@wichita Re: High-end instrument cables

[Witness]

Hey Lance! Would you mind sharing your take with us on high-end instrument cables? I'm looking to purchase a couple, but I'm not ready to spend $250 and higher for an 18ft cable. I keep reading testimonials from musicians I admire, like yourself, about how you can really hear the difference and how they'll never go back, etc...

Are there some more reasonably-priced alternatives you'd suggest for a working musician?

signed,
Looking to ditch my POS Pro-Co cables...

[wichita]

Well I use George L's and Asterope.
The George L stuff has always been great. The Asterope is a step up but is also a lot pricier.

Hope that helps..

[Witness]

Wow, that was fast! I'll check out George L's cables. Thanks!

Since I have your ear, do you have any update on when/whether the "D" style amp is still coming from Retro Channel? The RR1 is just amazing! I'm really, REALLY interested in buying the D amp, tho. Also, is there a targeted price for it?

[wichita]

Probably around winter NAMM on the amp thing

[Witness]

Originally Posted by wichita

Probably around winter NAMM on the amp thing

Sweeeeeet! Can't wait.

So, you probably have prototypes already? Gah! We're all waiting with baited breath for a demo!

[wichita]

No, no prototypes...
My main engineer and tech also does road work with a top touring act...
We have been a bit behind due to his schedule.

The pricing won't be worked out until NAMM.

[Witness]

I'm really in love with the RR1, but I really want something that's a bit gentler - hence waiting for the D-style. In a perfect world, I'd snag em both.

In a lot of your video reviews, I see you using an ASW speaker cabinet but I haven't seen any pricing or anything on the website. Are those just custom-built one-offs or are they available to the regular schmoes?

[76strat]

Sorry, I'm not Lance, but I would recommend that you check out Divine Noise cables, too. Handmade by one dude (Gil Divine), they're freaking great, indestructable and are absolutely top-notch. I think my 15 footer ran me about 70ish bucks (can't remember off-hand at the moment). www.thedivinenoise.com.

[78deluxe]

Originally Posted by Witness

Wow, that was fast! I'll check out George L's cables. Thanks!

Since I have your ear, do you have any update on when/whether the "D" style amp is still coming from Retro Channel? The RR1 is just amazing! I'm really, REALLY interested in buying the D amp, tho. Also, is there a targeted price for it?

Perhaps my opinion doesn't mean anything, but I'm not a big fan of George L's

I think there are other alternatives to look at. GLs might give you slight improvement over your Pro-Co such as more high end (but to me it sounds a bit un-natural across the spectrum there)

For less money, I'd rather have Gepco or the Lava BLue Deamon (since it looks like you are after ~20 ft cables)

If you can justify a little more money, the Lava Soar is a real step up and much closer to something like an Asterope level. It is a serious high end cable for not much money. And is a cable I don't think you would ever feel the need to upgrade.

I'd recommend giving LavaCable a call, they carry (and have carried) many different brands and provide honest opinions on what you are looking for in your budget and rig. (including George L)

[chervokas]

Well, it's important to remember that the principal way in which cables affect tone in guitars equipped with passive pickups has to do with the way the capacitance of the cable interacts with the inductance of the pickups, the resistance of the pots, and, to some degree, the way the circuit formed by those three elements interacts with the input impedance of the amplifier or active pedal or buffer into which that stuff is plugged.

So, the results one person gets from cable in a system will be different than the results someone else gets from the same cable in a different system unless all the components have the exact same values and the cables are the exact same length.

Principally what's going on is the lower the total capacitance of the cable between the guitar and the first active device, the higher the resonant frequency of the circuit formed by the pickup, pots, and cable, the brighter the tone; the higher the capacitance the warmer and more mid focused the tone.

For a working musician on a budget I think the best approach is to find some relatively inexpensive but well made, well shielded conventional coaxial guitar cables of the same length in a variety of capacitances and try 'em out. (FWIW both the George L's and the Asteropes are both conventional coax, and I believe both stranded core, vs. the more esoteric solid core, twinax cables out there.) The Gepco XBand fits the bill at 23 pF/ft and around $35 for 15 feet terminated...at similar prices and going up the capacitance spectrum you might choose the Mogami 2524 (which I think they market packaged as the Mogami Platinum) at, IIRC, 39 pF/ft; or the Canare GS-6 at 49 pF/ft..... All are similar in construction -- well shielded against EMF plus possessing a semiconductive PVC electrostatic shield to reduce handling noise and you can get a good sense, in comparing them, how the differing capacitances change your tone.

[Witness]

Thank you everyone for your take on the subject! I admit, I'm woefully uneducated when it comes to the science behind better cables and how the affect tone, but I'm super appreciative for the schooling.

[78deluxe]

Originally Posted by chervokas

Mogami 2524 (which I think they market packaged as the Mogami Platinum) at, IIRC, 39 pF/ft; .

I'm pretty sure those are the Gold line instead of the Platinum.

But you are spot on with everything else. Always appreciate your posts on the subject!