Staying Connected - Cables and Connections

Every electric guitar player has experienced his or her fair share of cheap and easily broken down guitar cables. No matter how many times we're reminded that, "we get what we pay for", we like sheep, head to that same discount bin of 'soon to be useless' cables at our local music store.

So, many many years ago I decided to stop the cycle of 'waste and frustration' by purchasing professional quality cables for every connection in my guitar rig, home studio and home theatre. The result was happily true to the labelled 'lifetime warranty' on the majority of professional cable packages. In 30 years of plugging in and out I have only had one cable issue that was immediately remedied by the fine folks at Fender. So the lesson for the day is:
              
              Don't buy cheap cables!

Here's a list some brands that you can look for quality cable that will last and produce good overall tone reproduction. Planet Waves, Monster, George L's, Spectraflex, Elixir, and Whirlwind.

Free yourself of the worries of cable problems and embrace the high fidelity of professional quality cables and connectors... and always remember:

              Don't buy cheap cables!

Are Guitar Pedals Too Expensive?

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When you look at the price of guitar effects pedals these days ranging from $150 to $550, putting together even a modest pedal board with a few pedals might seem too steep for your budget. How can these tiny little metal boxes filled with tiny circuit boards and a few dangling wires hit my wallet so hard? My opinion, for what it's worth, is that for the most part putting together a padalboard of any size is much cheaper than the rigs of the near and distant past. I do admit that many pedal companies prices are too high; mostly due to the "hype" of the particular pedal or the "trendiness" of the particular company name on the pedal, but you can get a great rig happening for a fraction of the cost of rigs in the 1980's or 90's.

A Comparison worth Consideration

NOW                                                               

• $300  Strymon Blue Sky Reverb                              
• $450  Strymon Timeline Delay                             
• $450  Strymon Mobius Modulation                         
• $400  Analogman King of Tone Overdrive        
• $125  Xotic EP boost                                        
• $200  Wampler Pinnacle Distortion                  
• $200  Wampler EGO Compressor                      
• $200  Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2                     
• $200  Pedatrain Pedalboard                                  

THEN

• $2500  T.C. Electronics 2290 Delay                     
• $1200  T.C. Electronics 1122 Chorus                                       
• $2000  Lexicon PCM 70 Reverb                            
• $1000  Yamaha SPX 90 multi-effects                    
• $500    DBX 160 Compressor                                 
• $150    ProCo Rat Distortion                                   
• $100    ADA Midi Switcher                                      
• $200    Furman Power Conditioner                       
• $500    Anvil Rack for effects

This comparison between the 'NOW' state of the art pedal board with a price tag of $2,525 and the THEN' rack of effects with a price tag of $8,150 is a fair estimate in my experience as a professional player using gear in both eras of the music industry. One rack effect of the 80's/90's can exceed the entire price of your whole boutique pedalboard. This example breaks down a little with the thought that you could have used a pedalboard in the eighties and rack effects now but it's still a reminder to me that one can get great gear these days at a very reasonable price, even if you buy the top of the line stuff.