Important Cable Information

[MotleyCrue81]

This is such an important topic I feel because it’s something either you’re in the know, or you’re not.

Main point:
It’s very important to know the differences between the different types of cables, especially between 1/4″ cables. Make sure you know exactly which kind of 1/4″ cable you’re using because NOT ALL 1/4″ CABLES ARE THE SAME!

Normal person thought:
But this 1/4″ cable I use to plug my guitar into my amp is just a normal guitar cable right? It connects and I can play my guitar through my amp so what are you whining about MC81?

Well.. it may be a guitar cable.. but it might also be a speaker cable!

There’s 2 main types of 1/4″ cables when it comes to guitar:

#1 – 1/4″ Instrument Cable
The ‘Instrument Cable’ is also commonly called a guitar cable or a shielded cable. This type of cable is made for having mic level signals up to line level signals run through it. It also will normally have copper shielding surrounding the core of the cable to block interference. This is because line level is about 1 Volt and mic level is about .01 Volts and because those voltages are so low, they can be easily interfered with, hence the reason for these cables having the copper shielding to prevent that. Instrument cables can be used to connect your guitar to your amp, your send and return of your amp (if it has those) to your pedals, and the preamp out of your amp (if your amp has that) to an audio interface. Any 1/4″ connection that will have a mic or line level signal go through it can use an instrument cable. You CANNOT use an instrument cable to connect the speaker outs of your amp to your cabinet! The core of the cable could melt because there is way more voltage coming out of the speaker outs of your amp. You will need a ‘Speaker Cable’ to connect your amp to your cabinet.

#2 – 1/4″ Speaker Cable
A ‘Speaker Cable’ is meant to tolerate much higher voltages running through it such as from your amp’s speaker outs and any other power amp going to a cabinet or some other speakers. Speaker cables are generally thicker than instrument cables because the core is thicker to tolerate the higher voltages. Speaker cables are also generally unshielded because the higher voltages don’t get affected by interference really. So you would not want to use this type of cable to connect your guitar to your amp because a guitar will produce a weak signal and that weak signal could easily be interfered with going through an unshielded speaker cable. Also, the sound quality will be diminished because the weak signal is going to have a tough time trying to travel through that thicker core.

I’ll also talk about XLR cables just for some extra info.

#3 – XLR Cable
These are not 1/4″ cables, if you don’t know what they look like, google it. XLR cables are typically meant to have mic level up to line level signals running through them. They are balanced cables because they have 3 terminals: 2 signal wires, and a ground. That is unlike speaker and instrument cables which are unbalanced because they have only 2 terminals: 1 signal and a ground. Because they are balanced, they can carry a signal more cleanly over longer distances than unbalanced cables. XLR cables are used for connecting microphones to an audio interface, connecting DI boxes to mixing boards, etc.

So.. now you know a bit about the kinds of cables used with guitar rigs. I wrote this because like a total noob, I had an instrument cable connecting my amp’s speaker out to my cabinet, A HUGE MISTAKE! Luckily, I’ve had my amp at such a low volume level (bedroom level) that there was never enough voltage going through to damage anything. Guess I got lucky with that one. If I were to do a gig and crank even half of my 120 watts, there could have been some major damage. Once I found out about speaker cables and their purpose, I immediately ran to to get one and hook it up.

Sometimes we just think things are as simple as just connecting a cable, but there’s more to it than that!

I use Livewire cables and they’re great quality at a great price.

Bring hair metal back!

[superblonde]

MotleyCrue81 wrote:

the core is thicker to tolerate the higher voltages.

this should say higher amps.

MotleyCrue81 wrote:

that there was never enough voltage going through to damage anything.

this too- amps going thru. crank up the amps and that cable would heat up, and/or catch fire, and/or melt..

it is true the cables are built for different voltages as well (guitar being low voltage and easily prone to interference etc so needs noise shielding) but the amp difference is major, like- running a fire hydrant water pressure thru it, compared to a little water sprinkler trickle.

Compare to, for example, car jumper cables.. a car is 12v much like everyday 12v accessories that use thin cables but the cables for jumping a car are mondo fat because the car is going to need lots of amps to crank the engine over.

It might be helpful trivia… or maybe not who knows.. to know that “unbalanced” for audio cables actually means “differential signalling”. I could never figure out what the heck people were talking about with balanced or unbalanced until I realized what the original audio guys really meant was, common mode (which they call balanced, i.e., a positive and negative side) vs differential (what they call unbalanced, i.e., one is +signal one is -signal, then of course a third is often needed for earth ground). This really is a huge confusing concept in audio, because of these kind of incorrect word choices. Comparison.. ethernet cables, if anyone remembers those hah, uses differential signalling between each pair of wires (there’s 4 pairs), to allow the ethernet cables to be really really long without accumulating lots of interference along the way… each of these differential pairs have a twist which has a very scientific formula for how many twists per foot, in fact. (Hence the typical name for this cable, twisted-pair.) It’s kind of, but not really, like the difference between DC power which is short-run power only, and AC power which is long-run.

Glad you didnt smoke anything tho. Big difference in those cables.. guitar cable being, an instrument cable, it shouldnt really be thought of as a “wire”.

I'm an intermediate student of Metal Method. I play seitannic heavy metal. All Kale Seitan! ♯ ♮ ♭ ø ° Δ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
And on the Seventh Day, Mustaine said: ∇ ⨯ E = - ∂B / ∂t ; and there was Thrash; and it had a ♭3; and it was good.

[MotleyCrue81]

Ya you’re right with the amperage as opposed to volts, guess I was just kind of vaguely referring to Volts as Power. P = V x I, so more power means an increase in amperage and I’m guessing the volts increase also, just not sure what the ratio is between V and I as P goes up with respect to what an amp produces.

Bring hair metal back!

[Igglepud]

Nice post. I almost bought the wrong cable once myself, but saw it was labeled “speaker cable” on the packaging. It LOOKED just like an instrument cable, but I went with the other just to be safe. Now I know why. Thanks!

MY ROCK IS FIERCE!!!

[rightonthemark]

very good info motley.
i would also add for anyone using powered speakers/monitors…
and this is for p.a. systems and not guitar amps.
you might find xlr inputs on powered speakers. even though xlr cables are meant for line level input they will be fine for powered speakers because it is line level running thru the cable because the power is in the speaker and comes after the cable. the same is true of using a 1/4″ instrument or patch cable with powered speakers.
\m/

rock and roll ain't pretty; that's why they picked us to play it.

[BigW]

Nice post I am using a guitar cables to my speakers and never knew it mattered

Big W

[MotleyCrue81]

Exactly! Such an easy mistake that never really crosses one’s mind. What kind of amp and cab are you using? I love checking out the gear other people are using on YouTube, etc. haha.

Bring hair metal back!

[Sean]

Thanks Motley!

Tell me and I will forget ,show me and I'll remember, involve me and I'll understand

[BigW]

My current gear

Guitars:

1973 m75 guild

Peavey Vandenberg

Ibanez mikro

2015 Gibson SG Les Paul 100 bday signature

and I have 3 acoustics Martin Fender and Kramer

 

Amps:

Fender mustang v 150 watt head and cabinet

Line 6 pod hd 500 x into a Bose tower (sounds great and is super portable)

An old peavey tube combo cant remember the model maybe MX?

Big W

[MotleyCrue81]

Sounds like a lot of fun stuff! Sweet.

Bring hair metal back!

[MotleyCrue81]

Almost forgot to add:
The difference between TS (Tip, Sleeve) and TRS (Tip, Ring, Sleeve) regarding 1/4″ cables.

Look in the attached image.

1/4″ TS Cable:
For a 1/4″ TS cable, the + signal is on the tip, and the ground is on the sleeve. Both ‘Instrument Cables’ and ‘Speaker Cables’ exist in 1/4″ TS cable form. These cables can only produce a mono and unbalanced signal.

1/4″ TS is easy, but 1/4″ TRS gets a little tricky..

1/4″ TRS Cable:
For a 1/4″ TRS cable, the + signal is on the tip, the – signal is on the ring, and the ground is on the sleeve. Configured in this way, you have yourself a mono and BALANCED signal.
But here’s where the tricky part comes, 1/4″ TRS cables can act 2 different ways! The way it acts depends on what it’s hooked up to. The first way was already deascribed as a mono and balanced signal, the second way is this:
+ signal ON BOTH TIP AND RING, and the ground on the sleeve. What this does is creates a stereo and UNBALANCED signal. It’s unbalanced now because you traded your – (which was balancing the + signal before) and made it a + as well so that you could be sending two different + signals, i.e. left and right for stereo.

So depending on what your 1/4″ TRS cable is hooked up to, it can behave as a mono and balanced signal, or as a stereo and unbalanced signal (the cable has three wires in which they are +, +, and ground as described above).

1/4″ TRS cables are used as both mono and stereo for ‘Instrument Cables’ whereas for using 1/4″ TRS ‘Speaker Cables’, although they can be used for both mono and stereo, real world applications I believe typically use them as mono and balanced.

The key again, is to pay attention to your cables and what they’re hooked up to. 1/4″ TS is pretty easy (like your cable from your guitar to your amp), but 1/4″ TRS can be a little trickier because you will have to pay attention to the settings of what that TRS cable is hooked up to.

Bring hair metal back!

Attachments:

1. 

   IMG_3335.gif
   

[pipelineaudio]

https://www.kailuamusicschool.com/you-dont-know-jack-or-do-you/

[Author]

Posts