Lengthy guitar cables

tpreager

New member
At my studio, we are putting in wall mounts that will allow some members of the band to play in the live room but have their amp in the booth so the band can all play in the same room. Now we do this by having jacks in the live room and running the wire through the walls to the booth so your guitar would plug into the wall mount jack.

I read up on some instrument cable and it's always best to use the least amount of cable possible (obviously, we all know that), but if you can't avoid it, then run through a DI from your guitar, then to the wall mount, then from the other wall mount in the booth, to another DI and then to the AMP. This way your now running the signal balacned through an XLR cable, instead of an unbalanced TS. whew.

Does anybody know if it would make much of a difference (noticeably less noise) if we used the DI's or not? I mean, the cable we're running will probably only be 10' -15', but unbalanced, and run beside all the other cables (which will be balanced). If we go with using the DI's, then we will change the wall mounts from TRS to XLR jacks.

Thanks,
Tim
 
tpreager said:
At my studio, we are putting in wall mounts that will allow some members of the band to play in the live room but have their amp in the booth so the band can all play in the same room. Now we do this by having jacks in the live room and running the wire through the walls to the booth so your guitar would plug into the wall mount jack.

I read up on some instrument cable and it's always best to use the least amount of cable possible (obviously, we all know that), but if you can't avoid it, then run through a DI from your guitar, then to the wall mount, then from the other wall mount in the booth, to another DI and then to the AMP. This way your now running the signal balacned through an XLR cable, instead of an unbalanced TS. whew.

Does anybody know if it would make much of a difference (noticeably less noise) if we used the DI's or not? I mean, the cable we're running will probably only be 10' -15', but unbalanced, and run beside all the other cables (which will be balanced). If we go with using the DI's, then we will change the wall mounts from TRS to XLR jacks.

Thanks,
Tim

DI's are probably the best way to go, but 10-15' isn't really that long either, so you shouldn't hear too much of a difference, especially if you use quality cables.
 
If we go with using the DI's, then we will change the wall mounts from TRS to XLR jacks.

Why are you using TRS jacks for HiZ signals? The guitar signal only requires a shield and a center conductor. TRS are for stereo, or shield and TWO conductors, and if wired incorrectly for HiZ, can ground the signal. For what its worth, 10-15 ft is average if that is the TOTAL run, but if that is the cable length of the JACK to the Iso booth, and then you ADD length with the players cable, then I would go with the DI's. There is ANOTHER logic to this too. Wire a DPDT select switch into the Patch panel, that diverts the first DI's output to EITHER the other DI in the vocal booth, or directly to the board for bass or guitar direct in.
fitZ
 
We're using the TRS so that we can also send a stereo signal if using say a keyboard with a stereo direct out from the Live room to the Control room and then to the board. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure you can still use a TWO conductor cable plugged into a TRS jack. All that happens is that the Tip and the Ring are now shorted together so the signal is sent on both lines, or the Ring becomes tied to the sleeve, not sure, one of those two.
 
Use a Di box and run XLR mik cables

You will hear a noticable hum with guitar cables especially when an amp is really cranked up or when using a guitar with single coil (Non-humbucking) pickups.

DOM :eek:
 
... If we go with using the DI's, then we will change the wall mounts from TRS to XLR jacks.

Thanks,
Tim

Side note- no reason to do this if they are real TRS. Just use an XLR-TRS cable from the DI to the wall mount. its electrically equivalent.
 
It's almost always better to keep the amp close to the guitar and remote the speakers. That's tough to do when all you've got is combos, but it makes a real difference.

First and formost because the signal in the speaker cable is as loud as it's going to get and any noise you're going to pick up along the way will be much smaller than that signal and won't be amplified at all.

We keep the run to the amp short, or at least "normal" for the guitarist in question. Every inch of cable reduces the (passive) guitar's treble extension. People who are actually interested in their tone choose the length of the cable on purpose to get the sound they want. I don't think your studio had ought to be dictating that.

It's also usually nice for the guitarist to be able to reach the knobs. :)

Now, the next best thing would be to put an active stage on the guitarist's side of the wall. Something with a nice high input impedance and decently low output impedance. Some gain might be nice, but you'd have to knock it back down on the others end. You have been saying DI, and an Active DI on the guitar side would work. You obviously can't run an active DI backwards (that's called a mic pre ;) ), so the other side would have to be passive. That alone will give you a step up in voltage. It would almost be better just to go TRS>TS into the amp. Straight wire is always best unless it's not. :)

Honestly, any single guitar pedal would do the trick. Guitar into pedal, pedal into wall, wall into amp. But in this case, if the (passive) DIs make you feel better... Just plug it into a pedal before the DI.


Edit - written as I'm planning a session tonight where I have to get the amp as far away from the guitarist as possible...
 
shit. I didnt even notice.

But if I am reading about it.. then somebody else building a studio is reading about it, right?
 
This is no help to this thread. But, it's a funny story. Kind of.

Before most of you were born Rush opened for Blue Oyster Cult at Nassau Coliseum. It's the arena that the Long Island Islanders played hockey for years. Big place.

The guitarist for Rush kept trying to reach the mic, but his guitar cable wasn't long enough. It was the funniest thing, he'd move forward and practically be pulled back by the taunt cable. He never made it to the mic. They were young, just starting out.
 
I have a custom made 40 footer. Heavy duty too.

I pull it out for guys who want to record in my control room instead of my live area. Am I taking this thread too seriously? It's just that I actually have a "lengthy guitar cable".. it also seems to work for bass guitars too.
:D
 
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