Your lead and amp are the most important part of your signal chain

[Chienmortbb]

For cables, as Bill says low resistance, low capacitance is best and both increase with increasing length. The brsnds Bill mentions are great but add Sommer and Klotz to those in Europe.

Connectors? In my opinion Neutrik and some Switchcraft Jack plugs. You will set Rean advertised as Neutrik but they are not the same quality. Your rig is part of your instrument, without it you don't have a sound. However like your bass, it is a personal choice. I know some people say your rig is only an onstage monitor and your sound is through the FOH but that FOH is not always there and your rig is.

[Tdw]

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1444074016' post='2880130']
As short as possible with the lowest capacitance you can find and 100% shielding. There are capacitance specs available from various wire manufacturers, like Belden, Canare and Mogami.
[/quote]
Thanks for the info.

[Conan]

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1444067106' post='2880030']
You can have the most expensive cable, bass, amp and cab known to man. But if yer drummers sh*t, you'll sound sh*t too.
[/quote]

There is no longer a need for Basschat

[Dan Dare]

I like the Snake Oil brand of cables. Expensive, but worth it. Come in a hand crafted wooden box, made from endangered rain forest trees and a guarantee that I'll play better and women will hurl themselves at my feet. Is it time for my medication yet, doctor?

[Count Bassy]

[quote name='Jonnyboy Rotten' timestamp='1444040066' post='2879603']
If your cable is making a difference to your tone - it's faulty!
[/quote]

My cable makes a difference to the tone: With the cable it sounds quite good. Without the cable it sounds really quiet.

Edited October 13, 2015 by Count Bassy

[Jonnyboy Rotten]

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1444770145' post='2885944']
My cable makes a difference to the tone: With the cable it sounds quite good. Without the cable it sounds really quiet.
[/quote]

I wondered what I was doing wrong. All my basses and cabs sounded the same until I tried a cable to join them together.

[ahpook]

Given that the 'tone' comes from an changing electrical field across the terminals of the output jack, and that changes as soon as the jack is plugged in...

...I prefer the sound of an unplugged bass.

That's pure tone, right there.

Edited October 14, 2015 by ahpook

[Alec]

Of course, the OP is just another troll.

The most important part of the signal chain is the player, his/her fingers/brain/soul. After this I'd place the bass, the amp and the room (in that order, but not significantly).

The cable is just a binary. Yes, cheap crap will let you down, and a fancy schmancy one will make you feel good. But just buy/make a VDC cable with Neutrik ends, and you'll be a happy chap. All for under a tenner - sorted. Now move on.

[Naetharu]

The argument about cables affecting tone is pretty bogus - reminds me of the fad for gold-plated super-cables when HDMI first became popular. I was living in York at the time and recall being in the local Dixons electrical store when I overheard the salesman trying to shift an HDMI cable that cost almost £100 onto some poor old couple. He was claiming that because it was gold plated and had a braided enclosure it was going to make their TV picture so much better etc. He was pretty grumpy when I stepped in and informed them that you could pick up a perfectly good HDMI cable from Amazon for around £3.

Same applies to guitar cables if you ask me. So long as they're not utter rubbish (I'm looking at you cheap nasty starter cable that comes with the Fender newbie kits) they'll all be much the same. You might pay a little more for better quality braiding on them or a nice chunky connector but any attempt to sell you a cable that costs way over the odds is pure snake-oil.

On another note, my personal experience is that string type (rather than brand) makes the biggest difference - I have one bass with Black Nylons on and another with Steel Round-Wounds and there is no way that you would confuse the sound regardless of which amp/cable/cab you were using. Beyond that I'd say it really comes down the pre-amp you're using and the speaker/cab you're going through. Cabs in particular make a massive difference. The tonal change between running my bass via my cheap little MiBass 112 and an Ampeg SVT410 they have in the practice room I use is massive.

By contrast I'm willing to stick my neck out and say that for the most part the idea of 'tone wood' is a load of cobblers. I've yet to meet someone who could tell me what a bass is made from based on sound alone. They could tell me if it was a P / MM etc. or if it was going into a tube amp / solid state sure. But whether it was made of ash or alter or had ebony as opposed to maple fret-board? Not a chance.

Not to say that wood's don't matter - I personally think they made a massive difference to how the bass [i][b]feels[/b][/i]. I love my Maruszczyk with its Alter/Maple body but for me that is all about the comfort and the fact that the bass feels great to play and responds nicely to the vibrations giving me subtle tactile feedback.

Anyhow, there's my contribution to this can of worm opening festival!

[Dan Dare]

I second the above post. "Tone wood" is a complete fallacy in solid electric instruments and just another device used to part the unwary from their cash. Yes, I know it makes a difference in the case of my fiddle or my Martin D35, but my basses? Nope.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote]The argument about cables affecting tone is pretty bogus -[/quote]I discovered the difference that cables make circa 1966, when high capacitance coiled cords (telephone handset type wire) came along and very nearly took over the market. At the time I knew nothing about capacitance, or why it could cause high frequency roll-off bordering on extreme with passive pickups, but the difference in tone was obvious and undeniable. With straight cords capacitance tends to be less of an issue, but high capacitance tone killing straight cords do exist, the Monster Bass being one example.
[quote]
"Tone wood" is a complete fallacy in solid electric instruments and just another device used to part the unwary from their cash. [/quote]It made a very large difference in the basses and guitars that I've built. A few decades of experimentation led me to my final choice, all rosewood neck-through with semi-hollow body chambers similar to Rickenbacker. Tone wise a solid rosewood body is even better, but the weight is too much. One might not be able to identify whether a body is made of basswood or poplar or ash without seeing the grain, but the tonal difference is considerable.

[gelfin]

In a double blind test I could tell the difference and choose correctly 20 times out of 20, between a basic IEC (kettle) mains lead £4.99 and a Naim audio powerline mains lead. £499.00
This was using a top of the range Naim Hi Fi system. And yes I did think the Naim lead was better.

I also use a Chord cream lead as was mentioned earlier in this thread. Chosen by listening. Using Ric, P, T-Bird and Kramer basses. GK combos and heads. Trace and various GK cabs.

Running for cover now.

[cybertect]

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1445351707' post='2890808']I discovered the difference that cables make circa 1966, when high capacitance coiled cords (telephone handset type wire) came along and very nearly took over the market. At the time I knew nothing about capacitance, or why it could cause high frequency roll-off bordering on extreme with passive pickups, but the difference in tone was obvious and undeniable. With straight cords capacitance tends to be less of an issue, but high capacitance tone killing straight cords do exist, the Monster Bass being one example.[/quote]

Here's some actual testing data, that suggests there is no practical difference in the frequency response between Monster or any other cables (whatever claims they may make)

[url="http://www.ovnilab.com/articles/cables.shtml"]http://www.ovnilab.c...es/cables.shtml[/url]

Edited October 21, 2015 by cybertect

[Beer of the Bass]

Occasionally the treble loss of those curly cables can make a welcome difference with single-coil equipped guitarists and bright sounding amps, as I've yet to hear anyone complain that their telecaster doesn't have enough treble! Although turning the tone control down a little would achieve the same thing in a more controllable way.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='cybertect' timestamp='1445424018' post='2891310']
Here's some actual testing data, that suggests there is no practical difference in the frequency response between Monster or any other cables (whatever claims they may make)
[url="http://www.ovnilab.com/articles/cables.shtml"]http://www.ovnilab.c...es/cables.shtml[/url]
[/quote]This is the significant point made, which is exactly what I've already said
:
[i]These charts demonstrate [b]that with a passive instrument [/b]a cable's capacitance has a direct correlation to the amount of high-frequency content it can carry effectively. [/i]

[quote]turning the tone control down a little would achieve the same thing in a more controllable way. [/quote]Turning the tone control down a little duplicates the effect of a high capacitance cable, as it also puts a capacitive load across the pickup output. What differs is the value of the capacitor. Since a tone control is intended to roll off the highs at a fairly low frequency, 1kHz or so, the cap used has a higher capacitance value than one would usually find even in a particularly inferior cable.