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Fincastle man invents Zerocap guitar cable, connectorAug 19, 2012 (The Roanoke Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- When guitarists debate the price and quality of amplifier cables for electric guitars, there are those who stand by the belief that higher prices means higher quality and those who feel that less costly cables are just as good as pricey cables. Fincastle resident and longtime guitar player Henry Wallace believes that there is no sound difference between the expensive and cheap cables found in retail stores. He has created what he believes is an improved guitar cable that costs more than the expensive retail cables, but he feels it produces a cleaner sound. "Guitar players are picky about the tone and sound," Wallace said. When he started to construct his Zerocap guitar cable and connector, he said his aim was to create a cable that produced a clean tone without all of the extra muffled sounds that he says come from other guitar cables. Wallace said that changing the tone comes down to cable capacitance, or its ability to hold a charge. A higher capacitance cable reduces high frequency sounds, producing a muffled sound around the note that is being played. According to Wallace's Atlantic Quality Design website, his cables have nearly zero capacitance, which he said provides a better transmission for guitar signals. Cable length is also a factor in tone quality. Longer cables generally lose more high-frequency sounds. But Wallace said that the length of the Zerocap cable doesn't matter -- it will produce the same tone whether the cable is 10 feet or 50 feet long. Wallace's recent cable connection method priority patent is actually one of three that he has on this invention. He also holds a patent for the construction and one about the electronic methods. He has produced eight patents total, all related to guitar equipment. Wallace has been selling his guitar cables and other musical devices for a number of years on his own. However, he is looking for someone to market and sell his products with Atlantic Quality Design. Higher-quality cables, such as Monster cables found in retail stores, start at about $70 for a 6-foot cable. Zerocap cables sell for about $80 for a 5-foot cable. Inventor: Henry Wallace, Fincastle Title: Cable connection method priority Patent No. and filing date: 8,215,986; July 24, 2009 ___ (c)2012 The Roanoke Times (Roanoke, Va.) Visit The Roanoke Times (Roanoke, Va.) at www.roanoke.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |