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Plug in with confidence using our expert guide to the best guitar cables from Planet Waves, Mogami, Ernie Ball, George L’s and more special cable
1. Best overall 2. Best on a budget 3. Best for length choice 4. More options... 5. Buying advice 6. How we choose products
We guitarists spend a lot of time and money obsessing over our guitars, pedals, and amplifiers, so why don't we put as much thought into the thing that connects them all together? While it's not the most exciting aspect of being a guitar player, the best guitar cables ensure you have the best signal transfer and thus, the best tone possible.
Cheaper guitar cables have a habit of introducing monophonic noise into your painstakingly crafted tone and often fail when you least need them to. Preventing any weak links in your signal chain is good practice for any guitarist, and will spare you the ignominy of hunching over your pedalboard mid-set, trying to find the offending cable that's causing your guitar to cut out.
We've included some in-depth buying advice at the end of this guide, from our team of expert writers - who have tested countless cables between them - so if you'd like to read more about the best guitar cables and everything you need to know before buying, it's worth checking out. If you just want to get straight to our product recommendations, keep scrolling.
The Mogami Gold Series guitar cable has an ultra-high density (UHD) spiral shield and conductive polymer sub-shield to help kill noise and, in our experience, preserve that signal. A conductive carbon-impregnated PVC layer will stop all the sort of microphonic pop that you can get from handling cheaper guitar cables.
The copper core conductor might be heavy gauge but the Gold Series is still easy to handle and easy to pack away. Gigging musicians might wish to upgrade to the Gold Series Silent, which use Neutrik silent plugs so you can change your instrument without having to switch your amp off.
This cable comes with a “no excuses” lifetime warranty and is offered in a wide variety of lengths. Perhaps the Gold Series cable is a little OTT for some, but if you want premium quality, it doesn't get much better.
All of Ernie Ball's guitar cables are built to last, but these braided models are designed to be particularly robust, and they're tangle-resistant too - ideal for guitarists who spend a lot of time on the road, or who prefer to stuff their cable straight into the gig bag rather than coil it carefully.
Inside each cable, dual-conductors help ensure your guitar tones are clear. We discovered crisp highs, tight mids and rich harmonics throughout testing, while internals are shielded well to reduce noise and preserve the signal.
When it comes to lengths, there's not loads of choice, but EB's braided cables are available in 10, 18 and 25ft varieties.
The Boss instrument cables offer a great blend of quality and affordability. They’re made from decent materials - as soon as you get your hands on it, you can feel quality straight away, and they don’t seem to take much away from your inherent tone.
They feature heavy duty framed shielding so you’re protected from unwanted microphonic noise, and the jacks feel really well connected to the cable. The material they’re made from also makes coiling them up after use really easy, so they’ll last a long time if looked after.
There’s a range of lengths depending on what you need, plus there are angled jack options too. From our experience, they're certainly one of the best guitar cables for the money, but if you want something super fancy, check out their premium range.
Features: 22 gauge oxygen-free copper twisted pair conductors, 95 percent tinned copper braid shielding, Geo-Tip plugs, approx 92pF/m capacitance Connection: 1/4” straight-to-straight/-right-angle Length: 10-30ft
+ Geo-Tip plugs for enhanced connection +Low capacitance - Lack of outer jacket options - Not ideal if you want something premium
Planet Waves’ patented Geo-Tip plugs are a big draw with this best guitar cable entrant. They have a slightly flattened tip and longer shield, made by Neutrik in Liechtenstein to Planet Wave’s spec and no matter what jack is fitted in your guitar, these should fit nice and snug with no crackle or pop. That tinned-copper braid should stop rogue frequencies wrecking your signal too.
The HelioFused soldering is another feature unique to Planet Waves and this 180-degree inline connection helps make the American Stage a tough, durable and stage-ready cable.
They are also affordable and available pretty much anywhere, with right-angled options.
Features: 24K gold-plated connectors, 20 AWG 99.99 percent oxygen-free copper conductor, 95 per cent braided oxygen-free copper shielding, molded plugs w/strain relief, yellow or black tweed outer jacket, hook-and-loop cable tie Connection: 1/4” straight-to-straight/right-angle Length: 5-25ft
+ Good value, lifetime warranty + Free cable tie - You have money to burn - Tweed ain’t your thing
Fender’s Deluxe Series might fly under the radar when it comes to guitar cables, but with a lifetime warranty and excellent construction they offer a high-performance product at a very competitive price.
The custom-molded plugs have strain-relief in-built and make for a solid connection, while the Deluxe Series’ shielding holds its own against more expensive cables when it comes to killing extraneous noise.
They are a beefy 8mm diameter but coil nicely and come with a cable tie to encourage you to look after it. To our ears these are bright and transparent – the 10-foot cable especially – and certainly feel like a cable durable enough for the road. A worthy addition to our best guitar cables buyer's guide.
Features: Triple-strain relief, oxygen-free copper conductor, oxygen-free copper shielding, conductive PVC shield, plastic conductive carbon shield, approx 125pF/m capacitance, brown or black Connection: 1/4” straight-to-straight/-right-angle Length: 6-20ft
+ Low capacitance + Clear and bright tone - If tweed ain’t your thing
The list price for these guitar cables at various lengths sits around 60 bucks so there is a whole lot to be saved from ordering from GLS direct. The tweed outer jacket looks great in black, impeccable in brown, and the feel of the GLS Audio Tweed is excellent; it coils nicely, is durable, and for the vintage enthusiast this might be too hard to resist.
The cable is double-shielded and low capacitance, so again it should be quiet enough without choking the high-end. There is no price difference between straight-to-straight and straight-to-right angle formats.
During testing, we found that this GLS Audio cable delivers a thoroughly accurate and broad-sounding recreation of your tone. For around 60 bucks, the performance is impressive compared to other brands at that price.
Features: dual solidcore made of refined IGL copper, braided copper shielding and a tough nylon/rubber outer Connection: 1/4″ phone plug on the input side and a straight plug on the output Length: 10-20-feet
+ Noticeably purer signal path + Incredibly robust + Expertly crafted - Very expensive
There’s a good reason why David Gilmour, Jeff Beck and John Mayer all favor The Lyric – the design features a dual solidcore made of refined IGL copper, delivering a noticeably purer signal path and tone than a stock multi-strand cable.
By the firm’s admission, the solid-core format means it’s a little stiffer, but with braided copper shielding and a tough nylon/rubber outer, it should be pleasuring your audience’s ears for years to come.
The main downside is the price. We know that the Lyric HG is an incredibly expensive option, but we found during testing that it actually is worth the money. The quality is second to none - and if it's good enough for John Mayer then we won't complain.
Features: Solder-less connection, George L’s .155 connectors, high-density braided shielding, 67pF/m capacitance Connection: 1/4” straight-to-straight/-right-angle Length: 10-20ft
+ Low capacitance + Lightweight and tough - You want one of George’s build-your-own - Thin cables are not everyone’s bag
George Lewis is famous for selling his .155 cable in bulk so that guitarists can take advantage of their solder-less connector design and build their own cable. His cables are also famous for their ultra-low capacity. Eric Johnson swears by them. You would be hard pushed to find another guitar cable on the market with a lower capacitance per meter. The frequency response is excellent and your signal is well shielded.
Readymade, these come out the box with George L’s solder-less .155 connections and despite the vintage feel of the low-diameter cable - and its tendency to coil a little - they feel like you could tow a trailer with them.
For those who find the .155 too thin, the .255 offers an identical sonic performance but with thicker and heavier cable.
Connection: 1x 1/4" straight, 1x 1/4" right-angle jack Length: 30ft (9m)
+ Epic vintage vibe + High quality cable + Great build quality - Coiled cables look too funky
For those who want to harness the vintage-inspired aspects of their playing, there's arguably nothing more fitting than a killer coiled guitar cable from the folks at Vox. Although the look of these cables is next-level, they often get their fair share of flack from guitarists and so-called audiophiles, supposedly for their inferior sound quality. This cable from Vox proves those people wrong.
It's all down to the wire which Vox uses when putting together the Premium Vintage Coiled cable. It's made from 99.9% purity oxygen-free copper, which delivers a really tasteful, pronounced mid-range frequency which helps to provide the vintage vibe in droves.
fiber optic crane cable It's well built, even using two separate shields to improve strength and reduce extra noise and interference. Granted, the look does split opinion – but if you're a player with a vintage urge and want the look, then there's realistically nothing better.