Instrument cables are rarely head turners at a show like NAMM, but there was an awful lot of rubbernecking going on around the R&M Tone Technology booth. The company was showing off its impressive line of PowerWire preamplified instrument cables, which can boost the sound of a guitar or bass just as much as an effects pedal, but in a new, patented way. “We tend to overlook the signal loss and sound degradation that are inherent in the passive cables we use every day,”
R&M’s Chief Marketing Officer, Gene Della Torre, explained. “PowerWire is an active cable with a self-contained amplifier designed into the jack. It overcomes frequency loss, carries a cleaner signal and sounds amazing.”
R&M Tone Technology currently offers four different preamplified cables in its PowerWire line, each of which has its own unique effect on an instrument’s tone. “There are two clean boost cables with identical signal improvement over any passive cable, but different amplification levels. CB0 is a clean boost with zero decibels of gain, and CB6 is a clean boost with six decibels of gain,” Della Torre said. “They work best with high- and low-output pickups, respectively. But, the truth is, you can mix and match and try them with any electric, bass or acoustic without active pickups already installed. We’ve even got guys running it through electric fiddles, pedal steel and cigar box guitars. So, there are lots of interesting things you can do.”
The other two PowerWire offerings add popular pedal effects directly to the cable jack. “The TS09 is our Tube Screamer in a cable, and it adds that classic distortion,” Della Torre continued. “You can dial the distortion up or down using the volume control on your guitar. And the Super Sizzle, or SS, is an enhanced bass-response cable. It boosts the frequencies below 20 hertz. So, when you plug in the SS cable, you’re going to get a very nice low-end boost and a harmonic effect that many players really like.”
To read more of NAMM New Class 2017, click here.