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All The Guitar Cables You've Ever Owned

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randomhandclapsrandomhandclaps Frets: 20521
edited December 2013 in Guitar

Well?  Just keep the ball a rolling.

I once had a red curly one that was quite shit and totally impractical but I still kind of miss it.

My muse is not a horse and art is not a race.
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  • ThePrettyDamnedThePrettyDamned Frets: 7472
    edited December 2013
    I used to have a white fender curly one that rolled off the highs wonderfully. I got rid when Internet hype said I'd sound better with a shorter one...

    Edit: now, I use award session cables and they're really good. Hand made, klotz cable and neutrik jacks.

    Anyone get those horrendously overpriced free the tone cables? :D
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  • Lol.

    Lots and lots.  I've got at least 20 patch cables of various lengths, colours and brands in a box somewhere, not even on my pedalboard.  You just never know (when I'll stop hoarding...).

    I've got at least 15 10-20 foot leads too.  I only need 4 for my rig but always carry 8 just in case.  All of the ones I use for gigging are marked with different colour combinations of tape so I know what is what.
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  • stonevibestonevibe Frets: 7082
    edited December 2013
    I still have the one I bought when I was 15 and it was a posh one. Cost me £20 I think.

    Gets gigged and used a lot. So I think its pretty good.

    Bought it from Electrohill in North London.

    Win a Cort G250 SE Guitar in our Guitar Bomb Free UK Giveaway 


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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9983
    tFB Trader
    I have a Planet Waves 20ft one that seems indestructible :)
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • mike_lmike_l Frets: 5700
    I had Venom cable, but they seemed to break easily. I now have Fender, which, so far, have been indestructable.

    Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21) 

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  • I have a Planet Waves 20ft one that seems indestructible :)

    I have killed a few Planet Waves cables.  I have wrecked at least two 'classics' and one 'custom', maybe more, I can't remember!  I'm not convinced they're any better than other cables, despite looking it.  The 20 foot classics I have left are noisier when you move around compared to the George L and Fender cables I have too, not really a major issue though.
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  • ESBlondeESBlonde Frets: 3576
    When I was a boy before nelson invented multicar insurance, I had a cheap shiny black coiled cable just like Jimi. It had the ends cut back and the jacks re-soldered so many times it ended being too short so I cut a bit and put the plugs on and used it to link the input channels of my 4 hole marshall for the next 20 years until it gave up even on that. i think it's in the bag of leads requiring attention somewhere because I didn't have the heart to throw it out after all those gigs.

    I find I either like a tone or I don't, the specifications are just interesting but nothing more.


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  • vizviz Frets: 10645
    All my cables were made by sporky and they're indestructable.
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    I killed my favourite/most expensive one. My tele came off its strap but fortunately wasn't damaged as my soft, fleshy little toe broke its fall. Toe went black. Unfortunately the landing bust the end of the jackplug right off.

    As a kid I liked the look of the coil ones, but they were always rubbish.
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  • Don't get me started on cables!
    www.maltingsaudio.co.uk
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  • Don't get me started on cables!

    Well, I don't think anyone was going to.  But now you've mentioned it!? :)
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  • daveyhdaveyh Frets: 681
    I made a 30' cable in '92, with blue Klotz cable and Neutrik connectors, still going strong.
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  • BranshenBranshen Frets: 1222
    I have a Planet Waves 20ft one that seems indestructible :)

    I have killed a few Planet Waves cables.  I have wrecked at least two 'classics' and one 'custom', maybe more, I can't remember!  I'm not convinced they're any better than other cables, despite looking it.  The 20 foot classics I have left are noisier when you move around compared to the George L and Fender cables I have too, not really a major issue though.
    If you've broken your planet waves cables, just contact them and send it back. They'll send you a new one for free.
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  • My first cable was red and curly too! Purchased in 1984 to match my Woolies Audition guitar that I had sprayed red with car paint. It worked just fine as long as you were happy to stand right next to the amp all of the time. The puny JHS practice amp that I had would be flipped over by the spring action of the cable if I dared to wander across the bedroom whilst hooked up to it. I saw it in a box in the loft at the weekend so I'm gonna have to get it down to see if it still works.It might be good for sitting near the computer with the THR10!
    Link to my trading feedback
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71957
    edited December 2013
    I have killed a few Planet Waves cables.  I have wrecked at least two 'classics' and one 'custom', maybe more, I can't remember!  I'm not convinced they're any better than other cables, despite looking it.  The 20 foot classics I have left are noisier when you move around compared to the George L and Fender cables I have too, not really a major issue though.
    That's not you. They're crap. They have the worst reliability of any commercially-made cable I've ever come across, far worse than cheapos. The ones with the springy bits on the plugs can wreck jacks as well.

    In my opinion they sound crap too - dull and muffled. I can't think of any cables I dislike more or which I think are more over-hyped and over-rated, except possibly for Monster.


    Years ago I had a Whirlwind with one of those muting plugs on one end, but I think it got lost or nicked, I don't actually remember but I don't have it now. Since then the only commercial ones I've had are Horizon Vintage IIs, which seem pretty reliable. I make all my own speaker and other non-instrument cables. I only bought the Horizons because a shop I worked for had a lot, and I got them cheap enough that it wasn't worth making my own.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • Dave_McDave_Mc Frets: 2326
    edited December 2013
    ^ I thought I was imagining things because tons of people seem to like planet waves, but i bought a couple back when they were first released (marketing works, I guess :| ) and when I replaced them with van damme/award sessions i noticed a massive difference, the PWs were noisy etc. and the tone just wasn't that great. You can definjtely get way too anal and OCD about these things, and I wouldn't suggest that you need to go anywhere near audiophile prices for cables, but once I replaced the PWs it was like a blanket had been removed from my amp. At that point it was actually the thing I was missing, really.

    Also, this thread reminded me, I was thinking of making a "list all the plectrums you've owned" thread as a piss-take :))
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  • I too am happy to argue that Planet Waves are the most overrated and overhyped crap in that price bracket.

    I have a story about a cable that sound quite tragic but does seriously bug me.  When I started Uni I bought two Whirlwind Leader cables which cost me what was a fair amount of money out of my living budget at the time that resulted in a 'beans on toast for a week' trade off.  I marked them and had a piece of cord tied around each one as if you left one behind anywhere it would be gone.  I lost one in a performance session in the first couple of months which only furthered my determination to not lose the second.  Four whole years it went through including lots of big exams and 100+ gigs.  Once I finished Uni my setup got more complex and I was working in studios where I could get high quality cables really easy so I retired the Whirlwind and it hung on the wall in my home setup with a special place in my heart.  One day a 'mate' took it off the wall to borrow it.  I went to stop him and then felt like I was being a petty bastard being so attached to a lead so I let him take it for a few days.  Almost inevitably (especially knowing him) he lost it.    :((

    My muse is not a horse and art is not a race.
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  • frankusfrankus Frets: 4719
    Some guitarists give their guitars names and I think that's childish and or puerile and or imature.

    I give names to my cables.

    Chelsea is a 3m long Klotz LaGrange with neutrik jacks including a silent angled jack modded with a planet waves cable tie.
    Summer is a 3m long Klotz LaGrange with neutrik jacks including a silent angled jack modded with a planet waves cable tie.
    Martine is a 3m long Klotz LaGrange with neutrik jacks including a silent angled jack modded with a planet waves cable tie.
    Sinead is a 4m long Fender cloth finish cable.
    Naveen was a 5m whirlwind cable - sadly missed. :(
    Rachael is a 2.5 long Klotz LaGrange with neutrik jacks - one straight one angled.
    Michelle is a 0.5m long midi cable.
    Cassandra is a 3m long viper cable.
    MelB, Stacy, Tracy, Anasaia, Kim, Raquel, Gabrielle - are HiCon jack Sommer Spirit Cable on the Mini-board.
    Tulisa,Anita,Rita,Carol,Emily,Sydney,Priya,Kartika,Abigail,Wendy,Phillipa,Em,Angie,Pat and Allanis are George Ls on the posh board.
    all the rest are named after women who went missing in my area and I'm not about to make a list of their names because that'd be weird ;) :P


    A sig-nat-eur? What am I meant to use this for ffs?! Is this thing recording?
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  • I have a 6" patch lead called Janette Krankie.
    My muse is not a horse and art is not a race.
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  • fretfinderfretfinder Frets: 4978
    edited December 2013
    Whirlwind leads, some of which I've had for literally decades and which seem to be indestructible, plus some home made Van Dammes, and George L's patch cables. I used to have cheap patch cables but read the hype and had to give George L's a go... :-S 

    Not sure I can tell the difference once the drummer comes in though. :|
    250+ positive trading feedbacks: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/57830/
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