Witmer Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Sancho Panza's thread about finding the best coil-style guitar cable made me wonder why people use them? I've only ever used straight cables, and have no idea what advantages the coil offers. Please educate me! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShredAstaire Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 I think one advantage is that they resist kinks....and don't get all twisted... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 I have a 1966 Fender curly cord. It is responsible for all of my righteous tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Neatness counts! Might also be better able to distinguish it from the spaghetti plate of patch cords strung about the stage floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icantbuyafender Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 i really like them. Ive only owned one though. They make tearing down a whole lot easier IMHO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shnate McDuanus Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 I've read in a buncha places that they're more resistant to tangling, as Shred pointed out (and as Evol pointed out on the other coily cable thread.) Also, they look friggin' cool. Showmanship counts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chase1410 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 I love my Lava Coily Cable...never pulls out of the output...never tightens up..and of course the glorious coily tone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVOL! Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 I think one advantage is that they resist kinks....and don't get all twisted... This is reason A#1: they don't get all tangled. I love the sound of my Mogami cable, but I spent so much time untangling it at rehearsals and shows. The Vox coil cables sound just as good and save you a lot of hassle if you move and jump around on stage as much as I do. Reason #2 is that they look retro cool, like you're Pete Townshend or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 guitarest nailed it, though. If I were to start gigging every weekend with a band, I'd go wireless. In the olden days of playing in a 60s rock band, I always used a coiley cord. Still use the old ones that are some 35 years old already. I have much, much better quality straight cords I use sometimes, depending on where I'm going. But the coileys are on my "rollaway" rig that has the cord going into a multi-effect box, then the shorter coiley into the amp, multi-plugin for electric stuff so I just have to plug one thingie into the wall, then the amp. If I take the Leslie emulator for an ensemble gig, straight cords from it, but the coiley from the guitar. The coileys were neat for playing some joints where you could actually play guitar and dance a bit at the same time. <grin> Ah, the olden days. <bigger grin> But again, were I to start gigging weekends doing stuff requiring stage movement, I'd go wireless nowadays. You can take the coiley opportunities too literally and damage either guitar or amp or the cord itself too easily... m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 I have an old coily cord from the 70's. I've fixed the ends on it about five times and it still works. I dont know if its my craptastic soldering skills or the cord itself, but it sounds, well, not nearly as good as my Planet Waves...or the cheapies in the sell-out bin. And after a certain amount of abuse, they do kink up. Some of the coils on mine are "out of round" you could say. It wasnt a cheap one either. Its pretty thick cable with about a 2" diameter on the coils. Our guitar player uses a coily cable that looks like a headphone extension cable . Actually. I wouldnt be surprised if it WAS a headphone extension. He's weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 I've been thinking about trying one too just because I am so bad about stepping all over my cords. Most of the complaints regarding their sound quality seem to be about treble roll off. That's not always a bad thing though. I need to find one with at least one right angle end though (I hate the straight ends going into my guitar). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryUK Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 We had them on telephones. Remember? I found they crackled a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Lash... Remember the ones on phones???? I've one right here on my office phone right now - all kinked up. <grin> m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryUK Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Milod. My point exactly. They're dreadful for knots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krock Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 I know that it helps not to pull it out of the amp, because you can feel the increase in tension Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Krock... If you're not 20 and dancing with a cute blonde held between you and your guitar while you're playing "I can't get no satisfaction," you can probably feel the increasing tension of the coiley cord. But... <grin> Not that I ever would have been 20 and doing such antics... And if I had been, I'm nowadays certainly too old to recall the experience of feeling additional pressure on the guitar cord... Or... Perhaps whoever it was who told me about the experience didn't remember feeling pressure on the guitar chord. Or... <chortle> m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Witmer Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 Krock... If you're not 20 and dancing with a cute blonde held between you and your guitar while you're playing "I can't get no satisfaction," you can probably feel the increasing tension of the coiley cord. But... <grin> Not that I ever would have been 20 and doing such antics... And if I had been, I'm nowadays certainly too old to recall the experience of feeling additional pressure on the guitar cord... Or... Perhaps whoever it was who told me about the experience didn't remember feeling pressure on the guitar chord. Or... <chortle> m :blink: This from our most senior, responsible member! Man, we ARE a rowdy bunch... \:D/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Witmer Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 Thanks for all the responses, guys. I think I'm gonna' add a coil-y to my wish-list. Now back to the other thread to find out which one I should add... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 I've been thinking about trying one too just because I am so bad about stepping all over my cords. Most of the complaints regarding their sound quality seem to be about treble roll off. That's not always a bad thing though. I need to find one with at least one right angle end though (I hate the straight ends going into my guitar). Vox has em Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lungimsam Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 I don't like them because it feels under constant tension, like I am being constantly pulled back by it - even when it is slack the weight of it pulls on me. That's the California coil I had once. So I stick to straight coils. Just a comfort thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Vox has em I see that. Looks like Bullet has a right angle plug too... and Lava. Also I see that Bullet now has a shorter one. With a pedal board a 10' is often plenty, but all the other coil cables are like 25'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krock Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Krock... If you're not 20 and dancing with a cute blonde held between you and your guitar while you're playing "I can't get no satisfaction," you can probably feel the increasing tension of the coiley cord. But... <grin> Not that I ever would have been 20 and doing such antics... And if I had been, I'm nowadays certainly too old to recall the experience of feeling additional pressure on the guitar cord... Or... Perhaps whoever it was who told me about the experience didn't remember feeling pressure on the guitar chord. Or... <chortle> m My sister saw your comment and asked if she could adopt you. Pleeeeeease Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstMeasure Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Coiled Cords without a lot of shielding are noisy and full of resistance. Coiled Cords with a lot of Sheilding are Heavy and have a lot of resistance. They only look "Cool", there's no real advantage to a coiled cord that I have found. They don't magically retract out of the way, quite the opposite, they wind up with big foot catching loops all over the stage. Then you can't feel the tension as they put on your gear, so you end up pulling your pedals or amp around. Cordless is the easiest way to go, but I haven't found a wireless set up that sounds as true as a straight, shielded, quality instrument cable. Plus you have to bring a supply of AA batts and risk powering down during a performance. We have a cordless mic in the band, that's enough of a cordless headache for me. Braided straight cables resist tangling better than any cable I've tried, they deliver your truest tone, and the lay flat on the stage making it easy to step right over them. Of course, the higher quality the cable the better it sounds and acts. Tsunami Cables are my favorite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilpanda Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 they look awesome when gigging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Guitarest... Hey, the sparks between me and the mike happened mostly with various old tube PAs in the era when there was no ground on anything, including PAs and amps. Whew! Krock... Uhhhh... I think at my age it'd work better if I adopted your sister instead of the other way around - and "adopted" as in grandchild. <grin> Alas... But she's more than welcome. The wonderful thing about music and musicians is that in many ways music and its performance can erase many differences among us. Does she sing? Play keyboards? <grin> Live on this side of the planet? <chortle> Seriously, say "Hi" for me. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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