Tone tip: use a GOOD patch cable...

[boogiemon]

Thought i'd pass this along to all you tone freaks. Boogies aren't cheap, so if you've got one, don't skimp on the cable. i won't mention what brand, but i recently bought a $80, silver core patch cable & the tone improvement is significant. Using this cable on my LSC w/the effects loop bypassed sounds magical.

regards

 

[Iconoclysm]

What type of patch cable were you using before? I use Mogami Gold cables and I doubt I'd find much of a difference between it and an $80 cable.

 

[cvansickle]

The cables to and from the effects in my loops are Whirlwind Leader cables, as are the guitar to pedalboard and pedalboard to amp cable. The effects in the pedalboard and in the loop (rack) are connected to each other with George L cables.

I've always believed Whirlwind and George L to be pretty good stuff, and nobody is complaining about my sound. Is it going to be worth it to upgrade these to something more expensive?

I did upgrade my speaker cables a few months back. I don't think I sound any different, but my wife, who was not aware that I made the change, thought I was playing louder.

 

[strumminsix]

+1 to Mogami.


My rig is all Mogami and LiveWire.

 

[Cheez]

If you make your own, that $80 cable would run about $6 for Neutrik connectors + $0.65/ft for mogami 2524.

 

[dmt]

I will soon have some Bill Lawrence Pickups to throw in my guitar, along with some of his cable. Apparently I paid a bit too much so they decided to throw in the cable for the hell of it. I'll let you know if its any good.

Here's a pic. From left to right: BL "short" plug, BL "long" plug, George L. right angle plug.

 

[boogiemon]

i hear Mogami is right up there w/the best: i haven't tried them. my tip is intended for those to whom cable quality hadn't been a consideration in their tone quest.

 

[user 1198]

I'm using George L's and they definately improved the sound. I didn't realize how much of the highs were missing from my tone until I switched to the George L's from some cheapo Fender cables. I actually had to turn down the Treble on my amp when I switched to the George L's. I guess with the cheap cables I was compensating for the loss of treble by turning up the treble on the amp. I guess low capacitance cables really do make a difference when you have long runs.

 

[screamingdaisy]

You guys might find this an interesting read;

http://www.lavacable.com/cable_101.htm

http://www.lavacable.com/myweb/CableSummit4.pdf



Just keep in mind that tone is subjective. For instance, when I go direct to amp with a 10ft cable I find the tone to be too bright and somewhat "cannish". I find that I sound much better with the treble bled through an equal quality 30ft cable. Sometimes better isn't always "better".....after all, transistors do a much better job of accurately reproducing a guitar's tone than tubes.

But.....I do feel it is important to sample this stuff when you can, then you can atleast say that you prefer a cable from experience, rather than conjecture.

 

[fatboy135]

my cables are from two brands:
- Proel great stuff under 20 dollars ideal for giging when all the people walk on over your cables ( the proel cables are recycled after the gigs because they are usually broken )
- Klotz cables, one of the best value on quality/price, the lagrange ( not confunding with the Taylor polynomial evaluate on 0 :wink: ) are pretty nice, the jack connectors are neutrik and sounds so great for amateur and even pro studio guitars. They are cheap and so hard, they sounds good. I recomend it to everybody just to get one of them to try it, it is only 30$
http://www.klotz-ais.com/cgi-bin/quickorder/lshop.cgi?action=showdetail&artnum=lapp&rubnum=mi.miready.gitarre.grange&wkid=1144278432-1210&ls=e&nocache=

 

[no soul]

Im guilty of using Monster

Ive got good reasons though.

I never paid for a single one. They were all given to me on different occasions by monster reps.

And if any of em break for WHATEVER reasons (my dog chewed right through a speaker cable last week) I just take it to any guitarcenter and get new ones! No receipt needed, no questions asked!

Considering that, Ive got no beef with these cables, like most folks do.
The cheaper (standard100 I think they call them) cables do suck, they break left and right, but I dont use those...
besides my dog eating the speaker cable, Ive never had a problem with any of the high end stuff.

 

[fatboy135]

monster and proco are both good cables too.
I think that there are a lot of good cables, the real matter is to choose one and purchase it. All cables above 100$ are good, there are not better or worst, just a simply taste matter

 

[redmax61]

I got some hardware and cable from Bill & Becky Lawrence, too. I used them to wire my pedalboard. I'm very happy with them.

Bill and Becky are great people to deal with to boot.

 

[fatboy135]

my nuno pickup is a bill lawrence :wink:

 

[mosh potatoes]

this may be a stupid question, but if im not using any effects in my loop (im using a single rec, btw) would it 'improve' my tone if i put just a patch cable in there (ex. just connecting the FX input and output together with a patch cable)?

 

[fatboy135]

for that kind of question there is a good answer, try it. you can get a good patch cable for only 20$, it is cheap, and you can get your own conclusions better than any other comments, so try it and give us your conclusions please

 

[Cheez]

this may be a stupid question, but if im not using any effects in my loop (im using a single rec, btw) would it 'improve' my tone if i put just a patch cable in there (ex. just connecting the FX input and output together with a patch cable)?

I don't think so. Not sure about the SR in particular, but on the LSC (and I'm assuming all mesa series loops) there's an internal switching mechanism that takes care of that. Putting a "jumper" in would just add more wire to the circuit.

 

[jbird]

If not using effects, then keep your signal pure and take advantage of the loops Hard Bypass!

 

[musicbox]

question for guys running pedals in the effects loop...what length are you using to preserve tone? i read in a mesa manual to keep cable length under 10 feet, but having my pedalboard that close to the amp is useless. thinking about ordering some George L's for between pedals and for the effects loop.

 

[no soul]

general rule is the shorter ur cable the better.