Well, I thought it was time I purchase a quality guitar cable. I've always used cheapies. I bought a "Monster Cable" although it was a less expensive model, it is a Monster Cable with a lifetime warranty. It is made in China. My Rapco cable I bought at Wal Mart ($10) is made in the USA. Hmmmmmmm. USA made guitar freaks feel free to chime in here cause I am baffled??????? Explain to me the oxymoron that the cheaper cable is USA made. I sit back and wait for the debate. :lol:
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
Well, the Monster Cable has a really great name.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
Places like Wal-Mart and Aldi get their prices partly due to buying up spare capacity. Aldi, in Germany, sells (on special offer) high pressure water pumps. They're made by one of the top names in the business - Kärcher. Kärcher has far greater production capacity than it needs for all of the 52 weeks a year. It has capacity to cover the peak months, when they produce full out. The rest of the year, they have well below peak capacity, but still have the permanent costs of a production facility. Aldi covers their costs and buys everything that Kärcher will sell them - everyone is happy.
It's possible that your cable is the result of similar buying tactics, spread over a number of manufacturers.
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
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I also like the Die Hard series by Proel. To me, they are similar to the Monster Cable.
http://diehard.proelgroup.com/diehard/it/catalog.jsp
I think they are Italian and are not cheap. Probably the quality could be better than that USA cable... or they save some money in advertising. Not only the "Made in USA" gear has great quality. For example, I think you will understand me, but I never should buy a Spanish "Made in USA" guitar. :wink:
it's because of greed. i've noticed it in clothing. some of the better stores are now having their clothes made in china, while you can get made in the USA clothes at Wal-Mart.
I just found it amusing is all. :lol: Both cables work fine and I'm happy with my Monster Cable purchase.
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
Pearl, Wal-Mart's full of Chinese stuff, too.
It's an interesting dilemma. You want to support local industry, but it doesn't make economic sense for the consumer to pay more for a product if you can buy something satisfactory for less, wherever it came from.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
One thing to be aware of is that even if you find "identical" products at Wal-Mart as are available elsewhere is that they might not really be identical products but only similar. Wal-Mart has such large buying power that they can specify to manufacturers what price point they want the product at and to meet that manufacturers drop quality and features - lower quality material, lower stitch count in clothing or single stitched versus double (less durable), etc. So, they can often look similar but not really be comparable.
Pop music is about stealing pocket money from children. - Ian Anderson
Capitalism at it's finest!
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
Wal-Mart has such large buying power that they can specify to manufacturers what price point they want the product at and to meet that manufacturers drop quality and features
I have two rifles from Wal-Mart that were specially made by their manufacturers for that market. Quality's fine, but they had features dropped from the standard models to reduce the price. Still suited my needs, and the price point was the sale clincher. I've got yet another that's unmodified, a special and fairly expensive niche model, that sold through Wal-Mart just a bit cheaper than it was available anywhere else at the time. One of those special Wal-Mart models is from Weatherby. Making those rifles for Wal-Mart enormously increased Weatherby's total sales and made Wal-Mart the world's largest Weatherby dealer. Put a dent in their "exclusive" reputation, perhaps, but they have higher end models not for sale at Wal-Mart, the owners of which insist are "the real Weatherbies."
Not everything at Wal-Mart is junk, by a long shot. If they see enough profit in it, they'll have good quality guitars there at very attractive prices before long.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
I know everyone hates Walmart but i love the place :D
these folks dont http://walmartsucksorg.blogspot.com/
They have an incredible reputation for tough negotiations. They do their homework/fact-finding. If it's not a strategic item, they simply say "We will buy this many items for this price.", and that's it. You don't agree, your product isn't on their shelves. I got this info from a now former high powered exec from a nationally known food company. He went on to say that on each item, the profit margin that left them with was remarkably close.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
TR,
How is the quality on the Rapco cable? I'm somewhat underwhelmed with my Monster cable and I understand from a former Best Buy employee that the markup on Monster cable (A/V) is beyond imagination.
edit: I missed your follow up post - I'm going to go to Walmart and have a look! :mrgreen:
