Durable good sounding cords? price difference mean much?

In any case, for practicing in a small space a coiled cord seems a good solution.
I agree, and that is all I bought it for. And besides having a G.A.S. day a $5.95 cable was better than a $1000 guitar. :lol:

and how anything past the saddle is supposed to make a difference in your sound I don't know.

Maybe the bridgepin voodoo is mumbo jumbo, I don't know the nuances of acoustic guitars very well, but I am sure that things past your saddle can make a difference. One reasonably well known way to improve the sound of a Les Paul is to switch out the tailpiece for an aluminum tailpiece (lower mass). The more "open" high end on an LP with an aluminum tail is fairly subtle, but very apparent in A/B testing.

Additionally, the way the strings come off the bridge DOES change the feel of the guitar. Taking for example again a Les Paul, raising the tailpiece to alter the angle between the bridge and the tailpiece noticibly changes the feel of the guitar, from tight to more "slinky", this is also part of the reason for what they call "top-wrapping", which is when the strings are wrapped over the top of the tailpiece after being inserted in the reverse of the "normal" way. See Zakk Wylde's LP for an easy to find example.

So, I don't want to start a flame war, but that blanket statement on the end there really got me going.... :o

While I have heard that those make a difference, the different tailpiece and height of it, those are for electrics. I think acoustics are different because a pickup isn't picking up the sound, its the top vibrating that makes the sound. Doesnt the saddle transfer the vibrations to the acoustic top, and not the bridge pins? I'm no expert on this though.

That top-wrapping sounds like an interesting idea. Does it actaully do anything for the sound, sustain, or feel though?

Oldiron speaks the truth about (the cable company whose name I dare not speak, lest they sue me for using it, as they are prone to doing.) But it rhymes with "Donster."

That company is full of advertising catch-phrase geniuses - and not much else of discernable quality. And EVERYTHING (yes, I am generalizing) of theirs is overpriced for what it really is. Spend your money on something with fewer catchy slogans and more manufacturing fortitude. A few extra strands of wire and some fancy plastic connector backshells do not a quality cable make. :)

While I have heard that those make a difference, the different tailpiece and height of it, those are for electrics. I think acoustics are different because a pickup isn't picking up the sound, its the top vibrating that makes the sound. Doesnt the saddle transfer the vibrations to the acoustic top, and not the bridge pins? I'm no expert on this though.

You're half right. The saddle and bridge is about half of what makes the top vibrate. There's a wooden bridge plate glued to the underneath of the top, this is what the ball ends of the strings come into contact with. That contact as well as the saddle/bridge creates the top vibrations that make sound. The bridge pins are only there to keep the strings in contact with the top and keep them from flying off the guitar.

Bridge pins might make a difference in your tone because it adds or subtracts mass in your top, or has a different density, ect. I haven't tried switching mine, so I really can't say.

Oldiron speaks the truth about (the cable company whose name I dare not speak, lest they sue me for using it, as they are prone to doing.) But it rhymes with "Donster."

Try dumpster.

Years ago a major Sterio magazine ran tests on the afore mentioned companies highly touted (hyped) speaker wire and several others including two conductor zip wire and Romex (the stuff used to run the 110v ac in your house or apartment) purchased at the corner hardware store. Well other than the expected resistance loss in cable of less than 16 guage there was no measurable difference in signal loss, or signal to noise ratio in runs of cable up to 100 YARDS through the audio frequencys. The tests were run with what at the time were state of the art labritory audio analizers, signal generators, power meters, spectrum analizers, ect.

Dumpster wire sued the magazen. The magazen prevailed when they threatened a countersuit on the grounds of fraudulent advertising. Everything dumpster wire clames is true BUT the losses it describes in it's advertising are only a factor at RADIO and higher frequencys. In other words at frequencys that are 100X + higher than what the human ear can hear.

Many performance claims for consumer electronic products are horibly hyped. Some of those claims are just laughable for people who have a background in electronics maintence/engineering. Wire is prety much wire untill you start running it in between antennas and radios/television sets.

The guage of wire is important when you start pushing power from large amps out to speakers. Shielding is important when you are trying to keep noise out of your amp. Flexability is important when your moving around a lot (like playing an electric guitar) or seting up and tearing down a lot (as musicians tend to do). Strain reliefs are important when your pulling and bending near connectors (as guitar players are apt to do). Tough coating is important when the cable is geting steped on, rolled over, caught, pinched like what happens in studio/stage use.

Gold plating, super low resistance, super large (low numaric) guage, low oxygen, or anything other than what I covered in the last paragraph is a bunch of houie some sales department came up with to get you to pay more than what it's worth. There is an outfit that puts a shorting button in it's guitar cables. That could very well be a worthwhile gadget if your onstage and changing guitars inside of a set.

Other than that there ain't a whole lot you can do to a hunk of wire to improve it. If you can't improve it your going to have to hype it to sell it.

I agree that there's a lot of marketing hype, but there is a better response from high end audio cables than from budget ones - so there are things that can be done in wire and connectors that improve sound, even if it's expensive to get the result. It's probably true that many people won't hear the difference between two different cables, but it's also true that two average people won't hear a tonal difference between two acoustic guitars. You can become more sensitive to differences in sound.

The problem here is that I'm talking about audio - the fixed cables to my audio system never get dragged around a stage, never get unplugged, never get coiled up in a bag and hauled from place to place. The main criteria for guitar cords is reliability and durability, not sound quality - I could care less if audio cords are fragile, because they're well protected by furniture and baseboards. I don't buy $100 guitar cables because they'll sound the same as $20 cables within days/weeks of use.... but I don't buy $5 cables either, because I'd need them several times more often than better constructed ones.

Well, I'm not going into all that technical stuff.

Don't buy a cheap cable.

Don't buy an expensive cable.

Buy one right in the middle.

This is not the brand I use, I'd have to go to my music store to find out the make, but these cables with the nylon braid on the outside are almost indestructable. I've had several for years. They have been stepped on, yanked on, spilled on numerous times and work as good as the day I bought them. They will run you about $13-22 dollars for 10-25 foot length.

The only downside is they are not flexible. Even after years they are not flexible. But they don't break.

Here is what I'm talking about. But these are NOT the particular brand I use.

Nylon Braided Cables

Wes,
Those look a lot like the radio shack cables I like. They too aren't quite as flexible but they seem to hold up longer.

I went to my guitar shop and bought a length of good quality guitar cable and two jack plugs, one straight and one 90° (I have a front mounted jack socket). The 10 minutes or so that it took to solder the cable on to the jacks was well worth the extra bit of effort - I know exactly what I've got and that, if there are any weaknesses, they're in my soldering.

I agree that there's a lot of marketing hype, but there is a better response from high end audio cables than from budget ones - so there are things that can be done in wire and connectors that improve sound, even if it's expensive to get the result. It's probably true that many people won't hear the difference between two different cables, but it's also true that two average people won't hear a tonal difference between two acoustic guitars. You can become more sensitive to differences in sound.

Very true, BUT to tell a difference requires the use of some very expencive and delicate test equipment. The diferences are usualy measured in the fractions of a decibel, thousanths of a volt, or fractions of a percent distortion. Way below the threshold where the avereage human ear can desern a difference. If there is a difference that is detectable to the naked ear there is a porblem that needs to be fixed.
The problem here is that I'm talking about audio - the fixed cables to my audio system never get dragged around a stage, never get unplugged, never get coiled up in a bag and hauled from place to place. The main criteria for guitar cords is reliability and durability, not sound quality - I could care less if audio cords are fragile, because they're well protected by furniture and baseboards. I don't buy $100 guitar cables because they'll sound the same as $20 cables within days/weeks of use.... but I don't buy $5 cables either, because I'd need them several times more often than better constructed ones.

Exactly why the durabilty of the cable sheathing and the strain reliefs are very important in the choice of a cable. More so then the oxygen content of the coper. Shielding is another difference in the price of a cable. The lack of shielding is what makes those 5 dollar cables sound like garbage. The problem is most cable manufactures don't advertise the percentage of shielding used in their cables.

I went to my guitar shop and bought a length of good quality guitar cable and two jack plugs, one straight and one 90° (I have a front mounted jack socket). The 10 minutes or so that it took to solder the cable on to the jacks was well worth the extra bit of effort - I know exactly what I've got and that, if there are any weaknesses, they're in my soldering.

If you know how to solder it is easy to go to an electrical supply house instead of a music store and buy the connectors and cable to construct your own cables and save big bucks. Custom lenghts, angled ends, strain reliefs, cable guage, shielding, sheathing material are all there for the asking. If you can learn to do-it-yourself. Pick up an Ohm meter and you can then trouble shoot and repair old cables and save more money.

If your intrested see if your local school district or junior collage offers a basic electronics repair class with soldering instruction. One class will teach you most everything you would need to make the majority of common repairs, build cables and make you a very handy member of the band.

Hi.
In the old days we got so tired of having to replace cords...
We used to get extension cords and whack off the plugs and solder the connections to the cords.
I hear about this type of cord and seen that type of cord... it really depends on how well the wires are slodered to the jacks and the thickness of the shielding.