Lava Cables...seriously? A $400 cable?

[saturn]

Does anyone actually use these? I thought I spent too much on a used Monster cable years ago. I can't imagine I'd notice a $400 difference with a  Lava, even if it is a Van der Hul.  😕

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LCHL20--lava-cable-van-den-hul-instrument-cable-20-foot-straight-straight

[Murph]

It's the P.T. Barnum cable company.

Better hurry before supply chain problems make them un-attainable.

 

[NighthawkChris]

I could think of so many ways better to literally blow $400. Honestly could say the same about Gibson guitars too how people pay for the name, not actually needing to spend Gibson bucks on a perfectly playable guitar… people pay for the glitz and glam because we are enamored for some reason by flashy lights and blinky objects. Good thing about Gibsons is that if you turn them around and sell them you don’t take a bath on what you paid - if you know you got a good price. Why I buy used. I digress, not paying $400 for a 20’ cable. If I did, I would turn it in for the slightest perception I get of static in my amp if it were ever present. Hard pass. 

[Karloff]

pure shite

[gearbasher]

$400 worth of booze and any cable will make your guitar sound good.

[sparquelito]

On 1/10/2024 at 11:11 AM, gearbasher said:

$400 worth of booze and any cable will make your guitar sound good.

Funny  you should say this.

a. It's very much true
and,
b. Reading thru the thread got me to thinking of a conversation I had with a fellow at work a few years ago.

Me: No, I can't come have a bourbon drink with you after work. I had to give it up years ago.

Eric: What kind of bourbon did you drink back in the day?

Me: Ah, you know. Jim Beam with Coke, a long time ago. Jim Beam Black in the later years, with Diet Coke.
But I liked it too much. I would really pound it down.  Had to switch to low-carb beers for my health, and in support of keeping my weight down.

Eric: Your problem is, you have never had a proper sipping whiskey. A really fine bourbon, and you only sip a small amount each evening. Neat, or with a single ice cube.

Me: So, what would you consider a really fine bourbon then?

Eric: Blanton's. Best stuff going. Go get you a bottle after work today. Take it home, relax, pour a finger or so of it in a crystal glass, and enjoy!!

Me: Okay. I'll give it a try.

So I went by a liquor store, asking for Blanton's. No dice.
Traveled to another one. Again, no luck, they don't carry the stuff.

Finally, I hit some sort of ABC Store that I had never visited before, and they had it.
Various fancy bottles with a little pewter horse figurine for a cork head.
A tiny tennis ball sized bottle (50 ml) was forty bucks.
Slightly larger (375 ml) was $130!!

My God.
This is crazy expensive.
But it must be really good.
This could well change my life, for the better!

So I bought the $130 bottle, and drove home.
Relaxed in a hot bath after walking the dogs, and put on some clean trousers and a nice shirt and sweater.
I put some jazz piano record from the 1960's on the stereo.

Poured a finger and a half over a small ice cube, in a proper whiskey drinking glass, and sat down in the leather easy chair to relax and enjoy life.
Took a cautious sip.
And then another. 
Savored it on my palate, and tried to absorb the fine nuances of wonderfulness.
And so then promptly spit it back into the glass.
It was bloody awful.

Fast forward to the next day at the airfield.

Me: Here Eric, happy birthday, happy New Year, and a merry Saint Swithin's Day to you.

Eric: What's this?

Me: It's your Blanton's. You can have it, and drink it in good health.

Eric: (inspecting the bottle)  You tried it and didn't like it?

Me: Eh. It wasn't my cup of tea.

Eric: Wait, be specific.

Me: It was horrid. I once cleaned spark plugs in old gasoline that tasted better than this.  Drinking it literally made me lose the will to live.  I sipped it, and I wanted to climb on top of the nearest tall building, and throw myself off.

Eric: Okay, that's specific enough. Sorry you didn't like it.

Me: It's alright. We all have our own tastes and likes and dislikes. Enjoy the rest of that bottle, and good luck with it.

Eric: Thanks. Sorry it didn't work out.

So.
I'm pretty sure that the $400 guitar cable is a lot like Blanton's.
Only without the little pewter horse.

🤔

[Karloff]

42 minutes ago, sparquelito said:

Funny  you should say this.

a. It's very much true
and,
b. Reading thru the thread got me to thinking of a conversation I had with a fellow at work a few years ago.

Me: No, I can't come have a bourbon drink with you after work. I had to give it up years ago.

Eric: What kind of bourbon did you drink back in the day?

Me: Ah, you know. Jim Beam with Coke, a long time ago. Jim Beam Black in the later years, with Diet Coke.
But I liked it too much. I would really pound it down.  Had to switch to low-carb beers for my health, and in support of keeping my weight down.

Eric: Your problem is, you have never had a proper sipping whiskey. A really fine bourbon, and you only sip a small amount each evening. Neat, or with a single ice cube.

Me: So, what would you consider a really fine bourbon then?

Eric: Blanton's. Best stuff going. Go get you a bottle after work today. Take it home, relax, pour a finger or so of it in a crystal glass, and enjoy!!

Me: Okay. I'll give it a try.

So I went by a liquor store, asking for Blanton's. No dice.
Traveled to another one. Again, no luck, they don't carry the stuff.

Finally, I hit some sort of ABC Store that I had never visited before, and they had it.
Various fancy bottles with a little pewter horse figurine for a cork head.
A tiny tennis ball sized bottle (50 ml) was forty bucks.
Slightly larger (375 ml) was $130!!

My God.
This is crazy expensive.
But it must be really good.
This could well change my life, for the better!

So I bought the $130 bottle, and drove home.
Relaxed in a hot bath after walking the dogs, and put on some clean trousers and a nice shirt and sweater.
I put some jazz piano record from the 1960's on the stereo.

Poured a finger and a half over a small ice cube, in a proper whiskey drinking glass, and sat down in the leather easy chair to relax and enjoy life.
Took a cautious sip.
And then another. 
Savored it on my palate, and tried to absorb the fine nuances of wonderfulness.
And so then promptly spit it back into the glass.
It was bloody awful.

Fast forward to the next day at the airfield.

Me: Here Eric, happy birthday, happy New Year, and a merry Saint Swithin's Day to you.

Eric: What's this?

Me: It's your Blanton's. You can have it, and drink it in good health.

Eric: (inspecting the bottle)  You tried it and didn't like it?

Me: Eh. It wasn't my cup of tea.

Eric: Wait, be specific.

Me: It was horrid. I once cleaned spark plugs in old gasoline that tasted better than this.  Drinking it literally made me lose the will to live.  I sipped it, and I wanted to climb on top of the nearest tall building, and throw myself off.

Eric: Okay, that's specific enough. Sorry you didn't like it.

Me: It's alright. We all have our own tastes and likes and dislikes. Enjoy the rest of that bottle, and good luck with it.

Eric: Thanks. Sorry it didn't work out.

So.
I'm pretty sure that the $400 guitar cable is a lot like Blanton's.
Only without the little pewter horse.

🤔

LOLOL !

perfect Sparky ... lol.   my boss loves thats stuff. I've never been a drinker. tried, but when I was 15 a close friend was in an accident & subsequent coma for 2 weeks from driving drunk. I never drank again till my divorce in '93.  I chose to abuse my lungs lol.   BUT, in the last couple years I've come to greatly appreciate Crown Apple. boy, I like that stuff ...

Edited January 12 by Karloff

[Notes_Norton]

There is a happy medium between the el-cheapo cables and the overpriced cables. That's where I set my sights.

 

Notes ♫

[Dub-T-123]

That’s only like $21.50 per foot. That’s a good price for van der hul with fusion technology 

[Sgt. Pepper]

On 1/9/2024 at 9:47 PM, saturn said:

Does anyone actually use these? I thought I spent too much on a used Monster cable years ago. I can't imagine I'd notice a $400 difference with a  Lava, even if it is a Van der Hul.  😕

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LCHL20--lava-cable-van-den-hul-instrument-cable-20-foot-straight-straight

Two words:

Murphy Labs. 

Some will pay 10k for a guitar, what is 400 hundo for a cable to them?

[sparquelito]

3 hours ago, Karloff said:

LOLOL !

perfect Sparky ... lol.   my boss loves thats stuff. I've never been a drinker. tried, but when I was 15 a close friend was in an accident & subsequent coma for 2 weeks from driving drunk. I never drank again till my divorce in '93.  I chose to abuse my lungs lol.   BUT, in the last couple years I've come to greatly appreciate Crown Apple. boy, I like that stuff ...

Apple flavored Crown Royal?

That does sound good!

😋

[Sgt. Pepper]

17 minutes ago, sparquelito said:

Apple flavored Crown Royal?

That does sound good!

😋

I started drinking when bourbon and vodka were flavored like bourbon and vodka. If you need flavored liquor, maybe drinking isn’t for you. Try one of those alcoholic seltzers all the hip Wokies drink.

Man or woman up or leave the bar.

Edited January 12 by Sgt. Pepper

[gearbasher]

4 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Two words:

Murphy Labs. 

Some will pay 10k for a guitar, what is 400 hundo for a cable to them?

Maybe they should have Murphy Lab cables. Spliced with electrical tape and you have to jiggle them to get them to work.

Edited January 12 by gearbasher

[kidblast]

Sparky, that was a hoot.

People will do the weirdest things if they have enough money to toss around.

I have a few friends who are Bourbon "aficionados"  

they spend SIC money on some of these bottles, and they don't ever plan to open them.  Wait,??? What?   "Collectors item dude!" 

-- what is wrong with you?  I say, to myself.

I think I'd rather buy a 400 dollar cable and at least use it, than a 700 dollar bottle of Bourbon I'll never open.

But no, I'm not buying a 400 dollar cable.  

I have a wireless I paid 50 bucks for,  works great.  And it has an eloquent bouquet. 

[saturn]

14 hours ago, sparquelito said:

Funny  you should say this.

a. It's very much true
and,
b. Reading thru the thread got me to thinking of a conversation I had with a fellow at work a few years ago.

Me: No, I can't come have a bourbon drink with you after work. I had to give it up years ago.

Eric: What kind of bourbon did you drink back in the day?

Me: Ah, you know. Jim Beam with Coke, a long time ago. Jim Beam Black in the later years, with Diet Coke.
But I liked it too much. I would really pound it down.  Had to switch to low-carb beers for my health, and in support of keeping my weight down.

Eric: Your problem is, you have never had a proper sipping whiskey. A really fine bourbon, and you only sip a small amount each evening. Neat, or with a single ice cube.

Me: So, what would you consider a really fine bourbon then?

Eric: Blanton's. Best stuff going. Go get you a bottle after work today. Take it home, relax, pour a finger or so of it in a crystal glass, and enjoy!!

Me: Okay. I'll give it a try.

So I went by a liquor store, asking for Blanton's. No dice.
Traveled to another one. Again, no luck, they don't carry the stuff.

Finally, I hit some sort of ABC Store that I had never visited before, and they had it.
Various fancy bottles with a little pewter horse figurine for a cork head.
A tiny tennis ball sized bottle (50 ml) was forty bucks.
Slightly larger (375 ml) was $130!!

My God.
This is crazy expensive.
But it must be really good.
This could well change my life, for the better!

So I bought the $130 bottle, and drove home.
Relaxed in a hot bath after walking the dogs, and put on some clean trousers and a nice shirt and sweater.
I put some jazz piano record from the 1960's on the stereo.

Poured a finger and a half over a small ice cube, in a proper whiskey drinking glass, and sat down in the leather easy chair to relax and enjoy life.
Took a cautious sip.
And then another. 
Savored it on my palate, and tried to absorb the fine nuances of wonderfulness.
And so then promptly spit it back into the glass.
It was bloody awful.

Fast forward to the next day at the airfield.

Me: Here Eric, happy birthday, happy New Year, and a merry Saint Swithin's Day to you.

Eric: What's this?

Me: It's your Blanton's. You can have it, and drink it in good health.

Eric: (inspecting the bottle)  You tried it and didn't like it?

Me: Eh. It wasn't my cup of tea.

Eric: Wait, be specific.

Me: It was horrid. I once cleaned spark plugs in old gasoline that tasted better than this.  Drinking it literally made me lose the will to live.  I sipped it, and I wanted to climb on top of the nearest tall building, and throw myself off.

Eric: Okay, that's specific enough. Sorry you didn't like it.

Me: It's alright. We all have our own tastes and likes and dislikes. Enjoy the rest of that bottle, and good luck with it.

Eric: Thanks. Sorry it didn't work out.

So.
I'm pretty sure that the $400 guitar cable is a lot like Blanton's.
Only without the little pewter horse.

🤔

I'll agree that Blanton's is overpriced and hard to find. But it's still pretty good. If you find yourself in possession of another bottle, I'll be happy to take it off your hands. 😎 

[merciful-evans]

All my old cables (6) except one have lasted 25 years. The odd one is still usable but not 100% reliable. 

but $400 ? why? what for ??? 

[Nifty]

On 1/10/2024 at 7:23 AM, NighthawkChris said:

I could think of so many ways better to literally blow $400. Honestly could say the same about Gibson guitars too how people pay for the name, not actually needing to spend Gibson bucks on a perfectly playable guitar… people pay for the glitz and glam because we are enamored for some reason by flashy lights and blinky objects. Good thing about Gibsons is that if you turn them around and sell them you don’t take a bath on what you paid - if you know you got a good price. Why I buy used. I digress, not paying $400 for a 20’ cable. If I did, I would turn it in for the slightest perception I get of static in my amp if it were ever present. Hard pass. 

Speaking of guitars, I often wonder how many people are priced out of the market as prices keep going up.   Two years ago I had my mind set to get another Gibson but it seems each time I check the price has gone up.    When production guitars start to reach the price of used cars,  something isn't quite right. 

[Notes_Norton]

On 1/12/2024 at 4:26 PM, kidblast said:

People will do the weirdest things if they have enough money to toss around.

I have a few friends who are Bourbon "aficionados"  

they spend SIC money on some of these bottles, and they don't ever plan to open them.  Wait,??? What?   "Collectors item dude!" 

-- what is wrong with you?  I say, to myself.

And I know guys who buy guitars, and never plan to play them.  But I wish I still had my Selmer Mark VI saxophone, they sell for small fortunes today.

 

Notes ♫

[Karloff]

I just buy Fender cables n call it a day ...

 

[kidblast]

On 1/14/2024 at 10:17 AM, Notes_Norton said:

And I know guys who buy guitars, and never plan to play them.  But I wish I still had my Selmer Mark VI saxophone, they sell for small fortunes today.

 

Notes ♫

I was working with a public accessor during our fire recovery   he saw all my guitars and started talking about music, and guitarist.  Very enthusiastic about it all.   He said "my dream guitar is a sea foam green telecaster"  so I asked,  oh you play too Bob?  his answer was "No, I just want a sea foam green telecaster!"

..okay...

33 minutes ago, Karloff said:

I just buy Fender cables n call it a day ...

 

yea,, pretty much same here.  I have a line 6 G30 tho that I use a lot.

that's been rock solid,  been using one of these for some years now.

 

[Notes_Norton]

2 hours ago, kidblast said:

I was working with a public accessor during our fire recovery   he saw all my guitars and started talking about music, and guitarist.  Very enthusiastic about it all.   He said "my dream guitar is a sea foam green telecaster"  so I asked,  oh you play too Bob?  his answer was "No, I just want a sea foam green telecaster!"

IMO, there is absolutely nothing wrong with collecting guitars or whatever you want. But if I haven't played an instrument in years, except for a back-up one, out it goes. If worth something, I'll sell, if I can't sell, I know a guy who teaches, and I'll donate it to a student who needs one.

I gig for a living. Music my business. If I buy a guitar I'm never going to play, in effect, that's a cut in pay.

Same for a cable that is way past the point of diminishing returns. 

Me? I collect music recordings, mostly the kind that not many other people want to hear. (Who wants George Szell's recording of Beethoven's 4th, or some obscure Cabo Verdi Island disc?) I don't have the leisure time to listen to them often, there are too many, but when I want, most of them are not even available on YouTube, and YT is too low-fi for me anyway.

 

Notes ♫

Edited January 16 by Notes_Norton

[kidblast]

25 minutes ago, Notes_Norton said:

IMO, there is absolutely nothing wrong with collecting guitars or whatever you want. But if I haven't played an instrument in years, except for a back-up one, out it goes. If worth something, I'll sell, if I can't sell, I know a guy who teaches, and I'll donate it to a student who needs one.

I gig for a living. Music my business. If I buy a guitar I'm never going to play, in effect, that's a cut in pay.

Same for a cable that is way past the point of diminishing returns. 

Me? I collect music recordings, mostly the kind that not many other people want to hear. (Who wants George Szell's recording of Beethoven's 4th, or some obscure Cabo Verdi Island disc?) I don't have the leisure time to listen to them often, there are too many, but when I want, most of them are not even available on YouTube, and YT is too low-fi for me anyway.

 

Notes ♫

yea  I hear ya.  this guy was just crazy about guitar based music, and he made enough money where this wouldn't be mroe than pocket change.

he was just going to hang it in his office.   

I tried to help him find one, but the problem was, you had to order a custom run to get that finish back then.   

[Sgt. Pepper]

Plug your 400 dollar cable into this lame looking thing. It would have been more appropriate in the Coc filled 80’s.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/most-constantly-interpret-wrong-then-100308403.html

[kidblast]

58 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Plug your 400 dollar cable into this lame looking thing. It would have been more appropriate in the Coc filled 80’s.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/most-constantly-interpret-wrong-then-100308403.html

so there really is a dude out there with a moniker  of Machine Gun Kelly? 

while I like that name, his idea of a guitar design? 

not so much

[Sgt. Pepper]

1 hour ago, kidblast said:

so there really is a dude out there with a moniker  of Machine Gun Kelly? 

while I like that name, his idea of a guitar design? 

not so much

He’s a musician,  I guess, and an actor. He was in the Biopic of Motley Crue. I’m sure his music is not what I would listen too.