Jacks with gold plating

I think gold plated jacks is audio-fool speak for separate people from as much money as possible. If you tell them it sounds better they will star believing it really does.

As for corrosion, I don't think 1950's Fender amps or '60's and 70's Marshalls had any gold plating and they seem to have lasted quite well

As you can see I mainly use a gold plated frog to connect spiritually to my Kemper. Besides of that, my Cordial CSI cables have golden Neutrik plugs too. That is just preventative, cause sometimes I mix my bone dry guitar tone with some wet signal - and I don't wanna risk any decay! Some delay is o.k. occasionally - but never decay!

Quote from GarikX

I agree with you! I saw Marshall, who is more than 40 years old and he felt great! I was more worried about another nuance. I use plugs with gold plating, and in the Kemper connector has a nickel plating, so I thought that there might be a conflict between these materials

It is true that for a nickel plated plug, a nickel plated jack works better due to better galvanic compatibility. I think the same is true for the gold/gold combo (ie. gold jacks work better for gold plugs).
And as you correctly point out, gold plating is better with regards to corrosion.

In reality I will NEVER worry about it either way; gold vs nickel, mismatch between plug and jack plating. I think it's such a smal contribution I can't imagine it being relevant.

Sorry, my earlier post was not too serious

There is no advantage using gold plugs (with the Kemper), when jacks are not gold plated too - except the plug itself is corrosion free. So it may be more relvant in static installations. The thin plating will wear off over time also, when the plug is used very often.

Theoretically non-similar metals will oxidize faster. BUT you'll have no problems in practice. You can use gold plated plugs without worrying!

I choose guitar cable like this: Try a few cables (did take years for me) and sort out the ones that SOUND best in your setting. Next thing I look for is, that the material of the cable is non-twisting, flexible and good to (un-) furl. Next comes overall robustness and quality of strain relief. Try the plug with different guitars, cause there are some around on the market, that do not connect well with all jacks (planet waves stage make problems sometimes).

If after that, more than one cable remained to choose from, go for the cheapest... or the one with better specification, shielding, colour, hype...
I have chosen Cordial CSI cables ALTHOUGH they have gold plated plugs, not because they have.

I have to add, that I used the Amphenol plugs you mentioned also (planet waves custom pro when I remember right) for years with standard jacks without ANY problems. So you don't have to worry at all - just plug in and rock

I buy a lot of used gear and end up with misc. cables shoved in a box. Some are gold and some aren't. I find the material of the jack is much less critical than the quality of the cable. A well shielded cable will not pick up as much RF as a cheapo design. Also the quality of the soldering makes a difference, as well as line level vs instrument level. Line level is usually more forgiving.