Difference between bass and guitar cables?

[raventepes]

I've been using George L's more or less exclusively for years now. After buying cables from random companies, including Monster, I really can't discern any noticeable differences. I like the George L's simply because if it gets a short, all you need to do is cut about an inch off the top of the cable, put the jack back on, and you're good to go (usually).

I've never had to actually replace one of them because of their design, and they sound pretty much the same as everything else out there.

Now, I WILL say that I generally don't trust cheap cables, but that's all from a component perspective. Cheap is cheap. Using sub-par copper or whatever else WILL short out pretty quickly, I've noticed.

 

[el murdoque]

For what i heard, you have to grind the mojo bones with a counter clockwise motion for usage in a bass cable, while they are ground clockwise for guitar cables.
The test in the ovnilab link says it all - as long as your bass has an active preamp, a cable is a cable.

 

[Tom Bomb]

Seems to me, the best way to tell them apart is, one will be coming out of a bass and the other will be coming out of a guitar … I'm lucky - one of my more ancient cables is branded 'The Bass Player'. Phew!

Having a bit of fun with Evidence Audio Monorail cable at the moment - this one has a distinct directional element. Seems to me that this just complicates things unnecessarily but I'm a grumble bum. What do I know? I should just comply - just lay back and think of England. Perhaps not The guys at Evidence Audio are pretty genuine and very helpful and there's real dedication to quality there. Selective expert input might be the ticket here. Trust has become an issue. Could you hand me a tissue

 

[devnulljp]

The difference? Marketing.

 

[Achille]

I have a Monster cable for 15 years, still working perfectly. I bought another 2 years ago, it stopped working a month ago, lifetime warranty so it was replaced at no cost. These for me are good reasons to buy monster cables.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Is that a left handed bass cable, or a right handed bass cable? If you get the wrong one your note come out backwards.

That's not right. It comes out upside down. Your note will only come out backwards if you plug the bass end into the amp and the amp end into the bass.

 

[lfmn16]

That's not right. It comes out upside down. Your note will only come out backwards if you plug the bass end into the amp and the amp end into the bass.

Thanks for the clarification!

 

[adamaarts]

I have a Monster cable for 15 years, still working perfectly. I bought another 2 years ago, it stopped working a month ago, lifetime warranty so it was replaced at no cost. These for me are good reasons to buy monster cables.

Same here. I’ve had one cable for over 10 years, probably close to 15. I’ve had a second one that started to short after a few years and yea, the lifetime warranty is great. That alone is worth the cost. I don’t believe the hype about any sort of sonic difference as I’ve used tons of cables over the years and never heard any difference, but the cables monster makes hold up and are worth the cost.

As far as the comments about the slightly larger 1/4” connectors, somewhere along the line they fixed that so it’s no longer an issue. I remember when that was a thing

 

[TomB]

Same here. I’ve had one cable for over 10 years, probably close to 15. I’ve had a second one that started to short after a few years and yea, the lifetime warranty is great. That alone is worth the cost. I don’t believe the hype about any sort of sonic difference as I’ve used tons of cables over the years and never heard any difference, but the cables monster makes hold up and are worth the cost.

As far as the comments about the slightly larger 1/4” connectors, somewhere along the line they fixed that so it’s no longer an issue. I remember when that was a thing

Yeah, like 20 yrs ago

 

[Giffro]

Maybe its an incorrect international naming issue and not just an Aussie one, but I'm pretty sure it's proper audio language to call the connection on the end of your guitar cables A PLUG...not a JACK as so often mentioned on TB.
A JACK is the "female" socket on the amp/effect pedal that the cable PLUGS into.
Thought this issue needed clarification.

A PLUG

A JACK (SOCKET)

 

[lespaulbass]

Is that a left handed bass cable, or a right handed bass cable? If you get the wrong one your note come out backwards.

COOL

 

[Sunset Shalom]

I got into an argument the other day with a very very stubborn Mogami fanatic, said person was asking advice on if a second mogami cable was really necessary for their rig. Literally everyone said no but because he "didn't get an answer to his question" he ignored everyone and kept stubbornly arguing. Anyways the point I ultimately tried to make was, even if we assume some of these overpriced cables do make any sonic difference, will your audience notice? Will they hear said difference in recordings? If so is it worth the price? And if not then what is the point of spending more $.... At least with other gear you get more for the price usually, and it can often be worth spending more for a specific product.

I've seen amp power cables sell for literally 2000-5000$, just for a fancy power cable! As well as make claims like "sends electricity at 97% the speed of light" and other such BS.

So until I see some actual evidence such as spectral analyses showing a verifiable difference I'm going to assume most overpriced products are snake oil, at least with more simple parts like cables.

 

[crguti]

do they have cables for lefties?

 

[Teddybear]

It is very important however, to keep a snake well oiled.

What viscosity oil would you recommend? I've heard that snakes can get rather stiff if the oil is too thick and they can start creaking if the oil is too thin. What is the best for playing outdoors in sub zero weather?

 

[Fuzzbass]

So until I see some actual evidence such as spectral analyses showing a verifiable difference I'm going to assume most overpriced products are snake oil, at least with more simple parts like cables.

I agree, there's lots of marketing snake oil. Higher-priced cables like Monster and Mogami (of those two I prefer the latter for various reasons) often do have lifetime warranties, so there's that in their favor. But then some lower-priced cables also offer those warranties.


Speaking of marketing: I quit my subscription to Bass Player when Jonathan Herrera wrote a product review that claimed a boutique power cable improved the tone of his rig. Naturally, that boutique power cable was advertised on BP.

 

[Sunset Shalom]

Here's the insanely expensive "boutique amp power cables" I was talking about for anyone interested in a good laugh: Nordost - Frey 2 Power Cord | Shop Music Direct

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
$2,426.99.....


I forget the exact one I was looking at but here's one with the light speed claim: Nordost - Heimdall 2 Power Cable | Shop Music Direct

"Propagation Delay: 85% Speed of light"

All for the price of just 660$, which is over a hundred more then my 120 watt full tube guitar amp, and several hundred more then my Carvin BR510 bass amp. Or about the cost of my entire 1600 watt PA rig My entire home studio probably cost less then that first cable, definitely was cheaper counting used prices. It's mind blowing that anyone would pay those prices, you could get a custom amp built for less

I wish I had the money to buy crap like that and due rigorous tests, would be interesting to see if a spectral analysis would show any difference in signal between the expensive boutique power cable and a stock one. We really need more people out there trying to prove or disprove all the various snake oil claims, you'd think it would be easier to prove with all the claims made.

 

[Teddybear]

Maybe its an incorrect international naming issue and not just an Aussie one, but I'm pretty sure it's proper audio language to call the connection on the end of your guitar cables A PLUG...not a JACK as so often mentioned on TB.
A JACK is the "female" socket on the amp/effect pedal that the cable PLUGS into.
Thought this issue needed clarification.

A PLUG View attachment 3466330

A JACK (SOCKET) View attachment 3466331

You are 100% correct. There are two genders (yes they are called gender) of connector. The plug is male and the jack is female. A guitar cord/cable has two male connectors. (That's one on each end in case there was any confusion.) The guitar itself has a jack and an amp may have several. A plug will plug into a jack. (DUH!)

Yes, I realize that your post was a good enough explanation without any clarification from me and I also realize that I, pretty much, restated what you said. I just wanted to reemphasize the obvious.

In reading the posts on this thread I noticed several times that someone had been wrong about this nomenclature but I pretty much let it pass. I'm glad someone made the obvious correction. (or should have been obvious from the start)

 

[Teddybear]

That's not right. It comes out upside down. Your note will only come out backwards if you plug the bass end into the amp and the amp end into the bass.

Yup, If I'm not mistaken the Beatles were the first to realize this and use it for recording purposes. The most famous example of this was Revolution Number Nine where plugging the cable in bassackwards created a very useful special effect.

 

[Teddybear]

...until I see some actual evidence such as spectral analyses showing a verifiable difference I'm going to assume most overpriced products are snake oil, at least with more simple parts like cables.

I couldn't agree with you more. However, some clarification is necessary. Let's not loose sight of the fact that The signal that is sent through these, or any other cord/cable, is not sound but electricity. That's right, these signals are simple electrical impulses. While l will be the first to admit that I do not know as much about sound as I want to, I do know something about electricity. (or, in this case, electronics)

Electricity takes the path of least resistance. That means that the best cable is one that has less resistance to electricity while at the same time is robust enough to stand up to the rigors of some schmo tugging on it and mistreating it. For a moment look at it like a garden hose. A hose with a larger diameter will allow more water to flow through it. In comparison, a cable (or wire or cord) with lesser resistance will allow more electricity (or electrical impulses)to flow through it.

What is mostly used for guitar cables is called shielded coax. This type of cable has a center lead (or wire) surrounded by some type of insulator which is in turn surrounded by a shielding which is then surrounded by an outside insulator which acts as a protective shield. The center lead is usually (but not always) a solid wire that is used for the positive (+) signal and the shield is usually (but not always) woven like a basket and is used for the negative (-) signal. Using the garden hose analogy above one would think it would be better to use a very large center lead and a solid shield. The problem with this is that the cable would then not be flexible. Here is where the difference in good, better, best, and monster arises.

People (including cable manufacturers) have known for a long time that the electrical impulse going from an instrument to an amp will not ever be above a certain magnitude. Therefore, guitar cables do not need to be greater than a certain diameter. You reach a certain "good enough" plateau and beyond that is useless and overkill. Remember, we are not talking about sound but electrical impulses. Sound does not travel through these cables. The best cables will use the best materials but the diameter of the leads will pretty much remain the same. The best cables will have a better outside protective shell.

So why are Monster cables better? IMHO they are not. One would think that producing and selling a cable that is in the better category but charging best prices would be good enough. Maybe so and maybe people would forgive and overlook the markup but that is not the case. Monster offers cables that are consistently in the better category and sometimes in the best category but charge prices that are ridiculously over inflated.

Back when I was an audiophile I used a lot of cables that had RCA phono connectors on the ends. Several times I tried Monster cables but found them a little "weird". The cables were thin and did not stand up to constant usage and the connectors were overly large and bulky. I tried Blue Jeans Cable and have not gone back to any other. They custom make cables to whatever length you need. I found that, even with their best Belden cable laser welded to industrial RCA phono connectors they were consistently half the price of the bottom of the line monster cable and so much better quality.

Monster cables have left a bad taste in my mouth and I will not ever use them again. For what they offer, they are way, way, way too over priced.

 

[bordinco90]

I have a monster bass cable and it has been very durable and did not ruin my input jack. However, I do think they are overpriced and I do not hear any difference between the Monster and other cables.