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Post by Dr.T on Oct 3, 2006 0:16:35 GMT -7
I have George LS cables, very useful because you can build them in a min. I like the sound. Probably I should try five different cables to chose, but c'mon... who can?
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Post by Matt H. on Oct 3, 2006 5:10:42 GMT -7
I like the George L,s as well. I switched from Monster - they were dark. I have a George L's speaker cable too, but I haven't AB'd it to see if it sounds any different than my other speaker cables.
Anyone tried Klotz cable?
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Post by billyguitar on Oct 3, 2006 10:14:01 GMT -7
Mass Street does have them but I'm not in the market for anything so I haven't been over there in a long time. They seem to be very sturdy and reportedly sound good. To be honest if someone asked about high end cables I'd say get something from Lava , Bayou etc. and call it done.
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Post by dock66 on Oct 3, 2006 14:08:58 GMT -7
Another George L cable user for 4 plus years.Quick and easy to made. No issues or complains.
dock 66
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Post by janinedoubly on Oct 31, 2006 7:03:02 GMT -7
Monster Cables work well in the stores that sell them. Think about it...GC, lots of new Marshalls and Mesas that are overly fizzy and bright and harsh on the top end...So a dark "expensive" "upgraded" cable makes these amps sound "rich and warm". I would only use a Monster if I had an overly bright old Marshall JMP that needed taming on the top end, other wise, crap, IMHO.
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Post by janinedoubly on Oct 31, 2006 7:04:10 GMT -7
And, by the way, Cornish, all the way, they rule, but I'm sure there are others as well.
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Post by Buzz Fretwear (Ignatius) on Oct 31, 2006 7:37:27 GMT -7
Interesting topic. I've heard people talk about cables and the affect on your tone but never really experienced it myself until recently when I bought a "good" cable (forgot the brand but it's super heavy gauge and has all kinds of special properties, etc.). Made my Tele/Mazerati sound dull and lifeless. It was actually noticeable.
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Post by billyguitar on Oct 31, 2006 11:57:06 GMT -7
You must've bought a Monster.
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Post by dock66 on Oct 31, 2006 12:35:14 GMT -7
I am not too keen on Monster.Overrated IMO.
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Post by Hohn on Oct 31, 2006 14:26:25 GMT -7
I have a pair of monsters in my chain, and still have plenty of highs coming though ('Ray can be plenty bright).
That said, I've noticed a distinct improvement in tone plugging straight into the amp-- some of it is more clarity in the high end, but a lot of it seems to me that it's more of a dimensional thing-- like some of the harmonics that give the amp the amaZing 3-d quality to the tone were gone.
Fortunately (sort of), I've never had a Monster last more than a couple years, and as these go bad (with the able assistance of my toddler daughter yanking on the them and such), I'll replace them some higher end stuff like a van den hull or Lava.
I also want to wait until a get a decent pedalboard setup and then wire it up with primo cabling. I can't see the point of spending big bux on cables that I can't treat with TLC since all the pedal are just on the floor. Then there's the toddler-stepping-on-things factor...
jh
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Post by guitarboy02451 on Oct 31, 2006 20:47:37 GMT -7
About the same time I got my Z I also got a new pedal board. As a result I also began buying some new pedals to go on the new board. I had the pedals hooked up with various brands of cables from George L's to ProCo to Monster to whoknowswhat. I had to use whatever I had around at the time until I could purchase and put together some more George L's (my fav). When I first played the Z going straight into it, no pedals, it had that awesome tone with great sparkle and chime. After running through the pedals, the tone appeared somewhat dull. I wasn't sure if I had just already become used to the Z tone and so didn't notice the sparkle and chime as much anymore, or maybe the pedals were sucking some of the tone, or maybe the cables. Anyway, about a week ago I finally was able to pretty much finish the board out with George L's. And guess what? As might be expected, the awesome Z tone with all the sparkle and chime was back. I'm thinkin' it was that one Monster Cable in the chain. :-) Yes, I'm now running some George L's and they've made a huge diff. So, now I have to pony up the $$$ for redoing all the cabling and wiring with GL's.
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Post by Strato on Nov 1, 2006 0:55:04 GMT -7
How are the montster speaker cables? I have an upper end one that I spent 75 bux on(5 feet). Does this effect your sound as much as a monster instrument cable would when compared to others?
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Post by Matt H. on Nov 1, 2006 6:21:08 GMT -7
Paul, Have you done an A/B with the Monster speaker and the George L speaker cables? I wonder if there is any difference with speaker cable.
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Post by mudskipper on Nov 1, 2006 6:43:18 GMT -7
i have this thing with cables. i *have to* use a generic cable (as in non-boutique, non-mojo-oozing) cable from my guitar to the first device. this means if i plug in straight in to an amp, i just use a generic cable. after that i can use whatever. it's silly, i know but it always worked for me.
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Post by prowler on Nov 1, 2006 8:13:53 GMT -7
I'm using an Evidence Audio Siren speaker cable & I have to admit that I do notice a big difference. Very tight & percussive tone in the low end register, nice balanced midrange & smooth highs. Once I change back to my other speaker cable I notice the lows become boomy & the highs aren't as pleasing to the the ears. I got a chance to re-wire my board with Evidence Audio cable & also run a Lyric HG cable from guitar to board & board to amp. Once I did that I noticed an even bigger difference. Those cables were borrowed & I had to return them but I'm ordering a complete set of EA cables for myself.
High quality cables really do make a difference to my ears.
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Post by iggs on Nov 1, 2006 8:20:20 GMT -7
I use George L's because I find them the easiest to cut to length and attach the jacks when routing cables on my pedalboard. They are smaller diameter then most other cables (.155) which makes them great for keeping the pedalboard neat and tidy. I like the thicker one (.225) for my guitar cable because I find them a bit stiffer and they do not tangle as easy as most other ones (even the so-called non-tangle brands). I move around the stage a lot and it tends to be an issue ... ... also, I like the fact that they are a bit "bright" ... or at least they do not cut as much of the high-end off.
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Post by guitarboy02451 on Nov 1, 2006 13:49:41 GMT -7
Paul, Have you done an A/B with the Monster speaker and the George L speaker cables? I wonder if there is any difference with speaker cable. No, not yet. Haven't had the time.
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Post by rhythmeister on Nov 1, 2006 16:37:39 GMT -7
Thanks for linking this - interesting read. I recently started using Klotz Lagrange cables and I quite like them. It is a bit odd that in the article from VG that you linked, the Klotz ranked as pretty mediocre, considering that in a similar cable shootout by "Guitar Player", the Klotz was at the top of the heap. Likewise, the Klotz guitar cable got a stunning review from "Just Jazz Guitar" magazine, garnering 10 out of 10. I guess like so many things musical, it is all subjective... Cheers, Blair
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Post by billyguitar on Nov 2, 2006 7:30:57 GMT -7
Subjective is putting it mildly. I can hear the difference between really bad cables and good cables. But anything better than George Ls is lost on me and I own Van den Huls! Especially at a gig, I can't hear any improvement and stiff cables are flat out a pain in the sphincter!
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Nov 3, 2006 16:31:50 GMT -7
Subjective is putting it mildly. I can hear the difference between really bad cables and good cables. But anything better than George Ls is lost on me and I own Van den Huls! Especially at a gig, I can't hear any improvement and stiff cables are flat out a pain in the sphincter! Wild. I have all this hearing loss, and yet I totally hear the difference, even on gigs. But it all goes back to the old saying (now what was that old saying again?)... oh yeah, I like more treble than you. No, that's not it... I'm sure I'll think of it eventually....
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Post by billyguitar on Nov 3, 2006 17:28:12 GMT -7
I wish I could hear the difference. It's weird because I know there are some things I hear that others don't but in cables I don't. For instance in high end audio I can definitely hear differences but the problem there is different pieces of equipment sound different but which is better is hard to say. In that circumstance I always go for neutrality. That's what I hear in better cables, neutrality. But like I said, after a good cable like George Ls it's all a matter of steeply diminishing returns. I'd also say from what I've read, there are lots of cables at least as good as George Ls, they are just what I'm most familiar. In comparing George L, Van den Hul and another kind I got from Lava, I can't honestly and reliably tell the difference. I think part of the problem is that the guitar is such a dynamic instrument it's hard to repeatably play a lick in such a way that I can use myself as a tester. A repeatable test sound of some sort would make these differences more repeatable. As in stereo gear, sometimes it's the background of a recording that tells the difference. In a way, how "black" the background is. It's still an interesting subject but I do have to be honest and report what I hear or don't hear.
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Post by guitarboy02451 on Nov 3, 2006 21:47:28 GMT -7
In all honesty, I thought a cable was a cable, which may be the case on some of the pre-processed gear I used to use. But in this case, there was a definate improvement with the George L's. Just too bad that I stole Matt H''s cable. He'll have to buy new ones. :-) Right Matt?
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Post by mward on Nov 4, 2006 11:48:24 GMT -7
Hi, new here, but thought I'd post on this as I didn't see it mentioned. When Cesar Diaz was working for SRV he got a bunch of really nice cables for him and Stevie told him he didn't like them, that they 'passed too much electricity' and made him go buy cheap grey coiled cables from radio shack. Cesar checked them with his dvom and found they had some capacitance to them. (source: tonequest report interview with C.D.) Can anyone comment on this?
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Post by billyguitar on Nov 4, 2006 13:57:20 GMT -7
That's the story, had to have the grey ones too, not the black. I think he liked rolling the highs off a bit. He also had a weird thing about setting all his knobs on 6 so Cesar loosened all the knobs and set them to look like they were on 6 after he had already decided where they sounded best. He said Stevie never figured it out.
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Post by Don on Nov 4, 2006 18:33:23 GMT -7
Geez, you guys have me rethinking my cabling needs. ALL of my cables are Monster, although I found a distributor on eBay that sells them ridiculously cheap. I do like the fact that they're guaranteed for life. I had a problem with one (my fault), brought it in to the local GC, and it was replaced with no receipt and no questions asked. I like that. But, I'll have to do the A/B thing like you guys are talking about.
You know, come to think of it, they so make some noise if I happen to step on them. There are cables out there that won't do this?
So, George L's, huh? My Zs will sparkle?
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Post by skydog958 on Nov 4, 2006 21:33:33 GMT -7
I used no-names for a couple of years until I started collecting a small mass of pedals...soon after I started using all George L's (this is pre-Z), and they've treated me well. If I ever get around to making myself a pedal board I'll probably use the L's for the pedals then shoot for something a little bigger for guitar>board and board>amp. I just got a 3' George L speaker cable to run with my Airbrake...seems sturdy so far
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Post by dock66 on Nov 5, 2006 7:06:30 GMT -7
George L cable is all I use for my pedal boards need.I can get them all costum make in minutes .
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Post by Matt H. on Nov 5, 2006 8:41:09 GMT -7
I used to think that some guitarists were nuts! Tubes making a difference was the first place where I was wrong. Tubes make a huge difference in tone.
Cables make a huge difference also! I switched from Monster to George L's - and it was like night and day. There was an immediate obvious difference. The George L's are bright and the Monster cables are dark. Nothing against Monster( they make great cables), but my taste would go for the George L's every time. To be fair to other brands, I have never tried them. I hear that Klots are the best, but it's all a matter of personal taste
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Post by billyguitar on Nov 5, 2006 10:10:53 GMT -7
There are lots of good cables so don't worry about what's best. You want flexibility, non-microphony no real loss of highs. Here's an interesting little story about Monster cables. I don't which ones he got but my piano player showed up one gig thrilled with some new Monster cables. They were a big help with his sound mainly because they rolled off a lot of what goes to the tweeters on his little Roland keyboard amps. Truthfully he could have done the same by turning down the treble knob. I didn't tell him that. I was just glad to hear some of that digitalness go away. I was looking at the plugs and they don't look too sturdy. I can see why everyone says they fail. For cords from Guitar Center, I've heard good things about the Mogami. Otherwise call Lava and he'll hook you up with some great cables that come is every price range.
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Post by bks on Nov 6, 2006 16:02:33 GMT -7
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