# What cable do I want ?



## BGood (Feb 20, 2015)

I want to assemble a few guitar cables. I'm getting Amphenol end plugs. What is a good bulk cable construction (gauge, material, etc ...) to buy ?


----------



## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Mogami Gold is probably the most well known brand Mogami Gold to be specific. I actually prefer Vam Damme XKE as it has a much lower capacitance than Mogami Gold. Less capacitance is better, but it may not be audible depedning on your ears. My guitars sound a wee bit brighter with the Van Damme. I also buy it in extra long lengths from a guy in the UK. It's much cheaper than buying the Mogami Gold in Canada. sorry I should say it used to be. It's 3 CDN a foot right now plus shipping. Oh, and it comes in 8 or 10 different colors if you're sick of black


----------



## Always12AM (Sep 2, 2018)

D’Darrio apparently used braided tinned copper from ancient Roman statues and charges more money per square foot than granite countertop retailers.


----------



## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

I like Canare cable.


----------



## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

After a bit of research, if you can find it... screw the Mogami, look for Gotham GAC-1 it the same price if not cheaper and a much better cable. for reference, the Mogami Gold is the Mogami 2524. I was not able to find it in bulk, but I saw a 15 foot Mogami gold cable for 90 bucks and the Gotham is only 45. (Redco.com in the US has the Gotham for 59 cents a foot. Shipping might be a bitch though)


----------



## JivRey (Jul 2, 2016)

Studio Economik in Montreal sell Mogami in bulk, at 1.22$/feet, not 3$. All my cables are custom made with the 2524 and Neutrik Gold connectors, and they're excellent cables









Mogami W2524 - 1c. 20awg Pro Guitar (price per foot)


The Mogami Bulk W2524 - High Impedance Transmission Cables perfect for Pro Guitar cabling. Available by spool or by the foot. Price per foot.




economik.com


----------



## tomee2 (Feb 27, 2017)

knight_yyz said:


> After a bit of research, if you can find it... screw the Mogami, look for Gotham GAC-1 it the same price if not cheaper and a much better cable. for reference, the Mogami Gold is the Mogami 2524. I was not able to find it in bulk, but I saw a 15 foot Mogami gold cable for 90 bucks and the Gotham is only 45. (Redco.com in the US has the Gotham for 59 cents a foot. Shipping might be a bitch though)
> 
> View attachment 383275


Is there a Belden cable that'll work?


----------



## FatStrat2 (Apr 7, 2021)

Semi-related, you might want to mix a few of these into your signal chain. I wouldn't recommend them on _all_ your pedals, but a few that you can space properly. I've been using them between my mini-pedals and my size 10 shoe can still get in there and stomp the right box. Maximum signal transfer and no cable management.


----------



## BGood (Feb 20, 2015)

FatStrat2 said:


> Semi-related, you might want to mix a few of these into your signal chain. I wouldn't recommend them on _all_ your pedals, but a few that you can space properly. I've been using them between my mini-pedals and my size 10 shoe can still get in there and stomp the right box. Maximum signal transfer and no cable management.
> 
> View attachment 383300


I like those, but I'm all set in that department. Still, you have a link ?

My needs are for effects loop cables and maybe two or three guitar cables.


----------



## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Thrse can touch if you get the cable in the notch right


----------



## Jalexander (Dec 31, 2020)

These can wreck your pedals. Not recommended. When you press the switch on one pedal, it puts strain on the jacks of both pedals. 


FatStrat2 said:


> Semi-related, you might want to mix a few of these into your signal chain. I wouldn't recommend them on _all_ your pedals, but a few that you can space properly. I've been using them between my mini-pedals and my size 10 shoe can still get in there and stomp the right box. Maximum signal transfer and no cable management.
> 
> View attachment 383300


----------



## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

Jalexander said:


> These can wreck your pedals. Not recommended. When you press the switch on one pedal, it puts strain on the jacks of both pedals.


I was gonna say that. Plus they're a PITA to hook up.


----------



## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

I don't understand the gas for expensive cables. Most amps can compensate for any loss of treble by turning a few knobs. My only concern with cables is do they work and are they rugged enough that they don't fall apart.


----------



## BGood (Feb 20, 2015)

Kerry Brown said:


> My only concern with cables is do they work and are they rugged enough that they don't fall apart.


Pretty much what I'm looking for.


----------



## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

knight_yyz said:


> After a bit of research, if you can find it... screw the Mogami, look for Gotham GAC-1 it the same price if not cheaper and a much better cable. for reference, the Mogami Gold is the Mogami 2524. I was not able to find it in bulk, but I saw a 15 foot Mogami gold cable for 90 bucks and the Gotham is only 45. (Redco.com in the US has the Gotham for 59 cents a foot. Shipping might be a bitch though)
> 
> View attachment 383275



Seconded. It's what I keep in stock for instrument cables.

That said with the exception of Gotham (they use a double Reussen shield and more layers of insulation) any good major brand (and even a few house brands) are pretty samey - go with what you can get cheaper (which will never be Mogami, or Klotz, except we're not in Europe so not even a real choice - way overpriced - Canare is essentially the same with almost as much name brand cachet and a significantly cheaper - which is why I buy their wire for balanced mic/line and install cable). Sometiems a brand/model will have a useful feature - like a drain wire under the shield which makes stripping/prep a LOT quicker/easier (but I think that particular feature is mostly mic cable vs guitar). That time savings may be worth some additional cost. The double shield on Gotham wire actually takes longer, but for unbalanced Hi-Z signals that are very susceptable to noise and interference, I consider it worthwhile.

Capacitance isn't everything (and some ways of reducing capacitance, such as thinner shield braid, are worse). That graph also has no numbers on it so we have no idea what the scale of the difference is. The important things are a good solid sheild and a well insulated center conductor of non-flimsy gauge, and all the major brands check those boxes.

Other brands that are high quality include Redco and Gepco. Also don't forget Belden (which is sometimes easier to get than the others in Canada).

Mogami Gold (as suggested above) is a prefab cable vs bulk wire.

@BGood, I commend you on your choice of Amphenol connectors (for exactly the reasons I mention above - same quality as Neutrik, but cheaper and also smaller when it comes to the 1/4" jacks' thickness - for XLR I do actually use Neutrik as there no price or size difference).

If you wanna experiment and see the difference (not just sound but workability - that to me is a bigger factor because the sound differences are minimal if any at all) get a random offcuts box from RedCo audio. You'll likely get some Mogami in there and see what the fuss is(n't) about.





__





Mystery Box-Instrument Cable | Redco Audio






www.redco.com


----------



## BGood (Feb 20, 2015)

Granny Gremlin said:


> __
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for all that.
Did you order that box from RedCo audio ? Comes to around 30CAD.
Are there enough usable lenghts in that box ?


----------



## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

BGood said:


> Thanks for all that.
> Did you order that box from RedCo audio ? Comes to around 30CAD.
> Are there enough usable lenghts in that box ?



I've ordered it twice at least (always as part of a larger order though) as well as the mic mystery box (those are great for adapter cables, like XLR to TRS and patchbays etc). You won't get a single long peice, but you wwill get several 4-10 footers sometimes the odd longer one.... the longest one I have left over right now is..... 11ft black Canare mic cable, and 8 ft blue Mogami low profile guitar cable, and a 9ft white Canare mic cable. Like the description says, all usable lengths (I like short cables tho - 6-8ft between me and pedalboard and same for amp; a longer cable in case of larger stages). It's like one of those USPS prepaid fixed size boxes pretty full (the small or medium size, like the 8 x 5 x 3" ish ones). I priced it out once and it was less than half the total by the foot price.


----------



## FatStrat2 (Apr 7, 2021)

Jalexander said:


> These can wreck your pedals...


Didn't think of that, I'm sort of new to multiple pedals, used amp gain for decades and maybe a single pedal. But my days of live stomping are long over, these direct connectors work fine for my home setup considering I don't stomp them much.


----------



## BGood (Feb 20, 2015)

Granny Gremlin said:


> I've ordered it twice at least (always as part of a larger order though) as well as the mic mystery box (those are great for adapter cables, like XLR to TRS and patchbays etc). You won't get a single long peice, but you wwill get several 4-10 footers sometimes the odd longer one.... the longest one I have left over right now is..... 11ft black Canare mic cable, and 8 ft blue Mogami low profile guitar cable, and a 9ft white Canare mic cable. Like the description says, all usable lengths (I like short cables tho - 6-8ft between me and pedalboard and same for amp; a longer cable in case of larger stages). It's like one of those USPS prepaid fixed size boxes pretty full (the small or medium size, like the 8 x 5 x 3" ish ones). I priced it out once and it was less than half the total by the foot price.


Great, thanks.


----------



## DavidP (Mar 7, 2006)

Jalexander said:


> These can wreck your pedals. Not recommended. When you press the switch on one pedal, it puts strain on the jacks of both pedals.


Yep, a big +1 on that!!!


----------



## superfly (Oct 14, 2021)

I use the Canare GS-4 at home and rehearsals, and Canare GS-6 on stage. Though, the GS-4 can be used on stage too, if a bit more careful. Neutrik jacks always, ordered couple of the silent ones to try them...


----------



## Nork (Mar 27, 2010)

I used to use the Redco brand cable for both instrument and headphone cables. Like that stuff.


----------



## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Unless one has an "active" guitar, that provides a buffered output, cable capacitance is going to be most consistently relevant to the cable from guitar to whatever you feed it to first, since much of what sits on one's pedalboard will provide low-impedance outputs that defeat the tone-tucking effect of cable capacitance. That said, as helpful as low-capacitance cable can/will be to one's guitar signal, as a first cable, I would imagine the physical robustness and flexibility is equally important. The cable should fall, lie, coil, in a manner that you find comfortable and convenient.

Despte its various advantages, true-bypass switching effectively turns all cable following it to the next buffered stage/device into one long cable when you've bypassed your pedals. So, if you have a 20ft first cable, and run that to six TB pedals (not a sin, I hasten to add), joined together by 5 six-inch patch cables, when those 6 pedals are bypassed, you now have an additional 30 inches of cable (2.5ft) added to your initial 20, and the unbuffered output of the last TB pedal may feed another 20ft to the amp. In total, that would make 42.5ft of cable and associated capacitance. As an example, 42.5ft of the Canare GS-4 would be like strapping a 2000pf (.002uf) cap on the output jack of your guitar. So much for sparkle.

All of this is to illustrate that capacitance CAN become a deciding factor in some contexts, and moot in others. For a great many players, the cable going from the last thing on their board to the amp, will frequently be buffered and have a low-impedance output. So unless one has a penchant for playing stadiums where your amp is 50ft+ away from your pedalboard, capacitance will matter much less for _that_ cable than for the cable from your guitar to your pedalboard. If you run ONLY true-bypass pedals, without any buffering anywhere, then all your cable should be low-capacitance, since it all adds up. If your guitar signal necessarily hits something on your board that has an always-on low-impedance buffered output, then the last cable doesn't need to be low capacitance. If all the patch cables on your board travel every which way (usually because of odd or simply different pedal shapes and wakwardly located in/out jacks), then probably not only low capacitance will matter but so will ability to turn corners AND have excellent shielding properties. And so on.

As for solid male-to-male adapters, I used to like them, until Colin Scott (CS Guitars) drew my attention to the fact that many cast-aluminum enclosures *don't* have perfectly parallel sides. I looked more carefully, and sure enough, he was right. I don't know if there are some brands or sources whose sides are less right-angled than others (and that may only be a 1-2 degree slope), but it poses a problem for solid adapters that _assume_ flawlessly parallel sides that are perpendicular to the bottom surface. That doesn't mean that ALL use of such adapters means sudden death for the pedal, but it is good to confirm, before installation, that use of such adapters to couple two pedals together WILL allow them to lie perfectly flat without posing a stress on the jack.


----------

