My basic understanding of electronics says there must be a complete circuit for electricity to flow, so does that mean there is both a + and – wire inside a mono guitar cable? Or does electricity flow back to the amp/interface/mixer through the ground (the shielding)?
Specifically I'm wondering about a piezo or perhaps some other setup involving a small battery in which I can trigger impulses to flow into my recording interface, and I'm wondering how I need to connect it to the cable. Same thing as a drum trigger, except that my application will be more customized and require me to wire it up myself.
Best Answer
A mono guitar cable (shown lower) has two conductors
And I quote from here:
The shield does just that, it shields the inner conductors from noise from stray electric fields (like radios, cellphones and the 60Hz hum from AC Mains) If you want to get a analog voltage waveform 'into your equipment", generate a positive voltage on the (1). Every voltage needs to be referenced from something else to be meaningful, most people use ground or near 0V for a reference. So for the return current or ground in your circuit, connect it with (2)