A real newbie question, please forgive my ignorance! How can you tell the difference between a shielded and unshielded cable by looking? Are normal guitar cables shielded?
Most "quality" 1/4 inch cables are "shielded." I think this protects the cable from interference of magnetic types, hums, buzzes, etc. Pro/co and Monster cables are in the shielded catagory, as well as many others.