mysterious guitar cable pickup

[drazz]

if i drop my guitar cable or tap on it, i get the amplified knock sound on the speakers just like what a mic does. anyone know what this is all about and how to prevent it?

 

my setup consists of a marshall 10 watt mini, an ibanez gsa and otherwise decent cable from some german brand.

[Gabriel E.]

The cable is microphonic. Could be caused by poor sheilding or some other construction flaw.

 

Try another cable.

[kylen]

he he - I've had cheap cables do that. I guess for one thing the inner wires are too close together and possigly slightly biased with a little leakage from somewhere creating a kind of electret [capacitive] condenser mic.

 

I'm kinda guessing here so don't repeat that...hehe

[A String]

Sounds like a cable break...Replace that cable or find the break and cut it from there and replace the ends(If there's enough left to bother) and use a reverse wrap technique from now on. (One loop over, one loop under) keeps the cables straight.

[drazz]

a break does sound likely .. the cable has been used only once but it went through some rough use so that could have it. any ideas on what the readings should be like on a multimeter?

[A String]

You can test continuity with a multi meter but different lengths and gages will turn out different results. Your best bet is to plug it in, then starting at one end, grasp the cable between both hand and wiggle it, if there is no sound, move down a bit and try again...keep going until you find a spot that makes sound or cuts out.