Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

cassius987 wrote:

jps wrote:There is a ton of mumbo jumbo in the audio industry, been that way for a long time, now.

Add Planet Waves and Monster Cables to that list. I am going to burn my PW 30' instrument cable so it can't harm any more innocent people (or input jacks).

Josh - Noel Lee is Monster Cable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Cable_Products

I heard a very interesting bunch of drivel from Noel at the first Stereophile Hi-Fi Show, back in Santa Monica in the '80s. Noel was discussing the merits of his balanced 'whatever' interconnect cables to someone, explaining that the lows only goes through a specific set of wires in the cable, same for the mids, and the highs, through their own specific set of wires, to ensure correct correlation, yada, yada, yada..............

So, this person then asks Noel to demonstrate this wondrous technology, by saying that if the highs will only pass through those "high frequency" wires, then please take two strands of that high frequency wire and have Noel hold one in each of his (Noel's) hands while the other ends are placed in an AC outlet. Given that 120 volts AC is 60Hz, therefor, low frequency, nothing would pass through those wires in Noel's hands, right?

This is true story, really.

johnallg wrote:Josh - Noel Lee is Monster Cable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Cable_Products

Ah, gotcha John. I got my Planet Waves (and Monster) cables a few years ago but recently I have realize the PW cables have screwed up a lot of my mono jacks in terms of how they fit the plug... so I pretty much have to use Switchcraft true .2500'' plugs now. I got rid of my Monster cable a long time ago because it was even worse. The problem is they screw up the jack tension so the plugs, that are a bad fit, fall out in the middle of playing the bass... talk about a joke of a product.

There's a guy in town on Broadway St who holds some very radical political views that I don't agree with... but I'd still much rather buy my cables from him because he makes them the right way, out of Canare GS-6 and Switchcraft plugs. I guess he makes them for the Allman Bros. and some amps for Derek Trucks, too.

Same cable without the politics: http://procablesnsound.com/items/instru ... detail.htm Todd sells bulk too.

Here is another cable maker who is supposed to have a good reputation.

I've had Butch Ammons (Bayou Cables) make my stuff in the past but the guy in Denver makes the same stuff cheaper and without the shipping cost so I use him now. For some reason I can look past quirky traits better when I know someone in person... if it was "www.RadicalRightWingActivistCables.com" I'd have stuck with Butch. Anyways, I can also look past the politics because he's a nice guy. I just can't tell him I'm our current President's eighth cousin once removed, or I'm going to be once and forever removed from his store...! Whatever, he still tells a good gig story.

cassius987 wrote:I got my Planet Waves (and Monster) cables a few years ago but recently I have realize the PW cables have screwed up a lot of my mono jacks in terms of how they fit the plug...

I've been using Planet Waves cables since they first came out. All my output and input jacks are fine.

Cassius, what’s wrong with those PW plugs? Too thick, too thin..?
I think the PW cables I have has Amphenol plugs.


Couple of years ago I got those Fender cables specifically made for bass. Very thick and stiff cable, and.. anyway. It made an unbelievable difference with a very strong, punchy and clear sound. As I said - unbelievable so I got out and bought a cheap cable, and it sounded just as good (in my ears). Of course, it was my old cable that was faulty

Btw, regarding those power cords. Everyone knows by now it’s not the power cord but the power source that makes a difference. “Green power” from a CO2 friendly, renewable source gives a much cleaner sound

Wiker wrote:Couple of years ago I got those Fender cables specifically made for bass. Very thick and stiff cable, and.. anyway. It made an unbelievable difference with a very strong, punchy and clear sound. As I said - unbelievable so I got out and bought a cheap cable, and it sounded just as good (in my ears). Of course, it was my old cable that was faulty

Well, cheap cables can make a difference in your sound. Specifically, if the cable has a high series capacitance, it will filter out a lot of the highs in your tone. Then there's the Asian made cables where the 1/4 inch plugs are slightly undersized (some metric size perhaps?).

Wiker wrote: Btw, regarding those power cords. Everyone knows by now it’s not the power cord but the power source that makes a difference. “Green power” from a CO2 friendly, renewable source gives a much cleaner sound

So I guess in the not too distant future, we'll all have to be pedaling bicycle powered generators at our gigs!


Or, get the audience to do it...
http://bicyclemusicfestival.com/human-powered-pa/

cjj wrote:
Well, cheap cables can make a difference in your sound. Specifically, if the cable has a high series capacitance, it will filter out a lot of the highs in your tone. Then there's the Asian made cables where the 1/4 inch plugs are slightly undersized (some metric size pehaps?

6mm. .244 in. instead of .250 leaving some wiggle room.And also perhaps poor tolerance control as well. I got 2 cheapo coily cords from Radio Shack, and one works fine and the other is an annoying swinging crackly POS.They came in identical packs from the same rack and paid for with the same $10 bill

I can't blame monster or PW for using a plug that would be true to a switchcraft type jack, but I can see where it would make the plugs not built to that exact size be too loose in the jack. I actually bought a monster cable just to see if it would help a noise problem I had and it didn't. It also sounds exactly the same as my fender cables I bought for less than half the price. Knowing that current flows on the surface of a wire, I don't see how, without using diodes and all those other complicated circuit parts, one cable will conduct frequencies better than another. As long as people buy these cables, the manufacturers will keep making them with their crazy claims!

fatcat wrote:6mm. .244 in. instead of .250 leaving some wiggle room.And also perhaps poor tolerance control as well.

It's less the discrepancy in shaft diameter, as it is the odd ball shapes of some of the Asian-made tips. These can bend the contacts or catch them in such a way as to damage them.

No, the problem I had was a swinging ring connection which made it turn into a loud humming howl such as touching the tip of an unplugged cable.Nothing that replacing the connector didn't cure.

Wiker wrote:Cassius, what’s wrong with those PW plugs? Too thick, too thin..?

johnhall wrote:

fatcat wrote:6mm. .244 in. instead of .250 leaving some wiggle room.And also perhaps poor tolerance control as well.

It's less the discrepancy in shaft diameter, as it is the odd ball shapes of some of the Asian-made tips. These can bend the contacts or catch them in such a way as to damage them.

THIS! Big +1. The PW plug slowly stretched the contacts of my mono jacks so now, using the same plug, it falls out during play and I lose signal. I only use Switchcraft plugs now. Gotta figure out what to do with the PW cable.

cassius987 wrote:Gotta figure out what to do with the PW cable.

Cut off the plugs and put Switchcraft plugs on it.