Killer Cable on the cheap.

[bassbenj]

Looking for a killer guitar cable without spending a fortune? Well, how good's your soldering?

Here's my story: One day I was at GC and the bargain bin had this guitar cable. Part # RH186 18.5 ft long, Made in China. and printed on the outside of the wire was: "Low Noise Superior Performance Instrument Cable".

I bought it for a song and took it home. Understand that I've tried LOTS of instrument cables. Some were well made (Monster) and some were total price bargains (monoprice), some were standard GC fare (Live Wire) etc., but ALL of them suffered from microphonic noise! With a passive bass if you dropped the cable on the floor or moved it or tapped on it it picked up the noise.

My bargain Chines "Superior Performance" cable did NOT do this? Noise was the lowest I ever heard! Just Amazing. Just to be sure I A-Bed it with an expensive Monster Cable. Sure enough, Monster not all that quiet, Chinese quiet as a tomb!

So naturally I look for more. Go on line to GC look up the part #. $15 listed in many stores but not locally. Luckilly I was going to Cleveland and they had it in stock. So I stop by the Cleveland store which had "them" on sale for $10 so I bought 8. I get home and guess what. Same part number, but different cable. This cable is thinner and also noisy! Don't get me wrong it's still not a bad $10 cable but not the gems I was trying to buy.

The "bad" GC cable it seems has printed on it: "Professional Low Noise Instrument Cable" which I assure you is NOT true although it's a nice rubber jacketed cable for the price. So back on the internet. One key to the difference is that the back end of the plugs where the cable comes in is rather square on the "good" cable, but rather tapered on the "bad" ones. It also seems some of the noisy cables were sold under the "Road Hog" name.

I find some more low noise cables online at Amazon. But now $5 more ($20). So I order three. I noted the reviews. A certain amount of complaints about cheapo plugs on the cable failing. They arrive and they ARE the super cables! But one already has a loose plug making "static". I look at the plugs and even though they are Gold plated, they are rather thin and some not crimped properly.

So I simply SNIP off the plugs and install some really nice Gold plated Radio Shack plugs (believe it or not...which they don't seem to sell anymore) and suddenly I've got an instrument cable that beats them all hands down! It would have been even better had I installed some really expensive plugs like the ones with the switch for no noise unplugging or the like.

Yes, all this was a pain in the butt, and some will not want to bother, but I tell you this cable is totally great! You can spend over a hundred bucks a cord and still not have one as nice as these. This is totally great wire!
I'm a big fan of rubber covered cables anyway, and this low noise is just icing on the cake.

That's my story. Just Saying.

 

[Hellbastard]

I'll keep on making my own cables. Sommer Cable and Neutrik or Amphenol jacks is the way to go.

 

[mmbongo]

They are probably better cables and cost about the same to make as Moster Cables that cost 8 times as much. Heck they are probably the same exact cable.

 

[Meddle]

I've heard that Monster Cables bend your jacks over time so that only they fit your instrument (other cables will fall out). I think the absolute best value for money is to buy a wee drum of cable and a job-lot of jacks to solder onto the ends.

 

[Drewbacca]

I've heard that Monster Cables bend your jacks over time so that only they fit your instrument (other cables will fall out). I think the absolute best value for money is to buy a wee drum of cable and a job-lot of jacks to solder onto the ends.

I highly doubt that Monster cables have an insidious design feature meant to enslave the instruments of their customers. Jacks can certainly become loose but I think that's a bit much.
You're telling me that all our bass are belong to them?

 

[bongomania]

I highly doubt that Monster cables have an insidious design feature meant to enslave the instruments of their customers. Jacks can certainly become loose but I think that's a bit much.

It WAS true for several years, but they have stopped using the oversized plugs. The idea was that oversized plugs would stay securely plugged in to your guitar. So the idea wasn't meant to destroy jacks--but that was the result.

 

[Meddle]

I highly doubt that Monster cables have an insidious design feature meant to enslave the instruments of their customers. Jacks can certainly become loose but I think that's a bit much.
You're telling me that all our bass are belong to them?

Sadly so.

Maybe its a tinfoil hat thing, but I heard that their jacks are milled wider for this purpose.

 

[walterw]

back on-topic, i wonder if this wonderful cheap cable is low-noise because it's also high-capacitance, eating the treble frequencies from the bass along with the handling noise?

low handling noise is not the only factor in what makes a cable good, and may not even be the most important one.

 

[Hopkins]

I have used a ton of cables in my life, I have never once had one that was microphonic. I have stepped on them, tripped over them, kicked them, dropped stuff on top of them when they were plugged in, and never had one pickup any kind of noise. Even a cheap instrument cable is a shielded coaxial cable, there is no way they can pickup outside noise.

 

[hover]

Sadly so.

Maybe its a tinfoil hat thing, but I heard that their jacks are milled wider for this purpose.

Monster makes guitar jacks now? And if the Monster plugs were that much wider, HOW would they fit in a standard 1/4" jack (say a Switchcraft?)

There is a mechanical bend on a jack contact point. If it "wears" (and I've never seen a jack wear to the point other cables fell out), just...bend it back in a little.

 

[walterw]

Monster makes guitar jacks now? And if the Monster plugs were that much wider, HOW would they fit in a standard 1/4" jack (say a Switchcraft?)

i'm sure he meant "plugs" in the first place;

as for the damage, it was mostly with enclosed barrel jacks, which can't be re-tensioned like open-frame panel jacks. they just wore out quicker.

 

[walterw]

I have used a ton of cables in my life, I have never once had one that was microphonic. I have stepped on them, tripped over them, kicked them, dropped stuff on top of them when they were plugged in, and never had one pickup any kind of noise. Even a cheap instrument cable is a shielded coaxial cable, there is no way they can pickup outside noise.

i've heard plenty that made a little noise if you moved them around, but mostly with high-gain guitar. super hi-fi low-capacitance cables sometimes are a little more prone to this.