The Truth Behind Instrument Cables

Every instrumentalist is faced with a variety of supplies to buy, and of course advertising plays a large role in consumer mentalities. In the world of instrument cables, this is no exception. Many brands produce cables ranging from the lower $20 ranges up to $200 a cable. Why is it, though, that many brands charge so much more for their cables? Can they really make or break your tone? The best weapon that a consumer can walk into a store with is knowledge. While this article is not going to convey one cable as bad and another as good, it will offer an unbiased explanation of cables, why they are priced as such, and will help you to make better purchasing decisions.

I believe it’s important to note than instrument cables are, for the most part, analog cables. There are numerous discussions about unfairness in advertising among specific brands regarding digital cables; because these forms of signal are carried differently, the arguments and counter-arguments against said brands are not going to be accounted for in this article.

So what’s in a guitar cable? This is the face that quite often shocks consumers who swear that one brand of cable provides better sound quality than another. Quite simply, a guitar cable is a shielded piece of copper wire, with a core diameter of .265”. All standard 1/4” instrument cables are this thickness, and therefore have the same resistance and signal impedance.

I’ll throw the big shocker in right now. What does this mean? Any two cables made of the same copper components and of the same length will deliver the same signal quality in the end. So yes, the $100 Monster "Rock" Cable, and the $20 LiveWire cable of equal lengths are essentially equal. The proof is in the laws of resistance: the equation (R=p*l/A) states that resistance (in Ohms) is proportional to the length and resistivity of the wire, and inversely proportional to the cross-sectional area of the wire. In layman’s terms, that means that a short, thick wire provides the best signal quality. And because the cross sectional area is the same, the resistivity of copper doesn’t change (16.78 nÙ·m), and the length of the wire is determined by the consumer, we come to the astounding conclusion that all these cables do in fact provide the same tone quality.

So we now know that the claim of an expensive cable being “better” cannot be attributed to signal quality. So what can they offer? While the signal quality is the same, what other aspects can be improved upon? Here’s a list of other cable aspects to look for which are often advertised:

-Shielding: To keep interference from reaching the “hot” center conductor where the signal is passing, the copper “shield” covers the conductive core. The shield is usually formed of braided copper, and a low transfer impedance to the ground is the sought-after quality.

-Insulation: The copper conductor must be insulated to preserve signal quality, and of course to protect the user. Most insulation is made from thermoset (rubber and neoprene) or thermoplastic (polyethylene and polypropylene) materials spread over the conductor, then vulcanized. Insulation doesn’t affect signal quality and is usually standardized across cables. The thickness does, however, determine cable flexibility.

-Protection against 60-cycle hum: Many cables, especially higher-priced ones, advertise a strong protection against electrical hum. The sad truth though is that this hum (sourced from 60 and 120Hz frequencies from power sources) are usually low enough in frequency to be stopped by anything but a ferrous metal component. The best defense against hum is to keep coiled-up excess cable stored away from power sources such as amplifiers and power splitters.

-Connecting Ends: We’ve all seen the attractive gold-plated connectors on some big-name brands. And of course, if it’s gold, it’s better...right? While many people believe that gold-plated connectors are “better”, they don’t know why. Gold is an attractive anti-corrosion element, but signal-wise, there is no benefit of having one connector over the other at the frequency range for instruments.

So if there isn’t a huge difference between the upper and lower priced cables, why is there such a gap? Why do some brands charge almost twice as much as the lower end cables, when they can’t offer much more? The answer is mark-up. Consumer reports have shown that many top-of-the-line cable manufacturers sell products at retailers for up to 200% price increase. It’s important for consumers to consider all brands of cables before buying, because while the higher-priced brands to offer nice little bonuses, in the end, they usually aren’t worth the money to the everyday person.

So go forth and buy new cables, but arm yourself with knowledge and be aware of your own needs and what different cables offer you. In the end, you can save yourself a lot of money with a little thought.

Works Cited

Pro Co Sound. "Understanding Instrument Cables." Pro Co Sound. Web. 5 Aug. 2009.

Copper.org: "Resources: Standards & Properties - Properties of Wrought and Cast Copper Alloys Search." Web. 05 Aug. 2009.

A big word of thanks to my father, who’s experience in electrical science has helped me to not only better understand how I play, but to also appreciate it. Without him, large amounts of my articles would be missing, and my struggle to discover truths wouldn’t be half as large.

By Kevin Heiland.

Comments

[darksauce]

good read 1st!

[Talon_Leader]

Nice!

[kennethdave]

My experience so far....

Cheap cables : I've changed them 10 times a year...
"Marked up" Cables : I've never changed it in 3 years...

Do the math.....

[Wasp]

I think there's a lot of truth in this article. But in the end, how you treat your cables is also important.

[ItsOnlyGNR]

Good work, man, keep it up.

kennethdave wrote:

My experience so far....

Cheap cables : I've changed them 10 times a year...
"Marked up" Cables : I've never changed it in 3 years...

Do the math.....

However I do believe this statement is right... More expensive cables are higher quality in the sense that they last longer.
BUT...
There ARE cheap cables out there that last a very long time... I've been using the same $25 Radioshack cable for God knows how long.

[graspchoke!!!!!]

Wasp wrote:

I think there's a lot of truth in this article. But in the end, how you treat your cables is also important.

true

[rebugger75]

Wasp wrote:

I think there's a lot of truth in this article. But in the end, how you treat your cables is also important.

hear hear. i've seen guys twist em up, shove em into a bag, pull em out, stretch em to straighten out the bends, all the while claiming "what? sound quality? it's just a wire man!"

Very important information, as your articles typically are sir.

[FLbassplayer21]

i just buy 20 $3 cables that has lasted me 3 years

[Cpl_Metal_Head]

kennethdave wrote:

My experience so far....

Cheap cables : I've changed them 10 times a year...
"Marked up" Cables : I've never changed it in 3 years...

Do the math.....

The more expensive cables typically last longer, but there is no diffrence in sound quality.

[SEALSniper1152]

the warentee is what makes me buy monster, the base modle, but still "never have to buy another" sounds good to me.

[Notmewtwoguitar]

You can get leads which have protected ends with a kind of bend proof holder so the contacts can't be broken if you don't look after your cables with the care you'd give to say... your guitar. It only cost £10 and it's lasted the 2 1/2 years I've played and still works fine.

[djmay71]

I used to use Monster for everything, but now I'm only using Monster for when I gig (and thats only when I don't use my wireless system). I use Peavey cables for everything else, and the one I use in the studio has lasted me like 5 years

[Zilcho]

Nice article

[Blas3]

This article has several and serious misleading information.
First - it is theoretical that the same length copper wire cables has the same resistance. In practice, the manufacturers can not make cables 100% copper-clean, they always get impurities. Even copper has different kinds (red, yellow, etc...) and they have different resistance, and electrical constants, so the signal can get quite noisy/lost/bad if you use a cable with bad and polluted material. In addition, just to let you know:
NOT EVERY CABLE IS MADE OF COPPER. It might surprise you but there are low-resistance cables made of silver completely for professionals.... look it up!
Second - The coating on the wire can make a difference. It does really matter, if you fold your cable, and when you pick it up again, it will go back to its normal position, or it will break at the first time you want to fold it up... The latter means quite bad, if you don't have a spare wire on a gig.
Third - The most vulnarable point of the cable is the jack connector. There are several distinct solutions how to connect the cable itself to the jack connector, including simple attaching and glueing to building them as one element. The latter case means that it can barely fall off, and the signal can survive the connection at 100% quality. If it is just put there, it will be lossy, the signal will lack frequencies, or may even become noisy and disturbing.

And these are just a few ideas that came to my mind ...
So this article is really, really careless and ... well useless. (mean no offense for the writer...)

However for he is right about sometimes, e.g. about golden connectors. that's just some design element.

[justinb904]

the only reason i have ever needed to replace a cable is because the soldering came undone, and this was on an extremely cheaply built cable

the 5 dollar generic brand cables i buy from my local shop are great quality and have lasted me for years

[Kevy Absolution]

Blas3, I had a feeling someone would pose an abstract remark, yet I don't really understand how this is "useless". First and foremost, this article is comparing copper to copper cables, not those using other metals. Second, the cable manufacturers order the cable from suppliers; they don't refine it themselves. As someone who has ordered copper before, I can assure you that there is a standard and copper sellers won't sell below a set standard purity rating.

Yes, I did not compare every aspect of cables, because the list of things that could possibly make a difference are infinite and at the whim of the gods. However, I did my best to list the factors that an average consumer will notice.

[Kevy Absolution]

Let me add that this is the same for all aspects in life, including guitr wood, steel, car components ,medicine, food...all products are regulated and have standards, and while there can be minute differences, the AVERAGE CONSUMER can rest assured that the approximate values of these qualities are equal.

[Milaneus]

I agree with all that you have stated, however, when I switched from my $10 Rapco cable to my $45 Monster cable, I noticed a huge sound difference, it was crazy, my tone sounded so much better and true. And don't say that my old Rapco was in bad condition or something because I always take care of my cables like crazy, and I would always wind it up after use and at that point I had only had it for a couple of months anyways.

[jean_genie]

This is a purely theoretical argument. While the resistance of copper is identical regardless of price, the thickness of the copper wire does not determine sound quality itself. More tiny copper wires will sound better than fewer thicker wires, but cost more to create.

Imagine a group of messengers. If you give twenty people a letter to deliver, as opposed to ten people, you're twice as likely to have the letter received on time and in flawless condition.

The fashion in which the cable is wound of wrapped also makes a difference. Monster (and some other brands) use other materials or wind the copper wires in such a way as to emphasize certain frequencies. I didn't get more volume with better cables (because the impedance was the same), but I did get a little more headroom and a little better dynamic range. Small differences, but noticable nonetheless.

As you mention, length plays a big difference. For short cables, there's a much smaller difference. While I can tell a difference between some cables between the guitar and the amp, any good-quality cables I use for my pedalboard, or from amp to speaker, sound similar. This is why even though Monster makes like 8 different 12' cables, they only make a couple 6" cables. Seems like if the cable is fairly short, you need to jump WAY up in price to hear a difference.

Lastly, your rig is only as strong as its weakest link. Using my Orange amp with my Celestion Vintage 30 speakers, I can hear a noticible difference between my Fender Platinum 'acoustic' cable and my 'bass' cable. Using the same cables with my Epiphone Valve Jr., I can't hear a difference. Same goes for guitars. On my pro-wired Gibson Les Paul, the cables make a difference. On my project guitar with EMG knockoffs, they sound the same.

So yeah. This article should be very abbreviated. It should read, "Buy good product, but don't fall into the hype. Don't spend more then $30 on a cable unless the rest of your rig is really good."

[Blas3]

Kevy Absolution wrote:

Let me add that this is the same for all aspects in life, including guitr wood, steel, car components ,medicine, food...all products are regulated and have standards, and while there can be minute differences, the AVERAGE CONSUMER can rest assured that the approximate values of these qualities are equal.

I agree on that, but ever try to use a high-end guitar with a low-end cheap cable you will hear it sound dull, and bad.
Read jean_genie's comment on this, I basically say the same.

Anyway, I just wanted to emphasize that you should write a litle bit more on this subject with lots of more research. You should have looked up practical experiences, anomalies, and see a cable from other aspects too, like how the coating can be made, what the manufacturers can do to make it more durable, etc... If you had put these down in there I wouldn't be arguing with you

Anyway, a cable can make a difference, but never so much that it will be noticeable from the viewpoint (erm... hearpoint? ) of an everyday listener. (if yes, then that cable must REALLY suck... ) So basically you are right, but there are more to be written and said about this.

[unininium]

Why is gold better? Well it has slightly better conductive properties than copper or steel, but not enough that you'd be able to tell the differance. However most (most, not all) companies make gold plated products to a higher standard meaning you also get a better, more secure fit.

Planet waves have that awesome barrel effect on them that gets you a really secure connection.

[Vermillion85]

I'm glad I'm not the first person to critisize this article. While he's tried to prove everything is the same, its not.

What he's failed to include here is alot of the time it's not what you HAVE in a cable that makes it good or bad, but often what it DOESN'T have. IE Impurities.

If you have other 'gunk' in your main line, ofcourse its going to effect signal quality. Furthermore, I'd bet pound to penny that a $200 cable is built with materials that can take more abuse, be it day to day or being coiled up wrong, that a $20 cable.

I feel this article is misleading at its base, and is more based on opinion than fact.

- For the record I have had countless 'cheap' cables over the years, and to this day my DiMarzio braided cable still rings true. I believe this is because of superior build quality, but also when I bought it, it was a few weeks allowance, so I treat it like the holy grail

Come on UG, Objective information please, not editorial crap.

cw

[Kevy Absolution]

As stated before, there are of course a number of variables that can affect quality, but in the industry there is a set standard which was created for the purpose of quality control. Vermillion, I concur with you, but as an electrician you must know as well as I do that industry standards are there to protect consumers.

I myself own a collection of cables, ranging from Monster Cables to cheap local store cables, to a couple cables I made myself. Of course money can buy quality, but the purpose of the article is to show the weight of these qualities and help consumers purchase what is necessary for them, because not every person needs an indestructable patch cable. And just like MIA and MIM Fenders, price can buy security in the construction and manufacturing of a part.

I appreciate the comments and the interest in the article.

[plbrynt]

so we're saying all copper wire in instrument cables is of the same quality from the same source.. with the same strand thickness (which you didn't mention in the physics bit, it does affect the signal carying properties)..?
and i know ive seen several different methods of shielding.
and hundreds of different jacks made from...?
not to mention anything from the far east or europe will be a different size due to metric measurements. the equivilant us measurement is not the same..

[Steiger]

These are very interesting comments. The only experience I can share is that I purchased two reasonably priced cables (around $20 each)and after about 2 years the solder on one had come away from the connector - this was just a case of re-soldering! The only other problem was that the cables themselves were a little thin and tended to lose shape and so I would imagine that higher priced cables would be better quality in those departments.

Enjoyed reading the article!

[CptRevell]

I use cheap brand cables, no problems. In fact, I just now have replaced the first ones I bought, 4 years after I got em.

[The_String_Man]

im going to create a titanium-tungsten-platinum-chromium-cobalt cable for you guys!

[The_String_Man]

err sorry for the lame joke

[The Mailman 666]

There is absolutely NO difference in sound quality from a 10 dollar cable and a 200 dollar cable. Period!!!!

The difference comes in the form of "esthetic" durability (how long the cable looks new), flexibility and the "feel" of the jack, also the packaging and branding of the cable. You pay mostly for the cables advertisement costs. Essentially your paying them to sell there cables to you! Very sad.

[morganite14]

you guys are stupid if you think the sound quality is the same for all cables, why dont you actually test them out and you will see that their clearly is...especially when you have so many cables through your pedal boards

[jean_genie]

The Mailman 666 wrote:

There is absolutely NO difference in sound quality from a 10 dollar cable and a 200 dollar cable. Period!!!!

The difference comes in the form of "esthetic" durability (how long the cable looks new), flexibility and the "feel" of the jack, also the packaging and branding of the cable. You pay mostly for the cables advertisement costs. Essentially your paying them to sell there cables to you! Very sad.

Riiiight. Just like there's no difference between Regular Unleaded and High-Octane gasoline

Maybe your Toyota Corrolla doesn't see a difference, but I guarantee your boss' turbocharged Audi does.

While it is true that the markup on these things gets higher as the price goes up, so do the materials and craftsmanship. There is an equilibrium point where you see the most value for your money though. Personally, I find that point to be Fender's $50 Platinum cables for 12' lengths (no better than similar Monsters, but more stupid durable, if a bit inflexible), Monster's $12 performer 500s for pedal connections, and Monster's Studio Pro cables for amp to speaker connections. I think those are about $30 for a foot. I can't hear a difference there between that and their cable at $20, but for the $10 difference, what the hell? Being that I work in a store that sells a lot of high-end audio systems like McIntosh, Thiel, and B&W, I understand how the markup works.

There is about $5 worth of materials and labour in a $10 cable. There is about $10 worth of materials in a $50 cable. There is about $15 worth of stuff in a $200 cable, and about $20 in a $300 cable. This is straight from the mouth of both my Monster and Yamaha reps, although the numbers are slightly different from each.

Both reps have made it perfectly clear (and after hours of hearing $80,000 loudspeakers and $10,000 amps I agree) that the higher-end cables make a large, audible difference. I can also tell you that unless you've got a crazy high-end system, the most expensive cables are pointless. Even with a Matchless running Alnico Blues, your signal isn't pure enough to bother with any cables over $100 or so.

Generally the really high-end stuff is designed for people with too much money, and only makes a difference when listening to acoustic music - preferably something recorded with a vintage German mic.

This is for recording, of course. When playing live, just get something better-than-average and you'll be fine. Like I said, I like Fender's Platinum cables the best, as they withstand a boatload of abuse.

But there is a difference. Just because YOUR rig isn't pure enough to hear a difference, that doesn't give you the right to be ignorant and yell at people that do. If someone can hear a difference in cables with their rig, they should buy better cables. You buy nice strings, right? I'll bet 98% of the people at the bar where you play can't tell. But you still pony up the extra $3 a pack, even though they only cost 50 cents more to make.

Now if somebody wants to overspend without doing the research, and buys cables that are 'purer' than his guitar or amp can make use of, then yes - he's being an idiot. But he's an idiot with lots of money, so he still wins.

[Kevy Absolution]

jean_genie*snip*

And someone sees the point of my article. I'm not going to lie, there is a crafstmanship difference, but in the end, for many buyers it's not worth the price.

[jean_genie]

Kevy Absolution wrote:

jean_genie*snip*

And someone sees the point of my article. I'm not going to lie, there is a crafstmanship difference, but in the end, for many buyers it's not worth the price.

While a true statement, it's not what was implied in the article. You could have started by saying, "This article is written for people with average-or-lower quality guitars and amplifiers," and avoided all the flames. Instead you wrote it as if to cover all musicians, and that's a liar liar pants on fire situation.

Also, you didn't mention that rewiring your guitar makes a big difference with cables too. I had a friend (who is a well-respected amp and guitar tech) rewire my Gibson Les Paul. He crammed braided copper speaker wire in there, in place of the stock thin wires. Doesn't make my guitar any more high-end or pure, but now there's a lot more signal leaving through the output jack.

[ticklemeemo]

Kevy Absolution wrote:

jean_genie*snip*

And someone sees the point of my article. I'm not going to lie, there is a crafstmanship difference, but in the end, for many buyers it's not worth the price.

Beside the fact that some of the cheaper cable companies offer to replace your cable for life if it goes bad. Livewire does this, they sell you one cable and you never need another.

[eteam_sammy4him]

Hmm, very interesting article. While this sounds good, I find that sometimes different brands do make a difference. While at the same time it may be nothing special, I am more likely to buy a name-brand (I currently use a DiMarzio cable) that could last longer and take a stronger beating.

[airliner]

Then what was that whole rant in the "Understanding instrument cables" pdf about insulation materials and how using polyethylene instead of rubber allows you to to have a much lower capacitance cable when using the same thickness of insulation? Ive compared (cheap) cables insulated with polypropylene to (cheap) cables insulated with rubber, and there is an audible difference in clarity.

[stlcardinals]

Wow this article made me laugh! Someone should compile all the good responses (flames!) into another article about cables!

[Terastr]

jean_genie wrote:
Riiiight. Just like there's no difference between Regular Unleaded and High-Octane gasoline

Maybe your Toyota Corrolla doesn't see a difference, but I guarantee your boss' turbocharged Audi does.

Best analogy I've heard in ages.

Also I'm quite sure that Kevy wrote this article for those who aren't so incredibly informed as to pointing out the mistakes, but to the people that rely on this website so that they can play their favourite songs through their relatively smalls amps.. Not necessarily to fellow electricians...

[sbinlb]

while quality of materials might be the same, the way that they are put together is different.
cheap cables are USUALLY soldered poorly to male jacks. thats why they break at least the ones i have had. i would rather pay 25$ for a cable that last years than to buy a 5$ cable every few months

[jerm138]

Just like everything else in life... it's all about moderation. If you buy a cheapo $10 cable, you're probably sacrificing a little quality. If you run out and buy the most expensive $200 Monster cable because they claim to be better, you deserve to have your money stolen. For MOST people, the $40-$50 is plenty good enough, and you won't notice a difference if you move up in price from there.

This kind of thing always reminds me of a scene in a movie about Martha Stewart. Before she made it big, she was trying to sell pies for $5 a piece and nobody would buy them. Then she jacked the price up to $20 and she sold out within minutes.

There was a blind test on the forums a while back.

3 cables (all other equipment being equal), a cheap one, a home made one with decent specs and a supposedly high end one.

2 riffs were played. one dirty one clean.

Surprisingly most people preferred the cheap one to the high end one (for both clips) and the homemade one was about the same as the cheap cable.

there was definitely an audible difference between the clips but the whole 'tone is subjective' beast raised its ugly head.

[jean_genie]

jerm138 wrote:
This kind of thing always reminds me of a scene in a movie about Martha Stewart. Before she made it big, she was trying to sell pies for $5 a piece and nobody would buy them. Then she jacked the price up to $20 and she sold out within minutes.

This is very true. I teach photography classes, and I had a lot more students when I was charging $100 for a 5-week session then when I was charging $50.

And as far as the Lemon's comments on the board's test: I have a very difficult time trusting an online test. For one thing, we're assuming the guy that recorded it was using good recording equipment, and that the files weren't compressed for upload. Secondly, even if more expensive cables had three times the dynamic range (and I'm not saying they do) they would still 'test' the worst on an internet DL, as most people's computer speakers wouldn't be able to render the extra range without farting out. Even if you've got a high-end Bose system with s subwoofer, the speakers are only about 2" cones. A guitar signal with great low-end will be powerful enough to challenge a 2" driver, but unlikely to be low enough for the subwoofer to help out.

I firmly believe your average cheap cable SHOULD test better online, as it's much more likely to only transfer the range that little tiny speakers can reproduce. But unless you use your computer as a guitar amplifier, the test isn't all that useful.

[dale-banez]

pretty obvious to anyone with common sense...but still covered all the bases on superstitions about cables and such

8/10

[Cheepy]

U get what u pay for. Cheap cables don't last long !

[LordOfTheDonuts]

if you get a cable for 10$ in place of 100$, you can buy 10 at the price of the cheap one and last longer with those 10 cheap than with the one expensive.. in my experience at least..
for such price, you can't be f*cked

[mrbeetham]

I think our friend the author here was trying to say that a very expensive cable may only be moderately better than a cheap cable. He finished with:

"So go forth and buy new cables, but arm yourself with knowledge and be aware of your own needs and what different cables offer you. In the end, you can save yourself a lot of money with a little thought."

I dont think anyone can argue with that. I always find it incredible how much extra info you can learn from peoples comments. Like the article itself is just a talking point so that we can really disgus the guts of the matter. Good talk guys.

[heminder]

no talk of capacitance here?

[Shredder XXX]

I can see the articles point, and I can also see the points of some poignant comments that followed but I've always found all pre-packed cables to be a little hit or miss quality wise.

The miss rate rises as the price decreases, but on the way back up, at around the $50 mark (for a 10ft cable), the ratio seems to plateau, which raises all kinds of questions about why the prices keep going up (mark-up being the obvious one, as pointed out).

This is the precise reason why I build my own cables with good components, that never fail. It's more of a peace of mind thing for me. I like to know they've been put together properly from the get-go thus D.I.Y. seemed easier (and cheaper) to me than spending stupidly large amounts of money to be 85% sure it'll be a good cable.

So there's that.

Important article though, kudos.

[boomaholic]

The way the cables are wrapt up when you are done with them has a lot to do with how long they last. They should always be wrapped with a twisting motion caused by your fingers. You should never use the old "sailor gathering a rope" method.

[Kevy Absolution]

Fifty comments. Wow, my largest article yet. Thank you guys.

[Gabysguitar]

Oh yeah a lot of comments for the most immportant thing that you need...

[strathead64]

Good Read, Man! Thanks for posting. I can definitely say on my untrained ears, Monster and Livewire are practically identical. I concur to what was said above, treatment of the cable is the biggest factor in how long and how well the cable treats up. Thanks for the article.

[Kevy Absolution]

Gabysguitar wrote:

Oh yeah a lot of comments for the most immportant thing that you need...

What?

strathead64 wrote:

Good Read, Man! Thanks for posting.

:]

[Duke von Rock]

Wasp wrote:

I think there's a lot of truth in this article. But in the end, how you treat your cables is also important.

obviously, your cable is NOT suposed to be used as a lasso... but as a metal artist, treating cables like they were my beloved babies aint allways easy. in general, your head will be occupied with
1. remembering the song
2. not sucking
3. making sure you and your guitar makes it out in one piece... i think everyone has seen the metal militia clip,and what happened to kirks axe... every guitarists nightmare

[Rakoro]

Learn to solder and make your own cables, it's so much cheaper and they will last forever once you learn how to do it right (which should only take 2 or 3 times on a very short piece of cable)

And should a cable ever go bad, you can fix it because most of the time it's the connections at the jacks that come undone, or short, and a simple re-soldering fixes them right up.

[Morbius77]

Rakoro wrote:

Learn to solder and make your own cables, it's so much cheaper and they will last forever once you learn how to do it right (which should only take 2 or 3 times on a very short piece of cable)

And should a cable ever go bad, you can fix it because most of the time it's the connections at the jacks that come undone, or short, and a simple re-soldering fixes them right up.

I could not agree more.

In my experience, cheaper cables usually have a little less stringent quality control standards.

One must also realize that while copper purity standards are in place, not all manufacturers test every strand at a molecular level. Therefore, you WILL get some cables with a lower purity value, even if it comes from the same spool of high grade wire originating from the same batch of ore, from the same foundry.

I will not even begin to get into how the cables are handles BEFORE you even see them on the store shelves. Not to mention that mass-produced cheaper cables often have less than stellar solder connections. Then when each cable is tested (if the manufacturer tests EVERY cable as opposed to every 100th cable like some do) they usually are hooked up to a meter that has a high margin of error anyway.

The higher priced "guaranteed" cables usually have more testing, better factory floor conditions, and more skilled tradesmen producing them in lower quantity per diem. this means more attention can be paid to quality assurance.

Price fluctuation in the market is a simple matter of price of materials. If the price of copper goes up per pound, you can rest assured that the price of cables will increase to compensate. The same applies to OIL which is used to make insulators.

But to keep from sidetracking too much here; I must reiterate Rakoro's statement that EVERY guitarist should at least learn to solder and splice wire. It will serve to save you money, and will also teach you a useful skill that seems to be on the decline in a lot of areas. Something that you could always do to make a little extra bread to buy more nifty toys with...

Just a thought or two...

[jetfuel495]

I had a cheap ass cable that's lasted me the better part of four years, and only now is it starting to go bad. Great article, it provided me with some insight. Now I know what choices to make when I'm going out for a new cable.

[Jondy]

I just buy the low end monster cables. They do last longer than cheap cables, and they have a lifetime guarantee should they stop working. But I don't bother with gold plated super shielded nonsense. That crap is expensive, and even if there was a tiny difference in sound, it's so small that it doesn't matter up against choosing amps, pickups, and guitars.

[jthm_guitarist]

Blas3 wrote:
In addition, just to let you know:
NOT EVERY CABLE IS MADE OF COPPER. It might surprise you but there are low-resistance cables made of silver completely for professionals.... look it up!

Whoa, they would have to be hell of professional, silver oxidizes like crazy and is only a little better conductor than copper... and hardly flexible or malleable. I wonder if those same professionals use crystal picks and replace their amplifier tubes after every track they lay down.