[nate95366]

I just got a Livewire 18' cable, gauranteed for life, $30. Seems pretty good, and saved like $20 if I had gotten a Monster Cable. Anyone know about Livewire cables? Are they any good in comparison to the more expensive ones? Just wondering if I made a good purchase.

You made a good purchase if the lifetime guarantee is worth it to you.
If you paid too much extra for "features" such as oxygen-free copper, gold-plated connectors, or a switched connector, then you may not have made a good purchase. In a guitar cable, basically only 3 things "count" toward being a good cable.

1) Good shielding
2) Short length (20 is max!)
3) Good strain relief (the connectors are put on to stay on)

I've got a cable from the mid 1970's when the Pro-Co company was playing around with glow-in-the dark cables. It's one of their first prototypes. I picked it up from a friend for free, and I'll admit I don't like gimmicky things, but that particular cable still works as well as or better than brand new "fancy" cables. And it still glows in the dark :kgrin:

Nate

[Brent]

It's all well and good that cables say they have a lifetime warranty...in fact, there's more than a few that boast that claim. I'm just curious as to how well your endeavor will go if you actually try and collect on that claim. I know Monster Cable is good for the claim (and they should be at that price), but the others I would wonder about. I bought a Fender California cable long ago and I remember it said lifetime warranty. It crapped out after a month or two of use, but it's not worth the hassle to try and get a $15 cable replaced. I'm sure that's what they're banking on, too.

[ApparentlyNothing]

exact features right off the box:

- Gold plated connecters to resist corrosion and ensure a lifetime of perfect contact
- ultra fine copper center conductor accurately delivers every nuance of your tone
- isolating the center conducter from the outer shielding is a key component in performance. Unwanted noise is eliminated....
- a braided shield... first and best lie of defense against unwanted noise....
- ...super heavy-duty outer jacket

It says that if the cable should fail for ANY reason, even abuse, then just return it to an authorized dealer for immediate replacement.

To me, this all sounded good, but I dont actually know what any of it means.... but it had the 4 things I wanted

1. no noise
2. pure signal
3. long (18')
4. lifetime gaurantee

....so i bought it

[nate95366]

- Gold plated connecters to resist corrosion and ensure a lifetime of perfect contact

Gold-plated connecters are very good for the application where you only rarely plug/unplug the cable because they don't corrode. They're not great guitar cables because gold plating is soft and will wear off with use. And the contact isn't perceptibly any more "perfect" than a regular connecter.

- ultra fine copper center conductor accurately delivers every nuance of your tone

I have no idea what "ultra fine" distinguishes this cable from... I think it's just a flowery way for saying, "there's a copper wire in the middle of this thing."

- isolating the center conducter from the outer shielding is a key component in performance. Unwanted noise is eliminated....

This is actually an important thing for a guitar cable. Of course, it's not just the most expensive cables that do this well...

- a braided shield... first and best lie of defense against unwanted noise....

Even el-cheapo cables use braided shields. It's just that the nicer cables have better braiding that holds together for longer.

- ...super heavy-duty outer jacket

A nice feature, but not one that should cost you a bunch of extra $$$.

Nate