Mesa Newbie needs HELP

[jeremy_asocietyred]

I have about a hundred guitar cables... and no money.. I spent it all on the amplifier. I just dragged out my Behringer 4x12 cabinet and I found 2 heavy duty cables and tested them by touching them and listening for a BaBAAAA found 2 band cables which i put back in the bag and 2 good ones.

I go to look up on yahoo answers the best way to hook it up when it gets here ( my triple rectifer arrives today brand new in the box) and I see someone going on about how you can 't use guitar cables. the music store here is horrificly high priced so I have to use ebay if i need new cables. and also I don't know what to get. and also when I get the amp I WANT TO PLAY IT as soon as it arrives.

I also have band practice. I don't want to damage my new amp so could someone break it down and tell me what not to do and what to buy from ebay IF I HAVE TO BUY IT or if i can get by with guitar cables. I do have a voltmeter but i am not real positive on how to use it I need to get trained.

 

[fireonhigh]

i would just look at it :shock: , until i had money for a speaker cable

 

[Heritage Softail]

FWIW,

Two fundamentally different types of system.

Guitar cables are 'signal cables' and only have to handle very tiny currents, and must be shielded to prevent noise getting into the system. All the cables between the guitar and the amp, including any between effects and any in the amp's effects loop, need to be this type.

Speaker cables are 'power cables' and need to handle large currents, but don't need shielding.

You can't safely use a guitar cable for a speaker cable, because the fine conductors in this type of cable won't be able to stand the high currents and may simply melt - or damage the insulation and short out. There is also a risk to the amp even if the cable survives - because a shielded cable has quite a lot of internal capacitance, it can interfere with the correct loading of the amp.

You can safely use a speaker cable as guitar cable, but you will get a terrible hum and buzz problem because there is no shielding.

Actually, you can use guitar cables for signal connections to and from a mixing board, but not PA speakers.

This is really a 'historic' problem caused by the same type of connectors being used for both purposes... if they had entirely different plugs, no-one would worry about mixing them up! This is one reason I like to use gray or orange power cable for my speaker cables - you aren't going to mistake them for signal leads or vice versa.

 

[ryjan]

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Musician-s-Gear-16-Gauge-Speaker-Cable-766731-i1128322.gc
Unless you live in Antarctica, you should be able to find a speaker cable for less than $5. Trade some of your instrument cables for one. Craigslist is your friend. BTW, you bought a $2000 amp and you're balking at the price of a cable? :roll:

 

[jeremy_asocietyred]

well it was either find a cable or not jam so I went and got the ONLY 2 in an hours drive radius... 2 ten foot 14 gauge ibanez speaker cables for 53 bucks. That was the only deal where I live, and I had to drive for an hour round trip. The next closest is 2 hours round trip. There are no music stores around here.