Sign of a bad guitar cable...

  • Thread starter Thread starter David McCrea
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David McCrea

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Hey people,

Bought a cheap (£7.50) guitar cable. Think the makes is 'Bespeco'. Don't know whether all their cables are like this or not, but every time I touch it when playing the guitar, it makes a fuzzy noise. Is this normal with guitar cables, just this one or could it be my amp?

Thanks,
David.
 
Last edited:
David McCrea said:
Hey people,

Bought a cheap (£7.50) guitar cable. Think the makes is 'Bespeco'. Don't know whether all their cables are like this or not, but every time I touch it when playing the guitar, it makes a fuzzy noise. Is this normal with guitar cables, just this one or could it be my amp?

Thanks,
David.
Click to expand...

It sounds like a defective cord all right, possibly the ground connection-but could also be the hot connection as well. Is it one of the molded cables with no access to the wiring?
Either way, I would put the blame on a cheaply made cable-if you have access to a ohm meter, check the cables continuity and resistance.
 
Yeah, it's molded unfortunately.

Only bought it this morning, so I'll take it back and see what they say.

I'll try a different make too. What would you say are the most reliable cables which have an easy on the wallet price tag? Say no more than 15-20 for 6-10metres.
 
David McCrea said:
Yeah, it's molded unfortunately.

Only bought it this morning, so I'll take it back and see what they say.

I'll try a different make too. What would you say are the most reliable cables which have an easy on the wallet price tag? Say no more than 15-20 for 6-10metres.
Click to expand...

All I can say is to try the cables in the store in you're price range-if it is possible. I have built all of my guitar cables for the last 20 years or so and am out of touch with what is on the market-but if my cables fail I can only blame myself and I can very easily repair them.
 
A lot of those molded cables have jacks that don't fit the plug very well as well which adds to their being unsuitable..:eek:
 
Look for some Rapco cables, they may be a little more expensive but not much and are darn good cables. I have several that I've been using for over 10 years without any problems.
 
could it be a bad jack on your instrument?

it just seems that no matter how cheap, a cable should at least be functional (when new). a cheap cable might not last long or endure heavy duty use, but before it's damaged it should work and sound fine.

if it is a defective cable, you should be able to exchange it, right?

i've been using cheap cables lately (years ago i owned monster cables for guitar and also between all pedals). i don't really miss it.

usually i don't just go for the cheapest cables, but i buy cables on sale, when they're extra cheap. currently i have planet waves. had groove plugs before. no complaints.
 
I got a bunch of "road hawg" cables out of the bargain bin at Guitar Center - I think that's their house brand. These had been previously opened or something, so that's why they were in the bin. The cable itself is nice and thick and doesn't tangle easily, as well as having a fair amount of copper.

The connectors are well shrink wrapped, but beneath that, they're totally chintzy - I had a really high failure rate, like 33%. The metal in the connectors is almost like plastic - yuck. The soldering jobs on them weren't all good - some better than others.

I replaced the connectors with Neutrik ones that I got from a local electronics store, and most have turned out well. There was one that had a lower signal than the others, no matter how many times I cut and resoldered. I finally used another cable with the same connectors and it was fine, so I think it was some thin spot in the copper in that cable.
 
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