Cable length a magic number?

[Roger Crawford]

The ever popular “standard” cable sets include a 3’ and 10’ cable. I’m fine with a 10’ from volume pedal to amp, but is 3’ from guitar to volume pedal a scientific length or one that just works to get from point A to point B? I use a Freeloader in front of my volume pedal, and 3’ from there to the pedal is sloppy. Will it adversely affect anything if I use a cable just long enough to reach?

[Mathew Peluso]

I generally try to keep cable length as short as possible. When I was using a Freeloader I would connect an EBS patch cable (4 in. or so) from steel output to Freeloader, then a 3 ft cable from Freeloader to vp, 3 ft from vp to pedalboard and then a 10 ft from pedalboard to amp. You could also make your own but I haven’t had the best luck with that so I just purchase these lengths and then don’t think much about it.

[Mike Auman]

Will it adversely affect anything if I use a cable just long enough to reach?

No. Cables have a capacitance per foot/meter, so longer cables have more capacitance than shorter ones. That just means a longer cable will cut a little more treble than a shorter one, but there's nothing magic about any particular length, so use whatever suits you.

[Brad Sarno]

No rules here, nothing magic about 3' necessarily.

The longer your cord is, the more capacitance it has. cables after the buffer don't really matter much. But the first cable, the one from the guitar pickup to the buffer (FreeLoader) matters. If it's real short, the tiny amount of cable capacitance has virtually no effect on the tone. But if it's longer and/or has more capacitance, it can slightly shift the treble response of the pickup's tone. Some use this intentionally. Maybe 3' has an amount of capacitance some people have preferred tone-wise. I generally just keep it super short to keep cable capacitance out of the equation, but it's probably a cool idea to experiment with different lengths of that first, pre-buffer cable.

Once you come out of the buffer, cable capacitance means a whole lot less and has a much smaller effect on tone. It's the pre-buffer cable that directly sees the pickup and where tone changes are very sensitive to cable capacitance.


Brad

[Roger Crawford]

Thanks for the input,, Brad. I use a short cable from the guitar to the Freeloader, mainly because it puts the unit in easy reach. At your suggestion, I experimented with different cable lengths between the guitar and the Freeloader, and my tired old ears couldn’t detect any difference.

[Dale Rottacker]

Back in the days when I knew nothing, (BTW, some things NEVER change ) cables and cables lengths were something I never gave a second thought. I used an old Beldon cables for years along with some Fender? Cable my Dad gave me ... oh yeah it was one of those curly pigtail things that stretched out to maybe 10 feet, but contracted to maybe a couple. The technical advancements of our time

[Jim Cooley]

I attended a seminar at the Texas show a few years ago, during which Jim Evans and Dave Beatty addressed cable lengths. Jim Evans had researched the topic extensively. He showed graphs and charts indicating that the ideal cable length to the amp is eight feet. There are variables of course, but eight feet was the ideal starting point. Cable lengths from steel to peripherals and between peripherals should be as short as feasible.

[Donny Hinson]

I attended a seminar at the Texas show a few years ago, during which Jim Evans and Dave Beatty addressed cable lengths. Jim Evans had researched the topic extensively. He showed graphs and charts indicating that the ideal cable length to the amp is eight feet. There are variables of course, but eight feet was the ideal starting point. Cable lengths from steel to peripherals and between peripherals should be as short as feasible.

Respectfully, I would question that. Charts only go so far, and it's the player's ears that must make the final determination. There are those "other variables" which are not at all insignificant. The type of amp, input impedance, pickups and cables used, and the volume pedal all make considerable differences, let alone those influences of the guitar itself. Then there are the personal variables of what the amp is putting out and what you are hearing, along with the room acoustics. (We don't all hear sounds the same.) Some players want an early Emmons sound, others want a Charleton or Green tone, while still others want a Chalker or Murphy sound. This stuff is way too subjective, and it's for all those reasons that I don't think it's prudent to say this or that is ideal or "best".

That's why Buddy Emmons played (and liked!) so many different guitars.

[Cappone dAngelo]

I attended a seminar at the Texas show a few years ago, during which Jim Evans and Dave Beatty addressed cable lengths. Jim Evans had researched the topic extensively. He showed graphs and charts indicating that the ideal cable length to the amp is eight feet. There are variables of course, but eight feet was the ideal starting point. Cable lengths from steel to peripherals and between peripherals should be as short as feasible.

Respectfully, I would question that. Charts only go so far, and it's the player's ears that must make the final determination. There are those "other variables" which are not at all insignificant. The type of amp, input impedance, pickups and cables used, and the volume pedal all make considerable differences, let alone those influences of the guitar itself. Then there are the personal variables of what the amp is putting out and what you are hearing, along with the room acoustics. (We don't all hear sounds the same.) Some players want an early Emmons sound, others want a Charleton or Green tone, while still others want a Chalker or Murphy sound. This stuff is way too subjective, and it's for all those reasons that I don't think it's prudent to say this or that is ideal or "best".

Agreed. The capacitance of different common instrument cables alone varies so significantly (by almost 4x from charts I've seen ...) that it's not useful to try to specify a particular ideal length, even if all other variables were fixed (which they rarely are) and if we all agreed re what the ideal tone is (which we never will!).

[Jim Cooley]

Absolutely, and that's why Jim Evans referred to eight feet "a good starting point." I don't have any eight foot cables.

[Dave Mudgett]

As already stated, there's no magic cable length. Per-foot cable capacitance to ground can vary widely, and more capacitance reduces treble-end brilliance. Beyond that, everything depends heavily on what you're plugging into. As Brad and Donny state, plugging into a buffer like a Freeloader or Black Box vs. plugging into a buffered volume pedal vs. plugging into a 500K Ohm pot volume pedal vs. plugging into some other pedals first, what other pedals you have in the chain, amp's input impedance, and frankly, what your guitar sounds like acoustically and electrically out of the pickup, as well as the pickup's impedance, can all make a major difference.

For me, if it basically sounds good with whatever setup I'm using, any small deviations to get where I want to be can be adjusted with tone controls somewhere in the chain. The less messing with tone controls, the better as far as I'm concerned. I generally keep cable runs as short as possible because I find it preferable to cut a bit too much treble end via EQ adjustment, rather than trying to add treble via EQ adjustment. And I frequently plug directly into an old Sho Bud pot pedal, so I want to preserve as much top end as I can.