The Steel Guitar Forum

What are we using... Hosa? George L? Monster Gold tips?

This has been covered time and time and time and time again on this forum.

A great topic that comes up over and over and sometimes there are new cables that appear on the market. For me it's George L's, thin cable with the new style right angle plugs and standard stright ends. They sound great and are good mechanically but could be better. In the studio it's no big deal to repair a loose end. On the road or at a gig I wold prefer factory soldered or crimped ends.

Greg

I use George L's, I also meg them out before I leave for a gig.

Eddie Freeman wrote:I use George L's, I also meg them out before I leave for a gig.

Meg them out? What is that?

It's true that this topic has been covered time and again. But so has tuning, amp choice, favorite steel guitars, and on an on.

That's all a part of an on-line discussion board. It USED to bother me but I finally came to the realization that it's not a big deal at all. Heck, I often find myself reading those repeat-postings and learning something I didn't know before.

And that might happen with this one! I, too, wanna know what "meg-out" means in regard to a cable. I'm guessing it just means putting your cables on an ohmmeter to check for shorts. Is that right?

Geo L, for a long time. jack

Meg them out? What is that?

"Meg them out" is an old-timer expression which is short for "measuring them on a megohmmeter" to check for proper electrical behaviour. You want the tip-to-tip resistance to be close to zero, the sleeve-to-sleeve resistance to be close to zero, and the tip-to-sleeve resistance to be infinite.

Today most of us have "VOMs" (Volt-Ohm-Milliammeter) which has superseded the "Megger" on most electronic benches.

One thing you can't tell from "megging" is the capacitance of a cable. I have a Monster "Jazz" cable which seems to have a deliberately high capacitance in order to roll off the high end to give that smooth jazz guitar sound. It really wrecks the sound of my steel. The only reason I bought it was that my local shop was out of stock on most cables and I desperately needed to bring a new one out to a rehearsal one night.

Mike

Thanks fellows, yeah i know it's a wore out question...I have been out of touch with a lot of technological advances in the last 10 years...It seems like i every time i turn around there is something 'Better'... New better pre-amps, Better Sounds, better bars, Better Steel's just wondering what's a better Cable than a standard $10.00 one.

I am interested in the George L's but i prefer molded ends too.

I've gotten some very good cables from guitarfetish.com
I use their solderless plugs/canle for steel. Prices are very good. Their guitars/pickups/parts are also a good bang for the buck.

I use George L's for the short cables that go from guitar to effects to volume pedal. But, I use Proco or Whirlwind cables to go from the volume pedal to the amp. The pathway for the other band members often means walking in the area of my cord, and they sometimes trip on the George L because when I roll them to fit in my pak-a-seat, they develop a coil (like a spring) and won't lay flat on the floor. I also can not hear a difference whether I use George L's or not.

George L's .225 with soldered ends...Larry

Thanks fellow mates...Thanks Richard, i was wondering about the winding them up and if they coiled or not...I think i'm going to get two 3 footer's...One from my Dobro sim to pedal...and One from Pedal to Pod XT which is set down by rear right leg on a mini mic stand...I think i'll run standard from there to the Console.

Apparantly, George L does have 3ft pre moulded soldered, cables.

Planet Waves Solderless, by D'Addario. I'm replacing the George L's .155's I have with these. Much more robust connector and I hear less noise AND greater clarity, they are expensive by the connector individualy but very reasonable with the "Cable Station" kit, (four straights,six 90's and 50 feet of cable) much easier to deal with when wraping up on top of that. Set screw has a predefined stop, no more kinda..guessing how tight. Just my two Cents.

I use the George L 155's but I have graduated to the newer more robust "Masters" series right angled plugs, they are far superior to the standard RH version IMO

I did my studio with this:

Here

Capacitance 20pF/ft

Love the Geo.L's, thins, for my steel. But all pedals on my guitar board are linked w/little Belden cords and Switchcraft ends. Everything is quiet as a mouse.

Canare cables with Neutrik connectors....

20pf/foot is a great reference point for cable that won't kill off the highs too much. Radio Shack of all places has cable that is about 18pF/Foot but its not well shielded and does not have a tough jacket like the George L's.


Greg

Canare, Mogami, Gotham----

I use Van Den Hul interconnect wire with Neutrik both ends. Only 3 meters to keep within my budget.
recommended by a tech friend, Is it good? - I don't know and I can't tell the difference.

I've enjoyed the George Ls since I first used them - like taking a blanket off your amp!

I like the fact that even I can effect a repair. Pricey, but I've had long service from them.