User manual

Cable considerations

Following the precautions described in Section 3 (“Fitting and using the H-

clamp”) should prevent any damage to either guitar or microphone but the

H-clamp is also supplied with simple accessories for improving safety and

convenience. Any microphone or guitar cable presents a potential tripping

or snagging hazard. The cable tidy and strain relief accessories supplied

with the H-clamp minimise these hazards and make picking up, playing

and putting down the guitar almost as simple with a microphone attached

as without. The usual ways to achieve this are described below but they

are by no means the only options.

As indicated under “Cable tidies” on page 24,

either the thin elastic loops or the Velcro straps

can be used to bind the microphone cable gen-

tly to the H-clamp. This prevents the cable from

ﬂapping around the guitar but must not be

relied upon to provide strain relief. Stain relief is

achieved by using the Velcro straps in a different

way. For the guitar, the best anchor points for

strain relief are the guitar strap buttons on the

stock and/or base of the body. Almost all acous-

tic guitars have at least one strap button and if

used correctly only one is required to provide

effective strain relief:

1. As described on page 24, wrap a Velcro

strap around the cable with its soft,

side in contact with the cable. Wrap the

strap from the loop end along the cable

towards the end that is (or will be)

plugged into the microphone. The Velcro

strap should not be loose but equally, not

so tight that it cannot be moved along the

cable to adjust it’s position.

2. leave the loop at the end of the strap

free and slip it over the button, soft side

towards the guitar. For large buttons,

such as those incorporating jack sockets,

more force is required to stretch the

loop over but as long as care is exercised,

it should be possible to ﬁt the strap to the

button without breaking the loop.

3. Once the strain relief has been ﬁtted,

the cable can be fed to and fro through it

to leave just enough cable to reach the

H-clamp (but without pulling it taught).