ABOUT CABLES:
Many guitarists have spend a fortune (and a marriage) to classic guitars, cool hand made amps and hip custom pedals and still has "El Cheapo" cables between these treasures. Do you think it´s part of the game to have the hiss and snap, crackle and pop when you play? Is it OK to have some cable problems on your gig; bad connections and loud noise when ever you move?
True story: I visited this shop and demoed an amp there and there was this terrible noise and it was not coming from my Koch amp, that´s for sure. The shop owner told "We have this bad electricity here, it makes the noise" Well I had not heard that kind of electricity before and brought my Spectraflex cables from my car and suddenly the electricity started to behave itself!! The amp sounded clear and focused and I closed a deal on the amp and the cables!! You don´t need golden ears or Eric Johnson to hear the tonal differences of cables, they are so obvious. Every cable has it´s sound, just choose yours as careful as your guitar or strings (you care what strings you use, don´t you ?)
Capacitance:
The two conductors on the guitar cable are so close to each other that they act as a small condenser and shunt down the higher frequencies. The higher the capacitance of the cable is and the longer it is the more you loose your high end. You also get some phase shift because on the high capacitance cable the higher frequencies travel slower than the lows and you loose some clarity and focus from your valuable tone.
The capacitance problem is worst with high impedance output passive pickups into high impedance input amp, like the classic Strat / Les Paul to Tube Amp setup. If you have pedals with low impedance buffered output, then the cables after that don´t affect much to your tone, but still these should be good quality not to cause other problems. If you use true by pass pedals, you must have only high quality cables before and after the pedals.
Handling noise:
The mechanical and handling noises are clear when you play with high gain. The pops and crackles are caused by the conductors being pressed closer and further and changing the capacitance inside the cable. Cables with better insulation between conductors, (like Spectraflex) the distance between conductors maintain constant when the cable is being bended or stressed and there is no noise.
Feedback:
When you play really loud in front of amps the cable can cause microphonic feedback. With very good isolation you can get rid of this problem, Spectraflexin Fatso-Flex has three extra nylon layers and guys who play loud like Pantera´s Dimebag Darrell uses one.
Mechanical durability:
Even the best sounding cable is no good if it can´t take the years on the road. It have to stand the PA cabinets, falling cymbal´s and heavy cowboy boots gig after gig. There must be good connectors, long strain relief, good isolation between the center conductor and shield, heavy outer jacket. All the cables that survived the Guitar Player 9/97 strength test had heavy duty nylon jackets, there were Spectraflex cables and few copies.
Handling:
The cable should stay flexible and elastic and not to get entangled. The cables with rubber jackets cling everywhere, cloths, floor, microphone stands, pedalboard... Some black cables deposit gooey black residue to your 1966 Olympic White Strat and rub it with all the sand they have collected from the stage and your "oh so clean" rehearsal room. Tight braided, slippery and dirt despise nylon jacket cables like Spectraflex don´t have any of these problems.
Outlook:
The guitarist who says he don´t care how his gear looks can throw the first Stone Fuzz. Spectraflex comes with over 100.000 colors from tweed to psychedelic color combinations. And the dirt despise nylon jacket stays sharp gig after gig. It´s easy to identify your cable from the unique color and if you have to use many cables like with microphone or RCA cables you don´t have to mark the cables with tape and numbers, you see it from the color what goes where.
Many guitarists have spend a fortune (and a marriage) to classic guitars, cool hand made amps and hip custom pedals and still has "El Cheapo" cables between these treasures. Do you think it´s part of the game to have the hiss and snap, crackle and pop when you play? Is it OK to have some cable problems on your gig; bad connections and loud noise when ever you move?
True story: I visited this shop and demoed an amp there and there was this terrible noise and it was not coming from my Koch amp, that´s for sure. The shop owner told "We have this bad electricity here, it makes the noise" Well I had not heard that kind of electricity before and brought my Spectraflex cables from my car and suddenly the electricity started to behave itself!! The amp sounded clear and focused and I closed a deal on the amp and the cables!! You don´t need golden ears or Eric Johnson to hear the tonal differences of cables, they are so obvious. Every cable has it´s sound, just choose yours as careful as your guitar or strings (you care what strings you use, don´t you ?)
Capacitance:
The two conductors on the guitar cable are so close to each other that they act as a small condenser and shunt down the higher frequencies. The higher the capacitance of the cable is and the longer it is the more you loose your high end. You also get some phase shift because on the high capacitance cable the higher frequencies travel slower than the lows and you loose some clarity and focus from your valuable tone.
The capacitance problem is worst with high impedance output passive pickups into high impedance input amp, like the classic Strat / Les Paul to Tube Amp setup. If you have pedals with low impedance buffered output, then the cables after that don´t affect much to your tone, but still these should be good quality not to cause other problems. If you use true by pass pedals, you must have only high quality cables before and after the pedals.
Handling noise:
The mechanical and handling noises are clear when you play with high gain. The pops and crackles are caused by the conductors being pressed closer and further and changing the capacitance inside the cable. Cables with better insulation between conductors, (like Spectraflex) the distance between conductors maintain constant when the cable is being bended or stressed and there is no noise.
Feedback:
When you play really loud in front of amps the cable can cause microphonic feedback. With very good isolation you can get rid of this problem, Spectraflexin Fatso-Flex has three extra nylon layers and guys who play loud like Pantera´s Dimebag Darrell uses one.
Mechanical durability:
Even the best sounding cable is no good if it can´t take the years on the road. It have to stand the PA cabinets, falling cymbal´s and heavy cowboy boots gig after gig. There must be good connectors, long strain relief, good isolation between the center conductor and shield, heavy outer jacket. All the cables that survived the Guitar Player 9/97 strength test had heavy duty nylon jackets, there were Spectraflex cables and few copies.
Handling:
The cable should stay flexible and elastic and not to get entangled. The cables with rubber jackets cling everywhere, cloths, floor, microphone stands, pedalboard... Some black cables deposit gooey black residue to your 1966 Olympic White Strat and rub it with all the sand they have collected from the stage and your "oh so clean" rehearsal room. Tight braided, slippery and dirt despise nylon jacket cables like Spectraflex don´t have any of these problems.
Outlook:
The guitarist who says he don´t care how his gear looks can throw the first Stone Fuzz. Spectraflex comes with over 100.000 colors from tweed to psychedelic color combinations. And the dirt despise nylon jacket stays sharp gig after gig. It´s easy to identify your cable from the unique color and if you have to use many cables like with microphone or RCA cables you don´t have to mark the cables with tape and numbers, you see it from the color what goes where.
