pins, cables

I have various devices that have exposed pins or holes for pins. I'd
like to examine the states of these pins/holes by connecting wires
between them and a solderless breadboard. Typical examples include
pins on MIDI ports, D15 game ports, D25 printer ports, etc. If I get
anywhere doing that, I'll also want to try connect some ports to other
ports by cables, maybe of my own design. I can't assume that the precise
cables I need will be readily available, so I need convenient ways to make
a lot of different kinds of cables. I also need to keep this cheap, but
I don't do ebay.

What can I use for examining individual pins/holes (e.g. a "single pin plug",
if that exists)? How can I develop the capability of cheaply and conveniently
making lots of different kinds of cables, or remaking them? Where can
I get this stuff dirt cheap? I keep an eye out for discarded electronics,
but I rarely see the kinds of cables I'm interested in. The only exception
was a printer cable that was discarded with its printer.
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler <ara@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.
.

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