My last Cable thread (promise)...

[Stratman76]

I just want a cable that won't color or otherwise suppress my tone and will also provide reasonably good RFI noise rejection (least microphonic). What is the best combination of tonal neutrality and noise rejection?

I have found that a lot o' copper shielding isn't necessarily a good thing. What I'm learning is that most quality cables provide reasonably good noise rejection against more common EMI noise but not RFI (radio frequency).

This is where I am...

Sommer GrindyCop Beast (probably the tone leader of this group)
Klotz La Grange
Death Valley Cable (probably the RFI noise rejection leader of this group)
Lava ELC
Elixir
Whirlwind Accusonic Leader Standard


None of these will break the bank. Vovox will. Eminence Lyric will. Van Den Hul definitely will.

Before I knew any better, I bought Mogami Golds and they are quite colored and not particularly good at rejecting noise.

Any opinions, observations, experiences offered are most appreciated!

[jamison162]

here's a piece of opinion. You know that tone knob on your guitar and treble knob on your amp? Try using them if you find that your cable is a little too dull. Your George L is too bright? No problem, use those knobs. It'll save you $50-$80.

You're still a rookie, so here's another little piece of opinion. Maybe that works for you, but somewhere along the way you've missed the whole point of why one would want a high-quality cable. Or maybe you just honestly can't afford to spend the money on cables, and that's cool too. But don't go posting smart-tale, sarcastic, patronizing comments. There's no point in it and it doesn't make you look any better than the next guy.

[jamison162]

Stratman,

I guess you edited your post to read "nicer", but I'm too lazy to do the same.

Have you tried the Fulltone cables? They are supposedly Klotz...I really like them.

[lv]

I just want a cable that won't color or otherwise suppress my tone and will also provide reasonably good RFI noise rejection (least microphonic). What is the best combination of tonal neutrality and noise rejection?

I have found that a lot o' copper shielding isn't necessarily a good thing. What I'm learning is that most quality cables provide reasonably good noise rejection against more common EMI noise but not RFI (radio frequency).

This is where I am...

Sommer GrindyCop Beast (probably the tone leader of this group)
Klotz La Grange
Death Valley Cable (probably the RFI noise rejection leader of this group)
Lava ELC
Elixir
Whirlwind Accusonic Leader Standard


None of these will break the bank. Vovox will. Eminence Lyric will. Van Den Hul definitely will.

Before I knew any better, I bought Mogami Golds and they are quite colored and not particularly good at rejecting noise.

Any opinions, observations, experiences offered are most appreciated!


RFI and Microphonics are different things. Microphonics is noise you hear through your amp when you hit the cable, or is bad cases, even when dragging the cable across the floor.

I haven't played all in your list, but I have played quite a few and if you don't like the Mogami Gold, you will not like the Death Valley as it will also be a little dark on the top end. The Lava ELC or the Klotz are probably best for what you're looking for. You might want to try the DiMarzio cables as well, very nice for the money. My own favorite out of your list would be the ELC - I a/b'd that with my Vovox and it had some similar characteristics for less money.

Here are some cable reviews:

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=266065&highlight=cable

[whoismarykelly]

In that group I would go with the Lava ELC or even a sommer spirit. Both really great cables with zero noise in my rig.

[soopajeanmi]

To each his opinion...

I'd break the bank and get a vovox or a lyric: it's totally worth it tonally and *to my ears* it brings as much as a change in pickups. And it's going to benefit to *all* of your guitars. I'm talking guitar -> cable -> amp here.

[benjammin]

Unless you enjoy buying guitar cables because of consistent dissatisfaction, go with Death Valley. I used a Lyric for a while but didn't want to sell any more organs if it got misplaced. At its price point, the DV cables smoke everything around it and to my ears smoke everything well above its price. YMMV, of course.

[jlagrassa]

Fulltone cables are great sounding cables....zero microphonics and it also lays very well so no tangled mess of the floor!

[mailman]

Benjammin, I tend to agree. My DeathValley cable is all it is touted to be. Website was also informative on cable construction and audio info.:)

[macmax77]

Stratman,

Have you tried the Fulltone cables? They are supposedly Klotz...I really like them.

i have them, and was told to dump them along a very, very , very expensive cable and i was explained why i was having trouble with my setup using them.
They kept distorting my signal, i talked to one of the top guitar builders in the USA and he explained to me why i had all of the troubles, this was a 30-45 class i was lectured on.

I also talked to some guys with a great reputation building cables, maybe the best cables i have encountered and it seems to me we fall for hype lot's of the time.

I have had cables that are maybe more expensive that some of the amps here at TGP and i will not name names, so don't even ask.

WEll, i went and bought a 28 dollars Dimarzio and the rig sounds a lot better, sweeter.
It has more bass, better defined highs, etc.

I have also tried the spectraflex and they are very good.
Also have a Stringdog.

I understand where you are coming from but i also understand Supervelcroboy.

DEPENDING on your rig, amp and your age, you will hear things differently, there is no need to fight.

As i said, since 28 dollars is a meal, i think the OP should buy whatever cable he wants but also give it a shot at the "common" Dimarzio cables you can find at a SA and also at the spectraflex cables.

Now , if you want a great cable, go death valley cables and forget about all the directionality, copper, nasa bullshit spread on the web.

As i said, i might have had the more expensive cable of them all, i don't want nor need a trebly rig and yes, i can hear a difference between all my different cables, just that the more expensive ones don't win , at least with my rig.

One cable i will not use is the Planet cables since the ones i had sounded like a blanket with my rig, they might work for someone with a marshall amp in the "clean" (ahahahahahha, clean, Pfffft) channel , but not for me.

[macmax77]

Unless you enjoy buying guitar cables because of consistent dissatisfaction, go with Death Valley. I used a Lyric for a while but didn't want to sell any more organs if it got misplaced. At its price point, the DV cables smoke everything around it and to my ears smoke everything well above its price. YMMV, of course.

+ 1,000,000

As i said , two people have already talked about this cable and the Dimarzio.

And as i said, with my rig, the Dimarzio sounded the better and sweeter than the Fulltone at both at home as in rehearsal both to me and my fellow musicians.

So try the cables, forget about all of our opinions , if you don't like what you hear, just sell them.

By the way, as we grow older, we start going for the trebly , shrilling sounds like, you know, we disconnect the bass knob and throw it away, start with our presence and treble all the way up to 11, etc, so always keep a young guy in the band to tell you that you are crazy and this is 2008.
I don't mean anything with this, hehehhehe, not at all.

[lv]

For those who are recommending death valley - clearly you have not played the mogami gold, it is a comparatively smooth sounding cable, as the death valley is. It is a nice cable, but the OP is not going to like it if he didn't like the Mogami.

Like many threads on TGP, the OP is ignored, and everyone simply recommends their favorite and/or pushes their agenda.

[macmax77]

For those who are recommending death valley - clearly you have not played the mogami gold, it is a dark cable, as the death valley is. It is a nice cable, but the OP is not going to like it if he didn't like the Mogami.

Like many threads on TGP, the OP is ignored, and everyone simply recommends their favorite and/or pushes their agenda.

Oops, sorry, my mistake.

Then as i said, try all you can and in the end just buy the 28 dollars Dimarzio, you'll be happy if you are under 50 and can still handle the lows and mids and highs.:D

[lv]

Oops, sorry, my mistake.

Then as i said, try all you can and in the end just buy the 28 dollars Dimarzio, you'll be happy if you are under 50 and can still handle the lows and mids and highs.:D

Agreed - the DiMarzio is a great choice.

[jamison162]

Expensive cable is purely marketing horse shit. There is no correlation between price and how good cables sound, and that's the point I'm trying to make.

If that's your honest to goodness opinion you either 1)have not the experience or 2)have not the ears to hear the difference. Which brings to mind the words rhetoric and ignorance.

[macmax77]

If that's your honest to goodness opinion you either 1)have not the experience or 2)have not the ears to hear the difference. Which brings to mind the words rhetoric and ignorance.

hey guys, i am no moderator, but please keep it civil.

Let's try to help the op and remember we only have opinions and different tastes.

If i was to call someone ignorant i would need a very big map and 300,000,000 volunteers.

[whoismarykelly]

If that's your honest to goodness opinion you either 1)have not the experience or 2)have not the ears to hear the difference. Which brings to mind the words rhetoric and ignorance.

It is absolutely true that price has no actual correlation to quality in cables. It is a false correlation if one is presented in a study. However, I believe that some of the more expensive cables do sound different from less expensive cables and I prefer the sound of some over others. Unfortunately for my wallet, the Vovox is my favorite of them all.

[bkd_guitarist]

It is absolutely true that price has no actual correlation to quality in cables. It is a false correlation if one is presented in a study. However, I believe that some of the more expensive cables do sound different from less expensive cables and I prefer the sound of some over others. Unfortunately for my wallet, the Vovox is my favorite of them all.

Is this intended to be tongue-in-cheek? If not, could you expand on your remark that price has no correlation to quality in cables? In most product categories (amps, guitars, pedals, cars, houses, electronics, appliances, etc) the old adage that "you get what you pay for" holds true. Not always, but most of the time. I'm curious why that would not be the case with regard to cables.

[jamison162]

Well, I was trying to be nice. I would much rather be called ignorant, than stupid. It's not just name calling or a label, it actually has a very good meaning.

ig·no·rant: destitute of knowledge or education, lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified, resulting from or showing lack of knowledge or intelligence; may imply a general condition or it may apply to lack of knowledge or awareness of a particular thing.

[whoismarykelly]

Is this intended to be tongue-in-cheek? If not, could you expand on your remark that price has no correlation to quality in cables? In most product categories (amps, guitars, pedals, cars, houses, electronics, appliances, etc) the old adage that "you get what you pay for" holds true. Not always, but most of the time. I'm curious why that would not be the case with regard to cables.

Im saying, in the most literal sense, that the cable is not better or worse because of the price charged for it.

[macmax77]

Well, I was trying to be nice. I would much rather be called ignorant, than stupid. It's not just name calling or a label, it actually has a very good meaning.

ig·no·rant: destitute of knowledge or education, lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified, resulting from or showing lack of knowledge or intelligence; may imply a general condition or it may apply to lack of knowledge or awareness of a particular thing.


So if i am with you and we start an argument and i start talking about the public spheres and watch your jaw and everything you think you know fall down to the floor in about 5 minutes, would you like me to call you names????

Please , let's keep it civil.

[jamison162]

All I was saying Max, is that the poster made a generic blanket statement that negates and obviously goes against many, if not most, of other members experiences on this board in regards to cable selection (allbeit a very personal thing). Which is, a perfect example of ignorance. That's all.

[macmax77]

All I was saying Max, is that the poster made a generic blanket statement that negates and obviously goes against many, if not most, of other members experiences on this board in regards to cable selection (allbeit a very personal thing). Which is, a perfect example of ignorance. That's all.


Remember , i was born here by mistake, hehehehhe and raised in a spanish speaking environment , hehehheheh.

I wish i could know who was hte forumite i once insulted because i thought he was referring to me and my family when he said "rat shack"
I need to apologize, but a friend had to explain to me he was referring to Radio Shack and that it was slang, arrrghghghhghghghg.

Sorry to whomever i offended.

take care you all, see ya later.

[M Hossa]

:munch

[benjammin]

Well, as far as I knew, I thought the DVCC has higher capacitance, higher inductance, and lower DC resistance than the Mogami cables, which I attributed to the likelihood of the two cables sounding different from each other.

Apparently, though, this thread is filled with experts. To each his own...

[BillyK]

Have you tried the Fulltone cables? They are supposedly Klotz...

Really?? Where did you hear/read this? I thought Fulltone cable was really similar to microphone cable. I recall discussing this here on TGP a couple of years back with Mark at Lava and I believe he even identified the specific brand/type of microphone cable. If I get the time, I'll see if I can dig this up.

[jw112]

Here are some cable reviews:

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=266065&highlight=cable

link not working for me?

FYI- LV knows what he his talking about. especially when it comes to cables

like everything else around here cables seem to be a very personal choice. and are very rig dependent. I have tried a few higher end cables and keep going back to my cheaper cable. But i really want to try a Lava ELC (and now a Klotz)

[cheesey]

i use planet waves on my pedal board , doing a new board and found a lava elc kit here in Canada so gonna try that. My cables from guitar to amp are evidence melody. I have had a couple of real bad cables , a red fender one ouch .
Thought i'd try the melody and so far so good.

[Wheeler004]

+1 for the Death Valley cables. They are really quiet and transparent too.

[pattste]

+1 for the Death Valley cables. They are really quiet and transparent too.

Does anyone have specs on them? For instance, what's the capacitance? I've asked before and nobody seems to know. The web site doesn't say either, as far as I can tell.

[The Kid]

Mark at Lava Cable knows his stuff. He has a ton of options at many different price points.

[powermatt99]

Agreed - the DiMarzio is a great choice.

Definitely. I have 6 in various lengths and colors. The difference between these and the typical GC cable (Mogami Gold excluded) is pronounced. I could have spent a lot more money and probably improved my tone a negligible amount. Those of you that wish to spend more money on cables for that extra little bit, cool. That's why we have TGP in the first place.