[Harrison Ford Prefect]

Stephen Cowell wrote:

Those of us that own guitar cords with gold-plated
ends can testify that it doesn't last long... my Steve Vai
Signature cable (bought in a fit of indulgence, expensive)
while it works fine has little plating left on it... thankfully
there was nickel under the gold, perhaps the best way
to do it. Anyone else here ever rubbed the gold off of
a pickup cover? That's another big problem, gold plating
is always as thin as they can get away with.

The only place it makes any sense at all to me
is on something like a speaker jack on a combo
if you really expect the speaker to stay plugged in.