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Difference between bass and guitar cables?

#23
AMachine said:
I work at one of the premier sound company's in New England and you don't need to spend as much as you think just make sure the cable is in proper working order. We use Rapco and Pro co mostly for backline and maybe a few others.
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Road hog cables are great! I don't hear any difference between my Mogami and the Road hogs with Guitar, Bass or Mandolin. On top of that, the jacks on the Road Hog's are covered in heat shrink rubber, so you aren't going to get a nick on the finish of the bass, and the ends are never going to loosen up. On top of that, they are about 1/5th the cost of Mogami's

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#25
OK, I'm going to stick my neck out here and say I actually like Monster cables.:hiding:

Not for the tone, but for durability. Mine have been much more durable than the cheaper cables I've had, especially Livewire. I had to replace a Livewire three times. Sure they replaced them free, but I'd rather not have to go back to GC every time. I haven't had any problems with my jacks, by the way.
 
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#27
DiabolusInMusic said:
Don't buy monster cables for anything, especially their 1/4" cables. Their 1/4" plugs are slightly larger so they wreck jacks from what I hear.
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:rollno: I have had many amps, half a dozen basses and tons of pedals whose jacks would disagree. All of my main cables are Monster, including two gold ones made just for bass that I have used at every gig and recording session for the last 15 years or so.

I don't notice any highs rolled off with mine, but I do detect an aroma of chocolate and blackberry with a woody jasmine finish. ;) It's all in one's perception, I suppose. I don't personally buy into the tonal difference thing between different cables, and they can say whatever they want on the package of I never need to buy another one.
 
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#30
Originally Posted by DiabolusInMusic View Post
Don't buy monster cables for anything, especially their 1/4" cables. Their 1/4" plugs are slightly larger so they wreck jacks from what I hear.
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I think I still have one of the original Monster cables that I bought back in the 80s around here somewhere, and it does have slightly larger 1/4" jacks on it - oh and it still worked the last time I used it too. However, Monster cable fixed that problem many, many years ago and now have normal size jacks.
 
#34
I used to work at a guitar shop that had a great relationship with Monster and the markup on Monster cables are about 200%!!! I, of course, got an employee discount. I never bought the bass cables. I bought the Keyboard cables since I want the full range of frequencies. I've since realized that their cables aren't much better than anyone elses.

My main issue with Monster is that they are total bullies'. Anyone that tries to use Monster in their name for anything can expect to get sued by them!!!
 
#38
I'm not convinced in all the hype of the different instrument cables. I've used any different brands before and never noticed any major difference.

I use them for the warranty. I bought a cable second hand over 10 years ago and every so often I get a new one, usually not because it's actually going bad but just to have a fresh cable. It's paid for itself many times over. I actually have 2 of them.

Believe what you want, use what you want. We all have our different tastes, opinions, and feelings about everything.

I'd actually be interested in hearing a recording of each type of cable run through a bass, guitar, keys, etc and actually hear if there is any, even subtle, changes. I'd imagine someone would have done this by now.
 
#39
Yeah, there's not really gonna be any tonal difference between the cables - what everyone else said. But I like monster because of durability and the warranty. All my other cables break long before the monster cables do. And when the monster cables do break, I just get them replaced for free. Good deal if you ask me.
 
#40
Cables cannot add anything to a signal except noise. They can subtract (or maybe reduce?) things in a signal, not not on a scale that's going to make a difference to a musical instrument. And certainly not to the signal from a bass guitar. As someone who lived through the cable flame wars, I am familiar with the idiocies from both sides. On a complicated and weak signal, say from a CD to a preamp, cables can make a significant difference. On the comparatively simple signal from an instrument? Not so much. But even where they do make a sonic difference, it is almost entirely due to the shielding scheme. And not all cables are shielded equally. The other issue is the dielectric or insulation and whether it has a chemical interaction with the conductor over time. This is fairly rare, but it still happens. If it corrodes the conductor after 20 years? Who cares? But after 6 months? It's an issue. Me? I avoid the el cheapo cables as much as I do the boutique cables.
 
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