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Best instrument cables?

post #1 of 15
12/3/08 at 5:57pm
Thread Starter 
I like George L's. I have done some DBTs. I am not kidding.
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post #2 of 15
12/3/08 at 5:58pm
George Ls are good but they kind of suck for the long chords. They're flimsy and fall apart. I know that a lot of guys use George Ls as connectors between their effects, but for your amp input, they get worn down pretty quick.
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post #3 of 15
12/3/08 at 6:02pm
Thread Starter 
I keep my lengths pretty short, under 6 ft. I don't run around so much as wiggle when I play. I think George L's makes a thicker, sturdier cable. I like how if you slash a cable you can cut off the shitty part and reattach the connector on the fly.
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post #4 of 15
12/3/08 at 6:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RunningBeagle View Post
I keep my lengths pretty short, under 6 ft. I don't run around so much as wiggle when I play. I think George L's makes a thicker, sturdier cable. I like how if you slash a cable you can cut off the shitty part and reattach the connector on the fly.

Hey use what you like man. I've used everything, from Planet Waves to Monster to those ridiculously expensive cables with the Canary gold filaments or whatever. To be honest dude, unless you're playing real, real, clean it doesn't matter. Buy something that sounds good to you and can hold up. 6 feet is seriously short. do you just do acoustic gigs or are you a wallflower bassist?

George L's are probably better than Planet waves and Monster sound wise, the connectors just tend to pop off and the cables are flimsy. I don't know if they've made something thicker.
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post #5 of 15
12/3/08 at 6:19pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by SField View Post
Hey use what you like man. I've used everything, from Planet Waves to Monster to those ridiculously expensive cables with the Canary gold filaments or whatever. To be honest dude, unless you're playing real, real, clean it doesn't matter. Buy something that sounds good to you and can hold up. 6 feet is seriously short. do you just do acoustic gigs or are you a wallflower bassist?

George L's are probably better than Planet waves and Monster sound wise, the connectors just tend to pop off and the cables are flimsy. I don't know if they've made something thicker.

Clean as a whistle jazz music. No FX to speak of and sitting usually. I agree that once you add any processing, cable doesn't make much difference, but with increased length, I'm told that better cables sound better (again I've never much played with long cables).
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post #6 of 15
12/3/08 at 6:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RunningBeagle View Post
Clean as a whistle jazz music. No FX to speak of and sitting usually. I agree that once you add any processing, cable doesn't make much difference, but with increased length, I'm told that better cables sound better (again I've never much played with long cables).

then George L's are for you. What kind of amp you using?
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post #7 of 15
12/3/08 at 6:31pm
Thread Starter 
Fender Deluxe Reverb, so not exactly clean as a whistle, though I do plan to add an Acoustic Image Corus SIII, which is possibly the cleanest amp out there.
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post #8 of 15
12/3/08 at 6:36pm
It could be, but honestly I always loved using a Vox AC30 (for you it would be an AC15). The cleans are pretty ridiculous and obviously you know what sounds you can get when you start to overdrive the valves. I later used a Matchless cab as well, which was similar but had an earthier sound.

But, if those kind of BB King cleans are your thing, all the power to you my friend.
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post #9 of 15
12/3/08 at 7:03pm
Thread Starter 
I like valve tones, don't get me wrong, but I find the amps are somewhat unreliable, noisy, and extremely heavy. They will also never be ultra sterile clean like the AI amps; they add a distinct color. I've been lusting after something retardedly clean for a while. Almost not even a BB King thing. He's got a singing tone (maybe it's his vibrato and not the amp); I'm going for a dry as a bone, sparkly, shiny thing.

I do love my fender, though, for all its faults. It's just hard to lug around and too noisy/colorful for some applications.

What kind of music are you playing? I don't have much experience with Vox gear.
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post #10 of 15
12/3/08 at 7:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RunningBeagle View Post
I like valve tones, don't get me wrong, but I find the amps are somewhat unreliable, noisy, and extremely heavy. They will also never be ultra sterile clean like the AI amps; they add a distinct color. I've been lusting after something retardedly clean for a while. Almost not even a BB King thing. He's got a singing tone (maybe it's his vibrato and not the amp); I'm going for a dry as a bone, sparkly, shiny thing.

I do love my fender, though, for all its faults. It's just hard to lug around and too noisy/colorful for some applications.

What kind of music are you playing? I don't have much experience with Vox gear.

Voxes are incredibly heavy but they're known for some of the cleanest cleans money can buy, and they're some of the oldest amps out there.

I have played hard rock, lots of blues, then got really into brit rock in the 90s. I even shredded when I was younger.
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post #11 of 15
12/3/08 at 11:19pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by SField View Post
Voxes are incredibly heavy but they're known for some of the cleanest cleans money can buy, and they're some of the oldest amps out there.

I have played hard rock, lots of blues, then got really into brit rock in the 90s. I even shredded when I was younger.

So did I. From time to time I'll dial up an (in)appropriate tone on the computer and go to town.
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post #12 of 15
12/3/08 at 11:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RunningBeagle View Post
So did I. From time to time I'll dial up an (in)appropriate tone on the computer and go to town.

Do you feel a bit ashamed and embarassed after you do it? I certainly did the last time I shredded.
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post #13 of 15
12/3/08 at 11:33pm
We have used these in the studio with good results:

http://www.cardas.com/content.php?ar...&product_id=78
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post #14 of 15
12/4/08 at 12:50am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by SField View Post
Do you feel a bit ashamed and embarassed after you do it? I certainly did the last time I shredded.

Yes and no. It's a waste of time because the music you're playing is total bullshit, but it's not a waste of time if you look at it as a purely technical exercise.

But yes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Artisan Fan View Post
We have used these in the studio with good results:

http://www.cardas.com/content.php?ar...&product_id=78

I'll give them a try, but I'll confess that even with a hard science background, the physics behind these things eludes me. I wish they'd go into more depth on how impedance, resistance, capacitance et al affect the sound you hear and why. The golden proportion thing sounds gimmicky to me too (as in why wouldn't any old irrational number work, and why does the number have to be irrational as we all know manufacturing tolerances terminate many sig-figs before infinity...)
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post #15 of 15
12/4/08 at 1:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RunningBeagle View Post
I'll give them a try, but I'll confess that even with a hard science background, the physics behind these things eludes me. I wish they'd go into more depth on how impedance, resistance, capacitance et al affect the sound you hear and why. The golden proportion thing sounds gimmicky to me too (as in why wouldn't any old irrational number work, and why does the number have to be irrational as we all know manufacturing tolerances terminate many sig-figs before infinity...)

L, C, and R are known to play a role. This might be helpful but I think one thing about audio is that it is part art and part science so measurements do not in my experience tell the whole story.

The ear is a remarkable instrument, I find that listening to a known reference is the best way to pick cables.

Further reading:

http://www.audioquest.com/pdfs/aq_cable_theory.pdf

http://www.cardas.com/content.php?ar...able+Resonance

http://www.cardas.com/content.php?ar...ements+Matter?
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