when he forgets his...again...
)
As long as you stay away from the discount yellow shrink end cables piled on the terlet plunger looking display right at the GC counter or the like, you should be good to go...
Also, the outside shell of a cable bears no indication of cross sectional area of the copper inside... Terlet plunger cables are dirt cheap because there ain't much conductor in em...
Just buy quality....not magic pixie dust infused one way conduction cosmic ray tested cables...
Old Fart Alert: I still have two of the first O2 free cables from later 70s or early 80s, still play through one every day (they had the copper braid shield from hell with the clear see thru bonded shell... I also have two of the fat brown big brass end cables from same time (had the tiny micro switches). All work perfectly still.... Occasionally take a 3M synthetic 0000 steel wool to the ends a bit to keep clean of oxidation. I played full time 50/52wks/yr 4-6 nights/wk way back in the club glory days. They have seen a LOT of use.
A biggee - ||: Over | Under | Over | Under :|| d.c. al FOREVER... coil em right, secure appropriately after playing, and you won't replace em....
(You can sell one of em to your guitarist right before go time....for a somewhat kinda sorta modest profit margin when he forgets his...again...
)As long as you stay away from the discount yellow shrink end cables piled on the terlet plunger looking display right at the GC counter or the like, you should be good to go...
Also, the outside shell of a cable bears no indication of cross sectional area of the copper inside... Terlet plunger cables are dirt cheap because there ain't much conductor in em...
Just buy quality....not magic pixie dust infused one way conduction cosmic ray tested cables...
Old Fart Alert: I still have two of the first O2 free cables from later 70s or early 80s, still play through one every day (they had the copper braid shield from hell with the clear see thru bonded shell... I also have two of the fat brown big brass end cables from same time (had the tiny micro switches). All work perfectly still.... Occasionally take a 3M synthetic 0000 steel wool to the ends a bit to keep clean of oxidation. I played full time 50/52wks/yr 4-6 nights/wk way back in the club glory days. They have seen a LOT of use.
A biggee - ||: Over | Under | Over | Under :|| d.c. al FOREVER... coil em right, secure appropriately after playing, and you won't replace em....
Depends if you are laying down hot licks, or a cool groove.
Bass cables different than guitar cables?
sure --- and i have a couple of fretless bass cables, too! more mwah. and they're unlined!
sure --- and i have a couple of fretless bass cables, too! more mwah. and they're unlined!
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You. You get it.Bass cables different than guitar cables?
sure --- and i have a couple of fretless bass cables, too! more mwah. and they're unlined!
I read the whole thread. That's how bored I am. I was hoping someone with a Double E or physics degree could walk me through how a guitar cable could be "voiced" for anything. There are differences in conductance, hysteresis, various other waveform mechanical losses due to material composition/quality and length of the wire, solder material, etc. But the only improvement a guitar cable can claim is that it is consistently built to minimize loss.
I have used Monster for years. They have a great warranty. I had one fail and walked into Guitar Center and they traded it out no questions asked. The reason I stopped using them is the stiffness.
I remember those cables! Had black anodized barrels on the plugs, didn't they? Our guitarist bought one sometime in the mid-80s. He was so proud of it at the first gig he used it... until the cold-solder joint on one end failed... right in the middle of his duckwalk and solo in "Johnny B. Goode". In all honesty, they were great quality cables. I fixed his after the gig. The jacket was damn near bulletproof.
