Tips That Count

I think everyone understands that most all of the stuff on the Internet is an opinion, and unless otherwise noted, that is true here. That said, this piece has a single opinion that pertains to tools from Google, and the rest of the article is factual.

Google Search Now Includes a Guitar Tuner

If you use Google Search, and lots of folks (but not me) use it, Google has added a guitar tuner to their search feature. I have no idea how good it is because as noted, I do not use Google Search. For those who do, now you also have a guitar tuner and Google has more information about you to sell, such as how often you use their tool to tune your guitar and potentially how often you start off out of tune. If you don’t like all your search information being mined and sold, consider switching to a privacy oriented search engine such as DuckDuckGo.

Power Amps Need Load

I was in my local guitar shop a few weeks ago and due to proximity rather than interest, I overheard a fellow enthusing about the new amplifier head that he had just bought. The cabinet was due in a few days, but he wanted to take the head home and power it up to let it “break in”. The sales specialist’s face took on a look of horror. “Break” would be the key word. Never turn on a power amp without a load attached. Firing it up without a load, will cause damage to the amplifier and likely blow the output transformer. It also creates a voiding of the warranty. Repeating myself, NEVER turn on a power amp without a load attached. A load is most often a speaker cabinet, but could also be a load box, such as a Tone King Iron Man II, a Two Notes Torpedo or a UA Ox. I list these specifically because I have used every one of them and they are superb. Be cautious about a load box that looks too inexpensive. It may just be a big box of resistors, and those have been proven to be bad in multiple ways. So that Power Soak on Reverb for $50 is not what you actually want.

Speaker Cable vs Instrument Cable

Same event, same end user as in the above example. When the sales specialist noted that the customer’s new amplifier head and new cabinet did not include a cable, he asked how long a speaker cable the customer desired. Now my OPINION is that manufacturer’s of amp heads that need separate cabinets should be beaten about the head and neck if they do NOT include a basic speaker cable. Fact is, most don’t despite very high prices for the heads.

The customer said he was good for cables as he had a lot of cables at home. The specialist, let’s call him Rick, is a veteran of stage and studio configuration and has forgotten more than a lot of folks know. He politely asked if the customer was talking about instrument cables or speaker cables. The customer gave him a look that clearly said that the customer did not know that there is a difference. No slagging the customer, he is in the majority.

I have replaced all my old speaker cables with these, particularly on my high output old Marshall heads.

Instrument cables are built with a conductor carrying the signal and at least one, sometimes two shields (to reduce noise) inside some outer casing. The conductor itself is very thin (high gauge number) and has an electrical resistance relative to the gauge and the cable length. The higher the gauge and the longer the run, the higher the resistance. Speaker cables carry a lot of power, as they are connected to the output transformer of the amplifier and go to a significant load in the speaker cabinet. Speaker cables are much thicker in gauge (lower number) and are two conductor with NO shield. That’s a whole different kind of wire. The challenge for the casual user is that they usually cannot tell the difference to look at the cable. That’s why proper speaker cables are labeled SPEAKER.

If you use an Instrument cable to connect your amplifier head to your cabinet, you provide far less ability for the high power signal to move through the cable. At low output levels, the only visible impact is that the cable may get warm or hot. The invisible impact is ongoing hardship on the output transformer and the increased resistance may encourage you to turn the amp up more, increasing the damage. At high output levels, the cable can catch fire, and this has happened too often, and of course there is the high probability of blowing the output transformer.

If you are spending good money on a separate head and cabinet, or even using an extension cabinet on your combo amp, spend the money on proper speaker cable. I personally recommend cables that are clearly documented as being SPEAKER cables, right on the cable casing, right beside the 1/4” connector. My preferences come from Pig Hog. The quality is superb, the cost is reasonable and they are clearly labeled as speaker cables. You can also get them in appropriate lengths from 3 ft to 100 ft with either the very common 1/4” connector or the commercial Speakon connectors, used in professional PA systems.

Again, using an Instrument cable to connect a power amp to a speaker cabinet is a prescription for really bad stuff happening.

Choosing an Instrument Cable

I have seen a lot of otherwise intelligent folks get fished in by claims from instrument cable makers and sellers. Sometimes, the sellers are not well informed or believe the hype and BS from their distributor or the manufacturer.

An instrument cable is a simple thing in concept. It is an insulated single conductor cable, wrapped in at least one shield, which is then wrapped in some kind of outer casing. The graphic here, used courtesy of ehomerecordingstudio.com shows all the potential parts of an instrument cable. We refer to these cables as being “unbalanced”. Technically this means that the two conductors are made of different materials and that there are only two conductors, the primary conductor (the signal) and the secondary conductor (the shielding). Both are soldered to the connector. There may be additional shields as we see in the image and will explore later on.

The primary conductor is commonly copper wire. It can be a solid single wire, or multiple fine strands braided together. Single wire cores are prone to breakage. They don’t like being bent, twisted, trod upon or otherwise abused. A conductor of braided strands is an effective carrier of signal and handles the normal abuse of an instrument cable much better. So Rule One is that multiple fine strands braided together for the primary conductor is the right answer. This conductor will be wrapped in an insulating layer. The role of the insulator is to contain the current on the primary conductor from spilling out. You also want an insulator with a low dielectric coefficient to keep the effective capacitance of the cable as low as possible. Thermoplastics are very inexpensive and make excellent insulators. Rubber as an internal insulator has a much higher dielectric coefficient. Increased capacitance results in a loss of high frequencies

I’m probably a bit too nerdy for some, but I really like the metal wrapping on these armored cables. They also have material and rubber options.

The secondary conductor, that we call the shield is soldered to the casing or “ground” of the connector. It’s purpose is to protect the signal from interference from radio signals and other electromagnetic interference. Cheap cables use a foil shield. It’s passing adequate some of the time. There is a mid-grade shield called Serve Shielding but just as in your primary connector a braided shield is your best option.

Braiding in both cases increases the cost of the cable to some extent, but if you spent hundreds or thousands of dollars on your instruments and amplifiers a cheap cable is pretty stupid.

Better cables will also have Electrostatic Shielding. This is a separate shield that is not soldered anywhere and it’s purpose is to reduce noise when a cable is being handled while live. Crackling cables, cables that go “thump” when stepped on likely do not have any electrostatic shielding. It’s not mandatory but the cost increase is so nominal, why not spend the couple of extra bucks given what you spent on the gear already.

The outer casing is what protects the overall cable over time. You can find all manner of outer coverings and all manner of mickey mouse marketing on this. I have cables that I built some 45 years ago on proper instrument cable from a now defunct shop called The Power Station that still work a charm today. Cloth wraps are popular but abrade more quickly than a heavy rubber. They also are more inclined to twist into knots and to not lie flat, creating noise and a tripping hazard. While pretty coloured cables may actually be easier to see in a dark environment and are certainly popular right now, you may be long term better off with a cable using a durable and liquid resistant outer casing particularly if you are playing on a stage where there can be hostile elements. My personal choice these days for instrument cables are again from Pig Hog. I also use the instrument cables from Ernie Ball and find them to be excellent except for their tendency to twist and not lie flat. This could be an outcome of me coiling up my cables when not using them.

Cable length is typically limited in instrument cables to about 25 ft. This is because of the signal degradation that occurs as capacitance increases with cable length and the signal deterioration that comes from unbalanced cables. You can certainly get longer cables, but understand the limitations. Best plan is to use as short a cable as will suit, but no shorter. If you need a longer instrument cable, you need one built with better quality cable. Or it may be time to go to radio. And that’s an entirely different kettle of smelly fish.

The last part of this section is to discuss common instrument cable claims that are not backed up by science in any way.

Oxygen Free Copper / Linear Crystal Copper

The theory here is that this copper is more pure than regular copper and you will get better sound as a results. Sounds pretty. However no testing has ever proven this to be true.

Directional Copper

This theory says that a signal runs better in one direction on copper wire than in the other direction. The Laws of Physics tell us that this does not even qualify as a potential theory. It is complete and utter bullshit. For this reason alone, because they made this claim, I will never spend one nickel on anything from Evidence Audio. I received the full court press on this at a number of stores when these things first came out. I went to University for Physics and while I am not an Electrical Engineer, it smelled bad to me, so I consulted with the association of electrical engineers and they were 100% clear on this being BS.

Gold Conductors

The marketing here says that gold plated conductors deliver a better signal. Gold is an excellent conductor, but gold plating on steel does not improve the conducting of the steel. Thus the idea that gold plated connectors improves audio quality is complete crap. The potential advantage to gold plating is that over a long time, it is less likely to corrode than steel or chrome plating. If it comes on the cable, good, but do not pay a cent extra for this. It’s marketing foo foo dust.

Acoustic Guitar Cables vs Electric Guitar Cables

I’ve seen this load of bohunk recently. The output of an acoustic pickup, even from an acoustic guitar with a built in preamp is no different fundamentally than the output from an electric guitar whether pickups are active or passive. An instrument cable that suits your electric guitar well will suit your electrified acoustic guitar just as well.

Storing Long Cables

If you’ve ever rented gear, you’ve seen the signage about extra charges pending if you coil the rented cables inappropriately. The rental houses do this to extend the life of the cable. Less twisting is better, because it reduces breakage (even of those thin strands) and keeps the cables viable. Coil cables in hoops, as you see in the images above. Never wrap them using your hand and elbow as wrap edges as you might an extension cord. Use cheap wire ties to hold them together or buy a bag of velcro straps that are not black (black ones get lost fastest) from Amazon or wherever if you are so inclined.

Patch Cables

Whether you are using short cables to connect between effects, or to your DAW interface, all the same rules apply. Perhaps your DAW interface and your load box or amplifier supports balanced cables, in which case you should buy them. Most don’t so use the same quality cables as you would to go between your guitar and amplifier.

In Summary

As musicians we tend to buy the best instruments, pedals and amplifiers that we can. Cheap or the wrong cables are a fool’s errand as they are what carry the signal between the guitar and the amplifier. While I still say that the most important accessory is a tuner, quality cables always occupy the number two position. If you ignore the BS pieces and don’t fall for them, then generally you do get what you pay for in a cable. While I have chosen to recommend Pig Hog products in this article, please be assured that I do this because I have bought these products with my own money. I receive no compensation in any way for these recommendations, although there are days where that would be nice :D

Thanks for reading and until next time peace. Have a question on this or any other guitar subject? Click here to send me your questions.