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After years of putting up with gifted cables, on sale cables, etc., I want to get something better.  What do you recommend?  I don't want coiled. What's with the right-angled end?   I just want something durable for home use.  Would prefer US made. Thanks in advance.

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I use exclusively Planet Waves. Any issues that i have had was rectified with no issues. Keep the receipt, they make it easy to get an RA from them on their website and turn around was quicker than promised. 

I will never buy any of the GC "Just bring back the cable" BS. Every time I have tried to bring a cable back they don't carry the cable anymore and I had to take it up with the manufacturer. Monster was well a Monster to deal with. I just gave those POS away. 

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In the last 20 years there have been boutique cables for guitar.  If you spend $10,000 on a PRS you can afford a $150 ten foot cable. 

The upper end cables are going to be good, but if you want what Jimi and Eddie used to change the world those high dollar cables are not necessary. 

The majority cables sold in a music store all seem about the same to me.  Most are going to be Belden cable. 

Ernie Ball introduced a cable line in the 70s using Mogami cable because they wanted something really good, and back then the cables were affordable. 

I have a Canare cable with Canare cable ends that has lasted for years. 

Since all the cable companies are in competition they probably have weeded out the poor performance cables themselves.  They all have a replacement warranty now.  Ask the guys at the counter which ones never come back for warranty exchanges, but be sure to consider that some cables outsell others.  If you have a ratio of 50 to 1 it would make sense that you would see more of the 50 come back.   

My personal preference is the cables with a braided cloth covering because they tangle less.  I also like the right angle ends for side jacks or surface jacks.  My cable is looped through my strap.   

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1 hour ago, Pieman said:

After years of putting up with gifted cables, on sale cables, etc., I want to get something better.  What do you recommend?  I don't want coiled. What's with the right-angled end?   I just want something durable for home use.  Would prefer US made. Thanks in advance.

and somewhat affordable

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Mogami. I’ve only had one go south, and GC will replace failed ones, no questions asked. Didn’t even ask for a receipt, and it was a hoot to watch him cut the ends off!

ProCo and Whirlwind and LiveWires are good, too. I believe they all have a similar lifetime warranty, too. 

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I have some Mogami, Lava and George L cables that are great.  My last cable purchase was an MXR 10 ft. from MF.  It's well made and sounds exactly like the much more expensive ones.  Not sure where it's made though.

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Most cables sound good to me, exept for this one old Schaller cable that I have, perhaps four-five meters long, might be a 70's or 80's cable. It sounds like shit. Kinda harsh and unpleasant. I would really like to know why it sounds so different. It is just twisted copper wire in a long plastic tube, with a tele plug in each end. Could it be the quality of the copper wire? Things like this makes me lie awake at night....

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1. Bayou Audio cable makes mine with Canare cable. Fantastic and fairly priced. Contact Butch Ammons.
2. Bill Lawrence/George L- easy to cut make and repair if needed. Excellent and fairly priced..BL uses Belden cable.

These are all I will ever use.

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Southcreek Audio guitar cables.  Prices are reasonable.  Quality is great.  I was using Planet Waves, but switched to the SCA.  I think they are less noisy.  Could be placebo.   Who knows?  But I like 'em.

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I have ordered several "custom" cables from BTPA.COM. They advertise as "Ultra Low Capacitance - 20pF/ft" and SAY they outperfom Canare and Mogami. Do they? I dunno. But I have been happy with them. IMO,. they have less dampening of the highs than many cables. I am pretty sure you can simply get pre-made versions....I like to be able to select the exact length and the jacks I want. As well as color, if anyone actually cares.

I have also had good results with Lava, esp their low capacitance versions like the Ultramafic. Seems like there were some strange goings on with those folks, so I am not sure about where they stand today, relative to the old days when they regularly offered 40% or so off list, esp for veterans.

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The nice thing about it is that you can compare the name cable to theirs and select exactly what fits your needs and budget......I actually found them to be about the same cost as the higher capacitance name brand cables.

Sample of the "better" cable.....Easy to compare since they carry the name cables as well.
https://btpa.com/pdf/CA-0446-NN.pdf

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Mostly the cable is not the problem. Care for solid connectors! They keep breaking before the cable.
For years, I have a Planet Waves with an on/off switch on one side. It appeared to be solid and trustful.

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I'm still using a couple of ProCo cables I bought around 1990. That said, the really important thing is the cable ends. How they're soldered, stress relief etc. My son gave me a couple of KLIQ cables with Neutrik ends on them and they seem really well made.

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I have George L's for pedals and a mixture of GLs and Klotz "La Grange" and "Funkmaster" cables from guitar to pedals and pedals to amps. The GL's are great, but over time you need to snip the ends and reattach the plugs (only takes 30 seconds) if you use them as the instrument cable, especially if you use the right angles. Klotz are German-made, and quite pricey in the US (especially those "high-end" models and the Bonamassa and Jabs signature series), and I only have them because of my time as TM Stevens' tech and backliner 15 years ago, but they are totally bullet proof and sound as good or better than anything else I've compared them to. The Neutrik plugs never fail, even with hard touring. Don't pay a premium for their standard offerings, but the 3 and 4 star models will never fail, never get noisy, and sound great. Only had to replace one on tour that got sliced by someone's *cough* careless use of a utility knife to slice off a zip tie. All of my Klotz are veterans of those tours, and still going strong.

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22 hours ago, Steve Haynie said:

My personal preference is the cables with a braided cloth covering because they tangle less.  I also like the right angle ends for side jacks or surface jacks.  My cable is looped through my strap.   

+1.  If you're a strat player, you wouldn't get it, but for teles, PRS, Hamers, etc. it makes a ton of sense to use right angle once you loop the cable through the lower-bout strap end.

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Since I opened my trap about BTPA, let me give a followup. Their low capacitance cables are more or less half the regular price on the roughly equivalent Lava Ultramafics. And available with the silent plugs and tweed jackets, if you find that useful. And they do have a 4th of July sale continuing with 20% off those prices. (Take note of their shipping costs!)

I do much prefer the more open tone using the low cap cable. Sort of like the proverbial "removed the blanket from the amp" cliche. Which I first noticed when I found some "Lightning" cables at a store in West Los Angeles a few decades back. Very noticeable difference.

Low caps may not be everyone's cup of tea. Some cat named Jimi did not need it when he used "tone choking" cheap coil cords in the 60s. But if you try it next to a "standard" cable, I think you will hear the difference.

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3 hours ago, sixesandsevens said:

+1.  If you're a strat player, you wouldn't get it, but for teles, PRS, Hamers, etc. it makes a ton of sense to use right angle once you loop the cable through the lower-bout strap end.

+100 on this. Assuming you don't trip on them or do something else that would physically harm a cable this eliminates a high percentage of cable woes.

The other thing that helps is to coil them up nicely before throwing them in your gig bag as tight bends and knots can lead to damage - especially to the shield layer. I find that goes a lot smoother if you keep one of those Velcro ties on the cable to hold it in place once you coil it.

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35 minutes ago, HAMERMAN said:

+100 on this. Assuming you don't trip on them or do something else that would physically harm a cable this eliminates a high percentage of cable woes.

The other thing that helps is to coil them up nicely before throwing them in your gig bag as tight bends and knots can lead to damage - especially to the shield layer. I find that goes a lot smoother if you keep one of those Velcro ties on the cable to hold it in place once you coil it.

Yeah, learning to twirl the cable while coiling it rather than forcing it is a big win.

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9 hours ago, django49 said:

Since I opened my trap about BTPA, let me give a followup. Their low capacitance cables are more or less half the regular price on the roughly equivalent Lava Ultramafics. And available with the silent plugs and tweed jackets, if you find that useful. And they do have a 4th of July sale continuing with 20% off those prices. (Take note of their shipping costs!)

I do much prefer the more open tone using the low cap cable. Sort of like the proverbial "removed the blanket from the amp" cliche. Which I first noticed when I found some "Lightning" cables at a store in West Los Angeles a few decades back. Very noticeable difference.

Low caps may not be everyone's cup of tea. Some cat named Jimi did not need it when he used "tone choking" cheap coil cords in the 60s. But if you try it next to a "standard" cable, I think you will hear the difference.

Thanks.  Just ordered one.  Stay safe, people.

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Has anyone mentioned the jacks that Hamer used that don’t get along with some plugs? I have a few Hamers with them they’re kinda round shaped. I had issues of the sound  cutting out and replaced one (after bending contacts etc) and still had the issue. I learned here it was a known issue. Some cables work fine some cut out. So if you have those round jacks consider it. There is an old thread here somewhere. Something with the tips maybe. 

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