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losthighway
buyin' a studio
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 845
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 Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 6:57 pm Post subject: What do you use for your long instrument cable runs? |
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Alright, I know many people love playing guitar in their control room when recording themselves, and/or have iso rooms that are a little far away from where they like to put their drums. How do you deal with this?
I have some multi-amp/live to tape style sessions coming up and I don't think my semi-iso baffle situation will play well with this bands express wishes for a distant room mic on the drums.
I've looked at kits by both Little Labs and Radial, where you plug your guitar in to some kind of box that converts it to a balanced line, runs it a couple hundred feet, and then re-converts it to an unbalanced line so it can plug into the amp. Both companies swear the 200ft line sounds identical to a 6ft line of top shelf instrument cable.
Experiences? Thoughts? Feelings?
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InvalidInk
george martin
Joined: 05 Dec 2003
Posts: 1452
Location: Evansville, IN
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jgimbel
suffering 'studio suck'
Joined: 08 Jan 2009
Posts: 429
Location: Philadelphia, PA
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| Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:17 pm Post subject: Re: What do you use for your long instrument cable runs? |
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| If you're talking about instrument cables, what about making some 1/4" to XLR short cord "adaptors), so you'd go from the guitar to that cord, then use whatever length of mic cable, and then use the other adapter cord on the other end to switch it back to an instrument cable, going into the amp? I don't know if that's something that would work, but it would make it so all but the length of those cord adaptors is balanced. I haven't done it, but I've taken 3 mic cords together from a mic to an XLR-to-1/4" adapter with no issues, so maybe this would work? |
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subatomic pieces
mixes from purgatory
Joined: 12 Aug 2003
Posts: 2908
Location: Norman, OK
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| Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:32 pm Post subject: Re: What do you use for your long instrument cable runs? |
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| jgimbel wrote: | | If you're talking about instrument cables, what about making some 1/4" to XLR short cord "adaptors), so you'd go from the guitar to that cord, then use whatever length of mic cable, and then use the other adapter cord on the other end to switch it back to an instrument cable, going into the amp? I don't know if that's something that would work, but it would make it so all but the length of those cord adaptors is balanced. I haven't done it, but I've taken 3 mic cords together from a mic to an XLR-to-1/4" adapter with no issues, so maybe this would work? |
Nope. You wouldn't gain anything by doing this.
I use the Little Labs STD every day. I don't notice any difference in tone between a guitar or bass plugged straight into the amp and one plugged into the STD first, run through 100' of mic cable, and then to the amp.
I've heard that you can do the same thing with buffered guitar pedals... but, the STD works fine for me. |
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oldguitars
steve albini likes it
Joined: 08 Aug 2007
Posts: 319
Location: Washington DC
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| Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:08 pm Post subject: Re: What do you use for your long instrument cable runs? |
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I have had some success using a pedal that has a buffer in it to get a longer cable run. Frequency response felt pretty similar, i just had to give alittle more at the amp to make up a touch of gain loss. I used a boss tuner pedal. Better still is one of the little labs or radial devices designed for this...
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jrsgodfrey
re-cappin' neve
Joined: 07 May 2003
Posts: 692
Location: Queens, NY
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| Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:10 pm Post subject: Re: What do you use for your long instrument cable runs? |
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+1 for the STD.
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losthighway
buyin' a studio
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 845
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| Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 11:16 pm Post subject: Re: What do you use for your long instrument cable runs? |
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| jrsgodfrey wrote: | | +1 for the STD. |
It is cheaper than the Radial deal. But if I buy I will say "I'm getting a 'signal transmission device'". That will avoid any confusion as to the nature of what has happened to me 
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ashcat_lt
re-cappin' neve
Joined: 04 Jan 2007
Posts: 674
Location: Duluth, MN
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| Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 11:54 pm Post subject: Re: What do you use for your long instrument cable runs? |
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+1 to the buffered pedal you already own, though the head>long speaker cable>cabinet is best.
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cgarges
zen recordist
Joined: 16 Jun 2003
Posts: 8949
Location: Charlotte, NC
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| Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 5:08 am Post subject: Re: What do you use for your long instrument cable runs? |
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The STD is fantastic! I debated for a long time between the STD and the Alan Smart setup. The Smart setup is a little more flexible, but the STD is really inexpensive and a really good design. I don't regret it a bit.
Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC
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kickoldman
audio school graduate
Joined: 02 Jun 2007
Posts: 13
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
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| Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 2:21 pm Post subject: Re: What do you use for your long instrument cable runs? |
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I've been thinking about this same situation, and came across this:
http://www.till.com/articles/PreampCable/index.html
Doesn't claim to be completely transparent, but it might be worth considering if you are handy with a soldering iron. I intend to build a few in a week or two. |
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Anthony Caruso
gimme a little kick & snare
Joined: 31 Jan 2007
Posts: 98
Location: Los Angeles, CA
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| Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 3:35 am Post subject: Re: What do you use for your long instrument cable runs? |
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Far from ideal but something you can do in a pinch is use the 1/4" thru jack on a DI. Most have them. Quick and dirty way to extend an instrument cable. I won't vouch for it's tone, but I will vouch for it working when there's no other means.
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clintopher
audio school graduate
Joined: 04 May 2006
Posts: 16
Location: San Diego, CA
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| Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 3:40 am Post subject: Re: What do you use for your long instrument cable runs? |
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| I have a 100ft long speaker cable just for this purpose. On a side note: I hate rolling that cable up. |
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moathouse
audio school graduate
Joined: 14 Nov 2009
Posts: 12
Location: Gainesville, Fl
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| Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 1:41 am Post subject: Re: What do you use for your long instrument cable runs? |
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| InvalidInk wrote: | | If you are using a head and a speaker cabinet, if can get away with some really long speaker cable before the tone degrades. Instrument cable is a different story. |
+1 Long speaker cable is the way to go.. then you can keep your head in the control room for tweaking after it hits the mics and pres and eqs. if you have a combo,, add and external speaker jack and get a cabinet! |
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