Does a Longer Guitar Cable Kill Your Tone 

I want to say that the original PRS "Sweet Switch" was designed to sound like a longer cable at the request of Carlos Santana.

Playing with no cable at all kills tone. I hear that. No cable is the theoretical equivalent to an infinitely long cable, only cheaper.

John Fogerty's "Old Man Down the Road" video had a five hundred foot guitar cord in it.

And I'm going to ask the logical followup question: How about the effects a wireless system has on your tone, and some of the differences among the modern systems versus the older Nady and Shure systems?

What would the 500 foot cable be like, if you unwound it? Does the spool give enough inductance to change the signal?

That cable is also an inductor the way it’s rolled up

Cool idea / demo Dylan. Thank you.

Hey Dylan, I've really enjoyed this. My 6 year old was also interested which of course made me proud.

Great vid, Dylan, thanks and Happy New Year Y'all!

here is a good one to do; SRV in the end he was using a speaker cable of heavy gauge to reduce the restriction of flow. I have used a 50 foot speaker cable from guitar to pedals and found the highs remained

Another great video and demonstration. I've learned a lot from your channel! How much tone loss is there with different wireless systems? That would be a cool test and topic.

Cool and interesting video! Maybe you could do a follow up vid on how to "read" cables or whatever. It would help a lot in figure out what one are looking at in a store or a gig etc.

Dylan if I would have had you as a professor for my Introductory to Electrical Engineering course I would have never change my major to Mechanical Engineering. Thanks again for another fun and educational video! 🤘🏻✌🏼

Great video Dylan!

Awesome video! Thank you for the insight.

Now put a HUGE magnet inside that spool! But seriously, I would like to hear a buffer between the 500 ft spool and the guitar. VS a 10 ft cable

Cool test!

Im a truck driver and know that the best length for a CB antennae from the radio to the antennae is 18 foot. That's the best length for your resistance and clarity. Usually the distance needed is only about 6 foot, so you have cable rolled up and tucked away lol. Hey Dylan - What's your thoughts on using a wireless cable system vs a cable system? I see most guys shooting video's like you and even musicians who are either giving a lesson or rehearsing or whatever will use the cable even if on stage they use a wireless system. I use wireless connection even though I am only like 3 feet from my amp because I got tired of dealing with the cable laying on the floor and getting tangled in my feet or when I roll my chair I would roll over the cable lol. So what's your thoughts on this subject or did you put up a video discussing this?

I already knew all this but was a very very interesting video thanks! Would have been super interesting to see how much a buffer could make a difference to that 500ft cable haha :)

THIS! Thank you for this video, it makes complete sense. I will be getting new cables as I can afford them. NOW: can you please talk about DIP Switches, how they affect the guitar's signal and tone, and why people are losing their minds over them being put inside (notably Gibson) guitars?

Cool experiment. I have done the Gilmore mod on my strat. Thanks for letting me know about that mod on your live stream. 🙃

The capacitance of a cable grows with its length but also with the permittivity of the material used to isolate both wires. It also decreases with a larger distance between both wires. The thicker the isolation between wires, the lesser the capacitance and the better the cable. If you built a 500 foot guitar cable made of two standalone cables separated by air, the tone control effect might disappear. Now that would be a fun experiment ;-) I also wonder if that coil on the roll adds to the capacitance. The same cable straightened out would then have less of a dulling effect.

That was brilliant mate… just today, I learned something else… i use my kemper stage in stereo and thought i simply had a dodgy connection from my left output (signal was week) After looking into it more, found a broken solder joint… thinking to myself its an easy fix (& re-solder it) but to my surprise… found that I didn’t gain much more signal (just a little bit) Both leads was originally 1 cable that chucked in the corner waiting to be fixed with one end chopped off (thats what i do when a lead fails so I can’t accidentally use it) eventually cut it in half and put a cheap set of XLR on 1 lead and put the original xlr connection on the other with its friend. Turns out, the lead with cheap XLR connections, produced less overall signal volume then the other that has Nuetrik XLR connections (the original connections when it was 1 longer lead)… basically… same cable with 2 different brand connections that produced 2 different signal strengths at 8ft long Since the lead is about 8 years old and because i now have 100 sets of nuetrik Xlrs and 150ft of nice quality new cable… decidedly to make 2 brand new cables and replace them both (i needed 1 anyways), but also to see if there was a difference… both new leads ended up the same as the old cable with nuetrik ends. You can guess what i will be doing from now on.

Just watched this older vid. Great stuff. Could you talk about using a wireless system (which of course has a buffer at both ends) verses a straight cable. I bought a Radial Dragster which is basically and additional resistance pot between the Gtr output and the wireless transmitter input to add more or less impedance ‘load’ to the circuit. Your perspective would teach me a lot.

thanks dylan . . . late but putting this JIC someone else can see it. Part of my job is setting up WiFI for internets, the same principle applies (so instead of cable, the transmission medium is air and obstacles in line of sight of signal), WiFI is dependent on line of sight from signal generator to receiver also obstacles play a role, like say aquarium tanks, concrete, metal (especially thickness and type), vs paper or drywall . . . they have signal boosters (repeaters) for internet applications. They also have signal boosters for wired like for undersea cables etc . . . but not much out in the market for instruments but wireless systems can easily integrate repeaters, so not to hard for companies to integrate that for large venues.

The shorter the better and quality is everything. Dig this 100' drop cord will heat up and almost ruin an electric drill because watts or the volts fall off over length I forget which. I used them in north Carolina in a cable co we owned . I would think that signal might be effected as well, or like electricity loss of voltage ...this is on my mind thank you Dylan.

You should have added a short cable and buffered pedal before the 500’ cable to show the benefits of a buffered pedal.

I figured it would make a difference otherwise Wireless gear like Line6 wouldn't emulate different cable lengths to help people get a familiar tone out of their gear. I used the usual Mogami cable a lot of quality cables are made from. I remember it having more highs in a comparison test, but the test wasn't that great because the lengths of the shortest and longest cable were within 15 feet. Your cable specs seem to be even better then Mogami so I might get some soon. Do you use the same cable for patch cables and instrument cables? I have cheap hosa patch cables which have thinner gauge than instrument cable. Was worried pancake plugs might not fit a thicker cable. Cool video :) I just subscribed this week. Seen you around on McKnights channel, but actually like yours better overall :)

Hi there Dylan...I noticed that the cable you have there looks a lot like shielded coaxial cable used for cable TV hookups...LOL

Hi Dylan, love your videos! I make my guitar cables with Canare GS-6 which I love but I noticed there’s a Brand called Gotham that claims their GAC-1 Pro cable have a Capacitance < 23 pF/ft. Do you have any experience with this particular cable?

That's why I rather use a wireless system (Line6 G90) because it's buffered immediately. I have a switchable buffer in my wah pedal that I can switch on when using a cable during rehearsals and such. The wireless unit has a cable length simulation if you actually want less high end in the signal.

Would the effect be different in any way if the 500ft were stretched out or scattered as opposed to being coiled up?

I certainly hear a dramatic difference when the extreme example you have provided is applied. So do the patch cables to connect pedals not matter as much as what cable is going from your amp to your guitar or pedal board?

Is that a pic of the 8Track Gorilla ? He's out of retirement I've read. Angus use like 100ft+ cable in the early days before the Shaffer wireless unit w/a boost & compression built in Angus secret weapon.

Great video. I have a bunch of cables that I’ve collected over the years. I have way too many. I’d like to offload some cables but how do I choose which to bin and which to keep? Is there a simple multi tester test I can do? Is there a bench mark for good vs bad quality cable? Thanks for any help👍

Electricity does not pass through a capacitor, not until a few thousand Volts are applied. The alternative voltage of a guitar signal, however, causing alternated positive and negative charging of its side as the strings vibrate back and forth, makes current flow around the capacitor. Combined with the remaining elements (resistance and inductance of the pickups), this builds a low pass filter which attenuates the high frequencies, like a tone control does. The longer the cable, the higher it's added capacitance and the more noticeable the "tone control" effect.

I consistently use a 12 foot decent quality cable. If I needed 18 or 20 foot, I need a higher quality cable because you can hear it when your cranked up. I can tell no difference in good or great cables at 12 feet. But a cheap guitar cable at 12 foot might be noticeable at high levels. Best advise I got on it.

Not gonna lie... when I was a youngin' I would cut the ends off of extension cords and solder on 1/4" plugs.... I have learned a lot in 30 years 😂

I know this video is old, but it was still great. Wouldn't you say that cable capacitance matters less/not with active pickups?

Now THAT is an A/B test!

A cheap, poorly shielded cable is also more susceptible to RFI. Maybe another video on cable shielding?

500 ft cable is also a bigass coil. Don't coils affect electrical transmission? Have you tried a 500 ft straight cable?

Hmmm ya I was wicked curious about this one

Nice test.

Hey Dylan, awesome video, it was great seeing how the tone was affected by cable length. You had mentioned that a buffer adds some separation, and essentially "splits up" the cable run. Would it be a good idea to have a buffer circuit built into the guitar's output, so that there is always an impedance match, or more so than without it? Also could you do a video on the different kinds of buffer circuits found in guitars and guitar pedals? Cheers from India, Vedant

Besides capicitance you also introducé a giant coil. For sure this affects the signaal.

Playing wirelessly with a high quality pack is how you get the most length without effecting tone

What kind of cable is that spool? Or which would you recommend? I am interested in making patch cables for my pedal board.

Digiflex cables! Lifetime warranty and professional quality. Also, I have the same keeley compressor, and pretty well the same settings. It's awesome!

What about speaker cables? Do you lose much tone from those? Or are they short enough as to not lose tone?

Have you down a video on setting up a basic Peddle board ?

and this is why the Edge of U2, who uses wireless rigs, puts capacitors in the cables from the guitar to the wireless pack to simulate cable length because he is that particular about his tone. and those cap values he changes for specific guitars! tone junkie to the extreme!!!

What brand and/or type of bulk cable to you use in your cables?

Could a multimeter determine a cable's capacitance?

Wire in a coil knocks out highs too. What if you unrolled it?

Great Demo! Question: Is there a way I can easily measure cable capacitence in my existing cables (cable quality)? What should I be looking for when shopping for good quality guitar rig cables? I have lots of long cables in my rig at home (guitar to tru bypass pedal board switcher is 20ft then pedal board to amp is 20ft) and never paid much attention to capacitence. Don't know if my cables are good quality or not.

Thanks.

Hey Dylan, what happen if I change all the wires inside my guitar from the stock ones to a better quality made of copper and a little bit thicker? Will such simple and inexpensive mode improve considerably my tone?? Thanks for your very interesting videos. :)

Question - if the 500 foot cable was not coiled up on the roll would that make a difference? Problem is inductance. The 500 foot cable is acting as a coil, generating an oscillating magnetic field. And that is probably killing the tone. Just asking.

Is that a Korg pitchblack Tuner on your board ?

There you go I had to hear from you I have a short practice cable a Boss that came with my 200s but the last few days you have been on my mind with this variable. I want a 8/10 ' high end cable. A cable with shielding over the wire is that a variable? I think it would be. NEVER STEP ON A CABLE . I have to get to your store. Your like my brother an electronics engineer RIP being my brother I never listened to him he spoke in a language that I found most unsettling, him smart me Zombiwolf. Wish I would have listened more now .

It was actually better than i thot,lol, u likein the orange pedal on ur board ok ? I ordered 1 today. Great vid , i need a buffer with 30' + 7 pedals. O well.

Dylan love your videos. But if you were to draft a script to shorten them a bit that would be great.

Your 500 foot cable was rolled up on the reel. It might be different if all 500 feet were completely unnrolled up

it's not tone loss. it is high end frequency loss. Tone is a musical or vocal sound with reference to its pitch, quality, and strength.

hi. Here's something I'd really like to know. Can the difference in sound between a 10 foot cable and a 20 foot be heard? Here's why. I need about 10 foot, but that might sometimes feel a bit restricted when I'm recording. I figure 20 foot will likely sound the same, but it hasn't been tested. I want to order a 20 foot cable off Amazon, but keep wondering if maybe I should get the 10 foot so that it's a bit more crisp etc. If it's almost completely inaudible, I'd prefer the 20 foot cable. If you or someone can give me your thoughts, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks

Awesome

really interesting , they say Brian Setzer likes to lose a bit of treble with his long cables. I rarely use pedals except a tuner but I think todays bypass pedals are better, I grew up with those plastic bricks that ruined your sound when they were on or off !

God I love muddy tones. I use a coily cable wich sounds muddier than the cable I used before. At first I didn't like it but then I thought I could get the same tone just adding highs in the amp knob. The result was I got soso the same trebly tone but lost definition. I call it more like a creamy tone. Some may like it, some not. I do like it a lot, since I use single coil pickups sometimes I feel they are too chimey.

Well it's not just the capacitance. Basically what you've created (and exaggerated) is an RC low pass filter. The longer the cable, the higher resistance and capacitance you get rolling off more highs. The other factor is whether it's going into a high impedance buffer circuit or not. Try running that sucker through a lower impedance pedal like a crybaby wah. You think it sounds bad now 😂🤣 It is interesting though that even when using a short cable, then try wireless you don't get the loss and people find wireless overly bright as there's technically no frequency loss to the signal.

Lets build a BIG pedal with a 500 ft cable inside with switches to different lengths. We can call it... The Tone Sieve.. We can ship it on its own hand truck and call it a Pedal buggy... Its a new category of products..

Dylan I'm in the process of building my first pedal board... I have the pedals the power supply the physical board everything... are you saying its better to have a higher quality cable from the amp to the pedal board OVER using money fo higher quality patch cables? I certainly hear how a cheap 20 foot cable sucked the tone out of your guitar. That was ridiculous.

That's what she said.

Is it more cost effective to play through 500' of cable than to buy a noise filter and/or compressor pedal?

I'm a member cool and found your store woohoo. 3:30pm I've been on here sinse ( myphone) sinse 7:00am ) I'm going to need this an that an what not and what have you. Break time I feel like carpol tunnel in my hand from holding this phone thanks Dylan and wifey

What about using a buffer?

Wouldn't it make a difference having it in a cool as well

i got a cheap and a normal cable, the cheaper gives a cleaner sound and sound "better" to my ears, but is too noisy, know i know why

your 500’ cable roughly equivalent to 0.01uf cap.

Sorry, i don't hear a difference

Increasing length of cable increases INDUCTANCE...