How much are you willing to spend on a cable

[Tyler]

I'll try and score a cheap soldering kit. Like I said, I just have money left over from a GC gift card so I cant buy the materials to make my own with that so I may just get a rack drawer or something useful

 

[Ænima]

my local guitar shop selling 48$ spectraflex cables for 15$, Spectraflex imho are waaaay better than monster, and also abit clearer on the high gain side of things than planet waves, which are also great cables

 

[jaxadam]

As long as they keep making 'em, I'll keep buying 'em!

Micro Golden Oval Guitar & Instrument Cable | Analysis Plus

 

[7stg]

About 70 cents a foot Gepco XB20UB it has very low capacitance and resistance with double braided shielding and 7 bucks for Neutrik's NP2X-B connectors.

How to solder part 1

The playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL926EC0F1F93C1837

 

[UV7BK4LIFE]

I bought some Spectraflex cables in 2001, they all broke in 2006 after lots of gigging. There's a lifetime warranty on them but the music store no longer existed. I sent them back to Spectraflex and got new ones

 

[SiggyCertified]

Mogami's are pretty phenomenal and worth the price, imo.

 

[Carl Kolchak]

I splurged on some Lava cables and was glad I did. The difference in tone using them wasn't big, but it you can hear it mostly in the highs.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

As long as they keep making 'em, I'll keep buying 'em!

Micro Golden Oval Guitar & Instrument Cable | Analysis Plus

Great googly moogly, not that much, definitely not that much.

 

[MrPowers]

I pretty much just use the Livewire Cables around the $20-30 dollar range depending on the length. Anything more than that I feel like I'm overpaying (I had a Mogami platinum to use for awhile and I didn't hear any difference) and anything less than that I feel like they'll break. As far as speaker cables go, I spend more. I've got a couple nice Monster Cables and a really nice Lava cable. I feel safer running expensive heads through nice speaker cables.

 

[sandwichamwin]

Settled on Planet Waves cables year ago because they're affordable, have a good warranty, easy to buy in Aus and make sound. Still have never had one break on me and haven't had to buy a cable in about 5 years

 

[Leuchty]

Settled on Planet Waves cables year ago because they're affordable, have a good warranty, easy to buy in Aus and make sound. Still have never had one break on me and haven't had to buy a cable in about 5 years

Yeah I agree.

PW's are pretty decent here price/quality wise.

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

I think for a long cable run or studio use, I'd pay up to $2 per foot for cable and up to like $8 per connector, but I've had great results with re-purposed LiveWire cable and cheaper Neutrik or Radio Shack "pancake" connectors. Compact/solderless patch cables are different, so I'd be fine with paying the $7 per foot for George L or lava cable, then the additional $6ish per connector.

Cables you build yourself almost always last longer and sound great if you use good components.

 

[Curt]

I'll probably start going the "build your own" route when my cables give out. But I have a mogami speaker cable, and a 30' Dimarzio cable for my guitar. I've had them both for quite a few years and forget what I payed for them.

 

[tedtan]

The cable is already shielded and wrapped in some type of covering material (usually either rubber or some type of braided material like tweed). So aside from that and the plugs, you'll need the tools:

• Soldering iron (or station)
• Solder
• Sponge to clean the tip of the iron

Other helpful things are:

• Some type of solder station or similar to hold the soldering iron
• Clamps/alligator clips to hold what you're soldering to free up your hands
• Desoldering braid for removing solder
• Some type of wire to practice soldering on at first
• Etc.

After that, watch a YouTube vid on soldering and practice on the scrap wire several times until you get the hang of it, then make your cable.

Somehow I had a brainfart when I typed this and left off:

• Wire cutter
• Wire stripper

I definitely thought about them, but the message seems to have gotten lost somewhere between my brain and my fingers.

 

[TedEH]

I never used to put much thought into cables (and I still don't really), but I recently needed some cables in a hurry, so I picked up a couple of the cheapest generic guitar cables they had at a shop nearby. A few days later, just jamming at home. I stop playing for a few minutes and started hearing voices, got kinda freaked out 'cause it sounded like there were people in the next room (I live alone) until I realized it was coming from the amp. Turns out the terrible cables I got were picking up some kind of radio signal or a phone call or something.

I think I'd honestly be willing to pay a bit more for cables if it was for added durability. I find I break cables a little too often, and I'll usually cut the end off and re-solder them, but it would be great if I didn't have to do it as often. I've been using some lately that had some kind of material braiding around them, 'cause they felt more durable- but I like the idea of the build-it-yourself route. Might try that next time. Sounds tempting just to have a giant roll of cable and a bucket of connectors lying around so I can throw together a new cable whenever I need one.

 

[onefingersweep]

Solid Cables: Solid Cables - Designed from the ground up to be the toughest, best sounding cables in the world.

I can spend what they cost on a cable because it will be the last cable I ever need to buy.

 

[GunpointMetal]

~ $30..... the only time I've ever noticed a difference is with the expensive Mogami cables, otherwise everything pretty much sounds the same to me. Might be because I use a modeler.

 

[Elric]

I could never really tell much of a audible difference between quality cables.

Just learn how to solder and make your own. Cables are marked up to the point that its stupid to buy them pre made.

Switchcraft plugs and mogami cable from redco is what I use.

Mogami Instrument Cable | Redco Audio

TS Connectors | Redco Audio

You can opt for cheaper plugs than the switchcraft if your on a budget but imo they're tits.

This. I wanted good cables but couldn't believe how absurd the prices are so I went to Redco got the parts bulk and made a bunch of Mogami cables with Amphenol connectors for practically nothing, certainly way less than $20/cable much less $100.

 

[p0ke]

I just order the cheapest angle plugs I can get from ebay and any random cable I happen to find and make my own cables out of those I used to use powerline cables which are fairly expensive, but I honestly don't hear the difference between self-made cables and those, so ...

 

[karjim]

I've listen to Devin in 2006: Planet Waves, cheap cables for 40$ and they rule. 10 years of pure sounding cable. They're fast , quiet, solid and look like a H.R Giger's work.
With a big pedal board, I would always spend some cash to make this shit noiseless.
1000$ of stomps so why not 200$ of cables ?