Pete Cornish Cables

Pete Cornish a legend from the guitar effects, rig and cable world, Some of rock’s top guitarists have a strange effect on stage…and it’s provided by Pete Cornish.1 The Greying-haired electrician’s contribution to their live show isn’t in charisma, or presence, but in a large black case no thicker than a few inches, though with a  reputation several hundred musicians wide.  Pete builds effects boxes. They rarely, if ever, go wrong, and make noises only when asked—no unrequested hiss, hum or squeak. 

Andy Summers of the Police has one, Steve Hacket has one, Pink Floyd have two or maybe three by now, Eddie Jobson has a Hammond Organ lounging on his and Bill Nelson’s was designed so he could rest his feet. In the days when phasers were those things set to stun in Star Trek, guitarists were still rejoicing because they could buy a pickup that didn’t hum under a neon lamp. 

In a few years, Hendrix almost single-handedly made the wah-wah an essential in the strummer’s arsenal, and Clapton did much the same for the fuzz, though in his case it was canny manufacturers looking to reproduce in a tiny box that distortion born of a stack of amps.