Instrument cable as speaker cable

[Jaco who?]

just for interest's sake, what would happen if you used a speaker cable between your amp and your bass (or in this case guitar)? I guess nothing? Will the bigger gauge or thicker insulation destroy your tone of what?

It'll buzz like crazy. Won't hurt anything, but shielded cable is needed for the comparatively tiny signal your bass sends to the pre amp.

 

[dbase]

Back in the 60's we didnt have dedicated speaker cables... we used whatever instrument cables were laying around. I used one on my Sunn200 with 2x15's for years with no problem.

 

[James Judson]

Two issues here.

1. Impedance matching.

2. Current carrying abilities.

Both are important so you should use the correct cables. Asking musicians these questions will only get you answers that are all over the board. I recommend becoming an electrical engineer and if that takes to long, talk to an engineer, or look in the equipment "USER MANUAL" for the easiest quickest answer.

Just trying to help without writing a book. I see misinformed people trying to lead the parade all the time and the internet is a great place to get misinformed.

Hope I didn't pop anyones bubble.

JJ

YMMV

 

[Jaco who?]

Actually the real issue is reviving a semi-zombi thread to ask a simple question instead of opening a new one.

 

[lowendfriend]

I will stop.
But I think that it`s not true that if you use instrument cable as speaker cable you will damage your amp....the possibilities of damaging it are very low

Bull. The odds are high in favor of damage. A short (ie Zero Ohms) is a whole lot less resistance than the 4 ohms most amps are rated for.

Get this straight, you can kill your amp this way.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

Back in the 60's we didnt have dedicated speaker cables..

You may not have, but they've existed since the 1920s. Most speakers and heads in the 60s were sold as a set and a speaker cord was included.

I used one on my Sunn200 with 2x15's for years with no problem.

You can run your car with bald tires and bad brakes and with luck get away with it for years with no problem. That doesn't mean it's a good idea.

 

[Jaco who?]

Bull. The odds are high in favor of damage. A short (ie Zero Ohms) is a whole lot less resistance than the 4 ohms most amps are rated for.

Get this straight, you can kill your amp this way.

You're arguing w/a post from 5 months ago. If you read more of the thread, you'll see that he recognized the error of his ways.

Actually the real issue is reviving a semi-zombi thread to ask a simple question instead of opening a new one.

See what I meant?

 

[bass4worship]

The issue here is buy the right cord for the right job...

 

[Meddle]

Jimi Hendrix's amps at the Isle of Wight festival used thin coaxial cable between the heads and the cabs apparently, and he picked up all sorts of noise.

Electric Wizard had this happen to a gig, where the cable actually melted on them and the cab went silent. Bad news for a gig, but that could be far worse.

 

[Kelly Lee]

There is no need to revive this tired discussion. Closed.