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Ploynk brand cables

RoadRanger

RoadRanger

Supporting Member
Feb 18, 2004
8,664
8,883
NE CT
cacophony.aspinock.com
#1
ploYnk® Premium Audio Cable Builder
I custom ordered three of these instrument cables on fleaBay a couple years back and all three hum badly with a passive bass - somewhat usable with an active bass. Anybody else ever use them? I've not got 'round to unscrewing the connectors and checking to see if they reversed the shield and inner conductor (I ordered the pancake style on both ends and they requite a screwdriver) - they hum so bad that I'd not be surprised :( .
 
#2
RoadRanger said:
ploYnk® Premium Audio Cable Builder
I custom ordered three of these instrument cables on fleaBay a couple years back and all three hum badly with a passive bass - somewhat usable with an active bass. Anybody else ever use them? I've not got 'round to unscrewing the connectors and checking to see if they reversed the shield and inner conductor (I ordered the pancake style on both ends and they requite a screwdriver) - they hum so bad that I'd not be surprised :( .
Click to expand...

Unscrew the connector covers and see if the cable is indeed single-conductor or two-conductor w/o shield. Perhaps they sent you speaker cables by mistake.

But three of them, ehh.....
 
#4
BazzTard said:
probably why we've never heard of this company lol
Click to expand...
They've been selling on fleaBay and the web for at least 2 years. I'd have thought if all their cables sucked we'd have heard of them by now. I've not bothered checking out the cables yet as I had others until my last Ernie Ball broke last week :( . I do have replacement ends so I'll get around to fixing some of my dead ones Real Soon Now (tm) ;) . I bought these because they were reasonably priced and available with the pancake style right angle ends that I prefer - what happened to both my Ernie Ball's is the right angle connectors kept getting loose (and re-tightened by me) until eventually they fell apart and one of the parts went missing :( . I really should have Locktite'd them :( - great cables otherwise :) .
 
#8
Sounds like the wrong cable.

Shielded instrument cables vary in the amount of shielding used. Shielding can vary from 40% braided shielding to 100% which usually has copper or aluminum wrap.

The type and % of shielding affects flexibility. Most instrument cables have less than 100% shielding and use braided shields. Good cables have upwards of 90% although many serviceable cables will be as low as 75%

I suspect unshielded or poorly shielded cable was used in your cables. If you cut off an end, and strip the outer layer about an inch or less, you can see what the shielding, if there is any, looks like. If you have two equal conductors and no shield, they are unshielded speaker cable. If you see a loose braid with a lot of open space between the strands, the shield is poor and causing the hum.

IF there is a bad solder joint on one or both ends for the grounds/shields, it could be that a resolder could fix it.

If the ends are the type that don't use solder, but just fit over the ground connection in the plugs, there could be another issue.

When two dissimilar metals are in contact, they cause a galvanic reaction...like a small battery. when this happens, a very thin, microscopic film will build up on one or both metal surfaces. This film will insulate and cause a poor connection.

Soldered ends will work better than non-soldered over time...my apologies to Lawrence cables, which are excellent.

Solder on some decent plugs and away you go...if the ends are the problem. Switchcraft, Neutrik or Rean are the best.
 
#9
I popped one end open and it looks familiar enough that I'm pretty sure I must have done so when I first had an issue with one. The cable itself is two conductor shielded, probably balanced mic cable - shields to the sleeves and both inner wires to the tips. Guess I have a couple of options - I could replace the ends with XLR's and add them to my mic cords (they are 25' as are all my mic cords). Or I could move one wire to the sleeves and see if that helps - if not I can try lifting the shield on the instrument end. Someone had some cables at the NEGTG that were like that and supposedly awesome :) .
 

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