George L Cables-The best

Kevin Hatton · From: Buffalo, N.Y.

If you want to improve your tone and clarity
get George L cables. My Monster cables were noisy. The George L's are quiet and are very highly rated by Guitar Player magazine. A great investment.

Greg Cutshaw · From: Corry, PA, USA

This comes up a few times a year but that's good because new people are always discovering these. George L's cables have extremely low capacitance per foot, are well shielded, lay flat, don't tangle, coil easily and are simple to build and repair without having to solder anything. These made a huge difference in the high frequencies in my sound. There are other good cables available from Belden but George L's has the best system for connecting everything. George L's Products

Greg

Greg's Web Page
MSA/Steel King Sounds

Mike Fried · From: Nashville, TN, USA

The one issue with solderless connectors such as George L's that is rarely discussed is that the cable/plug connections will oxidize in time (dissimilar metals) and should be periodically "renewed". This can usually be done simply by fully loosening the setscrew securing the plug and rotating the plug a couple of times on the cable, then tightening the screw back down, preferably in a new spot away from the original indentation. On their right-angle plugs, it's best to remove the plug and cut off the "used" section of cable and then reattach the plug. If your George L cables are a couple of years old or more (or have frequently seen a lot of humidity), try this, you'll probably hear a difference.

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

I've been using George L's cables (and George L's strings) since the mid 80's.

I've a couple of cables that are close to 20 years old and still going strong.

I've had two cable ends, that I recall go bad (not a bad track record for 20 years of use) but I never considered the "oxidation". The ones that I had go bad were completely "open", not just partially or had high resistance. Being an ex amp tech I tested the ones that went "bad" with a high quality Digital Voltohmmeter. But, I'll try the "reseat" if a cable ever goes bad again.

Paddy Long · From: Christchurch, New Zealand

I have been using the George L cables for my steel and rack hook up for a while and they are great. Can you use the same cable for the speaker connections in a rack system ? Or do you recommend a specific speaker type cable?

Greg Cutshaw · From: Corry, PA, USA

I wouldn't recommend using the George L's guitar cable for speaker wire. It's not designed to carry appreciable current although at low practice volumes it seems ok. George L's does sell speaker cable (16 gauge) and plugs which are designed for the higher currents of a speaker system. See these products at the George L's web site link in my post above.

Greg.

Chip Fossa · From: Monson, MA, USA (deceased)

I haven't tried out GeorgeL cables yet, but the oxidation you guys refer to >

Couldn't you simply use a grease-type coating?
Plumbers heat-pruf grease, or even Vaseline?
Like putting grease on auto battery terminals.

Go easy on me. I don't know what the physical connections look like or the over-all assembly.

Oh, almost forgot - I checked out those Monster cables around here. WHOA - where do they get off charging $40 for a 20' cord.
C'mon! My axes sound just fine with plain ole' cheapo cords. And haven't all great electric musicians in the past sound OK? when those/these cords were not available.

I am interested, tho, in GeorgeL's system.

And, here's a clue: anything termed SUPER, MEGA, MONSTER, HUMONGUS - I look at with a lot of trepidation: - NOT MY WORLD!

Thanks.

[This message was edited by CHIP FOSSA on 19 June 2006 at 06:02 PM.]

[This message was edited by CHIP FOSSA on 19 June 2006 at 06:03 PM.]

[This message was edited by CHIP FOSSA on 19 June 2006 at 06:21 PM.]

Paddy Long · From: Christchurch, New Zealand

Greg thanks for the advise ...I might try their speaker cable!

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

Chip, you don't want any compound in there that can cause even the least bit of resistance or capacitance. "Dry" is the only way to go.

I don't think the oxidation is really a big problem - I've been in Florida with the high humidity for 10 years and never experienced a cable failure since I've been here. If the cables were left outside for a long period (very long) period it might be an issue, but with the "normal use" that 99% of us do I don't think it's a problem. Actually, if I were still in the amp repair business I wouldn't even consider it an issue with customers that use George L's cables.

Dan Beller-McKenna · From: Durham, New Hampshire, USA

Any advantage to the .225 over the .155 cables?

Thanks,

Dan

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Dan Beller-McKenna
Big Red
Durham, NH

Kevin Ruddell · From: Toledo Ohio USA

I went back to Belden cable. The George L's are much brighter sounding to my ears because of the low capacitance . the Belden seems a little less trebly.

Dave Diehl · From: Mechanicsville, MD, USA

I agree with Kevin. I paid about $100/cable for new monster instrument cables and immediately went back to the George L's...

Darvin Willhoite · From: Roxton, Tx. USA

I used Belden cables from about 1972 until last year when I got my first new MSA. It came with a couple of George L's cables, so I tried them and liked them. The colors they offer are neat too. I now have a red set for my red guitars, a blue set for my blue guitars, and a white set.....you get the picture. I can't really tell any difference in the sound between them and the Beldens, but they are much easier to work with, being smaller, they take up less room in the pack-a-seat.

------------------
Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording

Marlin Smoot · From: Kansas

So far, I've been happy with the Monster cables and the Planet Waves. I'm sure at some point I'll try the george L's as I'm always on the endless quest for tone...

If you have a chance to A/B the high dollar cords with the cheap cords and you don't hear a difference, buy the cheap cords.

With the Monster cords, I heard a nicer lower end and cleaner highs. The way the Monster cord help drive the signal into the amp was amazing...to me.

Ta ta

Greg Cutshaw · From: Corry, PA, USA

Dan - the .155 and .255 cables are identical electrically and will sound exactly the same. The .255 cable just has a thicker core and is more rugged.

Darvin - I just noticed all the colors they sell now. I would have ordered some red ones had I known about them.

Greg

James Marlowe · From: Florida, USA

I almost invested in some high dollar cables, but decided to try GL's first. When they showed up in the mail and I saw how small they were, I thought "what a rip-off". I always thought bigger was better. But when I tried them out I was glad I ordered them. They do sound better to me. But I found out they don't work good at all for bass! Bigger is better in that case.

Joey Ace · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

I've been using GeorgeL's for about 10 years and am very happy with them.

At first I doubted that a soderless connection would be any good. I'm now a believer.

The only problem I ever had is with their right angle connectors coming loose. That's easily fixed in a minute or less.

You can still have vintage cable tone by adding one of these to your signal chain:

Joseph Meditz · From: Sierra Vista, AZ

Does anyone know exactly how much capicitance per foot Geo L cables have?

Joe

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

I think the capacitance is 22pf per foot (but may be 24 pf). We checked actual cable on a capacitance tester about 3 years ago. We checked some older cable and some newer cable and they were both the same.

Greg Cutshaw · From: Corry, PA, USA

I am getting just over 20 picofarads per foot here on my bridge. Incredibly, the connectors (standard length straight) measure only 4 picofarads apiece!

Greg

Joseph Meditz · From: Sierra Vista, AZ

I had bought some cables from guitar-cable.com which are spec'd at 33pF/foot. When I compared them to the Geo L's I felt that the Geo L's gave a nicer, more musical, tone. The Geo L's were recommended by Jim Tonemeister Palenscar. And I must confess that I was a bit skeptical. But to my surprise after unplugging and plugging cables in and out for A-B testing, the Geo L's won.

Joe

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

George L's get pretty pricy if you start looking for quality patchcords to hook up racks and pedal chains - I was happy with a big spool of cable and some ends I bought from this guy: http://www.gigcables.com/
I'm sure there are many others.

P.S. I have found it REALLY helpful to put one, or two, 4" lengths of clear vinyl tubing in between the ends before you solder them, on cords that get some wear. The 1/2" ID X 3/4" OD tubing can then be jammed up onto the plugs, providing really good flex protection. George L's might take a different size, but good hardware stores have big spools of all different sizes.

[This message was edited by David Mason on 21 June 2006 at 06:25 AM.]

Greg Cutshaw · From: Corry, PA, USA

You have to shop around for George L's to get a good price. I am sure there are some steel vendors that have good prices. I buy a lot from click here and with every 12' of cable ordered you get two connectors so the total price is not that much more than any other decent cable.

Greg

Mike Fried · From: Nashville, TN, USA

"I don't think the oxidation is really a big problem - I've been in Florida with the high humidity for 10 years and never experienced a cable failure since I've been here."

Jack, this oxidation doesn't cause failure, but it does degrade the tone by adding a couple of ohms of resistence to the connection (I'm not making this up, it's firsthand observation of both the problem and the solution).

Kevin Hatton · From: Buffalo, N.Y.

I agree Mike.

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