5 Best Guitar Cables in 2021

If you are a guitar player and starting your career, you are likely to encounter guitar cables soon. Also, if you don’t know about guitar cables, now is the time to learn about them. This, in particular, is important if you are an electric guitar player because you have to use an amplifier.

It is essential and the only thing to connect your guitar with the amplifier is through the cables. This will ensure a great sound. Therefore, you need to use proper and high-quality cables.

Otherwise, the only option you are left with is to use wireless connectivity, which has its pros and cons. Here is one thing you need to understand – i.e. most guitar players are using cables to connect with them amplifiers.

A lot of people ask us this important question “do guitar cables make a difference?” Well, yes, they do make a lot of difference. Another important question about guitar cables is that are they good for producing adequate sound? What about high-end cables?

Again, in many scenarios, the quality and price are not proportional to each other, which means a high-end cable does not mean that it would perform decently. In some cases, it does but this is not necessary to buy a high-end or expensive cable.

Therefore, there are a few factors you need to consider such as insulation material that comes with low capacitance as well as conductive PVC shielding, gold-plated connectors, braided shielding, and oxygen-free or linear copper material.

Some companies make gold-plated cables, which means the price of such cables could be expensive. Experts recommend that gold-plated cables do not necessarily perform well when connected with the amplifier. The gold-plated cables, however, last a little longer than other types of cables. Remember, it has nothing to do with any sort of performance bump.

In today’s article, we are going to talk about the best guitar cables in 2021. Before that, you need to understand what makes a great guitar cable and how to choose a guitar cable when you need one. Read on!

Top 5 Best Guitar Cable Picks

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Best Guitars Cables

It is not easy to choose the best guitar cable. For some people, it is a complicated process. So, you must use the aforementioned buying criteria and consider these factors. This will help you buy the best guitar cable to be connected with the amplifier. Using the purchase criteria, we have chosen the best guitar cables. Continue reading!

1. Mogami Gold Instrument Guitar Cable

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The Mogami Gold Series Cable is one of the best cables used for guitars. It is a professional cable used worldwide by hundreds of thousands of guitar players. Not only does it perform well in audio work, but it also good for broadcast and recording studios.

Therefore, it is no surprise to tell you that this is a high quality cable manufactured by Nagano, Japan. The Company has manufactured pro-standard guitar cables and this is one of them. This is why it is on top of our list of best guitar cables.

It has high-quality PVC conductive layers placed under the shield conductor. This works by draining away the voltage/impedance as well as reduce external noise or microphonic unwanted noise in uniquely. The cable is available in both short and long lengths. It has right-angled connectors.

2. Ernie Ball 6 inches Pancake Patch Cable

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Another best cable for your guitar in our list is Ernie Ball 6 inches Pancake Patch Cable. The company believes in producing high-quality products including the Pancake Patch Cable.

Ernie Ball features a high-quality design made with superior materials, which are design and manufactured to last longer.

Not only does it transmit a clean signal but it also very quiet to reduce noise. It can deliver all sorts of frequencies for your guitar instruments accurately.

The best thing about Ernie Ball 6 inches guitar cable is that it has highly resistant towards corrosion. The primary reason behind this is the oxygen-free copper material used in it.

Also, it has a high-quality construction that allows tangle resistance. The design is based on dual conductor and dual-shield, which allows for low noise and durability. The lasting performance of this product is due to a strong and sturdy shell casing.

3. D’Addario Planet Waves American Stage

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D’Addario Guitar Cable is a flagship product with many specs. The company has followed the industrial protocols to make this cable featuring a wide range of awesome features. This is a cable with a length of 6 inches. It has an angled-to-angled configuration. The cable is great for setting up the pedalboard and it likewise offers you a clear tone.

The cable is designed specifically to produce natural tones or sounds of the guitar with no interference. The quality of the wire is amazing and many audiophiles believe that this is the best cable available on the market.

Made in the USA, the cable has low 28pF/ft. capacitance and is made of 22AWG oxygen-free copper conductor, which offers excellent signal transfer between the guitar and the amplifier.

The manufacturer has used 95% tinned copper braiding, which offers full coverage and eliminates noise. High-quality material is also good to eliminate interference.

Following the industrial standards and precision tools, the product delivers a pro-standard performance. Not only you will a natural tone but at the same time, the cable will last longer even if you use it frequently.

4. Fender Deluxe Series Instrument Cable

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Fender Deluxe is made of high-quality and superior material. It has a braided shielding, which offers awesome durability, transparency, and conductance. This is why this product in on our list of best guitar cables in 2021.

Not only does it offer custom designs but it also has 24K gold-plated connectors, which increase the life-span of this cable. The gold-plated connectors also show resistance towards tarnishing, which means you will receive high-quality sound with no disturbance or noise.

The cable is designed to maximize the tone’s purity. It has a rugged tweed jacket, which protects the cable from undergoing damages. This is what the company believes in – to produce high-quality cables for your guitar.

When it comes to the main features of this product, Fender guitar cables have customized molded ends, tweed colors, as well as 8mm outer diameter jacket. It has 24K gold-plated connectors and has different lengths such as 5 inches to 1 foot up to 25 feet. This is amazing for both beginners and experts as they can use any length depending on their needs.

5. Vox Premium Vintage Coil Guitar Cable

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If you are inspired by the musical era of the 1960s, then this is a great cable for you. It reminds you of Jimi – one of the best guitarists in the world. This is an excellent cable available in a wide range of colors. The cable features a cool vibe and takes you back to the 60s. You feel like Jimi Hendrix playing the guitar. It also has an awesome quality of sound.

The cable is made of oxygen-free copper material – pure and 100% according to the industrial protocols and standards – making it a unique product with vintage coiled cables to offer you the top-notch sound quality.

When we talk about the connectors of this cable, they are gold-plated, single-piece, and precision-machined, which not only last longer but at the same time provide improved conductance. So, if you want to remove noise while playing your guitar, this is a cable you must go for.

Guitar Cables – Buying Guide

When it comes to the best guitar cables, you must know that many players do not give importance to the cables’ anatomy. As long as the cable is working, they would use it and this for them is an important thing.

On the other hand, it is important to familiarize yourself with cables so that you can choose the best one. You need to understand the features such as the exterior and central conductor.

Many people opt to go for a cable with a copper conductor, which is useful in carrying the audio signal through the electrical current.

Basically, the copper conductor is insulated and then covered using an electrostatic shield – the purpose of which is to reduce the cracking noise that occurs when moving the cable.

Likewise, this is enveloped in the braided shield that blocks interference from any outside sources like RFI and EMI. All these things or factors make a great guitar cable.

While all guitar cables have similar characteristics, there are a few things, which differentiate the average cable from the high-quality cable.

It is not necessary to understand all the ins and outs – however, you must be careful and do consider sound quality, reliability, and durability. So, what to look for when choosing the best guitar cables. Now, we will tell you some purchase criteria, which you must use to buy the best guitar cable. Continue reading!

Conductor

A conductor is the central point of a guitar cable. Conductors are usually made of standard copper because this element has good conduction qualities and is likewise a cheap material.

However, these days, companies are using oxygen-free copper – also known as OFC – and linear-crystal copper. These two materials work better than traditional copper material.

Both oxygen-free and linear-crystal are pure forms of copper used to improve the performance of the cable and that is to achieve the best possible tone. When it comes to the design of the conductor, there are two basic center designs – the stranded design and the solid design.

Solid conductors are much cheaper than the stranded conductors. They can be soldered simply and can break easily. On the other hand, stranded conductors are flexible and strong. They are likewise expensive than their solid counterparts.

Also, solid conductors have a single piece of wire whereas stranded conductors have many copper threads, which are twisted together to provide a solid center.

Connectors

Most connectors are ¼ inches jacks, which you can plug into the guitar and the amplifier. The jacks are either made of silver-plated or gold-plated metals. Typically, both silver-plated and gold-plated work well. However, experts believe that gold is a better connector than silver.

As mentioned at the start of the article, some experts believe that gold-plating has nothing to do with the performance but it improves the life-quality of the cable. It is because gold can resist tarnishing – giving the cable a longer life-span.

At the same time, you need to consider the connectors’ shape as well. Most cable companies offer different choices such as straight-straight, straight-angled, and angled-angled. Although the shape of the connectors does not affect the performance – picking up the style depends on your personal preferences.

Most people believe that gold-plated connectors perform better than silver or nickel. This is a complete myth. We are repeatedly saying this because many guitar players have this misconception in their minds that gold is better. We know, gold, as usual, has a psychological impact on many people’s minds but again, it does not make any difference to the performance.

Cable Length

The length of the guitar cable is very important. Most people just ignore this aspect – which leads to problems – for example, while playing guitar, if the cable length is short, you won’t be able to move freely or away from the amplifier. This is a problem for many guitar players and they regret not considering the length at the time of purchase.

Therefore, it is important to choose a length that suits you and that can best fit your needs. For instance, if you play your guitar in your bedroom – i.e. right next to the amplifier, in this case, you can for a 5-feet cable.

On the other hand, if you are looking for something longer, a cable with 10-feet or 15-feet length would be enough. You must not choose a cable longer than that – because it can affect the performance.

Jacket

The cable’s outer jacket does not make a large impact on the quality of sound. However, it is a part of the cable that you don’t see normally. When the breaks, then probably you would see this part of the cable. So, this is quite significant. Again, it depends on your personal preference to choose the type of jacket. For instance, most often, you will find black rubber jackets and black polythene jackets. There are other types of colors and materials available as well.

Shielding

It is an important part of the guitar cable as it keeps the sonic interference from the center conductor – an area where the single of the sound or audio passes.

When it comes to choosing the best guitar cable, you must know that most cables use braided copper shields, which can block both RFI and EMI.

As a result, this causes less interference and awesome sound. You can also choose a foil shielding – but this is mostly used in cheaper products. At the same time, foil shielding is less effective than braided copper. So, always go for a product with shielded copper.

Budget

There are many types of guitar cables available at different prices. You can spend as much as $5,000 on a single guitar cable – this is true – many people do this. However, this is not an option for many people – especially those who are on a budget.

Some cables are of high-quality made of oxygen-free copper and gold-plated, they would be a little expensive but in terms of performance, they would do better. This is not because of gold-plating but the oxygen-free copper used instead of simple copper material.

Conclusion

Wrapping up, previously, guitar players would not need cables. They didn’t matter because there was a time when speakers were not as sensitives as they are today. We mean to say that there was not an entire pedal-board of effects, which could be considered by the guitarists.

Gone are the days when everything was simple and effortless. Today, as a guitarist, you need to amplify the sound and make it noise-free. Thanks to modern technology, we have advanced electrical circuitry these days to increase the use of passive magnetic pickups.

There are many cable products for guitar available on the market. However, it is no surprise to tell you that for a guitarist, it is not easy to choose the one that best fits his or her needs. So, to help you, we have created buying criteria, which is based on our personal experiences with guitars and their accessories as well as our thorough research.

We have created a list of 5 best guitar cables. Each has its unique characteristics and specs – although they do share some common features. While looking at them and thinking which one to choose, our suggestion to go for the one that meets your requirements. Good Luck!

Sources:

• What’s the difference between a TS cable and TRS cable?
• Choosing Guitar Cables
• Top 4 Reasons to Choose Mogami Cables over Cheaper Ones
• Why is braided guitar cable so awesome?
• Is there a difference between guitar cables and other types of cable?
• Ultimate Guide to Audio and Data Cables for Guitarists
• Why Instrument Cables and Speaker Cables Aren’t Interchangeable
• Does An Expensive Guitar Lead Make a Difference?