Guitar Leads Under The Microscope!
It’s often the case that guitar players will spend a fortune on a guitar, then spend a few dollars on guitar leads. Surely paying a little more will ensure that the signal that comes out of your instrument is as faithful and as strong as it can be. In this way, your sound will be as faithful as it can be to the original. In this review we cast our eye over four great guitar cable contenders.
What are we looking for in a good batch of guitar leads?
So, what really matters when it comes to buying a guitar lead? We’re looking at over all construction for a start. Does the lead feel rugged and able to withstand being abused when on the road of flung in a bag.
Secondly, does it sound great. What we mean by that is, does it not give of any sound…that’s a prerequisite as well.
Does the lead come in at a good length or indeed are multiple sizes available?
Is the lead offered with a lifetime guarantee or is there any other perks to buying a specific band over and above what you would want which is a long lasting cable.
These are just some of the points that we are considering for our review. We’ll also bring up what customers have to say about a specific guitar leads as well to even things out.
Table could not be displayed.
NORDELL AUDIO GUITAR LEADS
First up is Nordell Audio from England. This is their noiseless audio instrument cable. Being one of the cheaper cables on display here it’s certainly worth a closer inspection. As this is the 10 foot version but it also comes in 20 foot and 30 foot version.
Among the qualities that make this an excellent buy is build quality, excellent sound transmission with no interference and solid design.
Without doubt this is certainly one of the best value leads out there. It gets an amazing 95% score when it comes to five star reviews and the remaining five percent is four stars; almost the perfect score.
Table could not be displayed.Ultra HDTV 2m
This cable buy Ultra HDTV is a one size fits all cable. The manufacturer promote the cable for use not only for guitar but also bass, piano, synth, etc, etc. This is also the most expensive lead of the four highlighted in this article.
The braided approach to the covering is a nice touch and has two layers of shielding to protect the cable from picking up unwanted noise. Note that it seems the cables are made in China, however, some people were under the impression that they were created in Germany. Not everyone was happy about this and bought thinking they were made in Europe, so if this is an issue, just remember this.
Overall, this cable got fairly good reviews. Some people thought it a little thin and there were other complaints about the occasional click coming from the lead.
Table could not be displayed.Tiger 6.35mm/1/4 inch Angled Jack Guitar Cable – 3m
The Tiger cable is the first to feature an angled jack on one end so that it fits snugly into the guitar. The jury is still out on whether this is of that great a benefit, however, it does make this lead stand out in some respect to the other guitar cables on show.
Out of all the cables presented in this article, this cable sadly fared the worst. Nearly ten percent of customers were not at all happy with it and it really is a case of you get what you pay for, this being the cheapest option.
Complaints range from the lead breaking within a few days of use, noise emanating from it and the lead being faulty from first insertion.
To balance this out, over fifty percent of customers said they were more than happy so this really does look like a case of quality control at the guitar leads manufacturing plant.
Table could not be displayed.Urbanphonics Professional Premium Quality Instrument Lead
When it comes to customer reviews of guitar leads this is surely the Daddy! With three hundred reviews on Amazon there is no doubt that this lead is both popular and has been poured over by a large amount of guitar and instrumental players.
The cable has a braided cover and firm rubberized jack covers. With almost more five star reviews than the other three guitar leads put together this looks like a shoe in for must buy. However, there are seventeen negative reviews but the manufacturer, when contacted was more than happy to send a replacement which is nice to hear.
Postive noises include the general build and feel of the lead; it feels nice and chunky, it’s a great length as well as being very quiet. Also, you get a box of picks with your purchase just to make you feel even better about buying an Urbanphonics cable.
Table could not be displayed.Final Thoughts
So that’s it for this roundup of cables. Hopefully there will be something in here for everyone. If you have a very low budget then you’ll be looking at the Tiger cable and keeping your fingers crossed that you get one of the good ones. If you have more to spend then the Ultra HDTV means you can splurg the cash and feel you’re getting the best. For us though, number one spot goes to the Nordell Audio cable. Of all the guitar leads looked at, this has a great balance of price and performance and their customers are among the happiest guitar players around when it comes to guitar cables.
Have a look at our other review which include acoustic amps, a large article on rock guitar books reviewed and our review of three top distortion pedals.
