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Planet Waves v. George L's Cable Kits

Unrepresented

Unrepresented

Something Borderline Offensive
Jul 1, 2006
4,353
737
San Diego, CA
www.breakhousemusic.com
#1
Thought I'd chime in here, seeing as how this question comes up fairly regularly and I now have firsthand experience.

Plus, when one of the jerkoffs here tells someone to do a search it'll be fairly easy to find a direct comparison.;)

They're about the same pricewise -- I think I spend $70 on the George L's and $65 on the Planet Waves.

The assembly is very similar -- insert cable firmly into connector, and screw down respective mounting screw/grounding unit. Once you get the hang of it, both should be quick and easy affairs, the Planet Waves get a slight nod for not having to bend the cable for an angled jack.

Planet Waves has the advantage of coming with a cable cutter, so it gets points for that too.

I can't hear any difference in tone, so I won't comment on the sonic capabilities. Those in the know seem to think they're fairly competitive with one another in this arena, I'll take their word for it.

In terms of tight spaces, the Planet Waves are a bit more narrow at the actual connector, you might be able to save an inch across a wide board by using them over the George L's.

In terms of cable flexibilty they're both fairly firm cables. Neither wants to twist and bend particularly -- for better or for worse.

The George L's smaller diameter and more proximal deviation from the connector however puts it in the overall lead for advantage in tight situations even though with jacks themselves are a tiny bit wider.

Last subject, appearance:

I think the Planet Waves kit looks goofy. I think the George L's look much cleaner and custom. If I wasn't trying to get this board done for Tuesday's practice, plus had GuiTARGET (love that name, whoever I stole it from) gift cerfiticates, I would've bought more George L stuff to finish off my board, but alas, poor planning, impatience, and limited income means that I get to use both.

Questions, comments?
 
#2
Add that Planet Waves cables tend to hold up much better to constant re-wiring and abuse, and that'll cover it. ;)

The only real advantages, IMO, to George L's are color options and their rather compact plugs (advantageous in tight spaces, as you already mentioned).
 
#3
I feel the need to defend George L's here.....

I regularly shift pedals around (I have 2 different boards for different situations) and after almost ten years of using George L's I've never had any issues! This includes the regular plugging/unplugging (sometimes 2-3 times a week) as well as being subjected to airline baggage handlers and load-in/load-out crews that don't give a dam' about my gear.

I admit that it's important to test for shorts when initially assembling the cable. I'd estimate about 1 in 15 times I have to re-do one. Simply making sure the right-angles are fully screwed in (sometimes requiring pliers) will go a long way towards ensuring reliability. I don't even use the "jackets" and my cables stay put. Also, when changing pedals around, I do check for loose connectors. I never find them loose, however.

I only use the George L's for my pedalboard patching. The cable is a little "dainty" and I'd only use soldered connections for my bass-board and board-amp connections. There's too much stress potential for these more "active" use cables & I wouldn't trust any solderless cable for these purposes...

I admit I've never tried the planet waves cables. I bet they work great as well. I just wanted to share my own experience with the George L's.

note: I'm not trying to dismiss anyone else's bad experiences with George L's, just that they can stand up to rigorous use/abuse....
 
#6
MysticBoo said:
Add that Planet Waves cables tend to hold up much better to constant re-wiring and abuse, and that'll cover it. ;)

The only real advantages, IMO, to George L's are color options and their rather compact plugs (advantageous in tight spaces, as you already mentioned).
Click to expand...
Maybe I'm naive since I'm new to the whole pedalboard thang but I really can't imagine myself rewiring and abusing custom length cables too much. If I cut them custom to length I'm going to have to trim them or use new cable if I expect to do much alteration to pedal configuration, right?
 
#7
I have to respectfully disagree with Mysticboo with regard to
rewiring with the Planet Waves. I've been trying out a lot
of pedals in the last year and I've had 3 of the Planet Waves
plugs' screws strip out. They then become useless.

I do like them went they tighten up and screw in correctly.
They sound good and I haven't had one fail when the
screws go all the way down.

If you do a lot of experimenting you may need to look elsewhere.
I'm going to give the George L's a try when I run out of working
Planet Waves jacks.

Hope this helps,
Rick
 
#8
ricknote said:
I have to respectfully disagree with Mysticboo with regard to
rewiring with the Planet Waves. I've been trying out a lot
of pedals in the last year and I've had 3 of the Planet Waves
plugs' screws strip out. They then become useless.
Click to expand...

Hasn't happened to me yet.

I certainly am running out of cable to cut, though - I think I have about a foot left. :hmm:

That would've happened to me with the other brands, too. :D
 
#9
if you look at my board on post your pedalboard, you can say that it's not possible if not for the george L's cable. i have a very small board that fits 12 effects, 1 looper 3 loops, x2 wireless system and dc brick, gator gbus8 power supply. so i could say that george L is better and my tone is better too. IMHO. plus i never had problems with it since i started using it for 3 years now. that includes many re-wirings done.
 
#10
Ok Guys I've searched and searched TB forums and Only found a couple people that have used Either Core X2 cable kit or Lava Cable kit.

Both seem to decent Pedal board cable Kits that don't get that much Use or talked about here in TB.

Are Planet Waves and George L's the only cable kits worth discussing here?? Maybe you guys know something I don't...because I hear so much great things about either brand.

Either way I thought I'd ask Only because there seems to be Only 4 pedal board cable kits on the market (that I know of). That being George L's, Planet Waves, Core X2, and Lava...(is this all?)

:confused:
 
#11
magneezius said:
Ok Guys I've searched and searched TB forums and Only found a couple people that have used Either Core X2 cable kit or Lava Cable kit.

Both seem to decent Pedal board cable Kits that don't get that much Use or talked about here in TB.

Are Planet Waves and George L's the only cable kits worth discussing here?? Maybe you guys know something I don't...because I hear so much great things about either brand.

Either way I thought I'd ask Only because there seems to be Only 4 pedal board cable kits on the market (that I know of). That being George L's, Planet Waves, Core X2, and Lava...(is this all?)

:confused:
Click to expand...

I admit to only using the George L's, I have never tried the Planet Waves, Core X2 or Lava Cables type. For me, the Planet Waves and Core X2's are too bulky to achieve the tight pedal spacing and clean finished look that I desire. The Lava Cable kit looks cool to me except that I prefer having the right angles that George L's makes...

Like phatbass mentioned above, my pedalboard may not even be possible, due to size restrictions, without the small form factor of the George L's. The Lava's might work, but there would be a lot of kinks in my cabling.

example:
Link Removed
 
#12
magneezius said:
Are Planet Waves and George L's the only cable kits worth discussing here?? Maybe you guys know something I don't...because I hear so much great things about either brand.
Click to expand...

That's because they've been around a while in the mainstream market. The Core X2 kit is still relatively new, IIRC, and Lava isn't something you'd find in every online store or mom-and-pop guitar shop.
 
#14
i think the only way the planet waves screws are going to strip is if you screw them incorrectly and cross-thread them into the sockets...which is true for anything that has screw threads. if you screw them normally, then they hold up perfectly.

the compression springs on the planet waves ends are a nice touch.
 
#15
I have both the George L and the Planet waves. The one drawback to the Planet waves is the size and bulk of the connector. If you are trying to space pedals closely, you can't have the connector perpendicular to the pedal, and if you add a 9v connector in addition to the 1/4 inch it gets tight quick. The GL, has no bulky angle so its much easier to space the cables closer. Also the .155 routes much cleaner. I found the George L much neater overall. Both sound fine.
 
#16
One other note to those considering Planet Waves... their bulkiness does work against you on a flat, normal pedalboard. But with something like a Pedaltrain (which has metal rails), it's no problem at all. You can wire them around the rails and keep your board neat, tidy, and roomy.

Of course, that'll benefit ANY cable system, but I just wanted to point that out, since it's how I've always used my Planet Waves cables.
 
#18
has anyone ever tried just buying some regular right angle jacks for like $4 a piece and then buying some cable on the cheap? seems like a cheap alternative to the kits (granted, you might have to solder, but i wouldn't mind)
 
#19
jaebee said:
has anyone ever tried just buying some regular right angle jacks for like $4 a piece and then buying some cable on the cheap? seems like a cheap alternative to the kits (granted, you might have to solder, but i wouldn't mind)
Click to expand...

Oh Yeah! I wired my first pedalboard (little SKB job) myself using some g&h right angles and a chopped up 20' proco cable. It worked great. Later on, as my pedalboards developed, I found that the thicker 14" cable was getting a little too thick to wire my boards cleanly & neatly.

The primary reason I went with the George L's was the tiny cable diameter. I found that they sounded better as well. (I can't honestly say I can hear any significant difference between one cable to the next, but I have noticed differences in cumulative effects...)
 

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