How many cables in your chain?

[Achilles]

Speaker (>>) and instrument (>)

wireless > Pot > Klon > amp
FX send > delay > FX return
amp out >> power load > EQ > reverb > rack amp >> ironman II >> cabinet

8 instrument and 3 speaker. Yesterday I moved some stuff around then plugged back in and got nothing. Took a bunch of troubleshooting to realize one of the 3 speaker cables had died. This is why I asked about a 1/4" cable tester - not for testing shorts/opens, but for checking continuity strength. How bad was the speaker cable prior to dying? Was it only working at 30-40% throughput in the days before it died? I hate not knowing just how close to death any one cable is. I almost have the urge to just replace every cable in the chain every time any 1 of them goes!

 

[TubeStack]

I have four for my guitar signal, ie. 4cm, one speaker cable from head to Friedman Mic No Mo, and another from the MnM to the cab.. (Plus six shorter ones between my pedals.)

I spend the extra $ to get “premium” ones from L&M, the Studio One series. They are pricey but extremely well made and I don't worry about them at all. I've only ever had one go bad/wear out on me, which was my main cable from my guitar, which is understandable, given the extra wear and tear.

 

[fretworn]

One

The rest are either neutrik/balanced cables or trs

 

[la szum]

Man, that sounds like a bullet dodged.

Speaker cable dying is the worst of all potential cable failures. No load and Amp goes Ka-Blooey!

I sacrificed an amp to the gods that way. Unknowingly of course.

 

[Stone]

1 Guitar to FM 9, Rest all XLR

 

[Alex Kenivel]

5 handmade patch cables on my board attached to pedals and patchbay, 1 TRS for expression pedal, 1 TRS to XLR, 4 long 1/4" cables to amp, 1 speaker cable.

Also 2 MIDI and 1 MIDI/TRS cables but I guess those don't count

 

[Rewolf]

None.
JTV -> Helix uses VDI and XLR for the rest

 

[sleewell]

One from helix to fx return on Amp

Wireless from helix to guitar.

 

[mavrick102000]

One if just Helix through headphones.

Three if I want to use the ToneX pedal in the loop.

Occasionally add one if I want to play through the PowerCab without L6 link cable.

 

[Achilles]

I guess XLR or any cable with a braided copper core. Figure a braid is not going to snap all at once. The cable gets twisted and/or bent and a few copper strands snap. This happens over and over again, a few strands of wire at a time until one day the last strands break and your signal goes dead. A good/bad cable tester is easy. There's need to be a tester like you have with batteries so you can tell just how good or bad a cable actually is. I'd love to be able to do a sanity check on the entire signal chain every few months.

 

[Eagle]

As long as you have spares and a plan if a complex pedalboard goes down it doesn't really matter.
You can minimise the issues with a looper and just make sure you use quality plugs. I wouldn't daisy more than three pedals anyway without one.

 

[KHAAAAAAANNNNNNN!!!!!!!!]

1 Guitar to FM 9, Rest all XLR

My brother from another mother!!!