Completing setup- cords etc

[UrthCrimson]

I have chosen a bass and amp, cabinet, and pedal combination, and I am now discovering that matching components and choosing proper cords and such takes some significant planning.

So I have the impression that you want the shortest cord between amp and cabinet, correct? Is this also the case for the connection of the effects pedal to the ‘clean’ amp head, that you want a short cord? All components will be Darkglass, with an ESP LTD F 5 string.

What is the best option for linking the bass to the amp? Can wireless retain sound quality, or is a cord still better? And if so, how does the cord length affect sound quality?

What are the best types of cords to use? Are gold or platinum plated tips advantageous, or any other type? Which manufacturers produce the best cords for a bass setup like mine?

And finally, whether I should go with a corded or a wireless bass to amp connection, again, what brands are best to consider for my components?

thanks in advance!

 

[msb]

I’ve bought the most expensive cable I could find and I’ve bought the cheapest. I didn’t notice any huge difference with the expensive cable , and today I generally buy mid priced cables. They usually have solid connectors , and seem to last as long as the pricier ones.

 

[pepj]

Neutrik connectors on instrument cable. Decent lenght to allow you to stand off the amp. 15ft min, imv, 20ft even better. Pkenty of guys make them up custom with decent cable.
Neutrik Speakons of about 3ft..it only needs to go amp to cab. Assuming amp and cab take speakons.
I normally get mine made up.

 

[bwildt]

Don't overthink this. There is a lot of audio hype out there.

Amp to cab: 16 gauge wire minimum with genuine Neutrik speakon connectors, if your amp and cab have speakon jacks. Length has no effect unless you are talking 50 ft or more.

Bass to amp or effects: This is the most critical because it is a very high impedance connection. Keep this as short as possible, 16-20 ft max. Decent quality but don't go overboard on price.

Effects to amp: Same as bass to effect, although the effect will have a buffer amp so length is not as critical.

In my opinion, gold contacts and all that fancy stuff is not needed. Millions(?) of guitar and bass players over the years have functioned just fine with modest cabling. I think that the final couple percent of audio quality gets masked or moderated by the other bigger factors. Equipment (speaker coloration), room physics/acoustics and other external noise factors (club background conversations).

Edit: re wireless. Wireless will never have the quality of a wired connection. Don't go wireless unless you need the mobility.

 

[Killing Floor]

Rattlesnake cable. Then you’ll never have to worry about it failing at a gig or rehearsal. Use Neutrik ends. For your cab also don’t cheap out. If you have nice gear you can justify quality cable.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

A lot of this already said, but I'd like to re-emphasize.

Don't go super inexpensive on cheap cables, but you also don't need to go crazy expensive either. More important than connectors is cable shielding. Some cables skimp on shields. A wrapped shield, aka spiral twist can lead to big gaps. You want braided shield. You also want to have shield coverage as close to 100% as possible.

Cable length is not super critical, though a little capacitance is added as the length increases. This is like adding a bit more capacitance to the tone cap in your instrument. In most cases, adjusting the tone controls on the bass or amp will compensate, if any difference is noted at all.

If using Speakon style connectors. Be sure the cable connectors are genuine Neutrik connectors and not some knock-off. Anything not Neutrik, not only doesn't work well, but may damage the mating connector.

Forget the idea of gold being better in these applications, it is not. All it does is raise the price with no audible or reliability advantages.

Went into a Rad-Shack once looking for a specific coaxial adapter. The store normally carried Nickel plated and Gold. The Gold was like 30% more expensive. They didn't have any Nickel plated in at the time. The sales person tried pushing the Gold by saying "all the TV stations use Gold connectors because they conduct better." I responded by saying, "well I've worked in engineering at a number of TV stations over the past 30 years and have never seen so much as one Gold plated connector in use." Mic drop, and I was out the door.

If you are of the mind to do so, you can learn to make your own cables. You get the best in quality and save money. Plus if a cable goes bad at an inopportune time, you know how to fix it.

Just don't fall for the hype.

 

[themickster]

I have chosen a bass and amp, cabinet, and pedal combination, and I am now discovering that matching components and choosing proper cords and such takes some significant planning.

So I have the impression that you want the shortest cord between amp and cabinet, correct? Is this also the case for the connection of the effects pedal to the ‘clean’ amp head, that you want a short cord? All components will be Darkglass, with an ESP LTD F 5 string.

What is the best option for linking the bass to the amp? Can wireless retain sound quality, or is a cord still better? And if so, how does the cord length affect sound quality?

What are the best types of cords to use? Are gold or platinum plated tips advantageous, or any other type? Which manufacturers produce the best cords for a bass setup like mine?

And finally, whether I should go with a corded or a wireless bass to amp connection, again, what brands are best to consider for my components?

thanks in advance!

Wireless means less fiddling at each end of the gig. I don't hear any loss of quality with mine.

 

[Scott Bland]

Wireless means less fiddling at each end of the gig. I don't hear any loss of quality with mine.

At a gig theres so much noise and stuff going on it doesn’t matter. Recording though. No wireless.
Having said that i use a sennheiser g4 for my normal monitor, no amp, but am using a normal cable to plug the bass into my pedalboard/preamp on club gigs. I like an easy load out.

 

[Joeywhat]

Things to consider for cables:

- Connector quality
- Construction quality of the cable (if it's laying on a stage floor it needs to be durable, not so much if it's just connecting a cab)
- Solder or connection quality of the wire to the connector
- Strain relief (again, dependent on how the cable is used)

Things not to consider:
- Wire materials (super extra mega oxygen free crap)
- Marketing BS
- Fancy sheathing/insulation and gold/whatever plated components (unless you like the look)

There's zero audible difference between so called high end cables and the dirt cheap stuff. People have used coat hangers as audio cables with no perceptible difference in sound.

Big things that do matter are that all the connections are made correctly. Cold solder joints or other poor connections for non soldered joints cause lots of issues. Using super thin insulated cables in high traffic areas will cause the wires to eventual break... Meanwhile there's no need for a real robust cable if it's going to just connect your amp and cab or if it's in a patch bay.

Look into making your own cables if you're so inclined. Saves even more money and you can make them all to a custom length.

 

[Verb the Noun]

I have 3', 5' and 20' speaker cables. The 3' and 5' are for single or double cabs set directly under my amp. The 20' is for setting a cab on opposite side of drummer or opposite corner of a room. I run a 20' instrument cable from bass to pedal board, and a 20' cable from board to amp.

Didn't buy the cheapest, didn't buy the most expensive. No issues with sound quality even when 60' of "rope" separates instrument from the final cab in the chain.

 

[J Wilson]

Go on any professional tour and you won't see cheap cables. You can't afford to derail a national act with cheap cables with crap connectors.

Go in any top recording studio, or broadcast/video or motion picture set or post production suite, same story.

Poor quality cables with cheap or even counterfeit connectors will bite you in the ass sooner or later. Bank on it. I've been playing long enough to prove this to myself more than once.

I prefer Mogami or custom cables from my friend Butch at Bayou Cables in Baton Rouge. They cost more, but they last forever, sound great, and are almost bullet proof.

 

[micguy]

Cable length is not super critical, though a little capacitance is added as the length increases. This is like adding a bit more capacitance to the tone cap in your instrument. In most cases, adjusting the tone controls on the bass or amp will compensate, if any difference is noted at all.

Capacitance in the cabling is different n its effect than the capacitor in your tone circuit in a few ways. The capacitance in your cable affects the tone of the instrument at all times - if it's taking out high end, the tone control cannot be used to compensate - it can't add stuff back in, unless your bass is active. The capacitor in the tone circuit only affects the tone of your instrument when you're at less than "full tone" - indeed, the value of that capacitor doesn't even matter much at "50%" tone in most cases".

 

[SLO Surfer]

I’ve got a 10’ mogami instrument cable from bass to pedal board, 20’ mogami instrument cable from pedal board to amp head, and 3’ and 5’ 12gauge speaker cable with neutrik connectors from amp head to both cabs.

I think this encompasses what most everyone has already described for you. Not cheap, but not over the top expensive. Solid and reliable quality.

edit to add; get backups! I think having backup cables is just as important as having decent quality cables.

 

[lokikallas]

For the most part it’s about the durability of the construction, because copper is copper. I like planet waves, I’d avoid hype like monster. Switchcraft and neutrik ends are the best.

 

[bwildt]

Go on any professional tour and you won't see cheap cables.

I would hazard a guess that for stage work mechanical robustness is the highest priority. This stuff gets handled a lot, stepped on, run over, jerked out of jacks, coiled, uncoiled and thrown in and out of cases with a pile of other cables.

 

[ahc]

Here's a link with some good research.

Audio Cables Compared and Recommended

 

[agedhorse]

Beware of speaker cables built with “pure” copper clad aluminum wire. Almost all of this wire comes from Chinese discount sources, especially AliExpress and Alibaba, and Amazon shipped from China/Hong Kong sources.

 

[mrjim123]

Always take at least one more instrument cord than you need in case your wireless fails (then you'll connect your bass to the amp with the cord), or in case one of your pedal cords gets whacky. And it has to be an instrument cord; there are speaker cables with 1/4" connectors that look like instrument cords, but the two should never be interchanged.

Also have a backup for your speaker cable(s).

 

[g-dude]

One thing that hasn’t been mentioned: decide on whether you want the connectors to be straight or at 90 degrees.

Seems obvious, but sometimes 90 degrees is your friend.

 

[Wasnex]

#1, Use the correct type of cables for all applications. For example, don't use an instrument cable as a speaker cable, and don't use a speaker cable as an instrument cable.
#2. Don't buy junk. There are extremely cheap cables you can buy, but they tend to have/or cause problems.
There are also super expensive cables that don't really give you a significant advantage, so don't waste your money. You just need quality cables.
#3. Use the shortest cables that meet your needs. Shorter cables are easier to work with. They are neater and don't get tangled as easily. In some instances, long cables degrade the sound or can be more sensitive to hum. Also if the cables are really long, you will waste time untangling them and coiling them back up.

- If your effects always stay in the same order, use short jumpers between them. If you like to experiment with the order, consider getting a few longer cables (may be 3' or so).
- If your amp always sits on top of your cab, get a speaker cable that is just a bit longer than needed. If you sometimes separate your amp and cab, you will need a longer cable.
- If you typically stay close to your amp, a 7' instrument cable is probably sufficient. If you roam around, you either need wireless or a long cable.
- Carry appropriate spares. For example, it's a good idea to have at least one spare instrument cable, power cable, and speaker cable. You might want a few extra effects cables. Consider getting longer cables for spares to handle contingencies.​

#4. Use cables ties or other measures so cables are organized and neat.

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