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Monster cables

GLPS@35

By GLPS@35
in The Gibson Lounge

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RichCI

RichCI

Posted
Posted

I can't give you a clear cut answer, but I'll relate my experience.

 

Back when I bought my main amp and speaker cabinet, the store through in a cheap, no-name speaker cable to go with it and all was well. A year or two later, I decided to buy a Monster speaker cable to at least see what all the fuss was about. There was an appreciable increase in low end - not a ton, but enough that I thought the money spent was worth it for the extra sonic boom.

 

So, yeah, you'll probably hear a difference but whether you like the difference or not is a matter of your own personal tastes.

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Silenced Fred

Silenced Fred

Posted
Posted
Worth the extra money? NO

 

Difference in sound? Depends on what cables you are using right now. If you are using $2 wires then it will make a difference.

 

 

Anyway' date=' I preffer DiMarzio cables, and of course, if you want to go with the best, George Ls.[/quote']

 

+1

 

I like DiMarzios as well, but mine keep getting tangled. IDK why....

 

I have two sets of Monster Cables and a DiMarzio. When I play out, I use DiMarzio. 'nuff said

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pete c

pete c

Posted
Posted

ive tried tons of cables, all i will buy now is monster cables. if you get the lower end monsters there a little better. but when you get into the the higher end ones there is a difference. but spending the cash is the hard part. its like every thing else you get what you pay for.

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RichCI

RichCI

Posted
Posted

I agree, bonfire, however, I'll spend only so much on certain cables. I had no problem dropping extra money on the speaker cable because it takes very little abuse since it's just a three footer that runs from the back of the amp to the speaker cabinet. With the cable from my guitar to my pedals and from the pedals to the amp, I still buy good cables, but I won't pay TOO much for them since they get twisted up and stepped on which makes them more likely to break. Patch cables between the pedals I'll spend good money on though.

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pohatu771

pohatu771

Posted
Posted

I won't use anything from Monster Cables due to their "sue everyone with Monster in the name even if they existed first" attitude.

 

That said, there differences are negligible.

 

This article actually deals with it... there are others demonstrating their less-than-friendly nature.

 

http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/03/audiophiles-cant-tell-the-difference-between-monster-cable-and/

 

http://hd.engadget.com/2007/12/17/hdmi-cable-scam-used-to-fool-in-store-customers/

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Shnate McDuanus

Shnate McDuanus

Posted
Posted

I use Monster Cables because Slash uses them. :- [lol]

 

No. I have one Monster Cable that I bought because it was marked down and because it was recommended, and one Whirlwind with an angled jack because I thought an angled jack would be useful. I haven't heard a particularly audible difference between the two, but I think that this is more due to the amp being very unresponsive and, I'm willing to admit, lousy. I will say that the angled jack doesn't do much for me one way or the other--it's more like it's just there. Cables would make more of a difference if my equipment was more sensitive and if I had more in my signal path. I get the fuss over cables, but it doesn't affect me much yet.

 

A new amp doesn't seem too likely for me for a good long while...what with me losing my job and everything...

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Blackie

Blackie

Posted
Posted

heck I have been known to hack up an extension cord for ac applications and tape it up to some chopped off ends of 1/4 inch jacks...........

Really the shielding is important but the durability of the connectors is more critical and is where cheap cables will fail.

So it is a good investment in applications that require heavy use.

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milod

milod

Posted
Posted

Well...

 

I tend to use antiques which is, of course, rather fitting given the age of the player and instruments. <grin>

 

But I got a monster a few years ago and wasn't terribly impressed.

 

Early this year I got one of the new high-end Elixir cables (full disclosure: I was an Elixir test subject) and was pretty impressed not so much with the sound but more the way it handled when you're running between home and gig and switching this 'n' that around. It just plain doesn't kink even when I tried to make it do so. It also seems as if I could get away with running people and equipment over the top of it without apparent short-term damage.

 

So... I dunno. I think my inability to hear much sound difference among my old "slinky" stretchy cords, Monster and some other brands, and the new Elixir may have as much to do with how and what I play through what equipment. I add a multi-effect machine to thicken the trebles and mids a bit since I use 42-9 strings on my electrics. Even a bit lighter on the old "board" guitar. Then it goes mostly through a solid state amp.

 

m

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Riffster

Riffster

Posted
Posted

After construction and duarbility cables do make a discernible difference in sound, just depends on what you are comparing. I do not have expreience with Monster but...

 

I have Fender Vintage Volt, Fender Premium, Planet Waves and Mogami and they all have different sounds, easy to differentiate.

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RichCI

RichCI

Posted
Posted

Excerpt from an interview with Cesar Diaz, Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitar tech and general electronic wizard:

 

So to sum it up, the Strat pickups of the mid to late 60’s were of lower resistance – weaker – and because of that they sounded better when combined with certain gain-boosting effects…

 

Yeah, it made them clearer and more appropriate for being used with a lot of different effects. Lenny Kravitz was the opening act for a lot of the Dylan dates when I was on the tour, and I really took him under my wing. I was the only one that didn’t call him… you know, the word... In the Dylan camp, everyone is very prejudiced – it’s very tough to be around those people. Anyway, I sent messages to both Lenny Kravitz and Eric Johnson that part of the secret to getting great tone was using weaker pickups and coil cables. The coil cables add a lot of capacitance and inductance to your signal chain, therefore, when you’re playing through a Marshall, you’re cutting back on the high frequencies. When we were doing the In Step album with Stevie, I had an endorsement with Monster Cables. They would send me all of this free stuff and I was very excited because I could manage these things for a guy like Stevie, who really didn’t even know how to wash dishes. All he knew how to do was play the guitar, but God bless him for that, because he really did something with what he knew. Anyway, I took these cables we got to Stevie and he said, “I hate these things.” I asked him, “Why, man, they’re the best cables in the world?” He said, “They pass to much electricity.” Those were his exact words, and I’ll never forget it as long as I live. “They pass too much electricity.”

 

They were too efficient…

 

Yeah, so he sent me out to the local Radio Shack and told me to buy every gray coil cord they had – not the black ones, only the gray ones.[/b] And I thought, “Hhmm, this freakin’ hick from Dallas is telling me this?” I got them and ran them through my capacitance meter and found out that they added like almost .05 mfd to the signal chain. That made it sound solid – it was like having a tone control, and the brightness and harshness that the Marshalls had was eliminated. There isn’t a single picture of Hendrix… back then they already had high-end cables, but there isn’t a single picture of Hendrix where you see him playing with a straight cable. Why? This is something I brought up to Eric Johnson – whether he heard me or not I don’t know, but it could be the second coming of coil cables.

 

Source: http://www.tonequest.com/ray.htm

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Riffster

Riffster

Posted
Posted

Ha, that is funny.

 

When I bought my Mogami gold cable the highs where increased noticeably, I did not care for that right away but I knew that it was time to re-learn to tweak my guitar/amplifier settings with the new cable.

 

It worked out, in the end I rather have the ability to cut some high end if desired than not being able to get those high end frequencies when I want to. Now that I am recording clips I see that I need those highs to get better results.

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Riffster

Riffster

Posted
Posted

I do have a soundclick account Shaun, just opened one last week when I got my Line 6 UX1 and Shure SM57.

 

I am a complete newbie on recording so I in the last week I have spent more time tweaking software and trying to dial in tones I like more than anything else.

 

I am not a stellar player (like yourself), I am a newbie but I am just having fun trying to put my guitar thoughts on MP3 form.

 

Coincidentally I was listening to your soundclick this morning. I will post a few clips once I am satisfied with the myself.

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Lowdown

Lowdown

Posted
Posted
I do have a soundclick account Shaun' date=' just opened one last week when I got my Line 6 UX1 and Shure SM57.

 

I am a complete newbie on recording so I in the last week I have spent more time tweaking software and trying to dial in tones I like more than anything else.

 

I am not a stellar player (like yourself), I am a newbie but I am just having fun trying to put my guitar thoughts on MP3 form.

 

Coincidentally I was listening to your soundclick this morning. I will post a few clips once I am satisfied with the myself.[/quote']

 

Sounds great to my wingnuts mate.:-

 

Keep at it. It's all fun.

Read up,ask questions and check out THIS and THIS.

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