One way to test an instrument cable

[stratomaster]

Several weeks ago, I "Quieted My Beast." After I put the guitar back together, I plugged it into my amp, turned up the amp volume, and I heard a horrible ringing squeal!

I isolated the problem and it turned out to be the cable. I had grabbed a short cord I had previously only used for my guitar tuner.

So now I test my cables by plugging one end of the cable into an amp and leaving the other end unplugged (with nothing touching the tip.) Turn the amp volume up slowly and listen for noise. A good cable will only hiss slightly with the volume at 10, a bad one might squeal or have a loud hiss, or make clunking noises if you tap on the rubber coating of the cord (microphonic.) I found two of my longer cables were sub-par too (now I know why sometimes my rig would be noisier than at other times.)

I hope this info helps someone else to clean up their tone.

[UnklMickey]

hi stratomaster,

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here's what's bad about your test:

a bad, tone robbing cable, that has high capacitance, could actually seem better in your test, than a good high quality cable.

(in terms of the amount of hiss.)

also, if you perform the same test at different locations, the environment will affect the results, so that needs to be considered.

in some environments, you might never be able to get the amp on "10" without a horrendous amount of hum, even with a good cable.

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here's what's good about it:

if the capacitance of the cables are the same, the one with better shielding WILL seem better.

the tapping / microphonic portion of the test is very useful.

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here's what great about it:

it's free, you already have everything you need to perform the test.

(an amp)

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thanks for a good idea.



unk