Switchcraft type 226 plug mystery

[JerryFJA]

Yup, in the old pics you had the ground layer still on the center conductor. You have to trim or scrape that off. It's conductive.
Jerry

[sixstringer]

Mystery Solved! After reading some of the comments you provided, I searched the web for the specific problem the inner (black rubber) shielding being the issue. Sure enough, I found long-time electronics pros stumped by the same issue. I search ProCo's website, read their support pages, downloaded the white page reports and spec pages for their cable products.
No where could I find a mention about the black rubber layer being conductive and to be careful to remove it. Interestingly. I did find a DIY how-to tutorial that shows the black layer intact on the finished cable.

Anyway, after remaking all the patch cords with the black layer removed, the cables all work fine and the pedal board is finally finished (and very quiet). What should have taken a few hours instead of several weeks is finally done. Thank you all for taking the time to comment and help resolve the matter.

[Leo_Gnardo]

No where could I find a mention about the black rubber layer being conductive and to be careful to remove it. Interestingly. I did find a DIY how-to tutorial that shows the black layer intact on the finished cable

Mighty glad to see you've got it sorted.

I've seen the conductive layer left on, and causing trouble, in "professionally made" cables with major name brand world wide marketing. Go figure. I wonder if anyone ever clued 'em in on how to do it right. Or would that slow down production . "We sell XXX thousand cables a year, why make any improvements?"

[Dai H.]

[img:400:252]http://www.canare.com/ProductItemContentImages/908.jpg[/img]

Important Wiring Note:

Canare GS-4 and GS-6 utilize a specially designed Conductive Carbon Plastic Shield to protect against undesirable microphonic handling noise. This inner sleeve can cause a short circuit if allowed to come in contact with the OFC center conductor. Please be very careful when stripping cable and remove this material from exposed insulation before soldering.

http://www.canare.com/ProductItemDispla ... tItemID=61

[sixstringer]

I received a nice note back from ProCo Sound and CE Distribution about adding a notice about the conductive shield layer to the product information on their websites. Thanks Dai H. for the example.