Ibanez 2025 (5)

We have to give it to Ibanez for not neglecting their non-guitar products when it comes to innovation & revision. If you own the NS Series of Ibanez cables, you know those are really wanting in terms of durability / reliability. I'm gonna say it upfront; don't waste your money on those. This year, the manufacturer has the Glideline Series of cables to consider. These cables were actually beta tested with the JTC group of guitarists before the official release. I'm aware many of us are of the opinion that some guitar accessories are bordering on being snake oil; you just can't hear the difference. I'm one of those skeptics when it comes to cables until I really tried a good one, something that was backed by a fair amount of investment in terms of time & R&D. For the record, I have not tried the Glideline cables (are they even here yet?!). Looking forward.

Out & about

Did something different yesterday, being the new year & all, with the looming urge to tread spaces outside my comfort zone. Brought the guitar out to the Botanic Gardens with the following sound supplements (no pun intended):

• Speaker. Portable / pocket JBL GO2
• Effects. Korg Pandora mini, Animals Pedal Distortion
• Cables. George L (2m), Ibanez (patch), brandless 3.5mm i/p for the speaker

Guitar chosen for the occasion - NK Headless. Why? Because it's light & less wieldy. I had not been playing the Pandora mini for a long while but it's proven its worth in terms functionality; it still works. The Animals Pedal distortion was included because there's a fresh battery in there & it's the most proximate when I was packing stuff before leaving. Ditto cables. The JBL speaker was a 2021 Christmas gift that somebody wanted to discard. It was sold to me for less than half the price; was still sealed in its original box. 

Outcome

• Having portable items is the way to go. My JBL speaker & Pandora didn't take up much space in the guitar bag pocket. Even the unwieldy guitar contributed to the joy in travelling & playing. 
• Manage expectations when dealing with compromises. Tone on offer wasn't that great but the JBL is not a guitar-related item to begin with so the driver wasn't conceived to manifest fantastic guitar tones but it's not trashy either. The JBL however, did very well when it comes to modulation & reverb. It's just not build for distortion. Also, the speaker rattled excessively even when bass was set at the halfway point (5); had to re-set bass to 2 for a decent, working tone. The Animals Pedal's presence was confined to the role of a boost, tone tweaks contributed marginally to the overall tone. 
• Having a spare battery helps. But I had forgotten to include one. Not worried about the JBL or distortion dying out but the KORG died after about 40min of use. Battery was drained rapidly because I activated the drum beats / samples throughout. Lesson learnt. 

MXR cable

One of my favourite cables became microphonic, crackled & hissed badly today so it was retired. It's my tried & trusted LIVE LINE cable, made in Japan. It had seen 6 good years of playing time. Since I was on a budget, the replacement is an MXR Standard Series cable seen above (3m, $19). It's not a costly item & it's not boutique grade either but it works very well. It passed my quiet test, that's the most important for me when it comes to cables. It also passed my whipping test, this was done at home; it didn't crackle. If you are into something impressive but unwilling to spend excessively on something you know will be replaced along the way, do consider this one - worth every cent. Available at Davis GMC.

Mogami

Has never happened before- festive guest brought me a guitar-related goodie from Japan (Mogami cable). Thank you Syahid for the kind gesture.

Give away (3) DONE

ALRIGHTY! It's time for another give away. I'm grateful to TYMC for sponsoring the recently appraised Kohlman cable. This is a 2m version featuring straight + angled (L-shaped) plug combo. As you can see here, it's still fresh from the store. All you need to do get this for free (that's right, I'll even mail it to you) is:

• e-mail me a blank entry with the subject title: Let's try Kohlman
• wait for my reply to declare you as the winner, do not disclose any personal details while you're at it
• no time limit as per Give away (2), I urge you to try your luck. 😁

Belated congrats to Fahmi, Ferrain Gan (Cleartone strings) & Dylan (Joyo noise gate) for winning the previous give aways. Thanks to everyone who participated, I appreciate your support. More give aways to come till I say that's it. Serious, no joke.

PS: Thanks, everyone, for participating. We have a winner 😀

Kohlman cable @ TYMC

It's about time I do this so here goes... 😁

The Kohlman brand of instrument cables is an in-house name for TYMC. These are currently offered in 3m/ 4.5m/ 6m lengths featuring Amphenol plugs which are shrink wrapped at both ends. The cable itself features OFC material with a rubber inner jacket doubled with plastic braiding you see here unlike other off-the-shelf models where rubber-based material serves to be the final, outer-most covering. 

In use, the cable offers a full-bodied midrange performance with lots of clarity. This would be a good discourse for both humbucking & single coil pickup guitars where tonal details are the order of the day. One of my test set up featured a bottom-heavy tone courtesy of a bottom heavy cab & an EQ setting devoid of much top end response. This really brought out the sparkle from the cable & prevented a mud-out experience at high volume performance. The entire cable length proved to be quite tug resistant & crackle free during a tough love session where it was stepped on & used as a proto-whip (do not try this with yours).

Some contentions:

1. In use with entry-level guitars with cheap default pickups, the cable manifested excessive treble responses
2. The plastic outer-most 'braided' jacket is a little stiff & hampers flexibility at times

Why go with Kohlman & not other boutique brand names which are readily available at the stores here? The good people at TYMC promised a customizable length should you need this to be looked into for performance considerations. Also, you can negotiate the type of plugs you prefer; straight at both ends or straight plus an L-type at one end (SG players, you'd appreciate this consideration. The Kohlman is also durable to begin with & it's blessed with proper shielding so your signals don't pick up radio waves during play. That's right, this is what manufacturers out there do not tell you when it comes to their 'mid-range' instrument cables. Despite manifesting them as somewhat durable & no frills, they pick up external signals readily, meaning, the cable itself is like a radio antenna once you plug in. All in all, the Kohlman currently stands a tier above the fundamental standards offered out there so spending money on one is a wise move. 

Rating: 8/10

Availability: TYMC

List: Prices according to prescribed length, please call TYMC for further queries

UTA Varicap cable

If you are into capacitor variance to influence subtle tone changes, this might interest you. The UTA Vari-Cap cable is equipped with a capacitance change knob so you can hear tonal differences, hear it here:

Vari-Cap- QUICK OVERVIEW from Undertone Audio on Vimeo.

My concern here is that switching device itself, it gets in the way if you wish to loop it into the strap gap at the body end & it's not proximate enough for an easy reach. It's also costly- almost USD100.