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Instrument cables rated and compared. A buyers' guide!

#61
Ah yeah, you're right. I thought I had put explanations of everything up there, but apparently not.

The deal with the Klotz is that they can go microphonic over time. So a new one will not have much handling noise, but over time and use it may develop problems.
 
#62
briskmojo said:
Just to throw my anecdotal evidence in regarding monster. I worked at an electronics store for a while and we had some monster guitar cables, while the shelf price was $50 they didn't actually cost us that much, my discount was the price the store buys at plus 10%. At $12 each I bought two cables and gave them to my guitarist, the first cable failed after a couple weeks and the second almost made it three months. By comparison all other cables he's used have lasted several years. Not impressed.
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FWIW, I bought two Monster cables (one for each bass) around 1994, and one of them just started giving me problems. The other is still fine after 20 years. Except that there are less expensive cables now as good as, if not better than them, I wouldn't mind buying them again.
 
#66
drumsnbass said:
I just walked into Guitar Center with a Monster Bass cable that was crackling. Walked out with a new one no questions asked, and with one right angle plug this time too!
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I just called GC in Gilroy CA. and was told that they were instructed by the 'cooperate headquarters" not to exchange Monster cables anymore. I told him I had heard that stores were having problems with being reimbursed, he couldn't confirm that. Jim
 
#69
That is tough to measure!

At least in my own experience, over 20 years playing shows on 5 continents, I have only had one cable fail. I had a Monster Bass cable whose tip broke off in my bass. That's the only failure I remember!

I've retired some cables in preference to something new or a different length, but cable failure has been so rare for me. I suspect my experience is better than average on this front, however. I've seen plenty of mic cables fail & plenty of colleagues cabling fail...
 
#70
pedroims said:
What about road use? A perfect and great studio cable can be a piece of crap on the road. I think that we should have a road test category: 100 / 200 / 300 gigs without a problem?
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Agreed. So far I've gone through monster (2 or 3 gold monster bass and several of the silver ones with the color coding rubber band things), Armor Gold, and the Klotz TM Stevens.

The longest lasting one was actually one of the monster bass (roughly 8 years), but the others I've swapped at least once so I guess that one's the diamond. The klotz got iffy after least than 50 gigs...not sure about the armor gold yet, but the right angle plug is not the most durable.

Right now I'm using the Lava ELC with the lava rock (Techflex) sleeving and silent RA plug and its all good so far after 10 gigs. Will keep reporting back.
 
#72
The crazy thing about me is when I drop the ball, it can take me years to pick it back up. :) I actually bought a 20' George L just for this purpose over a year ago, and just have not gotten around to measuring it. I can tell you they are known for low capacitance, and I think they have higher than average handling noise, but not especially noticeable ambient noise pickup. They are surprisingly stiff for their thin diameter, though I've bought Canare coax that fit the George L plugs that was much more flexible. The big weakness of George L is the attachment of the wires to the plugs, which can come unscrewed during normal use unless you add Loctite, and there's not much strain relief.
 
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#73
I'm planning to buy a cable bulk. The choice I have from this site I trust is quite limited: http://www.banzaimusic.com/Cables/ it's either George L's or ProCo, at least as far as I could find. Which brand would you recommend? If there's another EU site which sells better brand at better prices of course I'm still interested. :D
I'd like a good quality cable that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I'm looking for low capacitance, good handling and durability. Bonus points if it's braided or "vintage looking" but that's not a requirement, I still quite like a rubbery feel.
I'm also looking for a quality coiled cable, better if sold per meter/foot as I'm going to put Neutrik plugs on it anyway.
Thanks!
 
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#74
ProCo cable is good, reliable stuff generally. Coiled cable is not usually sold in bulk because when you cut it the ends where you attach the plugs will also be coily, and this is not easy to work with. I'm not sure how they solve that problem commercially, and Google didn't turn up any answers.
 
#75
bongomania said:
ProCo cable is good, reliable stuff generally. Coiled cable is not usually sold in bulk because when you cut it the ends where you attach the plugs will also be coily, and this is not easy to work with. I'm not sure how they solve that problem commercially, and Google didn't turn up any answers.
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Thanks for the answer.
Can you recommend a good, coiled, commercial cable in that case?
Which of the ProCo cables listed would you recommend? http://www.banzaimusic.com/ProCo/
 
#76
The only coily cables I've tested were the Bullet and the Vox. (The Bullet one is not on my website list because it was just 12 or 15 feet.) The Vox has molded plastic plugs which I do not like, and I think Bullet is out of business.

I don't have specific experience with any of those bulk ProCo models, but I recall their Lifelines products perform pretty well generally.
 

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