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!
Comments
is it crazy how saying sentences backwards creates backwards sentences saying how crazy it is?
(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.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
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!
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!)
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
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.
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
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