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Microphonic Guitar Cord?


unclej

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a customer just returned two planet wave guitar cords that he had purchsed and said that neither of them was working and that they had a lifetime guarantee on them. while checking them out before i sent them back i found that one of them didn't work and the other apparently did. i uplugged the one that was working and started bending and tugging on it to see if i could discover a break somewhere when i noticed that i could hear what i was doing through the amp.

now i'm not talking about scratching sounds or cutting in and out..i'm talking about no matter where i thump the cord..on the tip insulation or anywhere along the length of the cord i can hear it through the amp..to a lesser degree i can hear my fingers slide along the cord.

i tried the same thing with several other cords that i had around here and none of them made the same sound. so how does a guitar cord become microphonic?

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my uncle uses a meter called a "meger?" and throws the cables into two piles; pass/nopass. He says the seperator material used to keep the wrap away from the core can go bad, be bad or not be cured right. The cables I have seen him pitch go berzerk when you flex them on the meter. Could be the same stuff. Maybe. :D

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The solder joints on good cables are potted in epoxy to keep them from moving around.  If the wire scoots around any at all it will have the exact problem your describing here.  Thats why I either use quality cords or put epoxy or hot glue on my cheap cords.

well, i just tried something to eliminate any movement of the solder joints. this one is a 20' cable. i plugged it in and rolled it out on the floor full length. i then tapped the very middle of it while laying on the floor and heard it through the mic. i suppose a case could be made for the vibration traveling to the solder joints but it doesn't matter how hard or lightly i tap it i still hear it..and i hear louder volume when i tap loud and softer when i tap soft...

gripper, what you said about the "seperator material" or insulation could be breaking down i suppose but it almost seems like that would cause a static type sound or shorting rather than what i'm getting..

'course it could just be a ghost..what with halloween coming up and all. :D

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I've seen this several times over the years - it appears (to me) to be a probem with the woven shield ( I've never seen it on a foil shield) that apparently is either braided incorrectly or has been stretched, allowing the individual strands or sections to slide over one another when the cable is flexed, like an old carbon mike. The only solution I've found is replacement. Fortunately, it's pretty unusual, at least with decent quality cable cable.

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I've seen this several times over the years - it appears (to me) to be a probem with the woven shield ( I've never seen it on a foil shield) that apparently is either braided incorrectly or has been stretched, allowing the individual strands or sections to slide over one another when the cable is flexed, like an old carbon mike. The only solution I've found is replacement. Fortunately, it's pretty unusual, at least with decent quality cable cable.

i'm definitely sending it in for replacement i was just curious as to the cause. i've never seen it before and couldn't imagine what would cause it. and it's one of their lower end cables..moulded ends and such.

i think i'm gonna stick with my ghost theory.

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no offense but i think you hit the problem right on the head with the molded ends comment. that right there deters me from using any cable. i have seen no molded end cable that was worth anything.

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I am kinda sorry we did this but we cut both ends off that FirstAct cable and put screw together with solder terminal ends on it and the noise went away. Doesnt look at all cool like the molded ends did but it dead quiet. I was kind of hoping to do the jump rope thing with it in from of a flourescent light fixture to see what it would make for sound but it is dead quiet now. I guess that means it isn't the cable. Bummer,dude. :D

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