Quality cables and such
The Interceptor
Consequently, I took a couple of steps yesterday:
- bought a bunch of high quality patch cables and board-amp cable (didn't
get enough to replace all of my patch cables unfortunately, couldn't find
enough available at two guitar shops)
- opened up my Sparkle Drive pedal and hit the DPDT switch with plenty of
contact cleaner.
After doing all this, I had the distinct impression that my signal is coming
through with more volume and clearer.
It could be all placebo effect, but if it makes me satisfied with my
distortion and overdrive pedals then I'm not going to think about it too
deeply. What I will do is get some more good quality patch cables.
Brett
Monster Zero
"The Interceptor" <this...@willnotwork.com> wrote in message
news:Md-dnc8HmM842GvX...@westnet.com.au...
I still have a few cheapies kicking around but I learned the hard way what
one faulty cable can do to an FX chain. You did the best thing. Just
replace the whole damn batch of em.
At band practice it's straight into the amp with a Mogami Gold and though I
can't hear a difference between that and my planet waves cable I know I'm
getting quality.
sa...@dog.com
If you have a lot of pedals, hardwire them to each other with heavy
coax. Eliminate all those plug/socket junctions, which cause far more
loss and noise than even the poorest quality cable.
Stephen Cowell
<sa...@dog.com> wrote
> If you have a lot of pedals, hardwire them to each other with heavy
> coax. Eliminate all those plug/socket junctions, which cause far more
> loss and noise than even the poorest quality cable.
Or, instead of doing ultimate violence to your pedalboard,
you can use ProGold on the plug ends, and have the
freedom to change the order of effects without a soldering
iron!
__
Steve
.
sa...@dog.com
You can have convenience or you can have bullet proof reliable
loss-less connections
boardjunkie
<stephenleeNOSPAMcow...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Or, instead of doing ultimate violence to your pedalboard,
> you can use ProGold on the plug ends, and have the
> freedom to change the order of effects without a soldering
> iron!
> __
> Steve
> .
This is a good point. Keep all the connectors clean. Deoxit and a q-
tip works great to keep the bushings/tip contacts clean. Clean the
jacks in the guitars too. Shooting contact cleaner into mini toggles
is not really the best thing to do. While it works, it also dissolves
the grease that makes it operate smoothly.
boardjunkie
>
> ><sa...@dog.com> wrote
> >> If you have a lot of pedals, hardwire them to each other with heavy
> >> coax. Eliminate all those plug/socket junctions, which cause far more
> >> loss and noise than even the poorest quality cable.
>
> >Or, instead of doing ultimate violence to your pedalboard,
> >you can use ProGold on the plug ends, and have the
> >freedom to change the order of effects without a soldering
> >iron!
> >__
> >Steve
> >.
>
> You can have convenience or you can have bullet proof reliable
> loss-less connections
Or, if a pedal fails and won't pass signal either bypassed or on yer
hosed 'cause ya can't take it out of the chain.
Curious.....you've actually done this?
Squier
What I really notice is when the total length of your cable(s)
(adding in guitar -> pedal board -> amp) starts to go past 30 feet
of cable then it really starts to suck out the tones.
I try to keep it as short as possible 20 feet or less. (when possible)
Stephen Cowell
"boardjunkie" <board...@techie.com> wrote
> On Nov 8, 10:33 am, sa...@dog.com wrote:
> > On Sun, 8 Nov 2009 09:20:39 -0600, "Stephen Cowell"
> >
> > <stephenleeNOSPAMcow...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > ><sa...@dog.com> wrote
> > >> If you have a lot of pedals, hardwire them to each other with heavy
> > >> coax. Eliminate all those plug/socket junctions, which cause far more
> > >> loss and noise than even the poorest quality cable.
> >
> > >Or, instead of doing ultimate violence to your pedalboard,
> > >you can use ProGold on the plug ends, and have the
> > >freedom to change the order of effects without a soldering
> > >iron!
> >
> > loss-less connections
>
> Or, if a pedal fails and won't pass signal either bypassed or on yer
> hosed 'cause ya can't take it out of the chain.
>
> Curious.....you've actually done this?
Obviously, this would require bypassing all jack-
battery connections... which would necessitate
removal of all batteries and conversion to a power-
supply-based system.
One imagines it done with RG59 TV cable,
solid-core and foil.
__
Steve
.
Jerry Shaw
"The Interceptor" <this...@willnotwork.com> wrote in message
news:Md-dnc8HmM842GvX...@westnet.com.au...
>Consequently, I took a couple of steps yesterday:
> - bought a bunch of high quality patch cables and board-amp cable (didn't
> get enough to replace all of my patch cables unfortunately, couldn't find
> enough available at two guitar shops)
(snip)
I had a 20 foot Monster Cable that my cat chewed in half. Took it back to
the store I bought it from, and they gave me a new cord under Monster's
warranty. The let me keep the old cable, so I bought a couple dozen
Switchcraft right-angle plugs and made a boat-load of patch cables. Been
almost ten years now, not a single failure.
J
sa...@dog.com
Curious... You've had a pedal that wouldn't pass a signal, either on
or off?
Rufus
> On Sun, 8 Nov 2009 08:26:11 -0800 (PST), boardjunkie
> <board...@techie.com> wrote:
>
>> On Nov 8, 10:33 am, sa...@dog.com wrote:
>>> On Sun, 8 Nov 2009 09:20:39 -0600, "Stephen Cowell"
>>>
>>> <stephenleeNOSPAMcow...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> <sa...@dog.com> wrote
>>>>> If you have a lot of pedals, hardwire them to each other with heavy
>>>>> coax. Eliminate all those plug/socket junctions, which cause far more
>>>>> loss and noise than even the poorest quality cable.
>>>> Or, instead of doing ultimate violence to your pedalboard,
>>>> you can use ProGold on the plug ends, and have the
>>>> freedom to change the order of effects without a soldering
>>>> iron!
>>>> __
>>>> Steve
>>>> .
>>> You can have convenience or you can have bullet proof reliable
>>> loss-less connections
>> Or, if a pedal fails and won't pass signal either bypassed or on yer
>> hosed 'cause ya can't take it out of the chain.
>>
>> Curious.....you've actually done this?
>
> Curious... You've had a pedal that wouldn't pass a signal, either on
> or off?
>
...I guess I could see this happening if you have a pedal that has an
FET switch instead of a mechanical switch - battery fails and you're
just plain hosed. By definition such a pedal wouldn't be true
bypass...and would probably be a vintage pedal. I'd think...
I seem to remember a lot of 70's vintage Ibanez pedals having FET foot
switches, right? To attempt to make them "quieter"?..anybody?..Bueller?..
--
- Rufus
Dr. Zontar
I use ultra-cheap Radio Shack short cables between my pedals. And I'm
not ashamed of it, either.
C'mon, people. A few inches of even the *WORST* cable isn't going to
kill your tone, especially if you have any pedals that use a buffered
bypass (Boss, etc.). And if that cable stays perfectly still between
velcro'ed pedals on a board and never moves, what's the chance of it
shorting?
- Rich
Monster Zero
I have a bunch of those too and use them at home but two of them died
on me in under a month so I don't use em at practice or gigs but yeah
if you get a good one and don't beat the crap out of em (which I do he
he) they are fine. BTW FWIW I got my Mogami Gold for free when I
bought a Carvin XV212. I love having an expensive cable but I can't
usually justify big bucks for a cable.
Also being someone who has inside connections I have a hard time
forking out the kind of cash places like Daddy's gets for cables when
I know their profit margin is beyond insane.
My next cable purchase will be at GFS.
Merely my opinion
>
> - Show quoted text -
GeorgeL's throughout, end of concern for me.
Dr. Zontar
> Shorting? Who said anything about shorting? The problem is poor
> conduction.
Well, you said "noise". Usually when a cable makes noise, it's because
there's a short in it. Unless it's not shielded and it's picking up
noise from another source. But even the ultra cheap Radio Shack cables
are shielded. (I think they're $2.99 each now... they used to come in
a bag of 8 or 10 for $10.00).
> A plug and socket that never moves is worse than one that
> does move. Just like a volume pot that never gets used. It gets noisy
> over time.
A cable and a volume pot are 2 very different things. Pots usually get
noisy because a spec of dirt or dust gets inside them. Maybe they can
develop a bad spot if left in one position. I've never had it happen,
but I'm not about to assume it couldn't. I'm not a scientist (Rich L.,
do you want to step in here?) But I've never had a cable go bad from
being left plugged in. Usually they develop problems from being
repeatedly plugged and unplugged.
When people talk about tone loss from cables, they're usually talking
about the amount of high frequency signal loss due to the level of
capacitance that cable has. ASAIK, this doesn't change over time. It's
a result of the metal used in the cable, and its length and diameter.
So, I still don't see how using cheap cables to connect pedals can
have a noticable effect on your tone. I'm sure Monster and George L's
spend a lot of money to convine people otherwise, but I don't buy it.
The overall capacitance of even the worst cable won't amount to much
when it's only a few inches.
- Rich
bg
Dr. Zontar wrote in message ...
- Rich
It doesn't take much capacitance to roll off the high end of a guitar
because the guitar output is high impedance. If your volume is set to
anything less than full volume, the high end roll off becomes even worse. A
1 foot piece of cable might add another 30pfd, but there is also the plug ,
the jack, and the input capacitance of the pedal. If you are running a boat
load of pedals it all adds up to act like a really long guitar cable. The
obvious solution is to use an active bypass, a buffer, active pickups, or
any other go between that provides Hi Z to the guitar and Low Z to the
cables/pedals. Then again, if you find yourself turning down the tone pot or
running the volume lower for the tone change, then additional cable
capacitance is a good thing. High end roll off isn't always a bad thing, if
it provides a sound that works for you. I'd have to agree that a cheap high
capacitance cable is not going to make a difference unless it is sucking out
those higher harmonics and that is what you want to hear.
Oxidation on the plugs and jacks is going to happen, guaranteed, unless you
have gold plated or sealed connectors throughout. Even gold needs to be
cleaned, and there is no such thing as a sealed connector for guitars.
Switches are designed to create a wiping action so that they self clean by
being used. If you don't use the switch, it will gunk up and fail. So your
best bet is to exercise those pedal connections occasionally to provide that
wiping action. Better yet, wet the plug with contact cleaner and then go for
it.
For me personally, I might let my equipment sit for a month or so and never
touch it. When I get the bug to do some recording, I always find myself
cleaning connectors and switches or an occasional pot. Lack of use is the
root of all evil.
bg
Merely my opinion
A+1 Post! :-)
Les Cargill
> I guess I'm going to be the lone voice of dissention here...
>
> I use ultra-cheap Radio Shack short cables between my pedals. And I'm
> not ashamed of it, either.
>
Yep. Me too, until I bought a bag of those "Cable UP!" brand MARS used
to sell. Zero failures in any. I even bought two 8 channel TS snakes
made by "Cable UP!". All perfectly working today. I think one of the
Rat Shack cables went open eventually.
> C'mon, people. A few inches of even the *WORST* cable isn't going to
> kill your tone, especially if you have any pedals that use a buffered
> bypass (Boss, etc.). And if that cable stays perfectly still between
> velcro'ed pedals on a board and never moves, what's the chance of it
> shorting?
>
> - Rich
--
Les Cargill
Les Cargill
> does move. Just like a volume pot that never gets used. It gets noisy
> over time.
>
Uhhhh... brass brush and DeOxit ? Maybe twice a year?
--
Les Cargill
RichL
To be honest, I've never left a cable plugged in long enough to notice a
problem. I don't have a fixed pedalboard and I'm swapping stuff around
all the time.
In principle a cable that sits in the same place all the time (whether
it's plugged into something or stashed away in a cabinet) can build up
an level of oxidation resulting in possible intermittent contact. It's
sort of like the pickup selector switch on my old SG. It's probably the
original switch and it's a '66. If I leave that guitar sitting too long
I have to exercise the switch many times over to get the bridge pickup
to come on.
I'd assume that occasionally unplugging and plugging the cables would
help delay the onset of that oxidation.
Me, I've bought Monster cables for the patch cords simply because I know
I can get a free one whenever one futzes out and I'm too lazy to fix 'em
myself.
I don't think cable capacitance is an issue, really, either on patch
cords or on normal-sized guitar cables.
As for hard-wiring them together, I won't comment one way or another on
the general issue but for me personally it would be a non-starter. I
rarely have the same pedal sequence connected together for more than a
couple of weeks at a time.
RichL
> On Mon, 9 Nov 2009 10:11:58 -0800 (PST), "Dr. Zontar"
> <drzo...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> On Nov 9, 9:11 am, sa...@dog.com wrote:
>>
>>> Shorting? Who said anything about shorting? The problem is poor
>>> conduction.
>>
>> Well, you said "noise". Usually when a cable makes noise, it's
>> because there's a short in it.
>
>
>> Unless it's not shielded and it's picking up
>> noise from another source.
>
>
>> But even the ultra cheap Radio Shack cables
>> are shielded. (I think they're $2.99 each now... they used to come in
>> a bag of 8 or 10 for $10.00).
>>
>>> A plug and socket that never moves is worse than one that
>>> does move. Just like a volume pot that never gets used. It gets
>>> noisy over time.
>>
>> A cable and a volume pot are 2 very different things. Pots usually
>> get noisy because a spec of dirt or dust gets inside them.
>
>
>> Maybe they can
>> develop a bad spot if left in one position. I've never had it happen,
>> but I'm not about to assume it couldn't. I'm not a scientist (Rich
>> L., do you want to step in here?)
>
Very helpful, as always.
Les Cargill
> Dr. Zontar <drzo...@yahoo.com> wrote:
<snip>
>
> I don't think cable capacitance is an issue, really, either on patch
> cords or on normal-sized guitar cables.
>
It can be. 30 ft is pretty "normal". If it is, put in a buffer,
sez I.
<snip>
--
Les Cargill
RichL
a pedal chain that doesn't have a buffered bypass somewhere along the
line though, so in practice the issue rarely arises with me.
Rufus
...those, or Planet Waves. I find the Planet Waves kits a bit easier to
continuity check with a DVM just because the cable is bigger.
--
- Rufus
Geetar Dave
>
> GeorgeL's throughout, end of concern for me.
Same here. Definitely worth the investment. Haven't looked back since.
-dave-----:::
www.myspace.com/geetardave
Merely my opinion
>
> - Show quoted text -
What you do is your business, for you.
What the next guy does is his business, for him.
When a guy says "this works for me", GREAT!
The problem always begins when it appears
one guy is TELLING another what's good
for the other guy, -OR- the the other guy has
chosen to INTERPRET that he's being TOLD
what's good or will work for him.
I think that whatever investment makes you
FEEL and THINK your *own* tools are
advancing your own game, power to ya!
If someone else comes along and has something
[-] to say, -consider the source, and smile.
When the next guy buys *your* gear, he may
have something to say that requires listening
to...
:-)
Les Cargill
> especially the jacks out for re-plating every so often, too.
>
Might be able to sub in a Scotch Brite for the brass brush, too.
--
Les Cargill