Matt P Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 after reading and commenting on the Recommendations for best cable to use with your bass? thread i had the urge to go through the two boxes that contain all of the random cables that i have collected over the years, mostly these are ones that people have declared as broken or dodgy, they end up in my possession as i make and repair my own cables. at the bottom of the box i find a planet waves instrument cable, according to my cable tester it is fine, i then check it for noise by plugging it into my interface and turning the gain up then wiggling and bending the cable to detect noise, all is fine. then i double check using my multimeter and there is apparently no continuity between the tips of the jacks, my cable tester gives me a perfect connection and the sleeve connection is fine, i have also pugged a bass in using this lead and it works fine but my multimeter declares it dead. any idea what might be going on here? i have changed the battery in the multimeter and also used it to test other cables and it seems to be working fine. Is there some kind of weird voodoo built into these cables? thanks Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 Too much tea, maybe ? 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt P Posted June 14, 2020 Author Share Posted June 14, 2020 1 hour ago, Hellzero said: Too much tea, maybe ? 🤣 ? i'm not sure i follow, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 (edited) It may have a series resistor in it for some unspecified reason, 100 ohms would stop a multimeter showing continuity but barely reduce the signal. Or it could just be a dodgy joint... Edited June 14, 2020 by Stub Mandrel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinnyman Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 (edited) Could it have had the phase reversed for some reason? So the tip of one plug goes to the sleeve of the other and vice versa? Edit: just realised that it tests fine with a cable tester so forget I said anything.... Edited June 14, 2020 by Skinnyman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 Take resistance measurements with the multimeter. And make sure the leads aren't plugged into the 'amps' sockets... 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt P Posted June 15, 2020 Author Share Posted June 15, 2020 41 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said: Take resistance measurements with the multimeter. And make sure the leads aren't plugged into the 'amps' sockets... 🙂 12 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said: It may have a series resistor in it for some unspecified reason, 100 ohms would stop a multimeter showing continuity but barely reduce the signal. Or it could just be a dodgy joint... i did initially check the resistance as i thought maybe 100ohms would be possible but i've just tried with my multimeter set to it's highest Ohms range and it's actually 30k ohms! that seems pretty high to me given that 250k ohm volume pots are common. Mystery solved I guess, this is one lead that won't be going into general use though, it can sit at the bottom of the box for last resort use (especially as it has those springy contact things on the jacks which i do not like.) thanks Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 Don't use this cable. Those fin things on the sleeves of the plugs which are supposed to improve the contact of the plug in the socket will eventually force the contacts of the socket further apart so that normal jack plugs will no longer work reliably in the same socket. If the cable itself is still good, you could cut off these plugs and replace them with Neutriks, however IIRC from Planet Waves cables I've owned in the past, the cable itself isn't particularly well made compared with Van Damme cables and therefore it probably isn't worth the effort. In the bin with it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt P Posted June 15, 2020 Author Share Posted June 15, 2020 31 minutes ago, BigRedX said: Don't use this cable. Those fin things on the sleeves of the plugs which are supposed to improve the contact of the plug in the socket will eventually force the contacts of the socket further apart so that normal jack plugs will no longer work reliably in the same socket. If the cable itself is still good, you could cut off these plugs and replace them with Neutriks, however IIRC from Planet Waves cables I've owned in the past, the cable itself isn't particularly well made compared with Van Damme cables and therefore it probably isn't worth the effort. In the bin with it! yes this cable is not going into use, it will sit at the bottom of the box as a last resort cable, i know about the plugs on these being damaging to sockets but at some point i might have the need for it when i come across an already damaged socket and don't have the time to sort it immediately. Until then it's safely quarantined at the bottom the box of cable for cutting up and re-using. I have about half a drum of Klotz AC110 sitting on the shelf and maybe 20m or more of Van damme xke as well for making my own leads but every so often i find i need something disposable for a project or a lead that i might not get back so the planet waves one might get some recycled plugs at some point and disappear. i have plenty of usable but not Neutrik plugs as well that i have removed form leads. 2 other planet waves cables were sent straight to the bin as they had completely failed, this one only got a reprieve as it appeared to be working. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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