Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Yeah, gold plating on connectors is a lot of hype, especially on guitar cables. It's main advantage is not so much better conductivity (silver and copper are better), but its resistance to corrosion, and for that reason it's widely used in connectors. Unfortunately, gold is very soft and very expensive, so on a connector that gets a lot of use, the plating has to be very thick to not wear off too fast. This is just too expensive to be practical, and it will eventually wear off anyway.

Nickel, on the other hand is very resistant to corrosion too, much cheaper, and a lot tougher than gold. Fortunately, on connectors that get used a lot, there's a lot of scraping and sliding as the connectors get plugged and unplugged. This acts to scrape off whatever corrosion is there assuring a good connection even though you don't have the most corrosion-proof plating.

And yes, a lot of gold plated connectors do have some sort of clear coat to keep them looking good longer. This is totally for looks as these coatings are generally pretty bad conductors. But hey, in the world of marketing and profit, getting it sold and having it look good are often far more profitable than actual performance...

Thanks, Dane and CJ!!!

Inexpensive cables are usually Asian imports, on which the plug's diameter is 6mm and not 1/4 in.
Like .24 in. v .25in.
Leaves a bit of slopiness in the fit.

I chose Bayou Cables because be provides a quality product at a reasonable price.

fatcat wrote:Leaves a bit of slopiness in the fit.

That's what she said

Hey Karl for what it's worth I too pick up a radio station on my LERM with compressor as well as when using my Jangle Box with my 360/12. The only difference is on my Ric I mget better reception. I have not tried this yet but I wonder if it has anything to do with a weak battery??

aceonbass wrote:

fatcat wrote:Leaves a bit of slopiness in the fit.

That's what she said

Nobody I know.