Fender custom cable tweed new jacks Neutrik

bandmaster188

Hi peeps,
had a couple of the fender tweed cables for a while now the notorious breaky ones. I put some new jacks on one about a month ago and the other one broke mid set last week.
i ordered up some Neutrik np2xl’s and have just fitted them. I instantly noticed the Neutrik equipped lead sounded a lot darker almost muffled in comparison to the other fender cable and a planet waves cable. Just tested the lead for resistance and all seems fine. Could this sound difference be due to the Neutrik jacks or dodgy soldering or the lead itself?
Cheers!

ICBM

Neutrik plugs do have quite high capacitance compared to other types. I am surprised you can hear it though, just from one cable - it's still only in the pF range - did you make sure the cable was stripped back properly? I can't remember if these Fender cables have a semiconducting layer under the shield, but if they do then this needs to be stripped back clear of the end of the inner layer or it can cause a partial short and muddy the tone a lot.

You should be able to tell with a multimeter if you set it to the highest resistance range and measure from tip to sleeve - an unshorted cable should show an open circuit on any range, if the resistance is less than a couple of hundred kohms then it will affect the tone.

bandmaster188

Not picking up any resistance but as you suggested there is an inner clear sleeve with a black outer sleeve. I haven’t stripped the black layer back. Will re do them and report back.
cheers ICBM!

ICBM

bandmaster188 said:

Not picking up any resistance but as you suggested there is an inner clear sleeve with a black outer sleeve. I haven’t stripped the black layer back. Will re do them and report back.
cheers ICBM!

If you have a scalpel blade or similar you'll probably be able to do it without re-doing the soldering .

bandmaster188

ICBM said:

bandmaster188 said:

Not picking up any resistance but as you suggested there is an inner clear sleeve with a black outer sleeve. I haven’t stripped the black layer back. Will re do them and report back.
cheers ICBM!

If you have a scalpel blade or similar you'll probably be able to do it without re-doing the soldering .

Don’t think I’d have had enough room to strip with the scalpel but all resoldered and working as it should.

Many thanks ICBM

ICBM

It's very interesting that it did that without any measurable resistance - I'm sure that when I've found that problem it's been in the tens of kohm range.

The capacitance of Neutrik plugs is a genuine issue on pedalboards where you might have a dozen or more of them, by the way. As far as I can tell it's because the two parts of the plug shaft are thicker gauge than normal, with a thinner insulating layer. I once had one fail when a drummer stood on it and flexed the plug enough to break through the insulation... but that's drummers for you!

Sassafras

I should think any plugs would be better than the ones Fender put on there.
They seem to have an average lifespan of 2 weeks.

bandmaster188

Sassafras said:

I should think any plugs would be better than the ones Fender put on there.
They seem to have an average lifespan of 2 weeks.

I surprisingly got a couple of years out of mine.

ICBM said:

It's very interesting that it did that without any measurable resistance - I'm sure that when I've found that problem it's been in the tens of kohm range.

Just wondering if one of the ground connection was as a bit dry. When I was unsoldering, the sleeve connection broke away before I’d put the iron near it.

ICBM

bandmaster188 said:

Just wondering if one of the ground connection was as a bit dry. When I was unsoldering, the sleeve connection broke away before I’d put the iron near it.

That wouldn't muffle the tone, it would cause noise if there was any significant resistance.

Useful that you found the fault now though, rather than later when it broke when you needed the cable.

PracticalPatch

Hello, I am new here... that sound you heard its always the conductive sheath. First rule of cable club is you don’t talk about it haha! You can get away with it sometimes, I helped out a friend a couple of days ago, has been making his own cables for years, owns his own studio, never had a problem until it finally happened. He has now stripped all his cables instrument cables of the sheath in his studio. To me it makes sense, no other cable I am aware off requires this to be removed, I’m not surprised people miss it! You did the right thing sticking Neutrik on the cable, the fender plugs have a similar “bucket” or “cup” for the central conductor. Which is nice but the fact is the retainer claws simply have a terrible grip on the tweed itself. The Neutrik Chuck will penetrate and dig into the tweed. That cable should last you a lifetime. Well salvaged!