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Should I beef up the cable in my cabs?


gafbass02
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Well, Gilmour uses Evidence Audio, and I don't think he's quoted as an endorser by them, though I might be wrong on that.

His tech Phil Taylor told me they don't just freeze the instrument leads - they freeze everything in the chain, right back to the mains cables :)

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[quote name='KK Jale' post='1259692' date='Jun 7 2011, 01:59 PM']His tech Phil Taylor told me they don't just freeze the instrument leads - they freeze everything in the chain, right back to the mains cables :)[/quote]

Why stop there - why not also rewire and freeze the consumer unit, electricity meter, cables back to the substation, substation transformers, Grid cables, generator armature windings!

If you really want to go all the way for sonic purity you should also filter any water used for hydro-electric generation, and load the coal into the furnaces by hand so you don't get noise from the shovels.

You do of course get faster bass and more authority and slam from electricity that's nuclear-generated.

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[quote name='KK Jale' post='1259692' date='Jun 7 2011, 01:59 PM']....His tech Phil Taylor told me they don't just freeze the instrument leads - they freeze everything in the chain, right back to the mains cables....[/quote]
Phil reckons in the studio when they play back the tapes from a gig they can hear the difference between Gilmore using a frozen cable and an unfrozen one! These guys are operating in an environment way above the level of my Duck Dunn impersonations, so who am I to contradict them.

Personally I've got to a level where better gear won't make me sound any better, but others might be able to go further.

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I'd believe it if it wasn't for the fact that scientific blind tests always fail to prove cable snake oil works... I think you'd get better satisfaction from such cable shenanigans by being hynotised to believe your cables have been cryogenically treated rather than actually messing around freezing them!

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[quote name='NJW' post='1259795' date='Jun 7 2011, 03:19 PM']Are those cables time aligned so that the bass and treble arrives at the same time? :)[/quote]
Actually, copper and other cable materials are a dispersive medium to electromagnetic waves -- waves of differing frequencies will have a different propagation speed.

However, it only makes a difference over great distances (several to many miles) -- one of the reasons why the landline telephone system is so bandwidth limited, in fact.

(You may have already known this. I couldn't tell from your post.)

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[quote name='alexclaber' post='1259771' date='Jun 7 2011, 03:00 PM']....I'd believe it if it wasn't for the fact that scientific blind tests always fail to prove cable snake oil works....[/quote]
That may be true and I don't know either way, but as these guys are far more successful in their business than the whole of BC put together I'm not going to slag them off either.

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[quote name='chris_b' post='1259854' date='Jun 7 2011, 04:06 PM']That may be true and I don't know either way, but as these guys are far more successful in their business than the whole of BC put together I'm not going to slag them off either.[/quote]

I can say without fear of contradiction [ALL: OH NO YOU CAN'T!] that Dave Gilmour would have been just as successful had he used cryo cable, ordinary cable or rusty barbed wire.

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[quote name='bremen' post='1259859' date='Jun 7 2011, 04:10 PM']....I can say without fear of contradiction [ALL: OH NO YOU CAN'T!] that Dave Gilmour would have been just as successful had he used cryo cable, ordinary cable or rusty barbed wire....[/quote]
Carry on without me.......

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[quote name='bremen' post='1259702' date='Jun 7 2011, 02:09 PM']You do of course get faster bass and more authority and slam from electricity that's nuclear-generated.[/quote]

Why am I only finding this out now!?
Does obbm do nuclear electricity? Should I rewire my cabs with it?

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[quote name='gafbass02' post='1260251' date='Jun 7 2011, 08:47 PM']Why am I only finding this out now!?
Does obbm do nuclear electricity? Should I rewire my cabs with it?[/quote]
Why do you think he uses Neutrik jacks? :)

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[quote name='bremen' post='1259859' date='Jun 7 2011, 04:10 PM']I can say without fear of contradiction [ALL: OH NO YOU CAN'T!] that Dave Gilmour would have been just as successful had he used cryo cable, ordinary cable or rusty barbed wire.[/quote]


Except David Gilmour's best recordings most likely didn't use any of that cryogenically frozen BS, so history would tell us that he has actually been far less successful when using it.

Listening to some of his solo albums it sounds like they froze his musical ability too....

Edited by lemmywinks
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[quote name='Alec' post='1259604' date='Jun 7 2011, 12:59 PM']And, as we've said so many times before, the main benefits of decent cable are resilience & flexibility. The main benefits of decent connectors are reliability, strength, and ease of termination. The Neutrik/VDC combination hits this target head on. Other quality cables/connectors can also fine, but by following certain brands, you know it's going to be OK.[/quote]

Slightly tangential but my guitarist doesn't like the sound of my Neutrik/VDC cables. They have less top end than his cable of choice. (Dunno what that is.) They also have less top than my Planet Waves cable. I however prefer them for that same reason.

(Am I about to get lambasted now?)

:)

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[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1260367' date='Jun 7 2011, 10:01 PM']Except David Gilmour's best recordings most likely didn't use any of that cryogenically frozen BS, so history would tell us that he has actually been far less successful when using it.

Listening to some of his solo albums it sounds like they froze his musical ability too....[/quote]
I can only agree. The Legend that is Dave should maybe spend less time freezing his cables and more time writing better songs than he has been.

Incidentally, most of his last CD was recorded in the wrong key, so they had to digitally change the pitch of the majority of the tracks. I'm not surprised it sounds so lifeless.

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[quote name='paul h' post='1260419' date='Jun 7 2011, 10:24 PM']Slightly tangential but my guitarist doesn't like the sound of my Neutrik/VDC cables. They have less top end than his cable of choice. (Dunno what that is.) They also have less top than my Planet Waves cable. I however prefer them for that same reason.

(Am I about to get lambasted now?)

:lol:[/quote]

I couldnt be in a band with that guy! :) you should make him do a blind test IMO and from another thread I am now equipped with a hat made from tortillia so bring it on :)

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[quote name='paul h' post='1260419' date='Jun 7 2011, 10:24 PM'](Am I about to get lambasted now?)[/quote]
Basting lamb is good, particularly in fan ovens. As for cables, I seem to recall certain 60's guitar gods using the long coily items without complaint:



[size=1]Gilmour: "Note to self - must cryogenically freeze this cable sometime."[/size]

Edited by skankdelvar
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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1260490' date='Jun 7 2011, 11:06 PM']I couldnt be in a band with that guy! :) you should make him do a blind test IMO and from another thread I am now equipped with a hat made from tortillia so bring it on :lol:[/quote]

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1260983' date='Jun 8 2011, 11:33 AM']:)[/quote]

We A/B'd some cables together a couple of rehearsals ago. He's right. The difference in tone is very similar to the difference between new/old strings.

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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1260490' date='Jun 7 2011, 11:06 PM']you should make him do a blind test IMO[/quote]

I very nearly made myself do a blind test when I got my first Monster Bass cable.. I only ordered it to get into the free shipping band from Thomann, but I swear there's an audible difference in overall clarity compared to the Sommer / Cordial / Klotz stuff that I was using at the time. Now I use a L6 Relay system and don't own a hat, so it doesn't really matter :)

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[quote name='paul h' post='1261040' date='Jun 8 2011, 12:07 PM']We A/B'd some cables together a couple of rehearsals ago. He's right. The difference in tone is very similar to the difference between new/old strings.[/quote]


The only real way to tell is to do a blind test with every other factor being a constant.
Funnily enough whenever this happens nobody can tell the difference!

Incidentally i changed to obbm and home made (same components) cables a while ago and didn't really notice much difference. If my PW cables hadn't become unreliable then i wouldn't have got rid.
Maybe your VD/Neutrik cables need looking at?

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[quote name='paul h' post='1260419' date='Jun 7 2011, 05:24 PM']Slightly tangential but my guitarist doesn't like the sound of my Neutrik/VDC cables. They have less top end than his cable of choice.[/quote]Cables with excessive capacitance roll off highs. An engineer would call them defective; Monster calls them Bass Cables and charges a premium price. There's almost no correlation between cost and capacitance.
[quote]They also have less top than my Planet Waves cable. I however prefer them for that same reason.[/quote]All you gain with high capacitance cables is a lower signal to noise ratio; that's not a plus. Want less highs? Turn down the high EQ on your amp, that's what it's there for, and so doing increases the signal to noise ratio.
[quote]As for cables, I seem to recall certain 60's guitar gods using the long coily items without complaint:[/quote]They had gosh awful capacitance, and rolled off highs horribly. We used them anyway, being less than knowledgeable about what capacitance was, and just accepted the loss of highs for the convenience.

Edited by Bill Fitzmaurice
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[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' post='1261123' date='Jun 8 2011, 01:06 PM']They had gosh awful capacitance, and rolled off highs horribly. We used them anyway, being less than knowledgeable about what capacitance was, and just accepted the loss of highs for the convenience.[/quote]


All the same i used to love my yellow curly cable, i bought is because Devo used to use them and i thought they looked ace!

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