gbfun
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Post by gbfun on Jan 7, 2020 4:52:42 GMT -5
Anyone using the computer board custom taper volume pot set up yet ? (see ebay) Supposedly it adjusts the taper using a screwdriver...but only between volume 6 through 10. Why not the whole range ? And I have 4 American Strats and their volume taper seems purposely set up to only be usable between 6 and 10. Why oh why ? Anything below 6 and the highest frequency strings are almost silent ! Was this design to give the Strat a more "heavy rock" voicing for rhythm ? Losing Volume 1 through 6 for high note leads is disastrous for me. So now I have to learn to re-taper my Strats and I saw this newfangled design. The problem is, I don't understand the current stock taper and surely Fender had a good reason. Do tube amps not work below volume 6 ? I doubt that very seriously, right ? The way my stock Strat tapers work, if I rolled down the volume from 10 to 5 I wouldn't have my two bottom strings sounding for the clean sound ! So what was Fender up to with the 6 to 10 taper ? And has anyone tried the custom taper board ? Thanks
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Jan 7, 2020 14:42:26 GMT -5
You're having this problem on all your Strats? What models are they?
What is your signal chain--including your cables and pedalboard?
I'm asking because it's probably not your guitars creating the problem.
It may be something as stupid as a cable. Most low-noise cables have a carbon-impregnated sleeve under the braided copper shielding to prevent crackles occurring when the cable is moved. If that carbon sleeve is not properly trimmed on assembly and it makes contact with the center conductor in a soldered plug body, it creates a resistive path to ground and that will drive you nutty. It creates precisely the issue you're having.
If you're using pedals, try plugging straight into your amp using different cables and see if things change. It may be a cable issue.
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gbfun
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Post by gbfun on Jan 10, 2020 2:50:42 GMT -5
Hi Mr. Goo...heh heh...that cracks me up right there ! Sorry. Won't do it again... Thanks for that input. It kinda stunned my braincell right away. I've been pondering why some claim to hear different EQs/frequencies with different cables, and what you said could be an interesting clue. As for my case, I currently have two guitars that have the whole range of 3 to 10 with the volume knob using my setup. I would be startled and horrified if they worked completely differently with a different cable(all else being equal), but as we all know, when dealing with any kind of engineering, strange stuff can happen ! But at this moment, with two working guitars, I feel confident the Strats are at fault. Or me. There's a 90% chance of the latter ! But my braincell is curious, and ignorant of volume pots and tone pots. The internet suggests they are the same, but used differently. At this point, I assume that the volume pot is set up to take an input signal and shunt it to ground, and as it does that, some of the highs are lost on the rest of the signal. I actually WANT that and I use this liberally on my main guitar. However, the amount of rolloff seems to be controlled with the pot itself And/or the help of a resistor, all of which vary from spec by 10% or more, making this a dicey propositon to get the way one desires. Right so far ? Assuming it's close enough, now you are suggesting a slightly grounding cable might actually act as a volume pot "reducer" thus rolling off so much signal I don't have many highs left ? And you've seen this happen ? If true, someone could make a career out of offering "designer cables" with varying degrees of upper end rolloff. I suspect a lot of Fender amp guys would be buying the things like popcorn, eh ? But to tell you the truth, I do use cables of varying qualities(free, used, middle and high end) and suspect there IS a bit of difference between cables, and I'm rather flabbergasted(am I dating myself ?) someone might claim to have seen a case where it might wipe out two whole strings of high notes with just a cable...or even one string. Because this is what is happening with my Strats right now for sure. And I am using cheap "free" cables that a guitar shop was throwing out brand new because they were...well...cheap and unreliable ! So, there's certainly this twilight zone possibility and I must ponder it further. I'm also going into a multi digital hell of a personal practice setup. Since this has been my main concern for the last year, I may have to be prepared for some rude surprise when I move my guitars back to the tube amp realm coming up in the next 6 months or so. And yes, I've encountered some very strange grounding issues with older tube and digital equipment, as well as new equipment. Some equipment just doesn't get along with other equipment for sure. But now thanks to you, I have to ponder the grounding capabilities of guitar cables. And there's other possible connections because often when volume is turned lower, the ground noise INCREASES. Combine all this with pickup polarities, wind directions, switch grounding, shielding, pickup strength and I need some aspirin or a stiff drink. But I wonder, with your experience therein, what guitar cable do YOU use....and why ? Thanks
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gbfun
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Post by gbfun on Jan 10, 2020 3:24:06 GMT -5
Also....I notice tone knobs seem to roll off highs and STAY CLEAN for the whole range. I sure wish the volume knob would do this on every guitar I have. Sadly, this isn't true. So the tone knobs are a bit of a mystery to me at the moment. And one of the biggest mysteries is why they never seem to roll off the frequency *I* want. So...can tone pots be "tuned" to a more useful frequency range ? Possibly with more resistors ?
And one more. I had a new power cable going from a tube amp HEAD into a speaker and it was stiff and the solder broke and the wire disconnected while I was playing. Much to my surprise, I found the main power tube in pieces as a result ! How can a short blow up a tube ? Was this a ground issue too ? I replaced the tube and fixed the cable and all is well. I'm just wondering why the fuse wasn't fried but the tube blew up. And how a bad cable could do this at ALL. It's just a 5 watt head. Should I wear body armor to play guitar ? (well yes...for my playing....but otherwise ?)
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Jan 10, 2020 3:54:31 GMT -5
My advice on the low-noise cable above is from personal experience when I was in a band years ago; all of a sudden my guitar went to half volume. I swapped cables and all was good. The next day I tested the bad cable and it was showing DC resistance, so I disassembled it and found the issue with the carbon sleeve (low-noise) layer in one of the plugs. This can be hard to see because it's thin and often the same color as the center conductor's insulation. It's molded over the insulation and sticks like glue. The older-style carbon/cloth type is easier to see and remove because it's thicker and spiral wrapped over the insulation. But most modern cables use the thin poly type. I am not an expert in any of this stuff, and I'm no electrical engineer. But I understand enough of this to be dangerous. Every conductor in a signal chain affects voltage, current, and frequency. How much of an effect on the sound it imparts is often dependent on the ears of the player. I'm not a cable snob and I think most work pretty well. You can certainly spend too much $$ on cables if you drink the hype Kool-Aid that some makers (Monster, are you listening?) foist on easily-influenced players searching for the ultimate tone. But since you asked, here's my opinions on cables. I prefer to make my own cables using Belden low-noise instrument cable and metal Switchcraft and Neutrik plugs. I do it this way because I know the components are high quality, I can make them to the length I like, and I know they're assembled properly so the solder joints won't fail over time. Unlike molded plastic plug bodies, the metal type are simple to disassemble and repair if they become damaged. I'm not a fan of cables with braided fabric covering on them; it does nothing to make them stronger or sound better. When it bunches up a little from moving around with the guitar, it does not lay flat on the floor. It tends to coil up and stand up a little, and next thing you know you have a human-sized squirrel snare waiting to tangle up in your feets. Braided cable also tends to look ratty really fast from dragging it around on the floor, and there's no way to clean it. But if you need a cloth-covered cable to match your tweed curtains and pillow shams, have at it, Martha Stewart I prefer plain black rubber-jacket cable. It's much tougher than braided stuff and simple to clean; squirt some Windex into a rag, grip it over the cable, and pull the cable through. Easy peasy and good as new. I'm also not a fan of George L's or any other cable kit that snaps together like Lego. I guess they would be fine for short interconnects on a pedalboard, but from guitar to board, or board to amp (where the cables are getting flexed and tugged regularly) they are unreliable. If you don't want to make your own cables, a really good-quality brand is Rapco Horizon. Make sure it has metal plugs.
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Jan 10, 2020 4:16:59 GMT -5
"One of the biggest mysteries is why they never seem to roll off the frequency *I* want. So...can tone pots be "tuned" to a more useful frequency range? Possibly with more resistors? "
Yes--but it's the tone capacitor value that you change to tweak the filtering properties of the tone control. A tone pot on 10 passes all frequencies to the amp. As you roll off the pot, more of the high-frequency content gets shunted to ground and the sound becomes darker. A higher cap value on the tone control broadens the range of frequencies (highs and upper mids) that get rolled off to ground. A lower cap value narrows the frequency range so only the higher frequencies get shunted to ground. The general rule is an .047uf or .05uf tone cap for single coil pickups, and a .022uf tone cap for humbuckers. Tweak up or down from there. Caps are cheap; shipping costs more than a handful of caps.
Don't waste your money on orange drops or paper-in-snake-oil tone caps. Plain poly caps work as good as any others in passive guitar circuits. In amps, however, cap type matters because voltages and current are much higher.
"I had a new power cable going from a tube amp HEAD into a speaker and it was stiff and the solder broke and the wire disconnected while I was playing. Much to my surprise, I found the main power tube in pieces as a result ! How can a short blow up a tube?"
I've never experienced that, so no idea why a shorted power cable would cause a power tube to pop.
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Post by Leftee on Jan 10, 2020 7:23:24 GMT -5
What amp are you using?
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Jan 10, 2020 8:57:50 GMT -5
Good question. I wonder if the fuse is on the neutral side of the mains supply.
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gbfun
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Post by gbfun on Jan 11, 2020 2:15:37 GMT -5
The tube blew up in a Bugera G5 head ! (I think it's the same as a Black Heart 5watt...at least they look the same) I want to thank you Peegoo for your time and input. I am cursed with good ears and danged if I am not totally challenged and astonished with all the multitude of pieces, environments, equipment and even software changes inside equipment, that actually change the sound significantly...to me. And I don't like playing if the sound I produce isn't attractive...to me. So, I've become aware that one has to have one overall EQ for practice, another for a garage band, another for recording, and multitudes for performing. And only rarely do all the elements combine to produce two guitars that sound the same. Nevertheless, that's what I'm trying to do...have a backup for my main. It's turning out to be tougher than I thought ! Even the bridges seem to matter ! And now I suspect all I'm doing is building a backup for my practice setup....which is most likely NOT going to be my performance rig. I might find even the guitar isn't going to be the same. And there's a lot to learn. I'm amazed actually. Now I know why so many bands SOUND crappy. It's just so complex to get everything right ! And one question keeps leading to another. For instance, all of the above leads to...is a volume pedal the same as a volume pot ? And does a volume pedal roll off highs ? Was your bad cable like a volume pedal on half loud setting ? I've been using my volume knob heavily but it's time to dust off a volume pedal and see what's what. Maybe Fender just assumes players will use a volume pedal so a full range volume pot isn't needed. Well, I was up last night at 4am with a magnifying glass and a flashlight, pondering the guts of 3 guitars, and clearly, there is a LOT going on there since all three are different. And add in a whole new learning curve with cap usage and identification. Apparently I will end up with a handful of caps pretty soon ! So where should I buy them ? (and is a 500A made in Canada ?
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mojodelic
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Post by mojodelic on Jan 11, 2020 21:33:25 GMT -5
I hope you accept these comments in the right way: 1. please use paragraphs when posting; much easier to read the questions 2. Unless defective, which is rare, problems like you're describing are't intentionally done by manufacturers; assume the conditions you face are normal in most cases.
A volume pot, whether on the floor, in the guitar, or on the front of the amp does one thing as you said, decrease the level by shunting a portion (or all) of the signal to ground. The range of motion/degree depends on the value of the pot (resistance), the type (linear vs logarithmic/audio taper) and whether or not a treble bleed or some other outboarded component/circuit is used.
Having said all of that what I've found helpful when stuck is to use high quality cables as peegoo said, then one at a time start adding things until the condition worsens then make a decision. Your at home practice sound should be close to your band practice and gig sound, Fletcher-Munson curves etc, notwithstanding.
At the end of the day music should be enjoyable for you, not a PITA. One thing that has helped me- keep it simple. Retailers want us to buy all sorts of things in search of tone- I'm reminded of the night I stood one foot away from Derek Trucks; his rig: SG/cord/amp.
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gbfun
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Post by gbfun on Jan 12, 2020 1:52:01 GMT -5
Ah, good points. I can update my writing style, and after an electrically disastrous last night(damaged lithium battery, ruined switch with Deoxit, and couldn't fix a super simple flashlight with an hour of analysis, custom tweaks and a multimeter), I decided I need to spend less time with misbehaving gear and more time playing and practicing...so I understand your point precisely.
Sadly, I need a greater range of tone than Derek Trucks and similar super skilled "simple gear" guys...which no doubt gave them more time to practice and play, right ? I just can't accept those tone limits. But I've decided that from now on, if the equipment is flawed or broken, I'm not spending a second on fixing it...I just don't have the time. It's fun when there is time, but I really, really need to do something else than wrestle equipment...like play ! So I hear you loud and clear...if something doesn't work for me, it's going in my ever growing scrap pile.
But I am going to upgrade my cables and I'll have to address the limited usefulness of the volume taper on 5 or more of my guitars. I hate to take that time but I sure am not throwing all those guitars away. I'm now addicted to a wide range volume taper and it's an important part of my song expression.
But your point is EXTREMELY important. It's way better to have fun than obsess over equipment. I hear that. It's a good point. And it's further reinforced by the apparent fact I have a black thumb for electronics. I didn't know that until last night. I'm convinced beyond a doubt now. I couldn't even get my Sears soldering iron to melt the solder on top of a pot ! I could melt MY solder, just not the factory solder. And I couldn't fix a simple circuit flashlight in an hour with a full blown multimeter and a test flashlight with an extra bulb ! That's bad. That's embarrassing. It's a sign. Truly. I'm electronically cursed ! I'm much better at songwriting. I'd best stick to that. And play. Indeed !
Monday I'm going to order another factory pickguard from the Devil and see how much they screw it up this time. Maybe I'll get lucky and get another wide range volume taper. I hope so, but I bet not. I suspect they don't have a clue. It was probably a happy accident the last time. Maybe they'll send me 3 reverse wound pickups this time, instead of 2. And not bother to QA it like last time. I can hardly wait. And if it doesn't work right, too bad. I just won't have a backup clone guitar. Fate will decide !
But taking the quality of my cables seriously is definitely on the list. I need some custom sizes and double angle tips anyway. Thanks all for the hints !
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mojodelic
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Post by mojodelic on Jan 12, 2020 7:53:53 GMT -5
Don't beat yourself up, it's hard to melt solder there because that large flat area acts as a heat sink. Maybe you need a hotter iron. It's also not your fault that they removed the lead from all of the new solder. Your health is more important than your hobby! ) Nothing wrong with pedals, etc (I use a Helix). But I've chased noise forever hence my keep it simple idea. My wireless system was the biggest culprit there, after adding a hum eliminator, two noise gates, 4cm & even an outboarded vol pedal I figured it out by one-by-one removing things. Good luck to you, I hope you get it figured out.
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Wrnchbndr
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Post by Wrnchbndr on Jan 12, 2020 14:53:28 GMT -5
I am the posterchild for lack of paragraph discipline and once in a while someone speaks out when I depart civilized writing to the point that people get hurt. Its all good fun. Iamsorry. Truth: I once spent nearly two days trying to troubleshoot why a tone pot on a telecaster would not work. I suspect that an over indulgence in coffee and client disruptions added to the monumental waste of time but in the end it was the instrument cable. The cable was an import no-name transparent green curly cable that I thought looked cool. With that cable, it was almost impossible to hear any effect of a tonepot on a single-coil equipped guitar. However, it seemed to to have no effect on a humbucker equipped guitar. I'm not an engineer but I think the term is called capacitive load. What I take from this is that weird (The Brown Word Deleted) happens. Weird (The Brown Word Deleted) happens all the time. Trust no one. Never assume that a new pot is always a good pot or the client is telling you everything. Guitar repair happens on a grassy knoll. My last amplifier problem was caused by a ceiling fan.
Added: way cool auto editing
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Jan 12, 2020 15:22:57 GMT -5
"Never assume that a new pot is always a good pot."
Anytime I use a new component I always test if for spec first, before I even plug in the metal-melty-stick. I learned this from a grumpy old guy (me) a few years back when I built an amp. Turned out one of the coupling caps in the preamp was a crib death. So now, everything gets tested: pots, caps, resistors, even new pickups.
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gbfun
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Post by gbfun on Jan 13, 2020 1:15:44 GMT -5
Q : In the end or your sound journey you end up with a premium digital pedal ? I was wondering about how good they are getting. 1)You notice any digital artifact sounds in that Helix ? 2) Does it have a master EQ section, a preset EQ and effects EQ ? 3) How deep and solid is the bass ?
W : What ceiling fan problems ? You must be pretty tall ! I suggest you get a lower amp stand and sit down to play.
P : You built an amp ? Ok then, here's another goofy question. I have six 40 year old Roland GR1 guitar synths. If one drops them off a building at the same time...uh no...I mean, I happened to look inside and there are about a dozen little capacitors and some of them look like they've taken a dump on the circuit board. I suspect I need to replace those caps but they are soldered on the other side of a board that's going to be a nightmare to remove. I propose to clip the bad caps, and after testing the new ones(thanks for the hint !), clip the old and new wires together and attempt to solder them together. My question is, is this a dumb idea ? Or should I be resigned to leaving this for the pros. Or is there a little solderless clip that someone already invented for this task ? Or even a small block of aluminum with 4 extremely small drill holes ? And what the heck is a "coupling cap" ? My caps aren't having sex are they ? Sincerely, black thumb electrician
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Jan 13, 2020 1:48:39 GMT -5
Some caps do puke their guts out over time. Matter of fact, those little creases you see on top of electrolytic caps are purposely put there so when they do die, they do so in a controlled manner (out the top) and not blow out the bottom and damage the PC board. It's the same concept as the creases stamped into the top of an aluminum drink can that force the pot-top tab to break the metal along a specific path. Using bodge wires to hook up a component is only a good thing when you need something to work *now*. It is never good practice in a circuit you want reliability out of. It's better to disassemble the device, remove the board, and do a proper repair. "Extra" length of wire in any circuit that processes sound is a bad idea because they're engineered to operate as quietly as possible. Extra wire can act like an antenna, it can add inductance and capacitance, it can change how a circuit operates, and even make it oscillate into non-operation. If you're considering doing the repair yourself, there are lots of things to learn first (practice on junk parts and move on to simple circuits) before you apply a hot stick to a PC board that matters. It's too easy to cook the pads right off the board; you have to pay attention to the polarization of electrolytic caps (you can cook them if you work too slowly); you have to ensure your soldering is properly done, etc. A great way to learn soldering is with inexpensive battery-powered kits you can get online. Until your skills are up to the task, a repair on the Roland board is best left to a pro. Try a few kits like this one (make sure to order the kind you solder...don't buy 'solderless'): www.amazon.com/LED-FLASHER-DOT-Electronic-Circuit/dp/B014JESTBE/ref=sr_1_17?keywords=led+flasher+kit&qid=1578897981&s=toys-and-games&sr=1-17In simple terms, coupling caps are used in amplifiers primarily because signal through the circuit is an AC sine wave. Each gain stage of an amp is biased using DC voltage, and DC leakage into the signal path creates noise in the signal. Since capacitors can pass only AC voltage, they block DC. This means they act as a filter to prevent noise getting into the signal and passing it from one gain stage to the next.
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pdf64
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Post by pdf64 on Jan 13, 2020 14:20:33 GMT -5
Modern commercial equipment will use lead free solder. It has a higher melting point than leaded solder, hence an old iron may struggle.
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gbfun
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Post by gbfun on Jan 14, 2020 2:00:32 GMT -5
Wow. Ok. Good to know. Thanks guys !
The Devil decided not to sell me their factory pickguard so I'm going to dive into volume pot tapering after all. Destiny !
As for my poor beloved GR1s, I'll have to keep them on the far back burner. They are getting a little flaky and my best guess is it's those blown caps indeed !
But I went off topic there. And now I'm back on the hunt for a whole bunch of nicely tapered volume pots in my life.
Next is to measure what I have in my good volume pot, and figure out what to do next.
And it might be time for a soldering station.
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pdf64
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Post by pdf64 on Jan 16, 2020 18:33:51 GMT -5
..."I had a new power cable going from a tube amp HEAD into a speaker and it was stiff and the solder broke and the wire disconnected while I was playing. Much to my surprise, I found the main power tube in pieces as a result ! How can a short blow up a tube?" I've never experienced that, so no idea why a shorted power cable would cause a power tube to pop. I think that gbfun may have been refering to a new speaker cable (that was too stiff), rather than a mains power cable from a wall outlet to the amp. It's esential for tube amps to have a load on their output, the absolutely worst case scenario for them is to be driving into an open circuit load. That puts a lot of stress on the screen grids of the power tubes, and on to the insulation of the entire plate circuit (ie inc the OT primary winding). So lucky it was just an (easily replaceable) power tube that bust, rather a tube socket, or even the OT
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pdf64
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Post by pdf64 on Jan 16, 2020 18:39:31 GMT -5
...I assume that the volume pot is set up to take an input signal and shunt it to ground... Not really, rather the volume pot setting selects what fraction (or % if you prefer) of the input signal (from the pickup in this case) is passed on to the next stage (ie along the instrument cable to the amp).
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gbfun
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Post by gbfun on Jan 16, 2020 20:08:39 GMT -5
Thanks for input Pdf ! Now I'm worried about the cheap Bugera head. I doubt if I even have 10 minutes on it and I've already injured the poor thing ! Would you advise I look inside for damage before playing ? I gotta stop breaking things. But I seem to be getting better at it !
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Jan 16, 2020 23:37:11 GMT -5
Ah, yes pdf64, I see I missed the 'speaker' part.
I'll blame it on too much coffee
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gbfun
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Post by gbfun on Jan 20, 2020 2:21:45 GMT -5
Hmm...poor PeeGoo...you must be getting tired of my inane questions but here is another ! People completely shield the guitar cavities, and on your advice, shield the guitar input area, and all along the guitar cord. All that makes sense. Except on either end of a cable is an unshielded connecter ! That appears(to me) like there are two unshielded "holes" in the whole system that is letting in radiation with bad intentions. Kinda like a double hulled ship with a hole in the bow and the stern. Shouldn't the connectors be shielded as well ? I'd think metal connectors would actually act like a metal antenna ! Of course I'm a electronoob. What do I know ? Don't answer that last question...
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Post by LTB on Jan 20, 2020 6:07:15 GMT -5
My advice on the low-noise cable above is from personal experience when I was in a band years ago; all of a sudden my guitar went to half volume. I swapped cables and all was good. The next day I tested the bad cable and it was showing DC resistance, so I disassembled it and found the issue with the carbon sleeve (low-noise) layer in one of the plugs. This can be hard to see because it's thin and often the same color as the center conductor's insulation. It's molded over the insulation and sticks like glue. The older-style carbon/cloth type is easier to see and remove because it's thicker and spiral wrapped over the insulation. But most modern cables use the thin poly type. I am not an expert in any of this stuff, and I'm no electrical engineer. But I understand enough of this to be dangerous. Every conductor in a signal chain affects voltage, current, and frequency. How much of an effect on the sound it imparts is often dependent on the ears of the player. I'm not a cable snob and I think most work pretty well. You can certainly spend too much $$ on cables if you drink the hype Kool-Aid that some makers (Monster, are you listening?) foist on easily-influenced players searching for the ultimate tone. But since you asked, here's my opinions on cables. I prefer to make my own cables using Belden low-noise instrument cable and metal Switchcraft and Neutrik plugs. I do it this way because I know the components are high quality, I can make them to the length I like, and I know they're assembled properly so the solder joints won't fail over time. Unlike molded plastic plug bodies, the metal type are simple to disassemble and repair if they become damaged. I'm not a fan of cables with braided fabric covering on them; it does nothing to make them stronger or sound better. When it bunches up a little from moving around with the guitar, it does not lay flat on the floor. It tends to coil up and stand up a little, and next thing you know you have a human-sized squirrel snare waiting to tangle up in your feets. Braided cable also tends to look ratty really fast from dragging it around on the floor, and there's no way to clean it. But if you need a cloth-covered cable to match your tweed curtains and pillow shams, have at it, Martha Stewart I prefer plain black rubber-jacket cable. It's much tougher than braided stuff and simple to clean; squirt some Windex into a rag, grip it over the cable, and pull the cable through. Easy peasy and good as new. I'm also not a fan of George L's or any other cable kit that snaps together like Lego. I guess they would be fine for short interconnects on a pedalboard, but from guitar to board, or board to amp (where the cables are getting flexed and tugged regularly) they are unreliable. If you don't want to make your own cables, a really good-quality brand is Rapco Horizon. Make sure it has metal plugs. I tried George L cables. Hated the connectors as they were intermittent. Also hated the way the cable would knot up during use. Found myself with a bunch of George L cable so I used switchcraft plugs, soldered the conductors to the plug and made a bunch of short cables for pedal board and used some to wire a hollowbody electric guitar. Tried Canare cable once and hated it as it made the tone dull. I do like Magami cable with switchcraft or neutrik plugs. Haven't tried Beldon cable yet but your post sounds like they may be pretty good. Not all instruments will show much difference in cables but some shine with good cable with low inner lead capacitance.
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