Does guitar cable affect the sound?

[sereka7106]

The title says it all, i was just wondering can my guitar cable make any difference to the sound the guitar produces?

[Humbucker]

Some cable manufacturers claim that their (sometimes insanely expensive) cables will produce a better tone or sound from your guitar. Can a $80 guitar cable make your sound "better"? First of all, let's talk about the differences between higher quality cables and cheaper ones.

Better quality cables will have better shielding, and they might reduce outside interference. They will likely also have better solder joints, allowing more of the signal from your guitar to reach it’s destination and less signal that you don’t want (interference). Ideally, you want as much of the sound from your pickups to reach your ears, and as little unwanted sound as possible.

Let's picture this - we're plugging this $80 cable into any number of $80 pedals. Obviously an $80 pedal will not have the quality connections and insulations as the $80 cable, so are we losing the benefit of the good cable right there? The answer is yes, and no. Yes because almost any electronic device will lose some sound, and add other (possibly unwanted) sound. No because the signal is usually amplified and impedance (possibly) lowered, which will positively alter the signal for the better.

I highly recommend reading an article about that on guitar-muse.com, they explained everything very nicely there.

[John]

A cable can affect the tone if the quality is poor enough, and an expensive cable can only make the sound quality more pristine. In conclusion, it's best to get yourself a fairly priced cable - not the cheapest, and not the most expensive.