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Is there enough tonal improvement to warrant spending the extra bucks for Monster guitar cables?
I was in Best Buy today and saw a demo on a split screen and the side using Monster cables was 100 times sharper. I wonder if this holds true for guitar cables?
Anybody have any experience with this?

I think they sound good. Too bad they break with the quickness.


Originally Posted by john5959Is there enough tonal improvement to warrant spending the extra bucks for Monster guitar cables? Anybody have any experience with this?

Yes.

I've been using the same monster cables for 3 years now. No problems at all.

when I first got them they sounded better then the crap cables I was using before. The difference was very clear.

dont forget they have a lifetime warrenty or something too.

if they break you are supposed to get new ones for free.

If you can afford it, George L cables are also worth a look. I don't like monster's business practices so I wont buy from them, but I wont preach. George L's are great cables. My bassist uses a planet waves cable, those seem pretty good as well.

I never cared for Monster Cables at all BUT IMO George L's cables are fantastic...I use NOTHING but George L's...pedal board and all!

canare and mogami cable own all!

planet waves here

Premium cables are a scam.

Go out and buy quality cable and some quality connectors and wire up your cables yourself. Learning how will mean you can fix them on the fly in case of emergency and the money you'll save will be huge.

Dont be fulled by the best buy set up. Ive seen Entertainmant stores do this. WHat they will do, is use a standard Video RCA on the left, and an Componant or DVI monster cable on the right. Had this guy try to do that to me, i was like ' dude, one's an HD cable, the other is just a standard RCAlt; of course its going to look like crap'

Shameless plug for a Forum bro, but check out LavaMan's stuff. We gave him a hard time, but I think that his stuff is worth a look.

from : localhost/www.lavacable.com/

Yeah, Monster cable is overpriced, overhyped crap. Mogami, George L's, Canare, Klotz, Hydrawire, etc. are much better quality and cost equal or less than Monster.

Or buy some high quality cable (Mogami, Belden, Canare) and some high quality ends (Neutrik, Gamp;H, Switchcraft) and make your own custom length cables. Its a lot easier than it seems, just basic soldering skills.


Originally Posted by Kindred_SpiritsYeah, Monster cable is overpriced, overhyped crap. Mogami, George L's, Canare, Klotz, Hydrawire, etc. are much better quality and cost equal or less than Monster.

Or buy some high quality cable (Mogami, Belden, Canare) and some high quality ends (Neutrik, Gamp;H, Switchcraft) and make your own custom length cables. Its a lot easier than it seems, just basic soldering skills.

1!

The only 'Monster' cables that actually make a noticeable quot;improvementquot; to the tone are the full out 1000 series and I dunno...is any cable worth $10 or more per foot??? I used to gig with a bass player who swore by them until the plug cracked off in his bass for the 4th or 5th time because the cable is so heavy.

I really dig Spectraflex, I've had my green one for about 12 years and I've only had to repair it once after countless gigs and constant abuse. Good cable is good cable...Mogami or Canare is top shelf, even ProCo or Whirlwind is fine.

I highly recommend the Spectraflex cables too, especially their Fatsoflex cables. Those have a thicker braiding than the standard Spectraflex cables, that makes them ultratough (yet still very flexible) and impossible to twist.

And if you don't like all their fancy colourschemes, you can also just get them with a black braiding

1 for Spectraflex. I like how every cable looks different. Makes it much easier when dealing with cable quot;spaghettiquot; issues. The braided cover makes them very tough. They pass the quot;your drummer just dropped his ride cymbal on your cablequot; test. George L's certainly sound good, but won't pass the above abuse test.


Originally Posted by SlyFoxx

They pass the quot;your drummer just dropped his ride cymbal on your cablequot; test..God, being a drummer, and a guitarist, thats happend to me, way to many times. Worst case, i had my ex try to tie me to the bed with my amp leads, because i was playing with guitar, rather then her


Originally Posted by joelapI don't like monster's business practices so I wont buy from them

I agree

I've tried a lot of different cables... George L's, Spectraflex, etc ...
my preference now is Mogami Silver Series - I actually think I hear a noticeable improvement!

making your own cables is a fine idea, but buying any parts in small quantities usually won't save you all that much $$ in the long run ... still, it's a good skill to learn, though

I've got these 10 year old or so Conquest Audio cables- I think they were $10-15 for a 25 foot cable with Switchcraft ends. Somewhere around 5 years ago I thought I'd get new cables. A friend that worked at a music store suggested Monster, if for nothing else, the replacement policy. So I decided to quot;upgradequot; to Monster. I got 2 big expensive ones and one thinner one- the big expensive ones are the worst cables I've owned (besides the cloth covered Whirlwinds). They're noisy, they crackle when the cable moves, they crackle when stepped on, and one of the plugs is goofy. The thinner one has had no problems so far. FOR THE PRICE they are completely and totally overhyped and THE ONLY THING that can possibly be redeeming about Monster Cables is the return policy. Of course that does you no good when you're at a gig and your cable craps out on you. I don't use them live anymore- I stick with my 10 year old cables that have yet to give me problems.

If there's not enough practical reasons not to buy a Monster brand cable, just do a Google search for Monster cable litigation lawsuit...

They've sued everybody that's used the word quot;Monsterquot; in the name. Children's Television Workshop for use of quot;Cookie Monster,quot; the Chicago Bears for quot;Monsters of the Midway,quot; Discovery Channel for quot;Monster Garage,quot; Disney for quot;Monsters Inc,quot; the quot;Monsters of Rockquot; concert series... The funny thing is, you probably think I'm kidding.


Originally Posted by The Golden BoyIf there's not enough practical reasons not to buy a Monster brand cable, just do a Google search for Monster cable litigation lawsuit...

They've sued everybody that's used the word quot;Monsterquot; in the name. Children's Television Workshop for use of quot;Cookie Monster,quot; the Chicago Bears for quot;Monsters of the Midway,quot; Discovery Channel for quot;Monster Garage,quot; Disney for quot;Monsters Inc,quot; the quot;Monsters of Rockquot; concert series... The funny thing is, you probably think I'm kidding.

I know you're not...that's why their on my fukko list. My favorite part of that lawsuit is them suing quot;Monster Garagequot; amp; quot;Monster Housequot; yet, they donate cable to 'em all the time! I say that the quality of a cable is in its shielding and insulation. Gold plated terminals are a plus as well. There's not going to be much difference from cable to cable in terms of the conductor. I cables from Monster, Planet Waves, and even the generic brand that Sam Ash and Guitar Center carry. Honostly, there's no real difference in any of them for lengths of 10' or less. The only one I have issues with is a cheapo cable from Sam Ash that is poorly shielded and sometimes picks up RF interference.

By no means does monster cable make a bad product, I just don't think they are worth the major bucks. But if you are going to spend money on wire (any wire, from car audio to guitar), put more money into the low line voltage signal wire than powered signal wire. Far greater chance of interference with line voltage signals.