Monster Lead Problems!

[TGEvans]

Intermittent cutting out with my monster bass lead. How good is their after sales? I know they promise a Lifetime warranty or whatever but will it be more hassle than its worth to send it back? T

[Silent Fly]

[quote name='TGEvans' post='699335' date='Jan 3 2010, 11:29 AM']Intermittent cutting out with my monster bass lead. How good is their after sales? I know they promise a Lifetime warranty or whatever but will it be more hassle than its worth to send it back? T[/quote]

I suggest you contact the supplier. If the problem is in the cable core, the only way to fix it is change the cable.

[mrcrow]

[quote name='Silent Fly' post='699339' date='Jan 3 2010, 11:33 AM']I suggest you contact the supplier. If the problem is in the cable core, the only way to fix it is change the cable.[/quote]

a quick swap should settle the issue..bound to be some bad ones get through

you dont bend it a lot do you when you curl up the cable

[TGEvans]

never bend it up,only used in home studio.the place i got it from went bust.whats my next best option?thanks guys,t

[mrcrow]

[quote name='TGEvans' post='700591' date='Jan 4 2010, 04:23 PM']never bend it up,only used in home studio.the place i got it from went bust.whats my next best option?thanks guys,t[/quote]

if you can contact the manufacturer with the receipt copy and invoke the guarantee
they may be glad to have it back to check out their qc etc

thomastik did this for me for faulty strings...asked me to send back to their metallurgist

[TGEvans]

just found out that aventi, who distribute monster in this country, have gone bust! have sent an email to monster stateside,we will see what happens......

[mrcrow]

[quote name='TGEvans' post='700723' date='Jan 4 2010, 05:53 PM']just found out that aventi, who distribute monster in this country, have gone bust! have sent an email to monster stateside,we will see what happens......[/quote]

good..just because some shop goes bust that doesnt cancel the worldwide guarantee
there may be a supplier in the EU which you would do the business with
these days it is no big deal to go back to the manufacturer with the information and as i said they probably will welcome the feedback
good luck
what will you use in the meantime

[TGEvans]

I will use my old faithfull.I was given a whirlwind lead about ten years ago and its still going strong.will keep you guys posted.t

[TGEvans]

Had an email from Monster Europe! Monster USA passed on my details to them. A chap got in touch with me to sort out postage and stuff. A soon as my lead gets to them they will send a new one out asap! Pretty darn good me thinks. I have to pay postage into Europe, they pay for it to get back. Costing me about 3 quid. I had my lead on sale. I paid 25 pounds for it. Think they are over 40 rrp. So still a few quid up.T

[longtimefred]

sounds like great customer service there! i have 2 planet waves cables, one has just broke. Good thing with them is that there are shed loads of shops selling them, all i do is just go to any of them in the area, and they swap it for a new one. Leads for life, even if they are a bit pant!!! would like to purchase one of these monster ones.

[eude]

I've had a separate issue with Monster Cables, with them being so oversized, the plugs can damage switchcraft style jacks, had to replace the jack on my Shuker twice before I worked it out, and through the time I had my Warwick, I had to replace the jack a fair few times n'all...
Wee thread here >> [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=405828"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=405828[/url]
Thought it might be of interest.
(I now only use Bassic Cables by OBBM )

[quote name='TGEvans' post='700975' date='Jan 4 2010, 09:07 PM']I will use my old faithfull.I was given a whirlwind lead about ten years ago and its still going strong.will keep you guys posted.t[/quote]

I've had a Whirlwind cable for 17 years, still going strong!

Eude

[TGEvans]

I had an issue with that happening on a Warwick Thumb I owned a few years back. Not been an issue with my G and L or Spector though. But I have been told of issues with switcraft on quality control so this could go either way. These companies and reps for these companies could say something in a local Music shop and it will spread like wildfire. What I will say about my monster lead though, and I dont care how stupid this makes me look,whenever I use it in a studio get a better tone. More to play with so to speak. I have a/b it with other leads and its louder. But according to that post on talkbass monster have rectified the problem so the new one I should be getting back may be too small now for the jack!

[Stewart]

[quote]...
I have a/b it with other leads and its louder[/quote]

Wow - an amplifying cable!

[TGEvans]

I felt ridiculous saying it but its true. It did make a difference to both my guitars.

[obbm]

[quote name='TGEvans' post='707594' date='Jan 10 2010, 12:55 PM']I felt ridiculous saying it but its true. It did make a difference to both my guitars.[/quote]

Not that ridiculous. It probably has a lower resistance and therefore subjects the signal to less attenuation.

[stevebasshead]

That's the thing with cables, there is no such thing as a cable that will improve your signal/tone, they can only "damage" it - i.e. there will always be [i]some[/i] kind of measurable loss or change between what goes into the cable and what comes out the other end. A good cable with well contructed jacks "damages" the signal only a little, a bad one "damages" it a lot.

[stevie]

Monster Cable is an obscenely overpriced and over-hyped product that takes avantage of the ignorance of its customers. Its 'bad science' is on a par with homeopathy. Just have a look here: [url="http://www.monstercable.com/pro_audio/instrument_cables.asp"]http://www.monstercable.com/pro_audio/instrument_cables.asp[/url]. They recommend different cables for rock and jazz. You'd have to cry if it wasn't so hilarious.

[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-end_audio_cables"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-end_audio_cables[/url]

Save your money.

[TGEvans]

Is ignorance the correct word? Some people would say the same about spending 3k on and instrument. Just because its more does not make it better. I felt that for the 25 quid I spent on mine I got a good product. It has failed now yes, but thats what the warranty is for. I have spent 25 pounds on other leads with a one year warranty so at the right price they aint such a bad thing.

[mrcrow]

[quote name='TGEvans' post='707511' date='Jan 10 2010, 11:38 AM']Had an email from Monster Europe! Monster USA passed on my details to them. A chap got in touch with me to sort out postage and stuff. A soon as my lead gets to them they will send a new one out asap! Pretty darn good me thinks. I have to pay postage into Europe, they pay for it to get back. Costing me about 3 quid. I had my lead on sale. I paid 25 pounds for it. Think they are over 40 rrp. So still a few quid up.T[/quote]

brill and fab

[stevie]

[quote name='TGEvans' post='707762' date='Jan 10 2010, 03:24 PM']Is ignorance the correct word? Some people would say the same about spending 3k on and instrument. Just because its more does not make it better. I felt that for the 25 quid I spent on mine I got a good product. It has failed now yes, but thats what the warranty is for. I have spent 25 pounds on other leads with a one year warranty so at the right price they aint such a bad thing.[/quote]

Perhaps ignorance is a bit severe. Lack of knowledge? We're all suckers for branding, aren't we? I have even been known to pay a couple of pounds more for a tin of Crown paint when I can see that the Focus own brand sitting next to it on the shelf in exactly the same tin is almost certainly the same stuff.

However, the hi-fi cable industry is infamous for its cynical, pseudo-scientific bullsh*t and enormous margins (dealer margins are much bigger than average, too). Monster is one of the biggest in the business but is by no means out there on its own. Monster talks about Time Correct windings (which deliver a "phase-aligned" signal), Bandwidth Balanced construction (which phase compensates the signal over the entire audio spectrum) and Time Coherent speaker cable. It's all engineering poppyckock. They claim that their Bass Instument cable delivers "extended low frequency response" as if it goes lower than other, inferior, cables.

This is the industry that sells a 12 foot length of cable (Pear Anjou) for £7,250. (Google the name with James Randi) Or, you could buy the Nordost ODIN Supreme Reference cables for a mere $20,000. Or the Nordost WHITELIGHT Glass Fiber optic cables for $33,000. Or - wait for it - the Siltech Emperor Crown for $40,000. Have I mentioned cynical already?

Here's some interesting stuff on Monster cables: [url="http://consumerist.com/2008/02/monster-cables-monster-ripoff-80-markups.html"]http://consumerist.com/2008/02/monster-cab...80-markups.html[/url]. And this is quite amusing, too. [url="http://consumerist.com/2008/03/do-coat-hangers-sound-as-good-monster-cables.html"]http://consumerist.com/2008/03/do-coat-han...ter-cables.html[/url]

[Mr. Foxen]

Mustn't forget this classic: [url="http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/blue-jeans-strikes-back"]Monster copyright infringement claim[/url].

[Rich]

Never used a Monster cable, although I do have a Planet Waves one that is soon to be winging its way back to them after letting me down. a couple of weeks ago
[quote name='eude' post='707530' date='Jan 10 2010, 11:56 AM']I've had a Whirlwind cable for 17 years, still going strong![/quote]
I have a pair of Klotz cables that I bought in 1987. They get used at every gig and are still going strong!

[stevie]

I just tried a quick A/B test on two cables I have. One is 20ft; the other is 4ft. The plugs and cable are identical. The resistance of the longer one is therefore *five times* that of the shorter one. I listened specifically for differences in volume. There may have been one but I couldn't hear it. The input LEDs on my preamp lit up to exactly the same level, too.
Mmmmm.

This may not be a very scientific test but it does have the advantage of being repeatable.

Edited January 11, 2010 by stevie

[eude]

[quote name='stevie' post='708720' date='Jan 11 2010, 12:25 PM']I just tried a quick A/B test on two cables I have. One is 20ft; the other is 4ft. The plugs and cable are identical. The resistance of the longer one is therefore *five times* that of the shorter one. I listened specifically for differences in volume. There may have been one but I couldn't hear it. The input LEDs on my preamp lit up to exactly the same level, too.
Mmmmm.[/quote]

Think the only true way to test the theory would be to use a Spectrum Analysier and get some screen shots for comparison, think there's one in Logic. I might be doing some recording tonight, so if there's time, I'll see if there is a difference.
My new ACG has Neutrik locking jack, not head anything about Monster cables damaging them, so I'll give it a go this once.

Cheers,
Eude

[stevie]

[quote name='eude' post='708724' date='Jan 11 2010, 12:30 PM']Think the only true way to test the theory would be to use a Spectrum Analysier and get some screen shots for comparison, think there's one in Logic. I might be doing some recording tonight, so if there's time, I'll see if there is a difference.
My new ACG has Neutrik locking jack, not head anything about Monster cables damaging them, so I'll give it a go this once.[/quote]
Sounds fascinating, and I'd love to see what results you get. The problem I foresee is that - if you do discover a difference - knowing whether it's audible or not.