Very stupid question....

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

So when packing my amp to take to the Huddersfield jam yesterday I discovered that I'd lost my kettle lead!  

Must have left it at the rehearsal studio the other day, called them and they haven't seen it so I ain't getting it back. Question is, will any basic kettle lead I buy do the same job, or is there anything in particular I need to look for? Don't want to waste money on something that won't work, or worse end up damaging the amp somehow!

Amp is a Roland Blues Cube Artist, if that makes a difference. 

I'm probably being over-cautious, but help put my mind at ease please! 

bloodandtears

Whilst they look the same, I'd image the fuse is different... if you have a 5amp kettle lead you should be fine..

If anyone here has the same amp with the original lead... they could clarify what you need..

ICBM

Any 'kettle' lead will work. The minimum fuse value will be 3A, which is still plenty. You cannot damage the amp.

(Strictly speaking they aren't kettle leads, since those have a plug with a notch in it which indicates they're heatproof, so you can't use a non-heatproof plug in a kettle.)

Also, don't spend more than you need to on any fancy 'special audio grade' lead, no matter what you may read in some places about them affecting the sound. *Any* IEC C13 cable will perform exactly the same as any other, and you can get a perfectly good quality one for about a fiver.

Paul_C

 
What I found useful was buying a long mains lead - handy in venues with weird socket locations.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Thanks everyone, good to know it should be a cheap and simple problem to solve!

Paul_C said:

 
What I found useful was buying a long mains lead - handy in venues with weird socket locations.

Yeah, to be honest the one that came with the amp was pathetically short. Was even problematic in some rehearsal studios let alone gig venues!

ICBM

You can easily get them up to 3 metre, longer than that is a bit harder.

Something like this will be fine -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Power-Mains-Kettle-Cable-Lead/dp/B0058GW8BK/ref=sr_1_19?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1533466651&sr=1-19&keywords=iec+c13+3m

(Edit - found an even cheaper one!)

ecc83

While we are here? People often get confused about IEC mains lead fuses? The fuse is there JUST to protect the CABLE should a short occur in the equipment, it plays no part in the protection of the equipment itself indeed, almost any guitar amp will (should!) have a mains fuse, usually a slo-blow type, well under even a 5A mains fuse.

Then the cable itself will often have "10 amps" printed on it and they then get worried about fitting a 13A fuse? No need to worry, any 10A cable is easily capable of handling the fusing current of a 13A fuse, even 5A rated cable would in fact be perfectly safe (the fault current last less than a second, no time to catch fire!)

Of course, always fit the correct fuse in all circumstances, especially amp fuses but "10A" is not in fact a standard value so you have little choice but to fit 13A in many cases. 5A is of course almost always big enough but a few, really big ass amps will blow a five once in 20 or so switch ons.

Dave.

merlin

I had a blues cube and replaced the mains lead for a much longer one within minutes. 

Alvin

If you need one quick Asda sell the short ones .

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Alvin said:

If you need one quick Asda sell the short ones .

Nah it's not that urgent, would definitely want to get a longer one! 

ESBlonde

Every now and then the office upgrade PCs and the old ones get 'recycled'. Grab a couple of the IEC mains leads for spares before they reach the bin. Keep your eyes peeled, check for wear or cracks before use.

LuttiS

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

So when packing my amp to take to the Huddersfield jam yesterday I discovered that I'd lost my kettle lead!  

Must have left it at the rehearsal studio the other day, called them and they haven't seen it so I ain't getting it back. Question is, will any basic kettle lead I buy do the same job, or is there anything in particular I need to look for? Don't want to waste money on something that won't work, or worse end up damaging the amp somehow!

Amp is a Roland Blues Cube Artist, if that makes a difference. 

I'm probably being over-cautious, but help put my mind at ease please! 

Only just seen this and it made me chuckle

On the Saturday morning before the jam i was about to post something VERY similar as i'd left my Kettle lead for my Kustom amp around a friends house and couldn't get hold of him

Was going to ask if kettle for my little HT-1 would be the same..

Luckily he got in touch before i left on Saturday

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

LuttiS said:

Only just seen this and it made me chuckle

On the Saturday morning before the jam i was about to post something VERY similar as i'd left my Kettle lead for my Kustom amp around a friends house and couldn't get hold of him

Was going to ask if kettle for my little HT-1 would be the same..

Luckily he got in touch before i left on Saturday

Well as it turned out there was no shortage of tasty amps kicking about at the Jam (yours included!), so didn't really need it on the day. New one in the post now for less than a fiver, so pretty happy with that. 

Branshen

You need an audiophile grade one to pass good high quality electricity! Don't skimp on the power cable!

57Deluxe

merlin said:

I had a blues cube and replaced the mains lead for a much longer one within minutes...

...of the socket.