You are currently viewing 5 Best Guitar Cables Under $30 in 2023- Budget Cables Can Offer Great Tones

Last Updated on April 29, 2023 by Teemu Suomala

Best Overall – Ernie Ball Instrument Cable, 10ft

Reviewer: Teemu Suomala

Tone
Durability
Overall Quality
Hum Free?
Value for Money

Summary

Why this cable is a great option?

Pros
-Excellent quality
-Great tones
-Hum-free(in long run too)
-Will serve you for a long time
-Lifetime Warranty

Cons
-The cable can get curly
-No info about capacitance(how much signal loss there is by ft)

In my opinion, Ernie Ball nails it with this cable. The only thing missing is the info about capacitance, a good Picofarad rating would just make this a no-brainer. But still, this is a great choice for every guitar player.

I have been really satisfied with this cable.
The best guitar cable under $30.

4.6

Ernie Ball cable in my use:

I have actually used this same cable in most of my videos. I love it!

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The Next Best:

Runner-Up – BOSS 10-Feet (BIC-10A)

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Our Overall Rating

Summary

Pros

  • Really durable
  • Will provide good sound with different kinds of genres
  • Lifetime warrant1y
  • Quiet and hum-free
  • Extra protective outer jacket

Cons

  • Gets curled easily
  • Where is the info about capacitance(signal ‘’leaking’’)?

A really durable cable that will provide great tones for you.

Not the best option for performers, but a great option for home players who like to play still.

Low Capacitance – D’Addario PW-AMSG-10 American Stage

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Our Overall Rating

Summary

Pros

  • Lifetime Warranty
  • Clean, clear, and bright tones
  • Low capacitance(28pF/ft), the cable won’t ‘’leak’’ the signal much
  • The overall strong connection between the cable and the connector
  • Larger connector tip. The cable won’t unplug too easily, for example when somebody steps onto it

Cons

  • Hum and cracking happens a little bit too often
  • Most guitar outputs are not made for larger connector tip
  • Soldering inside the connector is sometimes weak

Overall, Planet Waves American Stage is a solid cable and a good option for most guitarists. But issues with the quality happen a little bit too often.

This cable suits best for people who like the move when playing due to the not easily curled outer jacket material.

Really Helpful Manufacturer – Red Dragon Instrument Cable, 10ft

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Our Overall Rating

Summary

Pros

  • Really helpful customer service
  • Good soldering quality
  • Minimal unwanted noises
  • The tone is natural and clear
  • Capacitance ‘’(signal leaking)’’ is acceptable, 

Cons

  • Issues with connector quality
  • Capacitance is the least I would accept

Without great customer service, this cable probably wouldn’t be on this list. The cable offers solid tones hum-free, but the connector quality should be improved.

In the end, satisfaction guarantee secures the place on this list for the Red Dragon.

Best for Fender Guitars –Fender Custom Shop 10ft Instrument Cable

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Our Overall Rating

Summary

Pros

  • Works well with Fender guitars(surprise)
  • Usually, hum-free
  • Solid tones
  • Lifetime Warranty

Cons

  • No indication of Oxygen-Free Copper being used(lowers durability)
  • The connector is loose with some guitars and amps
  • Soldering inside the connector is not always the quality I would want
  • Fender doesn’t provide us info about the capacitance

Yes, this cable is a small disappointment for me. Again, the lifetime warranty saves the day.

And when this cable works, it does the job. But sometimes the quality just isn’t there. This is still a solid choice for folks with Fender guitars.

Comparison Graphic:

graph compares 5 best Guitar Cables Under 30

Do you want a great piece of cable to connect your music-making machines? Look no more!

For under 30 bucks, you can definitely find a good cable to transfer your precious sound signal.

And now I’m about to reveal the best guitar cables for under 30 bucks(available in 2022). This post helps you get the best quality possible cable for you. Also, I share some basic(but key) knowledge about guitar cables.

Let’s first look at these fine cables, and at the end of the post, you can find the Buyer’s Guide section that helps you to make the best choice possible.

If you have a really tight budget, check this post out: Best Guitar Cable Under $20 In 2022 – Buyer’s Guide. If you have looser budget, you can check this guide: 5 Best Guitar Cables Under $50 in 2022.

Who crafted this article:

photo reveals owner of guitaristnextdoor.com

Author: Teemu Suomala

I first grabbed the guitar in 2009. I started this website in January 2020 because I couldn’t do window installation anymore due to my health problems. I also noticed that most guitar websites don’t do a really good job, so I decided to just go for it! I got lucky and managed to get awesome people to help me with my website. I also got lucky because I have you visiting my website right now. Thank you. I do all this for you guys. If you have any recommendations, tips, or feedback, just leave a comment, I would love to chat with you. I have been fortunate to produce content for several large guitar websites, such as Songsterr, Musicnotes, GuitarGuitar, and Ultimate Guitar. I spend my spare time exercising and hanging out with my wife and crazy dog(I guess that went the right way…).

Every one of these guitars is here based on extensive research and 13+ years of experience.


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Best Guitar Cables Under $30 

Best Overall – Ernie Ball Instrument Cable, 10ft


Ernie Ball is known for its great guitar strings, but are they able to offer great cables for guitar players too?

I own this cable.

Noise and Hum

Ernie Ball does a really good job with the hum. They have been able to cancel almost all the hum and unwanted noise. The reason for this is probably the dual shielding on a cable. And even if you use the cable for years, playing is hum-free.

Quality and Durability

This cable is hard to beat for the price point of low 20’s. And quality plays a major role in that. 

It’s really rare to see and hear a bad cable slip through the quality check. A braided outer jacket offers protection to the cable and is flexible. And users don’t have to go through the hassle of replacing the product often, although this cable has a Limited Lifetime Warranty.

The cable is well attached to the connector, and you don’t have to worry about separating these two. 

Oxygen-Free copper is used in the cable, so that’s another point for Ernie Ball cable.

Sometimes the cable can get curly, and this can be frustrating for some folks, but for typical home players like me, it doesn’t really matter.

Tone

First the con. Sadly, Ernie Ball doesn’t provide the capacitance of this cable for us.

That would help us especially if we are looking for a longer cable than 10ft. And capacitance measured by Picofarads gives the consumer accurate info about the cable’s ability to prevent signal ‘’leaking’’.

But in reality, the 10ft cable is enough for most players and the tones are solid from low to high end. Clear, crisp, and clean. Ernie Ball cable passes my tone check with high grades.

Gold plating in connectors provides good conductivity and durability.

Summary

Pros

  • Excellent quality
  • Great tones
  • Hum-free(in long run too)
  • Will serve you for a long time
  • Lifetime Warranty

Cons

  • The cable can get curly
  • No info about capacitance(how much signal loss there is by ft)

In my opinion, Ernie Ball nails it with this cable. The only thing missing is the info about capacitance, a good Picofarad rating would just make this a no-brainer. But still, this is a great choice for every guitar player.

I have been really satisfied with this cable.

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Runner-Up – BOSS 10-Feet (3m) Instrument Cable


Boss can surely make great guitar amps and pedals, but how is the cable business?

I own this cable too.

Noise and Hum

Yep, noise and hum-free. As it should be. I have nothing to complain about.

Quality and Durability

The outer jacket does a good job of providing great protection to the cable. The cable is also really flexible.

This particular woven outer jacket gets curled easily, and if you want to move a lot when playing, this is not the best option for you. But for a typical home guitarist, this is not a real problem.

Oxygen-Free copper is used and this surely gives the cable more durability. And a lifetime guarantee is always nice to have and nowadays it’s a kind of industry standard for cables at this price range.

Overall built quality and durability are excellent, and cable will serve you for a long time. I really don’t have anything else to say about the quality and durability.

Tone

The cable has a 24k cold plated connectors, these ensure solid conductivity and durability. And when this cable is used, the tones are great. Will serve you well no matter what genre you are in. 

This Cable offers clear and articulate tones.

But I would love to see indicators of low capacitance…there’s none available right now. That is a small con in my books.

Summary

Pros

  • Really durable
  • Will provide good sound with different kinds of genres
  • Lifetime warranty
  • Quiet and hum-free
  • Extra protective outer jacket

Cons

  • Will get curled
  • Where is the info about capacitance(signal ‘’leaking’’)?

A really durable cable that will provide great tones for you. Not the best option for performers, but a great option for home players who like to play still.

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Low Capacitance – Planet Waves American Stage Cable, 10ft

American Stage cable is really popular among guitar players, due to its affordable price, good reputation, and really active marketing. But is it really worth your hard-earned money?

Noise and Hum

Most of the time you will get things right with American Stage Cable. No noise and hum. You get clean and clear tones out of it.

But for this price point, I see users complaining about the cable crackling and humming a little bit too often. Again, this is not always the case, but it happens too often in my opinion.

Quality and Durability

Planet Waves American Stage cable really divides people. Some people love them, some hate them. Personally, I’m in the middle. I think that when the Planet Wave cable works, it’s great, and you can be happy with the purchase. But a little bit too often there are issues with the quality. 

I understand that sometimes bad cables slip through the quality control. But for this price point, this happens too often with the American Stage cable. What are the issues?

First: I mentioned cracking and humming before, and this is one of the problems. Usually, American Stage cable will provide hum-free sound for you, but too often cable starts to make unwanted noise. And this raises the question: Is the larger tip of the cable reason for that?

Most of us know that Planet Waves push the larger connector tip on their marketing.

Stuff like You really get that ‘’click’’ when you plug your cable. That surely makes the cable more stable and it won’t unplug so easily.

But there might be a downside…

Most guitar outputs are not made for this kind of connector. What if the bigger tip pushes the connector at the output’ end too much and the complete connection between the cable and the guitar is not as stable and full as it seems. This might cause cracking and hum.

I have not tested this with different outputs and cables, but this cable doesn’t work well with every guitar. And this explanation surely makes sense to me, and I would keep this in my mind when choosing the cable.

Second: the American Stage has a really strong connection between the connector and the cable, (you are not going to separate these parts easily). But soldering inside the connector can be a little bit weak sometimes. And this can ruin in other ways the strong connection between the cable and the connector.

I don’t want to trash the American Stage cable completely. It’s not a bad cable and ‘’no-buy’’. But I understand why some people have issues with this cable. And you should keep these things in mind too.

Planet Waves offer Limited Lifetime Warranty, and that helps you if the cable breaks on normal use or due to the bad manufacturing quality.

Oxygen copper is used, so that adds some durability too.

In most cases, Planet Waves will provide good quality and durability for the guitar players. And the outer rubber jacket doesn’t get curled easily, so it’s great if you want to move a lot when playing.

Tone

When there is no hum and noise, the tone of this cable is great. Clean, clear, and bright. 

One reason for this is the low Picofarads. Planet Wave has done a really good job with this, and the cable ‘’leaking’’ is minimal.

Cable capacitance is rated as 28 Picofarads per ft. This is surely a great plus when you look at this cable, and even 30ft American Stage will sound good as many shorter cables.

Summary

Pros

  • Lifetime Warranty
  • Clean, clear, and bright tones
  • Low capacitance(28pF/ft), the cable won’t ‘’leak’’ the signal much
  • The overall strong connection between cable and the connector
  • Larger connector tip. The cable won’t unplug too easily, for example when somebody steps on to it

Cons

  • Hum and cracking happens a little bit too often
  • Most guitar outputs are not made for larger connector tip
  • Soldering inside the connector is sometimes weak

Overall, Planet Waves American Stage is a solid cable and a good option for most guitarists. But issues with the quality happen a little bit too often, and you should keep this in mind, although the lifetime warranty gives the consumer some protection.

This cable suits best for people who like the move when playing due to the not easily curled outer jacket material.

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Really Helpful Manufacturer – Red Dragon Instrument Cable, 10ft


Red Dragon cable by Amboz is not one of the biggest players in the instrument cable market, but should they get our attention?

Noise and Hum

As with almost all decent cables nowadays, Red Dragon has a minimal hum and provides a noise-free sound for you. The only situation where you might experience cracking and hum issues is you receiving a lemon.

Quality and Durability

Soldering quality is one of the strongest aspects of this cable, and the reason for that is probably hand soldering. Wires stay attached to the connector, and that ensures solid durability.

The cable is strong, but not flexible. So, although the insides are protected well, this lowers the convenience of the cable.

But one of the most common issues with this cable is the quality of the connector...

It’s gold-plated and it won’t ruin your tone, but it breaks a little bit too often. Usually, the tip of the cable is the bottleneck. It can come off. And when this happens the cable it’s plugged in, getting the tip out of our guitar or amp output is not a very pleasant job, although far from impossible either.

But Amboz Cables shines when it comes to customer service.

They offer a 100% Satisfaction guarantee. And if for any reason, the cable won’t fit your needs, you can get a refund or replacement. They are also very eager the give you a replacement if the cable breaks in normal use.

They also state that every cable goes through a hand quality check, which lowers the risk of you receiving a lemon.

So, the overall quality and durability of this cable are good, but connectors can give you a hard time sometimes. 

Tone

The tone is natural and clear. But the tonal qualities of this cable have some limitations.

The cable has an ok capacitance of 40pF/ft. For this price point, it’s a kind of minimum that I can accept. If you are looking for a 10ft cable, this offers you a solid tone and signal leaking won’t cause you too much trouble when the length is low. 

Summary

Pros

  • Really helpful customer service
  • Good soldering quality
  • Minimal unwanted noises
  • The tone is natural and clear
  • Capacitance “(signal leaking)” is acceptable, 

Cons

  • Issues with connector quality
  • Capacitance is only “just acceptable”

Without great customer service, this cable probably wouldn’t be on this list. The cable offers solid tones hum-free, but the connector quality should be improved. In the end, the satisfaction guarantee secures the place on this list for the Red Dragon.


Best for Fender Guitars – Fender Custom Shop 10ft Instrument Cable

I absolutely love Fender guitars and I always expect excellent quality from them. But is this cable a disappointment for me?

Noise and Hum

Out of the box, no hum, no cracking. Noise-free playing. But…when time goes by, hum and cracking can too often be an unwanted companion when this cable is used. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a rule and sometimes this doesn’t happen, but it just happens a little bit too often.

Quality and Durability

The quality of this cable is decent, and in most cases, it will serve you for a long time. But I still hope to see better quality from Fender. This cable has a lifetime warranty,  and that’s awesome for sure, but this cable is not necessarily built to last.

When you look at this cable, sure it looks and feels high quality. But the problem lies on and inside the connector. 

The connector can be a little bit loose with some guitars and amps. This can give you some unwanted cracking, and the cable can unplug quite easily sometimes if somebody steps on them.

Also, the soldering is not always the quality I would hope for. And in the long run, this can cause, popping, cracking, and other annoying stuff. 

Usually, you will be happy with this cable, but a little bit too often it causes some problems for users. 

And I wonder if the reason for some issues is the copper used in this cable. I found no info about the copper quality, and that leads me to think that unpurified copper is used, and this always lowers the durability of the cable. Fender please, use OF-copper.

The cable itself is flexible, and the outer jacket is protective, but this cable can get curly easily and that will annoy some people. 

I would say that cable is indeed made for Fender guitar, and it works best with them.

Tone

When the cable works(it usually does), the tones are solid. This cable doesn’t blow your mind(most of the cables don’t), but you are going to be happy with the sound of it.

Especially bright Strat tones are really pleasing to me.

Fender should give us info about the capacitance, which would really help us to decide if this is worth our hard-earned money.

Summary

Pros

  • Works well with Fender guitars(surprise)
  • Usually, hum-free
  • Solid tones
  • Lifetime Warranty

Cons

  • No indication of Oxygen-Free Copper being used(lowers durability)
  • The connector is loose with some guitars and amps
  • Soldering inside the connector is not always the quality I would want
  • Fender doesn’t provide us info about the capacitance

Yes, this cable is a small disappointment for me. But again, the lifetime warranty saves the day. And when this cable works, it does the job, but sometimes the quality just isn’t there. This is still a solid choice for folks with Fender guitars.

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Verdict

Tough battle of solid guitar cables. But two stand out the most, Ernie Ball and Boss. Both provide equally good tones, are quiet, and have a lifetime warranty. 

Ernie Ball will take the top spot because it provides this all at a lower price. And this cable also doesn’t get curled as easily as the Boss cable. A small flaw with both these top cables is missing info about capacitance, but when you are going to buy a 10ft cable, you are not going to lose much of the signal anyways.

Planet Waves American Stage cable takes the third spot. It has some issues and it doesn’t work well with every guitar, but it’s a great option if you want to move when playing because it doesn’t get curled so easily. And when it works, it works well.

Red Dragon and Fender cables share the last spot. Fender cable works well with Fender guitars. Red Dragon works ok with every kind of guitar and has really good customer service. But both these cables have problems with the quality a little bit too often. But these are not ‘’don’t buy’’- cables either because the lifetime warranty really gives consumers protection when buying these two. And usually these 2 work just fine too.


Buyer’s Guide – FAQ

What Makes A Good Guitar Cable?

Does guitar cable even make a difference?

Yes, it does. There is a huge variety of cables from under 5 dollars to up to more than 250 bucks, and the difference is real.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to say that you have to spend over 200 good ones to get a decent guitar cable. No, no, no. Some cables even under $20 can provide great tones for you. 

And you are looking cable for under $30, for that price, there are some real gems out there.

So, you don’t have to empty your wallet to get yourself a decent guitar cable. A good rule of thumb is to stay away from the cheapest cables(under 10), weaker quality of these can affect the tone too much.

Now, let’s look at the different aspects and parts of guitar cable and see what you should look for.

Built

Anatomy of The Guitar Cable

Every guitar and instrument cable usually share the same anatomy.

Photo shows readers anatomy of guitar cable
  • Outer Plastic or Fabric Jacket, this part keeps everything inside safe and in one tight packet.
  • Copper Shielding, blocks an electric field interference from other sources.
  • Conductive shielding material, blocks the external and internal electric field (prevents the core, where the electricity carries the audio signal from ‘’leaking’’.)
  • Dielectric insulator, Keeps the core where the electricity carries the audio signal isolated and prevents ‘’leaking’’.
  • Core (conductor), in the copper core, the electricity carries the audio signal.

That’s how a guitar cable looks from inside. 

Picofarads, aka. leaking

I used the term ‘’leaking” here. That describes the phenomenon, where electricity tries to find the easiest way to the ground. Insulators are used to prevent this from happening in guitar cables and in other electricity-related objects. 

Picofarads per foot (or meter) are used to measure cable’s ability to stop the center conductor from leaking the signal to the ground. Fewer Pickofarads means that the cable’s ability to stop ‘’leaking’’ is better. For this price point, under 50 Picofarads is really good.

Sadly, for a price under 30, most manufacturers are not giving you Picofarad ratings. They just state that their product is ‘’a low capacitance cable’’(picofarads is used to measure capacitance.) So, low capacitance usually refers to a good picofarad rating. 

But saying ‘’low capacitance’’- is a broad and generic term that doesn’t inform us players enough. 

But when you can find Picofarad number from the cable package or product page, that’s usually a good sign. And manufacture saying ‘’low capacitance’’ won’t hurt either, at least they think that the capacitance of their cable is low.

Here’s a video that teaches you more about picofarads and how the guitar cable works: 

How Guitar Cables are Built

Most guitar cables are built completely by machines. And for the price under 30, that’s usually the case. 

This won’t have a huge impact on your tone. Of course, if you can afford a more expensive cable, you should do that. Some parts might be assembled by human workers when the price goes closer to 50 and 100. Cables built completely by humans are closer to 200 bucks. 

But honestly, for a home guitarist, I don’t see any reason to go over 50 dollars when buying a guitar cable. That’s all that we home guitarists need. As I said it’s still a good idea to not buy the cheapest guitar cables if that’s possible.

Conductor material

In guitar cables, copper conductor(wire) in the middle to cable, is used to carry the audio signal via electricity.

The only thing that varies on the materials is how pure the copper is. The main thing affecting to the ‘’how pure the copper is’’, is the oxygen level. Nowadays, almost all decent cables use oxygen-free copper as a conductor.

And these cables have usually letters OFC= Oxygen-free cable on their package or product page. If you could not find these letters or words, that probably means that unpurified copper is used as a conductor.

The idea behind the OFC is to remove oxygen from the copper to make it more conductive, and as a result, you’ll have a cleaner signal. Also oxygen-free copper has more corrosive resistance.

But oxygen-free copper won’t improve your sound quality much when the cable is new, but when time goes by, corrosion won’t spoil your cable and tone so easily. And OF copper is also more efficient and is able to carry more current, when compared to unpurified copper.

I would aim for oxygen-free copper cable, and you can easily find these under the price of 30. 

Here’s a video that reveals more about oxygen-free cables:

Connector Material

Connectors typically have 4 different kinds of materials and platings:

  • Nickel
  • Copper
  • Silver
  • Gold

Some say that gold-plating is superior to others, and that is true to some extent.

  1. Silver is the best conductor
  2. Copper comes after that
  3. Gold has a slightly worse electricity conductivity, but it has better corrosion and tarnishing resistance. This is why gold plating is usually used
  4. Nickel has the worst conductivity of these 4, but it has high corrosion-resistance. It’s also the cheapest of all four.

For the price point under 30, gold-plated connectors are usually used. It won’t cut the tone and is durable. Gold-plated connectors are a really solid option. 

It’s good to remember that sometimes, the effect of stuff like this is only marketing hype produced by the manufacturers. And although the things that I just mentioned are scientifically proven, manufacturers can make a bigger deal about these things than they really are.

Outer Jacket Material

Usually, the outer jacket is made of rubber or fiber(cloth). The quality of these materials can vary a lot. 

The cheapest cables are not flexible and break easily if someone steps on to them. And one reason for this is the low-quality outer jacket. When the price point of the cable goes over 10 bucks, the quality starts to be decent.

When you compare the rubber and fiber(cloth) outer jackets, there is no tonal difference between the two. In general, I would pick the fiber jacket cable over rubber if there is a high chance that someone steps on to them often. But otherwise, it doesn’t matter much.

Thickness

Usually thicker cord provides better protection to the cable. And when the cable is thicker, the copper conductor can be thicker too. This makes the cable more efficient and helps it to carry more currency.

I would not buy the thinnest and cheapest cables, because manufacturers probably saved on material quantity and quality when building these.

Length

When the cable grows longer and longer, your guitar will lose more and more tone. How?

Simply put: The electricity carries to the audio signal. When electricity moves through the conductor, in this case, the copper wire, it slightly loses its power because of copper’s resistance to electricity.

Some electricity also “leaks” into the “ground”. The longer the cable is, the more tone you will lose.

It’s like pushing a wheelbarrow full of leaves. If you push it for 2 feet, you will drop fewer leaves than when you push it for 20 feet.

But length is not all that matters. Cable’s ability to stop the center conductor from leaking the signal to the ground plays a big role too. Picofarads per ft ( or meter) is used to measure this. A good Picofarad rating can make some 30ft cable sound better than some 10ft cables. 

Fewer Pickofarads means that the cable’s ability to stop ‘’leaking’’ is better. Some manufacturers are not giving you Picofarad ratings, probably because the rating is so bad.

Everything below 50 picofarads is really good for this price point. And when the cable is really short, picofarads are not playing so big role, because the signal won’t have so much time to leak anyways.

Best Guitar Cable Length

A good rule of thumb is to buy a guitar cable less than 10 feet for home use. If you must buy a 15ft or 20ft cable, it’s not that bad, sometimes you won’t even notice the difference. 

The shorter the cable is, better the tone will be. But don’t make things hard for yourself by buying too short guitar cable.

If you want to learn more about the cable length, watch this video:

 

How to Buy The Right Cable For You

For the price under 30, you can definitely get a great cable for you. No question about it.

But consider these things when making the buying decision:

  • Cable length, I would recommend under 10ft cable for the home player, this way you won’t lose much tone and extra length only takes unnecessary space. If the manufacturer gives you picofarads, pay attention to them. Below 40 Picofarads is great for this price range. Also, if they state that it’s ‘’a low capacitance cable’’, it’s usually a good sign, but not so accurate and trustworthy.
  • Oxygen-Free copper cable, this makes the cable more durable and efficient when carrying the signal. I recommend that you aim for OFC cable.
  • Outer jacket material, my experience has revealed that fiber cable is more durable if there is a chance that someone steps on to them often. If stepping on is not likely, rubber cable will serve you well too. Of course this is not always the case.
  • Connector material(plating), under the price point of $30, 24K gold-plating is really usual. It’s a good connector material and durable.
  • Thickness, usually thicker cables are a better option. It means more protection to the cable and the wiser use of materials. But of course, if the cable is thick, it won’t necessarily mean that it’s a good cable.
  • Warranty, usually cables under $30 come with a lifetime warranty, and that is a great thing. 
    • Sometimes brands use the term, ‘’Limited Lifetime Warranty’’, usually this means that warranty covers the situations where there are issues with the workmanship, materials of the cable or if the cable broke in normal use. But if there are signs of not-normal use causing the damage or if there are only cosmetics damages warranty is not viable. Of course, practices vary and it’s a good idea to check what the specific manufactures mean with their ‘’Limited Lifetime Warranty’’.
  • Coiled or normal cable? Coiled cables are those curly ones that you see. These cables shape your tone to the less-bright direction because the signal has more cable to go through. It’s like turning your tone control down. These are great cables especially if you want to shape the sound of your single-coil pickups. But if you want to maintain the bright tone of your guitar, buy normal guitar cable.

Are All Guitar Cables The Same?

No, all guitar cables are not the same.

  • Different kinds of copper are used to built cables
  • they also come in different lengths.
  • Thickness, connector materials/plating, and durability can vary a lot.
  • Some cables even have a lifetime warranty.

Guitar cable plays a huge role when it comes down to your tone. It can make or break your game. So choose your cable wisely. Gladly, this guide helps you to do that.


Conclusion on Best Guitar Cables Under $30

All cables on this post are solid options that can transfer your music from the guitar to the amplifier. But the Ernie Ball cable stands out because of its great value and stellar quality. That’s why it’s the best guitar cable under $30 to me.

I hope that this post helped you to choose the right cable for you, if you have any questions, just leave a comment. I wish you all the best and keep rocking!

Teemu Suomala

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Teemu Suomala

I first grabbed the guitar in 2009. I started this website in January 2020 because I couldn’t do window installation anymore due to my health problems. I also noticed that most guitar websites don’t do a really good job, so I decided to just go for it! I got lucky and managed to get awesome people to help me with my website. I also got lucky because I have you visiting my website right now. Thank you. I do all this for you guys. If you have any recommendations, tips, or feedback, just leave a comment, I would love to chat with you. I have been fortunate to produce content for several large guitar websites, such as Songsterr, Musicnotes, GuitarGuitar, and Ultimate Guitar. I spend my spare time exercising and hanging out with my wife and crazy dog(I guess that went the right way…). Expertise: guitar learning techniques, electric guitars, and guitar amplifiers. You can connect with me on LinkedIn or just email me.

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