Your buying strategy for guitar cables...

digitalkettle

Boromedic said:

digitalkettle said:

Been around the block with it a few times...ended up with what feels like a lifetime's supply of Pete Cornish cables.

It's okay buying Vovox Sonorus but it's got to be able to withstand a singer standing on it every five minutes

These seem not too unreasonably priced actually, do you buy them direct from Cornish? 

Yep, I'm pretty sure they're made to order...I believe it's a family setup these days...turnaround was pretty quick...can't fault it, tbh.

digitalkettle

Jonathangus said:

Boromedic said:

digitalkettle said:

Been around the block with it a few times...ended up with what feels like a lifetime's supply of Pete Cornish cables.

It's okay buying Vovox Sonorus but it's got to be able to withstand a singer standing on it every five minutes

These seem not too unreasonably priced actually, do you buy them direct from Cornish? 

A 5m cable is £75 plus VAT!  http://www.petecornish.co.uk/cabprice.html

Personally, I can get Cleartone cables from Award-Session (Van Damme/Neutrik) for about the price it would cost me to buy the bits and build them myself.  So grab some before Stewart shuts up shop.

Yeah, but these will make me sound more like David Gilmour, right?

robinbowes

Jonathangus said:

Boromedic said:

digitalkettle said:

Been around the block with it a few times...ended up with what feels like a lifetime's supply of Pete Cornish cables.

It's okay buying Vovox Sonorus but it's got to be able to withstand a singer standing on it every five minutes

These seem not too unreasonably priced actually, do you buy them direct from Cornish? 

A 5m cable is £75 plus VAT!  http://www.petecornish.co.uk/cabprice.html

Personally, I can get Cleartone cables from Award-Session (Van Damme/Neutrik) for about the price it would cost me to buy the bits and build them myself.  So grab some before Stewart shuts up shop.

I've toyed with making Cornish-style cables. I've repaired one a few years ago and from memory it was good quality jacks with fairly standard cable plus Techflex braided shielding.

I'm pretty sure I could do something for much less than £75+VAT for a 5m cable!

R.

Alvin

Sommer Tricone XXL and Amphenol plugs .

 

    I may be the only one but i don't rate  Van Damme  , to flexible , outer jacket to soft and the centre conducter isn't thick enough  ,6-7 very thin strands from memory ( wow , 2 are silver) - not much for the signal to flow down . And the very nature of a guitar lead means they are moved around a lot so less strands = easier to break down.  My suspicion is most places use this in their leads as it's easier to work with , but better quality ?  Probably depends on what you want .

     The Tricone is stiffer and tougher , more robust and a nice thick core . Love the Amphenol plugs , the tips are a slightly different shape to the norm but not caused me any issues , they seem harder to get in the uk but they are out there.   The angled are really easy to solder up .   The Neutrik plugs i find unnecessarily bulky , the cord grip is great ( probably a bit better made) but i don't like the solder bucket idea .

  I bought 30 metres of Van Damme going from reviews a few years back and when i stripped it i regreted buying it , gave it away .   Checked the specs properly and went with Sommer  and the Tricone was a winner , really impressed .

Sporky

Alvin said:

the centre conducter isn't thick enough  ,6-7 very thin strands from memory ( wow , 2 are silver) - not much for the signal to flow down . 

How much power do you think is in a guitar signal?

KevS

I still have my 18 foot ,I think Whirlwind Leader's for Stage..Plus my 34 year old one,,the spare..
The shorter 10 foot ones seem to stop working and the ,rubber sleeving,turns to an oily substance..
I still got around 10 years constant use out of them..
I did notice a bit more bite with Whirlwinds in my 1 guitar and 1 amp days..
I used a Strat for testing...

Now I use Design a Cable constructed Van Damme and Neutrik Jacks..
I absolutely hate soldering with a vengeance..
I have made up leads,both guitar and hifi,also done guitar electrics etc,,but I hate it..
Plus a true Professional's work will be better than mine..
I liked the Whirlwind a touch better,but a lead is a lead,by the time you put it though a pedal etc,
I think that will affect the sound more..

Was unimpressed by Klotz's own leads back in the early 90's good,but not as good as Whirlwind..
I liked the different coloured leads though..I used the pink ones as I knew most other Males wouldn't,,
so it was easy to identify my own leads..I also had a Black Carpet..Where I play out just now,sitting down due to health..lol..
Rock You like a Gentle Murmur..
We play Di'd into a mixing desk..I use the small Headrush and a purple of blue Design a Cable to the desk..
I may get an 18 feet yellow or orange made up at some point..

I am more bothered about longevity and practicality as the cable is only one part of the signal chain..
Also when modelling or using multi fx,,there are several EQ's along the way..
As long as the cable is decent,I think the bite of the cable will get lost in the recipe..

When I used a late 80's USA Standard Strat Straight into a Clean Fender Performer 1000, the Whirlwind really did sound both fuller in the mids with what I would describe as a thick bite on top.This setup was critical of every nuance you played,every little dynamic..This amp punished you when clean,you really had to learn pick dynamics if you want to call them that...This was not the fabric covered Whirlwind, the one with gold plugs..It was the Standard Black and nickel one..18 feet ish...
I imagine,they don't make them like they used to,to coin a cliche.. 

Boromedic

Tbh, I was out after I reread the Cornish blurb and saw that they state the cables are directional. Okayyyyy then

BobHillman

Boromedic said:

Tbh, I was out after I reread the Cornish blurb and saw that they state the cables are directional. Okayyyyy then

How can a cable which is passing a signal which is alternating current be directional?

Boromedic

BobHillman said:

Boromedic said:

Tbh, I was out after I reread the Cornish blurb and saw that they state the cables are directional. Okayyyyy then

How can a cable which is passing a signal which is alternating current be directional?

Exactly

digitalkettle

BobHillman said:

Boromedic said:

Tbh, I was out after I reread the Cornish blurb and saw that they state the cables are directional. Okayyyyy then

How can a cable which is passing a signal which is alternating current be directional?

[why am i typing this?]

Uni-directionality in a guitar cable only refers to the shielding; grounding any RF interference at the 'amp end'.

I don't know if that makes any tangible difference to me...all I know is that it's a nice, tank-proof, cable.

Sporky

The single-ended shield does make a measurable difference in terms of noise rejection.

It's worse, either way round, than a normal cable. 

digitalkettle

Sporky said:

The single-ended shield does make a measurable difference in terms of noise rejection.

It's worse, either way round, than a normal cable. 

Classic @Sporky

(I was very careful not to make claims about bettererness)

BobHillman

Sporky said:

The single-ended shield does make a measurable difference in terms of noise rejection.

It's worse, either way round, than a normal cable. 

I don't understand what you are saying there - do you mean that the screen is only connected at one end? And if so, then surely there is no signal at all, as the lead would then be open circuit.

Sporky

Lucky I didn't mention the higher capacitance!

 

robinbowes

BobHillman said:

Sporky said:

The single-ended shield does make a measurable difference in terms of noise rejection.

It's worse, either way round, than a normal cable. 

I don't understand what you are saying there - do you mean that the screen is only connected at one end? And if so, then surely there is no signal at all, as the lead would then be open circuit.

The cables use 2-core microphone cable with the signal passing down the two cores and the shield only connected at one end (the amp end).

The downside of this approach is higher capacitance, typically twice that of single-core cable.

BobHillman

robinbowes said:

BobHillman said:

Sporky said:

The single-ended shield does make a measurable difference in terms of noise rejection.

It's worse, either way round, than a normal cable. 

I don't understand what you are saying there - do you mean that the screen is only connected at one end? And if so, then surely there is no signal at all, as the lead would then be open circuit.

The cables use 2-core microphone cable with the signal passing down the two cores and the shield only connected at one end (the amp end).

The downside of this approach is higher capacitance, typically twice that of single-core cable.

Thanks - I understand now.

Sporky

Technically the signal does not flow along the conductor. The signal is the variation in the electromagnetic field in the dielectric around the central conductor.

Electrons move at a few centimetres per hour. The signal propogates at a decent fraction of the speed of light. 

rossi

I usually wait until I  buy  a cheap  Squier to take apart and sell on .There is usually a cable in that and so far they last longer than any fancy ones I bought in the 60's .

Boromedic

digitalkettle said:

BobHillman said:

Boromedic said:

Tbh, I was out after I reread the Cornish blurb and saw that they state the cables are directional. Okayyyyy then

How can a cable which is passing a signal which is alternating current be directional?

[why am i typing this?]

Uni-directionality in a guitar cable only refers to the shielding; grounding any RF interference at the 'amp end'.

I don't know if that makes any tangible difference to me...all I know is that it's a nice, tank-proof, cable.

I can go with the tank proof build and all that, knowing Cornish build quality I've no doubt they're great, and each to their own with purchasing which I was kinda thinking about to be honest. 

As soon as they mention stuff like directionality though, it's all gets a bit..... Hmmmmmm for me. 

robinbowes

Sporky said:

Technically the signal does not flow along the conductor. 

That’s why I didn’t say “the signal flows along the conductor”.