# Mogami cables...yay, nay?



## evil toki (Jun 23, 2010)

I'm about to drop 500 on Mogami gold and platinum cables for my rig. Good idea?


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## MaxOfMetal (Jun 23, 2010)

There's nothing special about expensive cables other than the price tag. You're much better off getting some cheaper, yet solid cables from other makers as far as money goes. 

If you need a bunch of cabling you'd be much better off buying a spool of quality cable, and some connectors to make yourself some quality custom cabling.

Instrument Cable:
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item...0HAMS0000&utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=feed&

Connectors:
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-SWI-226
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-NEU-228
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-NEU-228
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-NEU-NP2CBAG
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-NEU-NP3CBAG
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-CBI-C184
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-NEU-NP2RX-LIST

Speaker Cable:
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-CBI-SC14SPL250-LIST

Cutters:
http://accessories.musiciansfriend....es-Cable-Station-Mini-Cable-Cutter?sku=339115

Testers:
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-BEH-CT100
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-RLL-CT1


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## trenolds39 (Jun 23, 2010)

I would personally go with Canare. I've bought both Mogami and Canare cables from Lava Cables, and I prefer the Canare a bit more.

Here's a link: Lava Cable - Canare

I think you'll save a bit more money going through them rather than someone like MF or AMS because they make the cables themselves. 

Hopefully this helps.


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## evil toki (Jun 23, 2010)

Hmmm, Canare huh? I like those. More options too.


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## 7slinger (Jun 23, 2010)

buying the cable and connectors separate you'll save 2/3s the cost over premade cables and you can make them any size you want...you just need to do some soldering


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## technomancer (Jun 23, 2010)

Having used both Mogami and cheap cables I can tell you 100% that there is a difference. I live near several radio transmitters, and with cheap cables I was listening to classic rock. Switched to Mogami and now I hear my guitar and nothing else. DEFINITELY less susceptible to radio interference. I have some Canare cables as well. Both are high quality. 

I've dealt with Lava Cable because quite frankly my time is more valuable than the extra cost to just buy the damn cables from them. Keep in mind though that he makes the cables when you order, so it'll be from a couple days to weeks before they ship depending on how busy he is.


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## MaxOfMetal (Jun 23, 2010)

technomancer said:


> Having used both Mogami and cheap cables I can tell you 100% that there is a difference. I live near several radio transmitters, and with cheap cables I was listening to classic rock. Switched to Mogami and now I hear my guitar and nothing else. DEFINITELY less susceptible to radio interference. I have some Canare cables as well. Both are high quality.
> 
> I've dealt with Lava Cable because quite frankly my time is more valuable than the extra cost to just buy the damn cables from them. Keep in mind though that he makes the cables when you order, so it'll be from a couple days to weeks before they ship depending on how busy he is.



Though, that has more to do with the _shielding_ of the cables, then the quality of the conductor and connectors.


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## IamIan (Jun 23, 2010)

+1 for Canare and Lava Cable. 

I used to do retail and sold both Lava Cable and Mogami. 

If you don't mind making the cables get Canare Gs-6. You can get higher quality cable, but it'll cost you a lot more. If you're really big on those platinum cables just look up the Neutrik silent plug, but only get one for each cable and have the other another type as it's pointless to have the circuit breaker on both ends.


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## evil toki (Jun 24, 2010)

Ok wait, so when I scroll down and it has plug option and cable length, you're telling me a 25 foot cord is 12 bucks I just gotta put it together? I add it to my cart and in the options it lists 1/4 to 1/4 for plug option and 25' for cable length. Do those premade ones have different connectors? That site is confusing...


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## drenzium (Jun 24, 2010)

Lava cable is where it's at. Noticeable reduction is overall noise and hum when i overhauled my rig with them. For my longer cables i use Planet Waves and they have never failed me ever.


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## eaeolian (Jun 24, 2010)

I'm going to pimp for George L's. Capacitance is the issue with tonesucking in cables, and the George L's has the best ease of use to low capacitance ratio of anything mentioned, since there's no soldering involved.


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## technomancer (Jun 24, 2010)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Though, that has more to do with the _shielding_ of the cables, then the quality of the conductor and connectors.



Which would still be part of the cable construction, would it not


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## Benzesp (Jun 24, 2010)

eaeolian said:


> I'm going to pimp for George L's. Capacitance is the issue with tonesucking in cables, and the George L's has the best ease of use to low capacitance ratio of anything mentioned, since there's no soldering involved.



I agree, I did my whole Mini Fridge rack back in the day with George L's and there was a huge drop in noise\Hum. If your not using a rack set up I'd go with something more robust like Neutrik/Mogami for long leads out to your pedal board and guitar.


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## PnKnG (Jun 24, 2010)

A good video just on over all information regarding cables:


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## jllozano (Jun 25, 2010)

Don't let people saying that cables don't matter turn you off when getting nice cables .....I would personally get bulk evidence audio Lyric HG, neutrik plugs(the nice,fat ones) heck even nice solder matters....some people might laugh but having done comparisons in these fields for a long time i can attest to what i am saying as truth....


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## MTech (Jun 25, 2010)

Spectraflex will give you the same if not better quality for a lot less and add to it the pretty much best durability of any cable out there plus the fact that they're made completely in house in the USA and have a Lifetime Warranty. 
Spectraflex Online // The Original Braided Cable //


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## mrhankey87 (Jun 26, 2010)

mogami, canare, vovox, elixir and cordial are the best I've tried and compared and YES, there's definitely a difference.


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## victim5150 (Jun 26, 2010)

I use Mogami for all my connections to and from my amp and pedalboard. I think they're great.


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## sevenstringj (Jun 26, 2010)

How do the Planet Waves DIY cables compare to the ones mentioned so far?


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## MTech (Jun 28, 2010)

^extremely cheap foreign cables.


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## El Caco (Jun 28, 2010)

technomancer said:


> Having used both Mogami and cheap cables I can tell you 100% that there is a difference. I live near several radio transmitters, and with cheap cables I was listening to classic rock. Switched to Mogami and now I hear my guitar and nothing else. DEFINITELY less susceptible to radio interference. I have some Canare cables as well. Both are high quality.
> 
> I've dealt with Lava Cable because quite frankly my time is more valuable than the extra cost to just buy the damn cables from them. Keep in mind though that he makes the cables when you order, so it'll be from a couple days to weeks before they ship depending on how busy he is.



There is also a difference between regular Mogami cables and Mogami Platinum or Mogami Gold cables, they are all well shielded but the regular Mogami cables are a bit darker which rock/metal guys tend to like. Canare and Mogami are very similar and I seriously doubt even someone with "golden" ears would hear a difference. Planet Waves Cable station cable is among the lowest capacitance cable on the market and they are not ridiculously priced, I love them but I recommend against getting the ends with the switch as they fail, they have a lifetime warranty but taking them back to the shop repeatedly to replace gets old and the last time I took mine to be replaced I was asked nicely to stop using my switch  EDIT: I'll just add that if you make your own Mogami cables you generally buy W2524 which is the same as Mogami Gold, what I wrote above seems to give a different impression.

However I personally think ultra expensive cables are a big waste of money for electric guitar, the difference cables make is so small that a small turn of a knob on your amp will give you the same result and far beyond. I can sort of understand a guy being anal about cables with an acoustic but with an electric your tone is the sum of all the parts, guitar, pups, amp, FX, speaker and the cable has such a small impact that it is irrelevant unless you really skimp and get shit cables. My rule of thumb is avoid the no name budget ones (they suck tone, they fail and they get microphonic) and use the money I save by not buying overpriced cables to buy other gear I like that has a greater impact on my tone.


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## Harry (Jun 28, 2010)

I basically just buy any cables that I can tell are high quality, but not ridiculously expensive.
I currently use Coreone X2 cables for recording stuff, and these go for a little under 100 AUD (I think I paid 80 AUD for mine at a sale, I can't remember).
I'm not convinced spending anymore than that will give me any real benefit, but I can notice a dramatic difference between the X2 cable and the cheapo no name shitty ones.


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## Andromalia (Jun 28, 2010)

I have personally been going with Fender cables mostly for years now. Not on the cheap side, but I never had to replace them. Think of it as a one-off investment.


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## Soopahmahn (Jun 28, 2010)

Cables should not make your guitar sound better. They should simply be out of the way. Premium cables can be:


Easier to use (flexible jacket, durable plugs)
Better constructed, grounded and shielded (for noise and durability)
Come with a good warranty
Past that, any sonic "improvements" you hear will be "differences", not actual improvements. They might have more treble, for example, due to constructions and material choices - but this is not "correct". It might actually just be more distortion in the upper frequencies and harmonics due to what is, in effect, a _crappy _design, but maybe it gives the sound an "edge" which may be preferable. If you prefer that sonic signature and wish to pay for it, go for it. But I'm with s7eve who said that these differences are both minute and probably achievable elsewhere in your signal chain (i.e. in the previous example, turn up the treble a quarter click ).

Just go with whatever you find to be high quality and within your budget. Don't get sucked into the cable snake oil that is being cross-marketed from the hi-fi camp.


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## Ben.Last (Jun 28, 2010)

Man, the purchasing pages on Lava Cable are kind of confusing.


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## eaeolian (Jun 28, 2010)

Soopahmahn said:


> Cables should not make your guitar sound better. They should simply be out of the way. Premium cables can be:
> 
> 
> Easier to use (flexible jacket, durable plugs)
> ...



I will argue *slightly* with that - for longer cable runs, low capacitance is key for keeping the high end intact. It's the single reason I use George L's - a 40' cable sounds like a 5', because the cable capacitance isn't sucking out the high end. 

Otherwise, I agree - a lot of the cable marketing crap out there is complete snake oil. :grumble:


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