Neutriks

Midweek... time flies. Just returned home from my out-&-about episode. I'm trying to condition my legs which are evidently getting weaker so a leisurely walk was the order of the day. This is a chemo side effect, the drugs are slowly wasting my joints, knees are the hardest hit followed by the shoulders. The recent diagnostics showed a drop in mobility performance. I thought of doing light running to perhaps re-invigorate the legs but at the rate things are going - no. Skin - that's another story for another episode. 

Anyway, I managed to walk around Sim Lim Tower as well & got myself Neutrik plugs. I need more angled plugs to supplement my SGs as these sport a top-mount input jack. Purchasing new cables is out of the question. The plan here is to send my cables to Beez for him to replace one straight plug with a right angled / L plug. This way, I still get to keep what I currently own. Yes, Beez does plug replacement / re-soldering. If you purchased a custom length instrument cable & wish to have your preferred brand of plugs installed, Beez can handle this.

Cleaning tips

At the end your instrument cables, ladies & gentlemen, are your plug tips. These are the very parts that come into contact with your instruments' input jacks (don't forget the ones at the amp & pedal ends as well). It's inevitable that we handle our cables by the tip sometimes. So that left some prints, stains & whatever not on the surface. These stains get transferred to the input jacks without us realizing it. 

The question is, do you clean those tips or carry on with the assumption that it doesn't matter? If moisture is transferred to your input jacks this way then it's really unfair that the jacks die of corrosion; it's an induced death. 

I'm not suffering from OCD but I do clean those tips with a dry cloth. Sometimes, When I know my hands were dirty before handling my cable, I would clean the tips with some string cleaner after play & re-insert them into the instrument (or amp/pedal), give it a little twist then unplug, wipe with dry cloth before putting them away. You'd say that these things have a good life anyway so when it comes to replacing them, it's inevitable. Yes, that's a case in point but let's not brush aside the possibility that a problem might manifest at crucial times, during a live performance for instance. There's no compulsion to clean them of course, but let's not be sorry for ourselves for not taking preventive measures. 😅

Wishing you a good weekend ahead (the final weekend for the month). 

Plugged Sunday

No major guitar activities today, played guitar in the morning, lunched out, came home & chilled out watching DVDs & did a plug conversion (2 to 3 pin) towards the evening. Maybe tomorrow's a little bit more exciting but my Mondays are usually foul. *sigh*

Plug grounding

Managed to ground another plug yesterday. For those of you who wish to engage in this DIY procedure, a sharp wire cutter really helps & a wire stripper if you can't utilize the cutter as one.

3 pin vs 2 pin

You're still wondering where's that background humming/ hissing's coming from after you did well to shield your guitar's electronics/ cavities & switched to low-noise/ noiseless cables- it's the power supply plug (PSP).

In the pic above, the left PSP is utilizing a 3-pin plug. The extra pin is an earth pin, it grounds the equipment but more importantly, it eliminates humming for your amp. The PSP on the right, sporting a 2-pin version, can be converted into a 3-pin make; simply purchase a 3-pin plug from any electronics/ hardware shops & do the necessary replacement (you know nuts about electronics- then get someone else to show you; it's a simple replacement really...).

Your radio/ computer's using the same 3-pin cable plug- could it be used, then? Of course...

At the end of it all, it's a futile effort to simply check for noise leakages from your cables & guitars but ignoring the amp's grounding...

NOTE: This plug replacement CANNOT cure the single coil (pickup) hum...

Canare cable/ Amphenol plug

I just got my custom length Canare cables (2m each, nothing too long for domestic use) from LOOK FOR BEEZ today. As you can see, I've chosen brown with black/ chrome plugs, which are of the Amphenol brand. As the spouse puts it, brown represents ageing & retirement befitting of a selfless character who puts negligible value to cosmetics due to excessive exposure to quantity, opting for quality intrinsics instead- a perfect description of yours truly...


However, if you are interested in this cable brand, be assured that Beez has colour assortments in stock with varied thickness. You can also specify a patch cable type length with relevant discounts for liberal quantity acquisitions.

As you can see from this heap, Beez also has other brand name/ shape plugs for your selection, the cost of which hinges on the material used as oppossed to the county of origin.
How much? You pay for your personal selection, which is the sum of the cable/ plugs/ service charge. An estimate of a 10ft long cable equipped with a pair of Amphenol plugs: $22.00, 1/2ft patch cable starts at $6.00+ with the relevant plug charges included. If it's your maiden purchase, drop by LOOK FOR BEEZ & ask for selection quotes. If you decide to purchase on the spot, Beez would effect your order immediately unless he has his hands full.
After telling Beez what I wanted, he took 10min to complete the cable termination- the Jedi Master at work...