Belden 1800 as guitar cable

[Jax]

I recently had a short length of balanced Belden 1800 going from my guitar to the DI on my interface and was stunned at the clarity and cirsp, full tone. It was kind of baffling because the cable I unplugged before using the Belden was a planet waves guitar cable, which didn't sound nearly as good. I know PW isn't the best, but a cable designed for guitars should theoretically outperform an AES digital cable, yet it didn't.

Both cables were 5 feet in length. I have some longer Belden 1800 cables that I'm going to try with my guitar in comparison to a Mogami Gold cable I have at the studio.

Perhaps at a longer length, some variables (capacitance?) may change with a digital cable acting like an instrument cable, but I'm interested to do the experiment.

Anyone tried this?

[soulglow]

I'm curious how the Belden was wired.

I've had one Planet Waves cable. In fact, it was one of the things that helped convince me that cables really do make a difference, especially for guitar, because it sounded chewy and weak and gross.

What I'm saying is, perhaps the difference you heard was not because 1800F is so good as a guitar cable, but because Planet Waves isn't.

[Jax]

Originally Posted by soulglow

I'm curious how the Belden was wired.

I've had one Planet Waves cable. In fact, it was one of the things that helped convince me that cables really do make a difference, especially for guitar, because it sounded chewy and weak and gross.

What I'm saying is, perhaps the difference you heard was not because 1800F is so good as a guitar cable, but because Planet Waves isn't.

The Belden was wired balanced, as mentioned.

I think PW cables are slightly below mediocre but not bad. The Mogami Gold certainly blows it away.