After suffering through crackles, lost signals, and all the rest, I decided to heed the numerous positive reviews of the Spectraflex tweed cable and purchase one through Amazon.com.  Because the new acoustic-electric classical I received as a gift has an end-pin outlet, I bought the Spectraflex with the right angle connector.  Although I have been using the cable for only a few weeks, I am very impressed.  The connections on all the guitars and basses on which I've used it are sure, with no loss of signal, no crackles.  Perhaps most impressive is the fact that I can turn the right angle connector around and never have any change of signal.  Finally, I can be confident that when I play, something will consistently come out of the amplifier.  By the way, the old-school tweed look is a plus, too.