Instrument cable

[romberg]

I'm looking for recommendations for a good shielded instrument cable. I have an environment which seems to have a metric boatload of RF and other EFI type noise. Mostly this is not a problem except for single coil guitars. Except for my highest gain amp.

It is pretty quite (even with the gain cranked up) as long as the input is grounded. I plug any guitar into it with the gain cranked up (even humbucker guitars) and there is alot of noise. I'm wanting to eliminate the cable as much as I can as at this point I don't think the noise originates inside the amp.

I'm looking for a cable with a great shield. I don't care about frequency response or any of the other "shimmery highs and creamy mids" nonsense you find in almost every instrument cable review out there. Can anyone recommend a good cable from an EFI/noise shielding standpoint?

Thanks,

Mike

[Stevem]

The Humbucker equipped guitar just may not have its cavities sheilded.
If with the volume(s) down on that axe you still get noise other then the normal 120hz buzz when your not holding the strings, then it's your cable(s).

[Phil_S]

I think you are looking for something like Canare GS-6, which has 92% shield. Don't go for less than 90%.
Less than $1/foot if you roll your own. For most of us here, that's not a problem.
https://www.markertek.com/product/gs-6- ... foot-black
I'm sure there are other brands. I've used Canare. OTOH, you can buy a Mogami cable with black magic protection specs for about $75, LMAO.

[SoulFetish]

I like the Canare GS-6 as well. There is a thread on MEF, where I show some examples of how I've built some instrument cables using the GS-6 and G&H plugs. I'm happy with the results and still use the cables now.
https://music-electronics-forum.com/for ... ics/52031-

[romberg]

The Humbucker equipped guitar just may not have its cavities sheilded.
If with the volume(s) down on that axe you still get noise other then the normal 120hz buzz when your not holding the strings, then it's your cable(s).

I fear you may be right. The noise/buzz I'm having at high gain settings does indeed go away when I roll the volume off. I really don't wanna have to deal with adding shielding to the guitars. But I think that may be where I need to go.

I still very much appreciate the Canare GS-6 recommendations. I own dozens of guitar cords but none of them are what would be considered quality cables. I think I'll make a couple just so I can eliminate that as a factor.

Mike

[pdf64]

My band room of 20+ years backs on the railtracks on the main west coast line. The locos put out vast amounts of EMI, I’ve shielded my strats within an inch of their lives to no avail; when a train rumbles past there’s a heap of buzz. The only way to bring it down is to hold the guitar at 90 degrees to the tracks.
My 78 LP with P90s is incredibly well shielded from the factory, fully enclosed plated steel cans around the controls, but it has no chance.
I got Kinman pickups for any single coil type guitars I want to use there.

[Reeltarded]

My band room of 20+ years backs on the railtracks on the main west coast line. The locos put out vast amounts of EMI, I’ve shielded my strats within an inch of their lives to no avail; when a train rumbles past there’s a heap of buzz. The only way to bring it down is to hold the guitar at 90 degrees to the tracks.
My 78 LP with P90s is incredibly well shielded from the factory, fully enclosed plated steel cans around the controls, but it has no chance.
I got Kinman pickups for any single coil type guitars I want to use there.

Aye

Anything that starts to hiss when it's driven AND has RF fritter gets a small cap across the input jack. The rest is standing off-axis to the transformers.

[romberg]

Anything that starts to hiss when it's driven AND has RF fritter gets a small cap across the input jack. The rest is standing off-axis to the transformers.

I'm thinking about adding a cap between the grid of the first gain stage and ground like Merlin mentions in his book. There he shows that 796pf would be ideal to set a low pass (with a 10k grid stopper) at 20kHz. Since a 12ax7 has around 100pf his book puts this cap at 680pf.

But I'm wondering if the guitar cable is factored into this. Assuming around 20pf/foot an 18 foot cable would add 360pf. So, I may try something around 300pf. Any particular values you use for this sorta thing?

Mike

[Reeltarded]

Oh no you don't! If you want to talk about numbers and stuff then troll Martin into this..

Plussin the minuses and talking like a freezer is not what I do here.

[TUBEDUDE]

Use as large a cap as you need to quell any noise/oscillation. For our purposes Is a -3dB at 20 kHz needed?

[surfjimc]

I make all my own instrument cable with Sommer Cable. It's as good as it gets. Try the LLX or the XXL. I really like the XXL. Both have zero microphonics, low capacitance, and sound great. They are both heavily shielded. If you need more shielding, try using Somer Galileo microphone cable. Solder the twisted pair together to the center pin and then use the woven shielding as you always would as a ground. You get great sound, and 100% shielding. Pete Thorn sells guitar cable built like this and calls them "Semi-Balanced."

[TUBEDUDE]

Depending on application, I use Mogami 2314, 2524, Summercable sc spirit LLX, and some Whirlwind EGC20 I have leftover from a project. Redco has a good selection of cable at good prices.