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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 425
Location: SE Michigan | My buddy tried to get Monster to replace his cable that the Federal Rangers cut into tiny pieces. It seems that there is a clause in the warranty that excludes damage resulting from war, insurection, or violation of Federal laws.
And I have nothing against a high quality cable, some of my best friends use Monster cables. But when I saw the advertisments for "bass tuned" or "acoustic tuned" cables, well, off came the gloves.
A quote from Musician Friend about the "acoustic instrument cable":
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/362001/
"Magnetic fields in ordinary cables cause frequency and phase distortions, but the patented 3-way Time Correct® windings in the Monster Acoustic Instrument Cable reject interference protecting all of your instrument's transient attack, full output, and critical overtones". (all for a reasonable $79.95)
Now my buddy suffered one hell of a transient attack at Yellowstone Lodge, and his cable just layed on the ground and didn't even attempt to help him. The time corrected windings could have merit, I guess it will allow you to go back in time (kind of like Superman) and fix that mistake you made three measures ago. I could really use this feature.
But in the interest of protecting endanged species; I am working on the first truely "acoustic cable". I mounted a brass outdoor water faucet right in the sweet spot behind the bridge of my guitar. Then I connected a garden hose that runs over to my mixer where I have soldered on another faucet. You can adjust the volume by opening or closing the valves. Keeping the guitar valve wide open and constricting the mixer valve gives great overdiven sustain. And MAN, you should hear this rig into an all-valve amp!! I found that larger 3/4 rubber hoses are better for bass and rythym, while smaller 1/2 vinyl hoses favor the treble and really cut through the mix. This is pure acoustic tone man, the way God intended it, not a hint of frequency or phase distortions.
And I and going to sell this marvel for only $69.99!! Email me if you want to purchase one of my new hose cables. |
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Joined:
September 2004
Posts: 1180
Location: Vermont USA | Dude talk about getting hosed. :eek:
Paul |
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Joined:
August 2004
Posts: 604
Location: Tampa, FL | Brian T - Took a look at your link and was really struck by the last bullet point.
"Striking natural wood grain connector design compliments the natural wood look of most acoustic instruments"
Don't know about the rest of you, But I'm holding out for the textured Lyracord look! |
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Joined:
August 2004
Posts: 604
Location: Tampa, FL | A plea for sanity...
Did a quick hack at some numbers and would appear that a 'reasonable' resonant frequency for any kind of numbers you might anticipate in coaxial type cables starts around 22 mHz and goes up from there. This is about 3 orders of magnitude above human hearing and the componenets that make up the calc would mean that I could be off by a factor of around 1 million times before you get near the human hearing range. Even factoring in the idea that you would start to notice the effects long before your frequencies of interest start to approach the human hearing range, I have difficulty believing that this hoopla makes a difference. So here's my question...
Short of truly crappy connections (bad connection or connector corrosion), can you tell a difference between cables? I think you would likely have more variation between individual channels on your mixer/amp due to component and manufacturing tolerances than you would get from different cables. But then again I have miniscule experience in the real world aspects of this and have approcahed as pretty much an intellectual exercise. So all youse guys out there with dog ears, can you really tell a difference? |
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Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Bailey,
I am truly shamed that I have taken advantage of the implied warranty of a corporate giant.
Your check is in the mail :cool:
Stephen |
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 425
Location: SE Michigan |  |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | . . . if only the "War On Terrorism" could be fought with PhotoShop . . .
:-) |
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Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | And we all had so much free time on our hands!
Stephen |
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13996
Location: Upper Left USA | It amazes me how far this string has been stretched… and that I haven’t jumped in sooner!
Quick story. I attended a music seminar a couple months back. In this one class was Roby Duke, on alternate tunings. He was setting up to play a borrowed acoustic with dual pick ups and outputs – he said it was for changing out and testing different pick ups. He showed us a $200 8 footer and had to borrow a GC (not Glen Campbell) $10 special to hook up. He explained that we wouldn’t hear the difference but a sound engineer with too many dials would have a conniption!
The high dollar stuff is needed for recording, testing and long distances/low difficulties.
If you want to talk real CABLES! Have you ever had to broom out a 3 ½” wire rope to pour a speltered socket? As an Apprentice I got this job. Went to pour the socket, Shipyard Newspaper Photographer shows up – all of a sudden this apprentice is pushed out and all the senior Mechanics go to work for the photo-op! Photographer leaves and said apprentice has to put the tools away. Twenty-five years later you’d think I was over it!
:( |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 1300
Location: Madison, Wisconsin | ...maybe not fought with but I'm sure it's being justified with Photoshop. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | I'd agree that the only instance that I'd spend an inordinate amount for a cable would be for a particularly long run . . . . like my PA speaker cables . . . . |
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Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 123
Location: Massachusetts | I've been on another forum for a few years now and Monster Cables come up all the time. Yes they do have a slight noticeable difference and tone and yes they have a lifetime warrantee but the unanimous vote is that they are built like junk and will fail.
I just did a quick browse of the archives over there and people are saying good things about:
Spectraflex
Planet Waves
George L's.
Peavey has been mentioned and they have a lifetime warrantee.
George L's are mostly pedal board cables and pricey but most people do hear the difference when using them.
Based on everything I've read I will STAY AWAY from Monster and look for Planet Waves and Spectraflex when I get my next cables and that will be soon. |
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Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Gasp, gag, gargle gargle splook splook, whoook whoook, ploopy ploopy, turg op de valb, TURG OP DE VALB LITE NOW!!! DIS IDN'T WOOKING TATALL!!
DIS HOSE TING ID NO GOOD, IT ADMUST DRANDED BE WHEN I TRAD TO TING!!!!
Whoo, I liked de Monster cable much better, TURG OFF DE VALF AGIN, I DIN SAY TURN IT ON, TURN OP DE VALB!!! |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7236
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | All kidding aside, the answer to if you can hear the difference between these high-end cables and regular cables is maybe/depends.
If you have a good cable, and compare it to one of these high-end cables at the same length... maybe you will hear a difference if you are producing enough dynamics.
If you have a crappy cable, and compare it to one of these high-end cables at the same length, you most likely will hear a difference.
A few people brushed on the reasons these cables exist and the actual cable is only one part. A high quality cable should be better for long runs, should last longer, have higher quality contacts, be quieter, and reject noise a little better.
These aspects when combined can make a serious difference in sound. I have absolutely noticed the difference in longer runs of speaker and mic cables, so it only makes sence that there would be a noticable difference in guitar cables. But again, I'm not sure you would notice any difference in runs under 30 feet. At 50 feet you start to hear differences in mic and speaker cables, especially when combined with higher end gear such as subwoofers (for speakers) and condenser microphones.
I don't think I have ever tried to run anything more than a 20 ft guitar cable. |
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Monster "Acoustic" guitar cable
