Your guitar cables are an integral part of your rig. Not only are they needed for everything to work, they affect your tone in many different ways. Upgrading your cables is a bigger deal than many people think, and in this post I want to share with you some reasons why and where to get them at affordable prices.
A guitar cable is like the veins that move your tone from your guitar, through effects, and eventually to your amp and speakers. It's important that your cables are of high quality, but not so high end that you go broke trying to upgrade. The biggest problem that people run into while doing this is that they upgrade one cable and expect big results, but that won't happen unless you upgrade all of them, including the guitar pedal cables. It's like a chain that is only as strong as its weakest link, and if you have a few crappy cables in with the quality ones, you'll never reach the tone that you want.
The construction of the cables is what determines tone and price. High end cables have a core that's constructed from copper or silver, which are great at conducting your signal but very expensive. You want to avoid cheap alloys and nickel when shopping for your cables, as they are prone to interference and distortion. The cable's insulation is what prevents interference from outside sources (home wiring, power lines) from entering into the cable, keeping your sound purer.
If you want to find cables that are high quality, but affordable you should buy them online. Prices are much cheaper there. In order to determine which are the best for you, you should go to your local guitar store and try a bunch of them out (the salespeople will open them up for you) on a rig that is similar to what you normally play on. You'll be able to notice small differences between cables, and once you find the one that you really like go buy it online!
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Planet Waves Classic Series Instrument Cable, 10 feet List Price: Sale Price: $7.40  |
DescriptionOrdinary plug/jack connections can become unstable, resulting in annoying static and signal loss. Plus, many cables offer little protection at the soldering points, causing premature failure. Planet Waves cables have special compression springs that allow the plug to positively lock into the jack, elimination any annoying static... |
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Hosa GTR205R Guitar Cable 1 Right Angle 5 Ft List Price: Sale Price: $4.79 |
DescriptionHosa Guitar Cables are designed to provide years of dependable service. High-quality components and world-class manufacturing combine to deliver products of exceptional value. |
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Hosa GTR210 Guitar Cable 10 Ft Sale Price: $6.00 |
DescriptionHosa Guitar Cables are designed to provide years of dependable service. High-quality components and world-class manufacturing combine to deliver products of exceptional value. |
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Rotosound Curly Guitar Cable 20Ft List Price: Sale Price: $4.26 |
DescriptionLifetime Guarantee Leads and Cables |
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Hosa GTR215R Guitar Cable 1 Right Angle 15 Ft List Price: Sale Price: $10.29 |
DescriptionGuitar Cable ST - RA 15Ft |
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Planet Waves Classic Series Instrument Cable, Right Angle Plug , 20 feet List Price: Sale Price: $8.99 |
DescriptionFeaturing our exclusive In=Out™ technology, Planet Waves cables offer extremely low capacitance for pure signal transparency. Classic Series cables feature nickel-plated plugs, ultra-pure, oxygen-free copper conductors, dense shielding - virtually eliminates triboelectric (handling) noise, and molded strain relief for lifelong durability... |
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Hosa GTR205 Guitar Cable 5 Ft List Price: Sale Price: $5.39 |
DescriptionHosa Guitar Cables are designed to provide years of dependable service. High-quality components and world-class manufacturing combine to deliver products of exceptional value. |
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Monster S100-I-6 Standard 100 1/4-Inch Instrument Cable (6 Feet) List Price: Sale Price: $12.61 |
DescriptionMonster Standard 100 Instrument Cable is the first step into a world of flawlessly detailed guitar and bass sound. Precision windings and heavy gauge construction give your sound more presence, wider frequency response, and excellent dynamic range... |
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Planet Waves Classic Series Instrument Cable with Right Angle Plug, 0.5 feet (3-pack) List Price: Sale Price: $9.99 |
DescriptionFeaturing Planet Waves' exclusive In=Out technology, these patch cables from the Classic series offer extremely low capacitance for pure signal transparency. Planet Waves Classic cables feature nickel-plated plugs; ultra-pure, oxygen-free copper conductors; dense shielding that virtually eliminates triboelectric (handling) noise; and molded strain relief for ultimate durability... |
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Perfektion 10' Straight 1/4" Instrument Guitar Cable (10 Feet) List Price: Sale Price: $1.39 |
DescriptionA quality connection starts with a quality cable. Perfektion cables are affordable, entry-level cables that will have you making music on even the tightest of budgets!Professionally packaged in clear plastic bag with Perfektion header card... |
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