A few years ago, blues-rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa ditched his then-favored wireless transmitters for classic cable into the front of his rig. Bonamassa keeps his rig old school, with no buffers in between the guitar and the few pedals he uses on stage. Since he uses a long length cable to walk the stage, his cable needs to be able to produce a clear, neutral signal from the guitar to the rest of the rig. From those qualifications, Joe’s signature cable was designed through a partnership with Germany’s Klotz cables. With a capacitance of 21 pF/ft, this cable can produce the dynamic range of most high quality cables almost half the length of the Klotz JB of your choice.
The cables are currently offered in 3, 4.5, 6, and 9 meter lengths – approximately 10, 15, 20, and 30 feet, respectively. Each are housed in a PVC jacket that resists kinks and lays flat on stage, and connections are gold plated contacts with brass sleeves. The Neutrik silentPLUG is also offered on the JB signature cable, either in straight or right angle.
A 20’ dual straight cable with standard plugs was sent for review. Its first demo was in a house band setup. During soundcheck, I noticed increased clarity from this cable almost instantaneously – especially when compared to the generic cables that were being used prior.
In an isolated setup, with a Gibson Les Paul Standard and a Fender FSR Hot Rod Deluxe for consideration, I compared the Klotz cable with a generic 20’ cable and a Mogami Gold 10’ cable. For comparison, I recorded a few different samples with the same rig, with the amp miked with a Shure SM57. The difference was best heard with the clips placed back to back, since your ears don’t have time to re-adjust to the listening environment. What the Klotz cable produces is a flatter mid curve and greater low-end projection around 100hZ. The generic cable had greater peaks around 1kHz and in the sub-range around 60-80hZ.
According to Mogami’s spec sheet, Mogami Gold cable checks in at 39.7 pF/ft. Because the Klotz cable has a capacitance of 21 pF/ft, a 20’ cable such as this will not sacrifice dynamic range. Generally, only a shorter cable is the answer – albeit the simplest one, before you introduce buffers or other tone preservation tools into your rig.
Next to clean power, a clear connection is the easiest solution to an unfiltered, organic tone. The Klotz Joe Bonamassa cable will preserve the tactility and brilliance of your instrument, whether in the small club or across an arena catwalk! For more cable options, check out our lineup of the best guitar cables on the market to date.
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