A Talk about How Changing Shielded Cables and Shoulder Rests can Affects the Sound

When it comes to improving the sound of your instrument, what methods have all of you tried? The first thing that comes to my mind is upgrading the instrument itself, which is probably what most people think of. Of course, if you upgrade your instrument, you will be able to experience an upgrade in this sound, but I think that changes don’t only happen from the instrument itself.
However, surprisingly the sound can be changed not only by changing the instrument, but also by changing accessories such as cables. This time, I am going to talk about such products.

After accumulating points, I bought a high-end cable and a maple shoulder rest

I read an email from Sound House informing me that my points were about to expire. Since I had about 6,800 points left, I thought it would be a waste not to use them, so I hurried to open the website.

I saw a review the other day that said, “I changed to a high-end cable and the sound changed quite a bit,” so I decided to take this opportunity to buy CLASSIC PRO’s HGC020 shielded cable for instruments.

CLASSIC PRO / HGC020 High-End Shielded Cable for Instruments

In addition, the padding on the shoulder rest that I had been using for so long was worn out, so I decided to take this opportunity to buy a new one.

Viva La Musica / Diamond Light Shoulder Rest for Violin 4/4

I like maple wood, so I purchased the Diamond Light from Viva La Musica, a maple wood adjustable shoulder brace with a 360-degree swiveling end member.
There were two colors available, light and dark, but I chose light color because my violin is more reddish in color and the color seemed that it would match my instrument well.

< This is the TIDO shoulder rest that I was using. I loved the color, but as you can see in the picture, the padded part had fallen apart. >

Reviewing the Shielded Cable and Shoulder Rest

Let’s start with the CLASSIC PRO high-end cable HGC020. The actual product looks like this.
The gold-plated plug is very pretty.

Compared to the CLASSIC PRO cable GIC030 (pictured right) that I originally owned, the phone terminal is very different and the high-end cable felt sturdier. Also, the cable band that comes with the high-end cable is thicker, although it is hard to tell in the photo.

I tried out the Yamaha electric violin YEV105 connected to the THR30IIA amplifier and played it

Now let's compare how much the sound changes by connecting a regular shield CLASSIC PRO GIC030 and a high-end cable CLASSIC PRO HGC020.

The result was... a change in sound that was better than I could have ever imagined!

Specifically, how much did the sound change? I felt that the sound resolution had improved.
No matter how much I adjust the sound connected with a normal shield using EQ, the bass part of an electric violin tends to be fuzzy. However, when I connected the high-end cable HGC020, the sound was clearly pronounced and I felt that a better sound output was coming out. Especially when I turned the volume up, I could clearly hear more of a difference.

To be honest, I did not expect such a difference. If this is the case, I should have bought this cable from the beginning (haha).

I tried out the Viva La Musica shoulder rest Diamond Light

Next is the Diamond Light shoulder rest. The inside is as shown in the photo. It comes with a cloth with the brand’s logo on it. You can never have too many cleaning cloths.

The box included instructions on how to install the shoulder rest. According to the instructions, they recommend that the fork member should be attached at a 30 degree angle.

What is a fork member → The grippy part that attaches to the instrument
What is an end member → The part that attaches the fork member to the shoulder rest (the angle can be adjusted)

● The fork members of the legs are foldable!

This shoulder rest has foldable legs and can be stored as shown in the photo. Even in a narrow case, this can be stored. This feature is nice!

● I attached it to my violin and played with it on

I attached it to my violin. The angle of the legs can be adjusted by 15 degrees and fixed into place with screws. Since the legs can be adjusted at various angles anyway, it took me a little time to get the angle right. In the end, I matched the left and right sides at 15 degrees.

The final result looks like this, which is a very common symmetrical position.

Now it’s time to change out my old TIDO shoulder rest with the Viva La Musica shoulder rest and compare them.

The results... sound completely different!

When I first played it, I felt a little shocked because the amount of vibration and resonance from the instrument transmitted into my body more solidly than with the previous shoulder rest. Because of the increased vibration, I felt that the tone had changed to a thicker, deeper tone.

To be honest, I did not expect the tone to change so much just by changing the shoulder rest. It is often said that a shoulder rest can change the sound of the violin depending on the type of material, but the sound changed much more than I had imagined.

< Viva La Musica Diamond Light shoulder rest dramatically transformed the sound >

Just like with the high-end cable, I wish I had bought this shoulder rest earlier if I had known this was the case lol.

I have realized that accessories that maybe cost a little more money are worth it. I will continue to try out items from various manufacturers and introduce them on my blog.