Although they’re not as flashy or fun as guitars, amplifiers, or effects pedals, you won’t make much music without audio cables or a guitar cord to run from your instrument to your speakers. While all electric instrument connectors are roughly the same style, there are some factors you should keep in mind when choosing the right cables for your setup. Read on to find the best ways to link your music-making system with our audio cables.
Are there different types of electric instrument cables?
All electric instruments — guitars, basses, and keyboards — use the same basic quarter-inch jack cable to run signals from instruments, through effects units, and into amplifiers. However, you should never use instrument connectors for anything running from an amplifier or PA mixer.
Specific speaker cables (which often look the same as instrument cables) are essential for handling the higher power that amps kick out. Speaker cables can also run longer distances than instrument cables without losing signal strength. Microphones almost never use instrument cables. Instead, they use three-pronged, male/female-ended XLR cables, which are designed to run long distances and even provide power in some cases.
How much should I spend on audio cables?
Even if you’ve got a budget guitar, amp, and effects board, it may be worth it to spend a bit more on electric guitar cables. After all, the difference between a cheap guitar and a pricy one can be thousands of dollars. The difference between budget and top-shelf cables is usually only $20 or $30.
So what’s the difference between a 15-foot Fender cable, and a higher-priced cable from the same brand that is five feet shorter? Brand new, both of these cables will sound equally great. Fender is an excellent company that doesn’t make noisy or lackluster cables. Treat the lower-priced one nicely, coil without forming kinks or knots, don’t step on it too much, and it will do its job well. However, the $25 Fender cable probably has more robust wiring and a stronger sheath, making it more durable and longer-lasting.
More importantly, if you plan to use multiple cables, you’ll want all of them to be of higher quality. If you’re only using one cable and it shorts out, you can replace it easily and quickly. But if one of six cables shorts out, you’ll be in for a miserable diagnostic session of unplugging, isolation testing, and replugging all your cables to find bad one in the bunch. The more cables you use, the nicer they should be. It’s just a matter of probability.
How long should my cables be?
Most instrument cables are 10 to 20 feet long, which is an ideal length for most players. For most guitarists with one amp and several effects pedals, two cables between 10 to 15 feet should be sufficient. You’ll use one to run from your guitar to your pedals, and one to run from your pedals to your amp. And if you need an extension cable to make your setup work better, those are available, too.
The real challenge in choosing cable length will come if you start putting together an effects board to house all of your pedals. For an effects board, you’ll need various patch cables between six inches and three feet long. If you’re starting to amass an effects pedalboard, you’ll need to do some planning to get just the right cables for your own configuration. You’ll need some short ones, some longer ones to run under pedals, and plenty with 90-degree bent jacks to save space.
Different styles of cable
Even though electric instrument cables are all essentially the same in construction, there are some different styles. This top-shelf Vox cable features one jack that is straight and another that is bent 90 degrees. Bent jacks are lower profile, and one plugged into your guitar or amp protrudes only about half an inch instead of two to three inches, reducing the risk of damaging bumps. As mentioned, bent-jack cables are essential for well-organized pedalboards.
Cables can be sheathed in different materials, too. Most are encased in soft plastic, but some, like this 18-foot Hosa model, are wrapped in nice woven cloth. Cloth cables don’t just look a bit more classy. They’re easier to coil and less prone to kinking, which often means they’ll last longer, too.
Are guitar amp cables universal?
Remember, cables are not universal. The guitar cord needed to direct sound from a guitar to an amplifier is the 1/4 inch “instrument” cable. This guitar cord can also attach to your pedals. A speaker cable is a different type of 1/4 inch cord designed to connect an amplifier to a speaker. These two types of cables are not interchangeable because they are built to carry two very different kinds of signals.
How long do guitar cords and cables last?
The best guitar cables should last for several years. In many cases, your guitar amp cord can suffer from being stepped on, coiled and uncoiled, twisted, or otherwise heavily used. An amp cord for electric guitar can be damaged from yanking it (often accidentally) too hard from the amp input! As you can imagine, cables used onstage for live performances probably won’t last as long as a studio cable.
A durable guitar cord should continue to perform as it did when you purchased it — no noise buzz or signal quality loss. Your guitar amp cord should feel dependable, and you want to be confident with all of your gear. Without the guitar cord, you will not have volume, an essential element of your setup!
How to take care of your guitar cords and cables
Get in the habit immediately of wrapping guitar cables properly to make them last longer. Instead of coiling elbow to hand, aim to create a perfect tension-free loop. Don’t put tension on the cable while you wrap; let the cable twist naturally. The best guitar cables fold organically into place. Take care of your cables and stay free of any unwanted crackles, pops, or shorts! To stop your cables from getting tangled in transit, use velcro ties to keep them organized. Invest in wall-mounted cable hangers or brackets to keep them out of the pathway of foot traffic.
For even more instrument cables to choose from, check out our selection at Adorama to find the best one for your setup.
