Planet Waves PWCGT20

MARCH 2006 139
CABLE ROUND-UP FROM £9.95
ACCESSORIES
Zaolla GR-10
PRICE: £29.64
Returning to the Rolls-Royce analogy
we’ve made elsewhere in this feature,
it’s this brand that has long been the
lead to aspire to and for several
reasons. Probably the most pertinent is
that Zaolla use not copper but silver as
the central channel and, as that metal
is a far more effi cient conductor, the
performance is theoretically improved.
Eight tiers of insulation separate the
core from the rigours of the outside
world – including layers comprising a
foam dielectric insulator, copper braid,
lubricated paper and so on, and the
jacks are precision-tooled with gold-
plated contacts. You get the feeling
that, with all this precious metal
around, this is less of a guitar accessory
and more of a wedding gift!
Staggeringly the improvement in
tone is immediately apparent, offering
more of everything across the tonal
spectrum, and the price (the 20-foot
GR-20 goes for £44.95) is immaterial.
You want the best? All things
considered, this isn’t far off.
Build Quality
In Use
Value For Money
RATING
KEY INFO ❘ HAND IN HAND ❘ PHONE: UK 01579 326155 ❘ WEB: WWW.ZAOLLA.COM
Van Damme VDMUS004
PRICE: £39.99
Much as we’d like to report that these
cables represent a diversifi cation by
the ‘Muscles from Brussels’ Jean-
Claude, any similarity is purely
coincidental. These UK-built leads are
actually manufactured from cable
designed and exclusively used by Van
Damme, topped and tailed by either
Neutrik or Switchcraft jacks.
Conduction comes from a mixture of
O2-less copper and silver-plated
copper, the advantages of the latter
being increased conductivity and
resistance to corrosion, with the
central core benefi ting from the
insulating nature of good old foamed
polyethylene.
The cable itself measures just less
than 60mm in diameter and our
example offers a right-angled
Switchcraft 226 Mono Jack to a Neutrik
NP2C straight: naturally any and all
combinations are available alongside
nine further colours of cable.
There’s no doubt that the audio
performance of this 16-footer is as
good as any other cable here, and its
light weight may well appeal to many.
Build Quality
In Use
Value For Money
RATING
KEY INFO ❘ WESTSIDE ❘ PHONE: UK 0141 248 4812 ❘ WEB: WWW.VAN-DAMME.COM
Core One Bullet Cable
PRICE: £34.99
As illustrated by such giants as
Hendrix, Santana and May, any
seventies player worth their salt ‘went
curly’ at the drop of a hat.
But thanks to the coils being in such
proximity to each other, they were very
noisy and renowned tone suckers
thanks to increased capacitance.
However, the Bullet Cable combines
that classic coily look with modern
techniques to overcome the inherent
disadvantages: oxygen-free copper
conductors and jacks plated with 24-
carat gold are just two of the features.
At its full extension this example
measures a whopping 10 meters and
a slight high-end roll-off is undeniably
noticeable. This is a weighty lead that,
given the wrong circumstances, could
pull your amp over, but members of the
many old school tribute bands out
there need this lead.
Build Quality
In Use
Value For Money
RATING
KEY INFO ❘ SELECTRON ❘ PHONE: UK 01634 840500 ❘ WEB: WWW.COREONEPRODUCT.COM
Verdict
This round-up is in no way
intended to be a defi nitive list,
merely a decent cross section so
check out the Rivals box too.
Realistically there are no
downsides to any of the eight,
although three – the Zaolla,
Evidence Audio and Van Damme –
are head and jack plugs above the
remainder in both performance
and quality.
Of course this is refl ected in the
relevant prices but, if there’s one
rule that should be strictly adhered
to here, it’s that you should buy the
most expensive cable you can
sensibly afford. It’s all about tone at
the end of the day, so don’t let a
poor-quality cable compromise
yours. The best news is that even a
pair of the Planet Waves cables, the
cheapest here, won’t compromise
your carefully crafted sound.
GIT274.rev_cables 139GIT274.rev_cables 139 3/2/06 1:39:05 pm3/2/06 1:39:05 pm