Unplugging and Replugging everything....

[stevefingers]

What if you un-soldered and re-soldered all of your kit? Would that work too? It's certainly worth a try I reckon!

[wilber]

to be fair new picks definitely sound more trebly than old ones

[digitalscream]

really cleans up the sound. This bimonthly hi-fi 'trick' works for guitars, amps and FX pedals too. I would also expect it to work on home studio kit.

Simply unplug and replug everything a few times. The mains cables, signal cables and wallwart supplies. Everything that is plugged in. Don't forget all those links on your pedal board. The theory is that the unplugging and replugging action scrapes away any contamination of the contacts. Whatever the explanation, it really works.

Assuming that your theory is correct, it would only ever work in a sealed vacuum environment. There are far more contaminants in the air in a normal room than you're ever really likely to find inside the mechanism of a socket/plug arrangement, so your result (ie that it sounds better because your plugs and sockets are cleaner) is, in fact, the opposite of what you suggest. You're making them dirtier and they sound better; sort of puts a hole in a lot of your previous arguments, really.

[Rocker]

This suggestion costs nothing and I have found that it works. True it is a PITA unplugging and replugging everything, what have you got to lose? Twenty fu#kin minutes!!!!

If you have a small pedalboard [with six dist/echo/delay/chorus pedals for example], that is a lot of connections before the weakish guitar signal gets to the amp.

[Crotchet]

Does the sound get better the more you unplug and re-plug in. I mean if unplugging just once makes for a better sound will doing it 20 times be even better?!

[Sporky_McGuffin]

If you have a small pedalboard [with six dist/echo/delay/chorus pedals for example], that is a lot of connections before the weakish guitar signal gets to the amp.

Being a weak signal, as you say, series resistance isn't particularly relevant so a dirty connection (which is unlikely as Digitalscream pointed out) won't have any significant effect anyway.

What have I got to lose? 20 freakin' minutes of my life.

[digitalscream]

This suggestion costs nothing and I have found that it works. True it is a PITA unplugging and replugging everything, what have you got to lose? Twenty fu#kin minutes!!!!

If you have a small pedalboard [with six dist/echo/delay/chorus pedals for example], that is a lot of connections before the weakish guitar signal gets to the amp.

Have you considered the problem of what happens to the supposed detritus you're scraping away? It's all going inside the device the socket is mounted in. Have a think about all that horrible contamination rattling around inside where there are lots of bare electrical connections. Surely, according to all your theories, that's increasing the contamination over time (since all that "stuff" is going to accumulate) and thus making the problem immeasurably worse?

That's it. Ultrasonic baths for all my gear on a weekly basis now. I may even have to wear a hazmat suit whenever I go near it.

[Rocker]

Have you considered the problem of what happens to the supposed detritus you're scraping away? It's all going inside the device the socket is mounted in. Have a think about all that horrible contamination rattling around inside where there are lots of bare electrical connections. Surely, according to all your theories, that's increasing the contamination over time (since all that "stuff" is going to accumulate) and thus making the problem immeasurably worse?

That's it. Ultrasonic baths for all my gear on a weekly basis now. I may even have to wear a hazmat suit whenever I go near it.

You can take the piss all you like sir, I don't really care. I am passing on a tip that works for me. It costs nothing to try, if it works for you then great. If not then so what?

[Sporky_McGuffin]

You can take the piss all you like sir, I don't really care. I am passing on a tip that works for me. It costs nothing to try, if it works for you then great. If not then so what?

Then you've wasted 20 minutes on superstition with no evidence to support the idea, and a number of sound arguments against doing it!

[digitalscream]

You can take the piss all you like sir, I don't really care. I am passing on a tip that works for me. It costs nothing to try, if it works for you then great. If not then so what?

I wasn't taking the piss. Well, not until the last bit.

My point is that for all your arguments about removing contamination, you're actively doing something which is increasing it in the long term. The fact that you'd rather take umbrage at it suggests that you're more interested in trial-and-error with no actual analysis of what's going on than truly thinking your way through anything.