Mogami: Gold Instrument Silent Series Cable
By John Knowles
Adding to an already impressive lineup of renowned cables for any and all performance and recording usages, Mogami Cables has introduced the new Gold Instrument Silent Series Cable. Introduced at this year’s Summer NAMM show 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee, the tag line for this item read, “Hot swap your guitar and basses while the volume stays on eleven.” The Gold series from Mogami has continued to serve as the perfect mid-range cable for the professional and novice musician alike. These cables offer a great tone at a reasonable and affordable price.
Mogami’s Platinum level instrument cables are their cream of the crop. Aside from unmatched tone and response offered with these cables was another highly coveted feature, especially for the touring musician. That feature is the now popular Neutrik ® Silent Plug, which allows hot-swapping guitars without the earsplitting pop or risk of blown speakers. These plugs were previously only available on the Platinum level, but that has all changed with the newly imagined Gold Silent Series, and will allow the added convenience of “silent swapping” to their excellent mid-range line.
According to the press release, “The Neutrik ® Silent Plugs have an internal switch which automatically silences the cable until it is connected. Combined with MOGAMI’s signature noise-free cable, Silent Plugs ensure that the only sound coming from the cables is made by the instruments.” Metal Exiles had the privilege to test one of these fine Gold Instrument Silent Series Cables, and the above statements do not lie. This is a finely crafted piece of gear, and works in every way as advertised. These cables are available in three connection combinations: Straight Silent to Straight, Straight Silent to right angle for direct input to a pedal board, and straight cable to 90 degree Silent for Les Pauls and any instrument that needs the 90 degree Silent Plug connection.
The cable we received is the 18 foot Gold Instrument Silent S, which features the two straight plugs. To really put this cable to the test I decided to take note of its tonal qualities first, and then discover the capabilities of the Silent Plug feature. Luckily I already owned the identical cable in the original Gold series, and was able to dial in a nice clean tone using my Fender Stratocaster straight into the amp. Switching between the two cables proved that there is no quality or tonal degradation with the addition of the Neutrik ® Silent Plug. Now, it was time to test the limits of its silent feature. I switched to my Jackson Soloist with high-gain active EMG pickups, and cranked the pre gain on my amps preamp. Even with quite the noisy output, unplugging the cable while sustaining a huge power chord gave way to silence, and without the slightest hint of a pop or buzz.
Following this experiment it seemed necessary to try the cable out in a studio environment. Again, I checked for tonal qualities between the two identical cables and found no discernable difference. This was followed by a similar experiment using the Soloist equipped with Active pickups and found that when unplugging the cable at any volume level, including 0, there was a tiny spike on the gain meter. This was hardly noticeable audibly, but visually my DAW edit window represented a very small waveform following the disconnection. However, given that there’s really no reason to record oneself disconnecting their guitar in the studio, this cable proved to be everything Mogami claims it to be.
When plugging in a new instrument to a live cable it is important to remember to have your instrument’s volume knob turned all the way down. This will ensure the connection is silent and completely unnoticeable.
As is the case with the Platinum series, the Silent Plug of the cable features a maroon casing to differentiate it from the opposite end. Now, to differentiate these new cables from the original Gold Series on the market there will be a sticker that distinguishes it as a “Silent Series” cable. The packaging for both the standard Gold Series and the Gold Silent Series are pretty similar, but consumers shouldn’t have much issue given the plug’s coloring, the sticker, and the price difference. According to the distributors there are no plans to phase out the standard Gold series, so consumers will still have a number of options if they choose to avoid the Silent Series. Retail ranges from $79.95 to $94.95 depending on configuration for these cables, which is a bit more than the standard Gold Series. However, users will walk away with a more versatile product, so in the end everyone wins.
Taking a quick look through all of their vendor’s websites and following a stop at a few local Guitar Centers, it is clear that these cables are not quite widely available for purchase just yet. However, these cables can be purchased as of now on VintageKing.com. Also, be sure to join Mogami’s mailing list to stay up to date on all current and future products from Mogami.
Visit Mogami's Official Website
Buy The New Line of Gold Silent Series Cables
Link to Mogami's Authorized Online Dealers
By John Knowles
Adding to an already impressive lineup of renowned cables for any and all performance and recording usages, Mogami Cables has introduced the new Gold Instrument Silent Series Cable. Introduced at this year’s Summer NAMM show 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee, the tag line for this item read, “Hot swap your guitar and basses while the volume stays on eleven.” The Gold series from Mogami has continued to serve as the perfect mid-range cable for the professional and novice musician alike. These cables offer a great tone at a reasonable and affordable price.
Mogami’s Platinum level instrument cables are their cream of the crop. Aside from unmatched tone and response offered with these cables was another highly coveted feature, especially for the touring musician. That feature is the now popular Neutrik ® Silent Plug, which allows hot-swapping guitars without the earsplitting pop or risk of blown speakers. These plugs were previously only available on the Platinum level, but that has all changed with the newly imagined Gold Silent Series, and will allow the added convenience of “silent swapping” to their excellent mid-range line.
According to the press release, “The Neutrik ® Silent Plugs have an internal switch which automatically silences the cable until it is connected. Combined with MOGAMI’s signature noise-free cable, Silent Plugs ensure that the only sound coming from the cables is made by the instruments.” Metal Exiles had the privilege to test one of these fine Gold Instrument Silent Series Cables, and the above statements do not lie. This is a finely crafted piece of gear, and works in every way as advertised. These cables are available in three connection combinations: Straight Silent to Straight, Straight Silent to right angle for direct input to a pedal board, and straight cable to 90 degree Silent for Les Pauls and any instrument that needs the 90 degree Silent Plug connection.
The cable we received is the 18 foot Gold Instrument Silent S, which features the two straight plugs. To really put this cable to the test I decided to take note of its tonal qualities first, and then discover the capabilities of the Silent Plug feature. Luckily I already owned the identical cable in the original Gold series, and was able to dial in a nice clean tone using my Fender Stratocaster straight into the amp. Switching between the two cables proved that there is no quality or tonal degradation with the addition of the Neutrik ® Silent Plug. Now, it was time to test the limits of its silent feature. I switched to my Jackson Soloist with high-gain active EMG pickups, and cranked the pre gain on my amps preamp. Even with quite the noisy output, unplugging the cable while sustaining a huge power chord gave way to silence, and without the slightest hint of a pop or buzz.
Following this experiment it seemed necessary to try the cable out in a studio environment. Again, I checked for tonal qualities between the two identical cables and found no discernable difference. This was followed by a similar experiment using the Soloist equipped with Active pickups and found that when unplugging the cable at any volume level, including 0, there was a tiny spike on the gain meter. This was hardly noticeable audibly, but visually my DAW edit window represented a very small waveform following the disconnection. However, given that there’s really no reason to record oneself disconnecting their guitar in the studio, this cable proved to be everything Mogami claims it to be.
When plugging in a new instrument to a live cable it is important to remember to have your instrument’s volume knob turned all the way down. This will ensure the connection is silent and completely unnoticeable.
As is the case with the Platinum series, the Silent Plug of the cable features a maroon casing to differentiate it from the opposite end. Now, to differentiate these new cables from the original Gold Series on the market there will be a sticker that distinguishes it as a “Silent Series” cable. The packaging for both the standard Gold Series and the Gold Silent Series are pretty similar, but consumers shouldn’t have much issue given the plug’s coloring, the sticker, and the price difference. According to the distributors there are no plans to phase out the standard Gold series, so consumers will still have a number of options if they choose to avoid the Silent Series. Retail ranges from $79.95 to $94.95 depending on configuration for these cables, which is a bit more than the standard Gold Series. However, users will walk away with a more versatile product, so in the end everyone wins.
Taking a quick look through all of their vendor’s websites and following a stop at a few local Guitar Centers, it is clear that these cables are not quite widely available for purchase just yet. However, these cables can be purchased as of now on VintageKing.com. Also, be sure to join Mogami’s mailing list to stay up to date on all current and future products from Mogami.
Visit Mogami's Official Website
Buy The New Line of Gold Silent Series Cables
Link to Mogami's Authorized Online Dealers
