Jump to content

Recommended Posts

  • 4 weeks later...
Posted (edited)

Cheap ones, and whatever was available. Look at the photos from the shows they did. Oftentimes Page had ultra-cheap looking patch cables hooking up his echo machines to the amps, and super long standard-issue cables for his guitar.

But that's because there was no such thing as the ultra-hifi Monster "noise cancelling" $100 cables crap that's around today back then.

Go to Radio Shack or your local electronics shop and pick yourself up a standard 1/4inch to 1/4inch cable. Spend $5-$10 (or 5-10 pounds if you prefer) on it. Go home and enjoy it.

Don't buy into the nonsense about how much "better" your guitar tone will be with the expensive stuff. Chances are you're going to break the cable sooner than later anyway, no matter how much it costs. When you get rich and famous, then you can spend all that dough on the supposedly "superior" expensive ones. If you still think it matters by then.

If it was good enough for Page...

Edited by cookieshoes
Posted
Cheap ones, and whatever was available. Look at the photos from the shows they did. Oftentimes Page had ultra-cheap looking patch cables hooking up his echo machines to the amps, and super long standard-issue cables for his guitar.

But that's because there was no such thing as the ultra-hifi Monster "noise cancelling" $100 cables crap that's around today back then.

Go to Radio Shack or your local electronics shop and pick yourself up a standard 1/4inch to 1/4inch cable. Spend $5-$10 (or 5-10 pounds if you prefer) on it. Go home and enjoy it.

Don't buy into the nonsense about how much "better" your guitar tone will be with the expensive stuff. Chances are you're going to break the cable sooner than later anyway, no matter how much it costs. When you get rich and famous, then you can spend all that dough on the supposedly "superior" expensive ones. If you still think it matters by then.

If it was good enough for Page...

Every expensive cable I have purchased has a lifetime guarantee on it. I would rather pay $30-50 on a nice 20' cable that I can replace forever, than pay $15 and mess with the hassle that comes along with cheap cables.

They do sound better. Maybe not to the point where it would affect live tone, but if you are goin to record, good cables are a must.

Just b/c Jimmy Page didn't use them doesn't mean what is out now isn't 10x better. Jimmy himself probably uses super expensive cables now. Cables made now are gonna be better than cables made 40 years ago.

Cables do make a difference. Does Radio shack even sell 1/4" instrument cable?

Posted
Every expensive cable I have purchased has a lifetime guarantee on it. I would rather pay $30-50 on a nice 20' cable that I can replace forever, than pay $15 and mess with the hassle that comes along with cheap cables.

They do sound better. Maybe not to the point where it would affect live tone, but if you are goin to record, good cables are a must.

Just b/c Jimmy Page didn't use them doesn't mean what is out now isn't 10x better. Jimmy himself probably uses super expensive cables now. Cables made now are gonna be better than cables made 40 years ago.

Cables do make a difference. Does Radio shack even sell 1/4" instrument cable?

I completely agree. But, the original poster was asking what kind of cables Page used. And even though new cables are nicer these days, obviously it didn't make any difference whatsoever that Page was stuck using what we might otherwise call "low quality" by today's standards when he performed live. He was still able to get great tone using what he had. Besides, the cables were always waaay down the list in priority. Secondary to the guitar, the amp, and especially his technique.

Posted
Every expensive cable I have purchased has a lifetime guarantee on it. I would rather pay $30-50 on a nice 20' cable that I can replace forever, than pay $15 and mess with the hassle that comes along with cheap cables.

They do sound better. Maybe not to the point where it would affect live tone, but if you are goin to record, good cables are a must.

Just b/c Jimmy Page didn't use them doesn't mean what is out now isn't 10x better. Jimmy himself probably uses super expensive cables now. Cables made now are gonna be better than cables made 40 years ago.

Cables do make a difference. Does Radio shack even sell 1/4" instrument cable?

agreed on the live and warranty thing but doesnt it differ on your guitar AND amp

Posted

It really didn't matter what cables Jimmy used because it likely had very little affect on his sound, mostly because he used few effects back in the day.

However that all changed, not only for Jimmy but for everyone using more than a wah and fuzz these days. In fact the guy who built Jimmy's pedal board is one of the most outspoken people in the world about how inefficient and excessively long cabling degrades tone, he's a little over the top but mostly right. Cables make a HUGE difference if you run lots of pedals, epsecially noisy pedals. I know this thread isn't about that so I won't go into a rant but it makes a difference.

Anyway, cables aren't a big factor for the guy who runs straight from the guitar into the amp with few effects in front of the amp. Jimmy was that guy back in the day.

Posted

Just adding to the debate; Cheap cables, apart from having cheap plugs, will also become prone to handling noise (if not already inherent) as the thing ages.

RB

  • 4 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...