guitar cables

[crox]

what to get?

 

We need to invest in some more. The last batch were PlanetWaves and they have done us well.

 

but, any other makes we should be looking at? Cost has to be a consideration of course.

 

Best place to purchase from?

[paulears]

In general, guitar cable isn't really anything that exciting - the only real issues are the toughness and 'feel' of the cable - looking at how well it stands abuse like stamping on, getting stage weights dropped on it or heavy cases and how un-kinkable it is. There are minor electrical differences, and if you have really good setups at both ends, then capacitance may be something you want to look at. However, in general - some heavy duty tough cable and most importantly, connectors that have excellent cable clamping, like Neutriks and Switchcraft are the real key to cable. Depending on your guitar, right angle plugs can be really handy to save them poking out. I've had pretty good success using ordinary balanced microphone cable, and just using one core, or using both and soldering them together - I can't hear the difference, so I don't worry about that too much.

 

Cheap guitar cables rarely break, they just get the ends ripped off!

 

Thinking about how much Neutriks cost - a guitar lead over a tenner suggests wasted money to me.

[ablett]

I suggest somthing like this.

 

Van Damme cable with Neutrik connectors.

Solid, reliable, well built, professional.

[revbobuk]

Use the Neutrik jack with the built in silent switch - that way you'll avoid clicks , pops and worse if someone disconnects while live.

[paulears]

I've often wondered about these silent switches, are they as good as the hype suggests?

[Shez]

They click a little bit with my active bass but certainly not so much to be a problem. I've heard (?) them being pretty much silent with other guitars.

Far better than the non switched type!

[i_hate_fisicks]

They don't work with active acoustic guitars.

[revbobuk]

They work fine with mine - the neutrik ones just have a switch worked by a sleeve that slides in when you push the jack in. So when you pull them out, they short the cable. How would an active acoustic change that?

[Alec]

I've tried a few of the Neutrik red (switched) right angle plugs, and am not sure if they're worth the hassle:

 

Generally, the switching action works well to produce a silent plugging/unplugging.

 

However, and this has happened to 2 of my 3 leads so far, the tolerances seem quite close, so where they've not been treated with kid gloves (as happens with guitar leads) the plug pin will get bent slightly and the switching sleeve gets stuck so that's it's an unswitching (i.e. noisy) plug again. A careful bit of pressure will re-align everything, but it's hardly 100% reliable.

 

Finally, the switching sleeve is sprung, so it always feels like the plug isn't quite fully inserted, although it is.

 

So, in summary, great when they're working well, but one of the only Neutrik products I've used which doesn't feel bombproof. Don't think I'd buy again. And that was without paying the rip-off prices I've seen these at in Maplin and others, compared with VDC's reasonable pricing...

[ChazHS]

However, and this has happened to 2 of my 3 leads so far, the tolerances seem quite close, so where they've not been treated with kid gloves (as happens with guitar leads) the plug pin will get bent slightly and the switching sleeve gets stuck so that's it's an unswitching (i.e. noisy) plug again. A careful bit of pressure will re-align everything, but it's hardly 100% reliable.

 

Ummm... Just what are people doing to them?!

[Shez]

So when you pull them out, they short the cable. How would an active acoustic change that?

 

I suspect it's the fact that the active electronics in the guitar are switched on / off by contacts in the jack socket. As you pull out the plug, the power switches off, producing a much larger clunk than you'd get with passive pickups. Same when you plug in. Switch contacts bounce too, so it won't be a perfect on/off for either the active electronics or the jack plug.

[Mixermend]

Active guitars can be a nuisance when plugging into the end pin jack socket. They usually rely on the sleeve of the mono jack plug bridging the ring and the sleeve of the guitar socket to complete the battery connection to the in built pre-amp. So - on initial insertion of the cable mono plug - the tip and sleeve make contact, briefly, with the ring and sleeve of the guitar - which effectively has a 9 volt potential across it (prior to switching).

 

This will charge or discharge the coupling capacitors in the following amplifier or DI Box - making a loud bang....

 

So in this situation - it is better to pull the plug out at the amplifier end perhaps, after turning the volume down!

 

With respect to the Neutrik 'silent' jack plugs - they normally get their designs spot on - in this instance they are probably now on the Mark 3 version - and are almost there......