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Author
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Topic: What a difference a cable makes
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Keith Murrow
Member From: Wichita, KS, USA
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posted 11 April 2004 09:41 PM
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..[This message was edited by Keith Murrow on 26 October 2004 at 04:20 PM.] |
Jerry Clardy
Member From: El Paso, Texas, USA
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posted 12 April 2004 05:11 AM
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What brand, models and part numbers are the good cables? |
Keith Hilton
Member From: 248 Laurel Road Ozark, Missouri 65721
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posted 12 April 2004 09:07 AM
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Cables won't won't play this dramatic role if you get a pre-amp close to your pickup.
Inductance, Capacitance, and resistance play less of a role when the signal is made stronger by the use of a pre-amp. A pickup signal is very, very weak and easily degraded. |
Keith Murrow
Member From: Wichita, KS, USA
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posted 12 April 2004 09:26 PM
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..[This message was edited by Keith Murrow on 26 October 2004 at 04:20 PM.] |
Jerry Clardy
Member From: El Paso, Texas, USA
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posted 13 April 2004 04:27 AM
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Thanks for the input, Keith & Keith.
It's good to know which cables are actually better and the right equipment to use. |
Keith Hilton
Member From: 248 Laurel Road Ozark, Missouri 65721
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posted 14 April 2004 02:45 PM
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Keith, when you put the pre-amp in line near your pickup, it simply preserves what signal quality you have coming in. From the output of the pre-amp you have a much stronger signal, and it is much more difficult to degrade. In my opinion, when using a pre-amp you can get away with longer cords, and cords with more inductance, resistance and capacitance. The whole point is to preserve all the frequency your pickup can put out. When dealing with magnetic pickup signals, the first thing to be lost is the high end frequency. All pre-amps are built differently as there are limitless ways of constructing a pre-amp. Choice of components and circuit design determine how the pre-amp is voiced. Pre-amps voiced for standard guitar players don't always sound great for steel guitar players. Steel guitar pickups are different than standard 6 string guitar pickups. I think it is important to find a pre-amp that is voiced for steel guitar. |
David Doggett
Member From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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posted 14 April 2004 03:29 PM
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Okay, so which preamps are voiced for steel guitar? |
Jim Peters
Member From: St. Louis, Missouri, USA
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posted 14 April 2004 06:14 PM
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Check out Brad Sarno's Black Box. His e-mail is on the forum. This is exactly what you're looking for. JP |
Donny Hinson
Member From: Balto., Md. U.S.A.
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posted 14 April 2004 06:47 PM
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The two critical electrical factors for cables are resistance and capacitance. Cables with very small center conductors can add resistance in series with your pickup, diminishing the signal that gets to the amp. Cables with a lot of capacitance per foot add significant capacitance, which does the same thing as the capacitors on a tone control (shunting the high frequencies to ground). Powered pedals and preamps can overcome the resistance factor of cables by boosting the signal, but high-frequency overtones and transients can still be lost when excess capacitance (cheap cables, or too much cable) is introduced into the equation. It's important to keep cables as short as possible, especially with high-impedance, or humbucking, pickups! Don't use 20 feet of cable when 10 or 12 is all you need. |
Keith Hilton
Member From: 248 Laurel Road Ozark, Missouri 65721
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posted 15 April 2004 01:32 PM
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Not many pre-amps are designed for steel guitar. Just about 99.999999% are designed for standard 6 string guitars. Brad Sarno makes a tube pre-amp for steel guitar. Brad is a highly respected person and a good guy, who I happen to think a lot of.
Goodrich Company has made pre-amps, and volume pedals with pre-amps, for steel guitar for many years. They are a respected company in the steel guitar community. Hilton Electronics makes pre-amps and volume pedals with pre-amps for steel guitars. Another possible solution is to use the pre-amp in a Peavey Amplifier, by using what is called the Peavey 3 cord hookup. This adds one more cord. With this hookup it is extremely important to make the cord between the guitar, and input of the pre-amp on the amp, a short good cord that has low reistance, capacitance, and inductance. Another problem with the Peavey 3 cord hookup is no gain control on the preamp input. Gain is set inside the amp on the circuit board. With the Goodrich units and Hilton units you can adjust gain of the pre-amp and tone of the pre-amp. You can not adjust tone of the input of the preamp with the Peavey 3 cord hookup. On the other hand Multi-Effect units like the Peavey Pro-FexII have input gain adjustments and tone controls on the pre-amp. I am sold on Peavey products and prefer their amps for steel guitar. Just about every powered device has a pre-amp. You can find some pre-amps designed for guitar that sound good with steel guitar. The solution is to have the pre-amp first in the chain with no more than 3 feet of connecting cable between your pickup and the pre-amp. All you have to do is let your ears be your guide. Most of the time you can't tell any difference if you are real close to your amp. Have someone play your guitar and get 30 to 40 feet away and you can hear the difference. |
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