Use guitar cable as speaker cable - just temp to check something out?

mattacjones

Is the above a stupid idea? I just want to put one amp into the speaker in an other amp for maybe 15 mins to try and eliminate the speaker as a source of a problem I'm having. Don't have a pukka speaker cable.  Cheers

p90fool

It should be fine unless it's a very powerful amp running at high volume. 

ICBM

It's not very recommended, but it will work fine at low to medium power for a short time.

Do you have any means of connecting the cable to the other combo speaker?

If not, you're better just to put the amps back-to-back so the cable will reach.

prowla

The worst that can happen is that you crank it up too high and the centre core of the cable melts and breaks, a bit like a fuse.

Ah, thinking about it, the worst that could happen is that it melts the sleeving too and shorts to the shield.

But in truth, many people have done it over the years!

Incidentally, if you've a couple of jacks, 2-core mains cable is as good as anything for speakers.

mattacjones

Thanks folks, @ICBM's solution was just the job. Didn't think they'd reach. Cheers

ICBM

prowla said:

The worst that can happen is that you crank it up too high and the centre core of the cable melts and breaks, a bit like a fuse.

No, the worst that can happen is that it melts the inner core, leaves the cable as an open circuit, and then blows the amp's output transformer.

prowla said:

Ah, thinking about it, the worst that could happen is that it melts the sleeving too and shorts to the shield.

Less dangerous, for a valve amp - although it will kill a solid-state one.

prowla said:

But in truth, many people have done it over the years!

Many of them, some with amps that should have been easily capable of burning out the cable. Just a couple of weeks ago, a 1973 Marshall Super Lead and 4x12" came into the shop, with a coiled cable as the speaker lead. Luckily the owner had never actually cranked it up... it had been a bedroom amp all its life. Really!

I've only ever seen a couple of melted cables, but I have no means of knowing how many of the blown-up amps I've repaired have been done like that, if the owners don't bring the evidence...