What a Difference a Wire Makes

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 25 May 2003 8:12 am

Yesterday I replaced the wires inside my rack that connect the preamp to the power amp. I tested a variety of wires I had laying around, trying to minimize hum and microphonics. When I got to the new Bill Lawrence wires, the hum was lowest and microphonics (sound made when moving the wire) were inaudible.

So I made up a pair of the wires and used them on the gig last night. The difference in clarity and tone was incredible. I felt like, for the first time, I was really hearing all of the subtle differences between the 3 pickups I use on my Sierra.

I'm gonna have to get some more plugs from Bill. I want to rewire my whole rack with this stuff. It's great!

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9), Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax

Dave Van Allen · Post by **Dave Van Allen** » 25 May 2003 6:31 pm

who's got it for sale b0b?

gonna add it to the forum catalog??

Rick Collins · Post by **Rick Collins** » 25 May 2003 7:43 pm

Gold connectors are very popular in electrical cables now. I just wonder if they help, or are they only a sales gimick. I know gold is the best conductor; but unless the entire wire is gold, how much will they help?

Rick

Alan Kirk · Post by **Alan Kirk** » 26 May 2003 6:03 am

Rick,

The guy at www.tone-lizard.com says the gold connector thing is a gimmick. His conclusion is based on hard data.

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Bill Llewellyn · Post by **Bill Llewellyn** » 26 May 2003 6:40 am

It sounds like b0b changed not only his connectors but the wires as well. It may be that the new wires have lower capacitance and therefore attenuated the high frequencies a bit less, making the steel sound clearer. Just a guess....

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Bill, steelin' since '99 | Steel page | My music | Steelers' birthdays | Over 50?

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 26 May 2003 6:48 am

Hey Dave---
http://www.billlawrence.com/Pages/What%27s%20New.htm

B0b---I'm not at all interested in launching the political debate about Bill L., George L. and perceived or actual wrongs committed. But I'm interested in product. Were any of you replaced cords GeorgeL's?

Larry Bell · Post by **Larry Bell** » 26 May 2003 8:38 am

I think Bill & George were in business together at one time (L&L Products or something). I wholeheartedly agree about the low capacitance cable and solderless connectors. I've been using them since they first came out. Especially good for racks since you can easily make each cable just the right length.

Although slightly off this topic, I find one thing interesting from the website

#4. For all you purist, I finally convinced Bill that we need single coils for you! Because I've watched and helped Bill over the years, I've learned that his singles are quite unique compared to the standard. This project is a bit old-fashioned for Bill, but he agreed. With his help, I'll offer a complete program of single coil pickups, ranging from the lipstick to the P-90 sound at prices around $26.00 per pickup!! ( A fun fact about Bill's single coil pickups--last year, a player who owns a 60's Framus guitar e-mailed Bill for more information about "those extra quiet great-sounding pickups" Bill had designed for Framus and was thinking these were his early noisefree pickups ." No," Bill wrote back,"they're just simple single coils!" )

(that's EXACTLY what folks are saying about Jerry Wallace's pickups) Single coils are not as noisy when used with high quality amplification in rooms with modern wiring. What goes around comes around.

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

Pete Burak · Post by **Pete Burak** » 26 May 2003 8:46 am

Do they lie flat?

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 26 May 2003 3:04 pm

Pete, they lie flat if you lie them flat and take care of them. I think it you tied them up wierd they wouldn't lie flat.

I did A/B them with George L's cable, and the Lawrence cable was slightly less microphonic when moved. They weren't the same length, though, so it wasn't a scientific test. I couldn't hear a difference in tone or noise level between the two. The GL's were a very close second choice - I wouldn't replace them if that's what I had.

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9), Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 26 May 2003 7:35 pm

I went thru a period of time auditioning cables on audiophile and mastering systems. Wire absolutely makes a difference. It's not just capacitance. Purity of copper, solder content, the molecular structure of the wire relating to how it was drawn, connectors, etc. There are lots of variables and you can hear the differences when you A/B wires against eachother. Some people hate the sound of gold contacts. Some think silver is too zingy. The gold thing is more about preventing oxidization than anything else. In my studio I use Vandenhul, Canare, Mogami, and even George L's. They all sound good, they all sound slightly different and I dont think any one of the sounds better. It's taste. Cheap wire does sound worse though. Now I gotta try the Lawrence wire...

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Brad Sarno
Blue Jade Audio Mastering
St. Louis

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 26 May 2003 10:33 pm

I just checked out Bill Lawrence's website.

Bill says: "The hardest task was the cable. For maximum performance, I demanded low capacitance cable of 20 picofarads per foot..."

That's about the same capacitance as the Vandenhul stuff which can be insanely expensive. That's a very impressive number on that wire of his. 20pF/foot or 60pF/meter is great.

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Brad Sarno
Blue Jade Audio Mastering
St. Louis

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 27 May 2003 3:12 pm

Guitar Player Magazine did a cable shootout several years ago with the various high end cables available at that time. The George L cable came out on top with highest rating. The testing included a measuring device for resistence and an overall rating from the players ears regarding highs, lows, etc.

Michael Brebes · Post by **Michael Brebes** » 28 May 2003 6:57 am

Cable capacitance combines with the output resistance of whatever is driving the signal. Pickups have a high resistance. The output resistance and the capacitance of the cable form a lowpass filter. Since Frequency= 1/(2piRC), as the resistance or capacitance increases the rolloff frequency goes lower. Preamps and effects usually aren't affected by cabling, unless they are either tube units or not designed properly. All tube preamps usually do not have a very low output resistance, so they are subject to cable capacitance. Most opamp or transistor output circuits should have an output impedance of 50 ohms. Unfortunately, some people still put large resistors on outputs of their equipment. Home audio gear is notorious for this.(Hope I didn't get too technical).
The main reason for using gold for connections is because it doesn't corrode like other metals. Silver, nickel, and copper will oxidize over time, where gold will not. Gold could be a good choice for cables that are going to stay in one place for extended lengths of time, just because of the corrosion/oxidation factor.

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 28 May 2003 12:22 pm

Is this stuff worth worrying about for the cables connecting the guitar, volume pedal, and amp? Or is it just a problem for rack system connections? What about speaker connections?

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 28 May 2003 12:29 pm

The biggest difference you'll hear is when you switch to low capacitance cable in front of the amp. I really didn't expect to hear a big difference inside the rack, but I did. That's why I posted this topic!

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9), Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 28 May 2003 1:56 pm

Bobby, that's a good point. The capacitance of wire is more significant when the line impedance is higher. Guitar pickups are considered high impedance. If you run your guitar into a 100' cable then into your rack of gear, you'll most definitely hear a loss of highs. If you ran that same 100' cable from your preamp to your reverb unit or really any low impedance connection, then you may not notice any loss of highs. It's after the guitar pickup and before any amplification that the low-capacitance really performs.

Brad Sarno

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 29 May 2003 2:03 pm

David, speaker connections are a whole different kind of thing. Speaker wires carry a lot of current, and they typically are not shielded. I used to use electrical "zip" wire from extension cords for speaker wires. It works fine, but there is better wire available.

You wouldn't want to use this low capacitance shielded cable for speaker wire. It would probably get hot, and it wouldn't transfer all of the power to to speakers.

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9), Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax

Michael Holland · Post by **Michael Holland** » 24 Jun 2003 4:57 pm

Anyone got a source for these cables? My e-mail to the address on the site (becky@billlawrence.com) went unanswered.

Karlis Abolins · Post by **Karlis Abolins** » 24 Jun 2003 5:00 pm

Michael, I would suggest that you call them. I don't think that they pay much attention to e-mail.[This message was edited by Karlis Abolins on 24 June 2003 at 06:01 PM.]

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 24 Jun 2003 5:03 pm

Last time I was at their site Becky had a note that they were swamped with production delays resulting from moving their facilities and were concentrating manpower on fulfilling orders. She acknowledged being pretty backlogged on email matters.

James Quackenbush · Post by **James Quackenbush** » 24 Jun 2003 6:26 pm

Speaking of wire....One day when speaking to Ed Fulawka, he was telling me about wire lengths should be divisable by 3...It has something to do with the mathmatics of current or ???....It was too technical for me, but keep you wires in divisions of 3....3" ...6"..9"..12" etc.....3' ...6' ...9'..etc
Email Ed Fulawka and he will explain it to you
He also has his own brand of wire....Jim

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 24 Jun 2003 7:29 pm

That is because electricity comes in 3 types:
ohm
vlt
amp
and each has exactly 3 letters.

Ole Dantoft · Post by **Ole Dantoft** » 25 Jun 2003 2:44 am

Rainer Hackstaette · Post by **Rainer Hackstaette** » 25 Jun 2003 5:48 am

keep you wires in divisions of 3....3" ...6"..9"..12" etc.....3' ...6' ...9'..etc

Let's see: 1 foot : 3 = 3 inches. Makes perfect sense to me. Some feet are smaller than others. Now: how does this translate into the metric system? 1 meter : 3 = 33.33333333... centimeters. That's a heck of a lot 3's. It will make your current jump with joy!

Bill Fall · Post by **Bill Fall** » 25 Jun 2003 6:39 am

All I've ever seen in the Bill Lawrence cable line are components for patch cords with male/male jacks. Can anyone suggest a source for high quality cables with male/female ends, for mounting inside rack-mount cases?