deepblue Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 I notice Dimarzio sells Steve Vai & Yngwie Malmsteen guitar cords. Very pricey....does anyone have one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazzboy Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Last years Guitar Player Magazine did a review of 49 guitar Cables and Vai's was rated really well. http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/49-guitar-cables/apr-08/34729 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squeezie Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 I don't but the Malmsteen one has gold plated plugs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayla Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Ah, I thought you meant a chord that he played. What's the deal with the cables? Are they special somehow, aside from the fact that Vai uses them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayla Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 They might be really good but I use just standard DiMarzio cloth covered cables and they are more than enough for my needs. I personally feel when you buy decent cables then it really doesn't matter because your ears will not be able to hear the difference between the good stuff and the signature stuff; imo. Haven't played electric in years, but when I did I just used any run o' the mill cables and thought no more about it. Never had any problems. My main concern was playing my best and getting the sound I wanted. I never would have imagined that cables had anything to do with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepblue Posted May 16, 2009 Author Share Posted May 16, 2009 Nice article Tazzboy..... a good read. Guys like SRV hated high end cables. They wanted Radio Shack bottom of the barrels. I dunno....I figure the stronger and more pure the signal the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichCI Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 I use the George L's they reviewed and they do sound great; they retain high frequencies very well. Their patch cords sound great too but the connectors they use for them constantly crap out though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichCI Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Last years Guitar Player Magazine did a review of 49 guitar Cables and Vai's was rated really well. http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/49-guitar-cables/apr-08/34729 Sheesh! Some of those cables are REALLY expensive! And people would give me crap for spending $25 for a 15' George L's. If one of those super expensive cables sounds THAT much better to you and either you just play at home or in a studio or simply that dropping that amount of cash on a cable is no big deal, then I say 'go for it.' However, I wouldn't pay that much for cables for gigging as they all get screwed up and break eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtle Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 i've always used the pro co cables. now for the last 6 years ive had monster cables. i think they are good sounding. i know they last thats for sure. ill have to dig some old cables out now to test them out . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichCI Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Speaking of' date=' have you seen this guitar? [center'][/center] While not top of the line I do like the tiger stripes.... Yeah, I saw that on the cover of an issue of GP a couple of months ago; I really like it too but would like it better with a H/S/S setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuckomf Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Unless a cable is manufactured in the cavernous halls of Moria by master craftsman dwarves, and comes in a solid gold presentation box, you're gonna be hard pressed to get me to spend over $30 for one. I think that to an extent, some of the higher end cables are worth the price, as far as construction goes, but with a lot of them you're just paying for hype and glossy packaging. I think Monster Cable is one of the most overrated companies out there. Honestly - they have cables for different genres of music. Most of the copycat companies are no better. They hype up the most banal minutiae and present it to the suckers out there who think that somehow this string of copper wires that conducts their guitar signal is going to sound better than the other string of copper wires that does the exact same thing. The only thing I look for is a good soldering job by the plugs to keep oxidation to a minimum where the wires are exposed. Keep in mind that this is just my opinion. I understand how having a good connection between the guitar and amp is essential, but a 1/4" to 1/4" connection seems incredibly hard to screw up. If someone is really that concerned about signal loss, maybe converting from 1/4" jacks to xlr connections would be a better idea than dropping $75 or more on a cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichCI Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 I think Monster Cable is one of the most overrated companies out there. Honestly - they have cables for different genres of music. I agree with you to an extent in that I think they are a bit overrated or at least overpriced. But' date=' I did spring for a Monster speaker cable for my rig and there was an appreciable change in the low end (beefier and tighter sounding). I figured that if I spent $2,000 for a head and cabinet, I should at least get a good speaker cable to go with it and feel that the Monster cable was money well spent. Worth noting is that the cable I replaced with Monster was a real cheapo that the music store threw in when I bought the rig. Most of the copycat companies are no better. They hype up the most banal minutiae and present it to the suckers out there who think that somehow this string of copper wires that conducts their guitar signal is going to sound better than the other string of copper wires that does the exact same thing. The only thing I look for is a good soldering job by the plugs to keep oxidation to a minimum where the wires are exposed. Keep in mind that this is just my opinion. I understand how having a good connection between the guitar and amp is essential' date=' but a 1/4" to 1/4" connection seems incredibly hard to screw up. If someone is really that concerned about signal loss, maybe converting from 1/4" jacks to xlr connections would be a better idea than dropping $75 or more on a cable. [/quote'] Well, there are differences between cables and I think quality cables are worth paying extra for up to a point. Some players are more finicky than others and some think they're hearing something when they're not; I definitely fall into the first type and know exactly what I want to hear and feel out of my guitar and amp and do hear a difference between cables (some more or less). If you don't notice a difference between cables, then you should definitely save yourself some money and just buy whatever is the least expensive. On a related side note: There are players who buy vintage reissue guitars and amps for the purpose of capturing some tone of one of their guitar heroes; that's not why everyone buys reissues, but it's one of them. What I find funny is that these folks will also buy high end cables when the players who they're seeking to emulate often didn't have those kinds of cables available to them; most were using 30' + and often coiled cables which lopped off a lot of the higher frequencies that guys like me are seeking to retain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayla Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 What I find funny is that these folks will also buy high end cables when the players who they're seeking to emulate often didn't have those kinds of cables available to them; most were using 30' + and often coiled cables which lopped off a lot of the higher frequencies that guys like me are seeking to retain. On a related note about strings, once McCartney was asked what type of bass strings he used. He replied: "Long shiny ones." The gist was: it's about the music, not the strings (or, to come back to the OP, the cables). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichCI Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 I would imagine that McCartney was just trying to be cute. The Beatles used not just a lot of really cool guitar gear, but also a lot of studio wizardry so I'm pretty sure that old Paul is hip to what kind of strings he uses. He was the guy who supplied the tape loops for "Tomorrow Never Knows" back in 1966. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundergod Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Ah' date=' I thought you meant a chord that he played. What's the deal with the cables? Are they special somehow, aside from the fact that Vai uses them?[/quote'] I was going to ask the same... they are after all just cables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazzboy Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Yeah I just use George L cables. I used there .255 cable and .155 is for patch cables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayla Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 I would imagine that McCartney was just trying to be cute. The Beatles used not just a lot of really cool guitar gear' date=' but also a lot of studio wizardry so I'm pretty sure that old Paul is hip to what kind of strings he uses. He was the guy who supplied the tape loops for "Tomorrow Never Knows" back in 1966.[/quote'] I'm just repeating what the man said. In the same sentence he called himself a "non-technical musician" and I see no reason to doubt him. Doesn't mean he didn't know how to play, write or record, just that he seemed uninterested in obsessing over the details. Also, FWIW, after reading quite a bit by and about him, he seems like a bit of a megalomaniac, so I would expect him to play up his "techno-savvy" side, if anything. Also, don't forget that like many blues and rock players, none of the Beatles ever formally studied music (except George with the sitar), none could read or write it, etc., and I don't recall any of them ever effusing over the finer points of their gear in any of their interviews. Once again, I'm not saying that they were indifferent to the gear they used, only that I doubt they spent time worrying what kind of soldering was used on their cables. It's the music that counts. Vis: to an interviewer who asked if he knew anything about music theory, Brian Eno responded: "I know many theories about music, just not that one that has to do with notes." P.S. And don't forget that the Beatles weren't alone in the studio. They worked with great engineers and producers: George Martin, Geoff Emerick, et al. These guys had the technical know-how necessary to help realize the Fabs' ideas... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuckomf Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Well' date=' there [b']are[/b] differences between cables and I think quality cables are worth paying extra for up to a point. Some players are more finicky than others and some think they're hearing something when they're not; I definitely fall into the first type and know exactly what I want to hear and feel out of my guitar and amp and do hear a difference between cables (some more or less). If you don't notice a difference between cables, then you should definitely save yourself some money and just buy whatever is the least expensive. On a related side note: There are players who buy vintage reissue guitars and amps for the purpose of capturing some tone of one of their guitar heroes; that's not why everyone buys reissues, but it's one of them. What I find funny is that these folks will also buy high end cables when the players who they're seeking to emulate often didn't have those kinds of cables available to them; most were using 30' + and often coiled cables which lopped off a lot of the higher frequencies that guys like me are seeking to retain. I agree, Rich. And like I said, it's only my opinion. In some situations, such as studio work where interference with a cheap cable could wreck a track, I can see paying more and getting something that's really high-efficiency. Also, especially in the realm of speaker cables, there are some that can cut the flow from the amp by being too thin, and there are some that turn your signal into the proverbial "hotdog through a hallway". In that case, it pays to spend more to get an efficient signal running. My beef with the whole "boutique" realm of guitar accessories is that it detracts from the most important part of guitar playing - which is playing the guitar. I think it's gotten to the point now where about half your cost of a modern rig is the guitar and amp, the other half of the cost is in gold-plated cables and picks that are hand polished from unborn fetal walrus tusks, bridges made of weapons-grade plutonium to maximize sonic half-life, and any other ridiculous exaggerations that i might be able to come up with. And like you said with the RI guitars and amps - all these artists that come up in the "best guitarist of all time" threads were buying guitars out of pawn shops, swapping with friends, taking apart strats and piecing together the best components, and playing them with whatever cables were around, and 5-for-a-dime picks. I just think things have gotten out of hand. If it's not marvels of modern musical technology, it's buying 50 year old capacitors, or brand new instruments that are "reliced" to have more "mojo." It's really just laughable at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstMeasure Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 I've had the best luck with $14 - $20 cables near the checkout at the Music Store. I have one braided cable that just keeps going and going. It still has very clear signal. I've replaced it a dozen time (maybe 5 really) but even the most expensive Monster Cable didn't Beat it. The Monsters Input Jack looked just like it sounds, A Monster. I felt the Huge ugly Black and Green (or was it red) rubber thing hanging off my Nighthawk or Strat detracted from it's natural beauty. I use a couple rubber Live Wires to go from my Pedals to my Amps. I have found that where the "higher quality" cables pay off is the shorter Patch Cables. Then I like Fender Electro-Volt, they seem to take a lot of punishment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepblue Posted May 16, 2009 Author Share Posted May 16, 2009 I tend to agree with you guys....Like Vai needs more endorsement money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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