Choosing Cables

Material

I like braided cables over rubber cables. The rubber ones tend to pick up all the sticky gunk on random floors, which then gets covered in dirt and other crud.

Brand

I like Dimarzio and Horizon cables the best. They have performed very well over a long period of time, and none of them have failed me. Every other brand of cable I've owned, including lots of bargain ones, have failed.

Warranty

Many cables come with a lifetime warranty. That's great to hear, but it's not very practical to honor, and many times some no-name brand will be defunct before you need to honor it. I find it's best to get cables that last. If you want the assurance of a warranty, be sure to choose a brand that is reputable and successful and provides a clear, cheap (time and money-wise) method of honoring the warranty.

Length

There's generally 3 ranges of sizes for cables:

• Patch - 1-24" cables for daisy chaining pedals or other close proximity gear
• Midrange - 2-8' cables for longer gear interconnections and connecting to guitar for practice/bedroom situations
• Stage - 8'+ cables to run across a stage, to connect a pedal-board to your amps and to gain freedom of movement on stage with your guitar

Type

• Instrument Level
• Line Level
• Speaker Level

• Balanced vs. Unbalanced

• Connectors