Planet Waves

Stop, no don't, put down the drill. I repeat put down the drill. So you have a nice acoustic; it sounds great and feels great, but it doesn't have a strap button. I don't know why more acoustic companies do not install a simple strap button where the neck meets the body, but hey I can't change that. Do not try to drill your own. You can easily split the wood and ruin a beautiful, once valuable instrument. Planet Waves designed and put out the Quick Release. Basically it creates a slip knot around the neck of your acoustic and you can clip your guitar strap right on it. I first saw these in action at an Open Mic at a Coffee Shop I was at. I asked the guy where he got it, then I found them online through one of the major online retailers. Best $3 I have ever spent on an acoustic. It is simple to use and does not put the resale value of my guitar in jeopardy as well as keeps the power tools in their respected closet. Nothing I do not like. A great product any acoustic player could use. The clip feels pretty heavy duty as does the cable. Seems like a product you will only have to buy once. Why didn't I think of this? A great gadget that belongs in every acoustic player's gig bag. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I used to only buy planet waves cables and these were the only ones I used to buy. They have upgraded them since and I believe they are better now. Previously the jacks were compressable so that it'd be a tight fit in the input jacks of amps and guitars which is nice so it won't fall out lose however, they were so tight and after time they would wear down the input jacks themselves and eventually strip them. This became a bit of a problem and as far as I've heard they have improved that. However the quality of the cable is quite nice, I haven’t had any jacks rip or tear or bust or come unsoldered etc. The cable itself is ok too but it is definitely still prone to being tangled which has always been a problem with cables since day one. The more kinks you create the more you wear down the cable, of course there is no REAL solution for this aside from wireless units or coily cables, which I think the latter is quite effective. However besides that the PW cables are a definite improvement in quality and sound above the free one you get when you buy your first guitar. I would definitely look into these cables for home use or if you’re okay with tangling cables as a hobby (ha!). Yes there is a bit of a tonal difference between the gold plated ends and nickel plated ends however I am not completely convinced that it’s worth the difference in price versus the tone so I can’t judge that to be honest. When I look for cables I look for longevity, I want the cable to last forever and be versatile for both live and the studio, and my theory is if it’s good for live it’s definitely good for studio. These are worth looking into for an upgrade for beginners or intermediate players I’d say. But they still tangle, so it’s up to you in the end.

I've been using Planet Waves Jack/Jack instrument cables for about seven or eight years. I have a number of them and they are a mainstay in my guitar set up. I have found these cables to be beyond reliable. I have never had one break, and the gold tips ensure a good sound and solid connection. While they are a bit expensive for a cable, it is well worth it because they will last you forever (or at least a pretty long time). I also use these for keyboards and bass guitars, and pretty much anything that I need a mono instrument cable for. I have used them both in the recording studio and live on stage. These are perfect for both situations as they are both high quality and will send your signal cleanly, but are also sturdy and can take a beating if you need to bring them on the road. These cables are built extremely well, with solid casing on the ends to ensure that the insides are safe and secure. It is well made all around and I would have a hard time breaking this as the important parts of the cable are pretty well hidden underneath the protective layer. Planet Waves also ensures these cables for life and will replace yours if it breaks. I have never had one of these break so I have never tried to get one replaced though. I would compare these cables to that made by Monster. Both are made at an extremely high quality and are similar in price. Monster also will guarantee their cables for life. I can't really say if these are better than Monster cables as I think they are both elite and extremely high quality. I just happened to use Planet Waves cables first. These cables have served me well and I would definitely recommend them to anyone in need of some instrument cables.

I bought a Planet Waves 20' Pro Custom cable back in June of 2010 because I needed a second one to run to my amp from my effects. Having used a cheap Livewire cable for over a year I knew that I wanted a cable that was actually decent, and that didn't break every month and a half. When I walked into my local music store of choice I told the guy there that I was looking to spend around $35 for a 20' cable, but I could go higher if needed. Turns out they were having a sale, so I walked out the door with this cable for $35, instead of the normal $50. I've since used it as my main guitar-to-effects cable for over a year now, and it's worked great. I did notice a change in tone, there was more treble and presence in my signal now. Amazing what decent materials can do for a cable eh? It has held up very well, only crapping out recently, and really for no fault of the cable. To loop the cable around the rear strap button on my guitar I have to put a pretty sharp angle in the cable near the plug, and it goes over a fairly pointy edge of the guitar. But since Planet Waves has lifetime warranties on their cables, I was able to get it replaced for free. Well, almost, I had to pay shipping back to them. You SHOULD be able to get it replaced from where you bought it at, but the owner of the store I got it from is a real hoser. "Well, what we typically do is just repair these..." Yeah, screw you. I'm not letting you fix my cable and then bill PW for replacing it... Shipping was like $5 and within a week I had a brand new cable in my hand. Overall, I am very pleased with this cable. Would I buy it again? Probably not. I now make my own cables, because for $22 I can build a 20' cable using Mogami wire and Neutrik connectors. If I didn't though, all of my cables would be Planet Wave's Pro Custom. I highly recommend them if you don't build your own!

If you are looking for a cheap but good tuning solution, check out this nice little piece from Planet Waves. This is not your typical tuner as it doesn't sit in a rack, on a pedalboard or even on a table. This little baby just clips on to the headstock of your acoustic, electric or bass guitar. Press the little power button and you're ready to tune. It uses the vibrations from your guitar's neck when you pluck a string to figure out where you are tuning-wise. You do not have to have any volume in order for this tuner to work. I have been using these for 6 months or so now and like it so much that I actually just leave one attached to my main electric gigging guitar...even while on stage playing. I can quickly check my tuning between songs and it allows me to keep a space open in my rack or on my board for other things. While it works great on my Strat's headstock, it doesn't seem to hold as well on an Ovation 12 string or even a Les Paul type guitar. It holds but if you move around too much, it may fall off. The display is a bright green so you will see it easily on dark stages. When the battery gets low, it will turn to a red color. It seems to work fine on most of my guitars but on guitars with odd shaped headstocks or headstocks that are really thick, you might have trouble keeping it locked on. In that case, using it in a live situation is probably not a good use for you. However, it can still serve a valuable function if you don't feel like carrying around a bigger, heavier counterpart. This tuner is light as a feather. I highly recommend this as a budget friendly all around tuner!

The Planet Waves 1/4" Elastic Cable Ties are simple little accessories for your instrument or microphone cables that attach to your cables and allows you to hold it together once it's wrapped up and ready to be put away. The elastic band is easily adjustable to hold the cable in place, making it easy to put on your cable rack without having it fall apart. I've got a whole bunch of these on most of my cables now, whether it be for 1/4" cables, mic cables, or even smaller RCA cables and other cables of the sort. They will pretty much work for any cable, although these ones are specifically designed to attach to a cable as thick as a standard 1/4" instrument cable is, and I'm not sure if they make any others for other sized cables, but I don't believe that they do. While some people may prefer to tie their cables up manually, but these are cheap and easy enough to use for me that I don't mind having them around. It definitely helps me to keep the cables I have more organized and I like them a lot better than a simple piece of Velcro that I've seen a lot of cables wrapped up with in my day. There really isn't any risk in picking up some of these, as I believe a ten pack can be had for under $10 USD. In fact, I think that some Planet Waves cables may even come with one of these, but I don't know this for sure. I guess that these aren't necessary to have for every studio, as everyone prefers different things, but if you feel that you might benefit from some handy cable ties, definitely go ahead and pick yourself up a pack of these ones made by the always reliable Planet Waves.

This application, Chordmaster, is for the Iphone. It is basically a library of how to play guitar chords in different positions, as well as deciding which chords will work together musically. This is an Iphone application, and as such, it'd be surprising to find any compatibility issues. The instructions on the website make using this software very clear. The setup is as easy as downloading the application and running it. There aren't exactly a ton of functions on this application, so using it is pretty difficult. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE I have never had a problem with this software, it's not exactly the most complex piece of machinery in the world, so I can't see how anybody would have a problem with it really. The configuration on my machine is always stable, it's not too hard for the Iphone to use any app. The performance I get is fast and reliable. I've only had this thing for two weeks but I'm already a pretty big fan of it. It really is comprehensive, and when I'm sort of stumped by a lead sheet (an increasingly rare occurrence, but an occurrence nonetheless). OVERALL OPINION I think that the primary audience for this device would be young players with Iphones. Or even old players who need refreshers on chord shapes and inversions. It's actually cool when sitting on a train or bus, just looking over chord shapes and getting ideas for stuff. I like this app a lot, it's far easier to use than the old-fashioned charts and stuff. Personally, I have enough experience that I only need to bring it out when I'm dealing with complex harmonic content, like an Elton John or Beach Boys song. But even then it really helps me out a lot, and I'm glad to have it. I recommend it highly.

This is a tuner application for the Iphone. They really do have an app for everything! This is a really simple app to install on an Iphone or Ipod touch. The fact is, there isn't much music software that's easier to install. There isn't much hardware that is necessary outside of the Iphone's internal microphone. Although the software is advertised to users of both the Iphone and Ipod touch, the hands down advantage goes to the Iphone, considering that you can use the built-in mic from that machine to tune your instrument. The functions are easily accessible, as you just have to open the app and select your settings. The software has never given me any problems. There is an option of choosing guitar, bass, violin, banjo, and other stringed instruments, in order to highlight the specific frequencies that are necessary. I've never had a problem with latency or other issues, and the built-in Iphone mic is surprisingly capable of handling this feat. This is assuming that the room you are in isn't loud, which is a problem for any built-in microphone based tuner. While this is a pretty awesome application, I think that it's basically a little too late for most musicians to settle for it. For one thing, using it in a loud room or a gig situation is a pain, simply because the built-in mic is too weak to pick up the instruments. If you are going to use it simply at home, with an acoustic instrument (or a plugged in electric one), it's probably worth it. Especially if you lose the tuner you already had, which is what happened to me. Overall, this is a surprisingly useful Iphone app for those moments where finding a tuner is going to be more trouble than it's worth.

This is a special, custom-made guitar tuner that can be installed onto any pre-existing guitar headstock (assuming that your headstock is where the tuners are located, this is not always the case). The cool thing about these tuners, at least initially, is that they clip the excess part of the string that isn't used after you re-string. Locating the constantly-missing pair of wire-cutters always somehow seems to be a hassle for me. These tuners solve that problem easily, and make cleanup far easier. Beyond the clipping feature, the hands-down best feature of these tuners is the fact that THEY KEEP THE GUITAR IN TUNE. I've been happy with many of my tuning knobs and tuning systems, and they all have their merits, but I really can't believe how much better this system tends to be. I've been able to play my Tele for 3 days straight and not having to tune once. That's a remarkable accomplishment in craftsmanship on the part of Planet Waves. Considering how many times my guitar has gone out of tune on me at extremely inopportune times, these tuners are a godsend. This is assuming, of course, that you are willing to go through the relatively painstaking process of installing these. I personally had some professionals that I trusted do this work for me. I deliberately selected a newer guitar that I wasn't necessarily in love with. This is mainly because I didn't want to drastically alter the look of my old Strat, or my relatively old Les Paul. Thus, I used an early 00s tele that I wouldn't have minded abusing slightly. There is a noticeable change on the headstock, one that would be enough to severely alter the look of a vintage instrument. While this guitar is sort of still being broken in, my older ones are already sort of set in their ways, and would not have handled a drastic change such as that without playing or looking worse. So if you don't mind some heavy remodeling in the name of great intonation, you should definitely get these tuners.

The Planet Waves XLR mic cable is a great investment for studio owners. I picked up a few of these a few years back and I still have all but one of the ones that I purchased. They are incredibly well built and are built to last for sure. The gold tips that this cable has makes sure that your signal is being sent faithfully and without break up. Having a sturdy connection between your mic and either your console or audio interface is crucial for the recording process. If you don't have a steady cable, information could be lost or could not be as clean as it could be. While these cables are more expensive than most out there, they will last much longer than most mic cables and to me that makes the price worth it. I've had too many poorly made mic cables break quickly, and I know a lot of people out there have had the same problems. Whether you are a home or professional studio owner, having good cables should not be sacrificed and the Planet Waves XLR cables are some of the best on the market. I wholeheartedly trust Planet Waves when it comes to cables of any type and I would recommend them to just about anyone. I'm not 100% sure about this, but I do believe that Planet Waves also offers a lengthy warranty even if indeed one of these cables were to break, which I think would be hard to do anyway! If you are on the fence about spending some dough on mic cables, I can't say enough about how important it is to have a good connection between your mics and their final destinations as it is the link that holds your sound together! Overall, if you are looking for one of the best mic cables out there, Planet Waves XLRs need to be visited.

The Planet Waves S.O.S. is an interesting tuner that offers users a different method to tune their guitar or other stringed instrument. I have only used this for guitar and for playing at home, meaning I haven't brought it to any gigs as I use a Boss TU-2 tuner for live shows and that it also what I use most of the time at home. I got the Planet Waves S.O.S. for free with a few packs of strings and was eager to see how well it would work, but was a bit surprised that I couldn't get the hang of it right away. While it is a little bit tricky to understand at first, once you get the hang out it I think that you'll enjoy using it as it making tuning pretty easy. There isn't much to it, but you have to make sure that you can read the light properly to gauge if you are in tune or not. While it is a unique tuner, I do not think that it is the most effective method. Whether you need a tuner for home use or for gigging, I would recommend going with something a bit more reliable like a pedal version of a tuner, as I find that that is the best method for myself. The price of this I do not really know since I got it for free, but since I got it for free I can assume that it won't cost all that much if you want to pick one up and while it is a cheap option for a tuner, if you are using it for live shows I would strongly recommend getting pedal. This is definitely worth a look at but to me, while unique, this isn't the best method for tuning your guitar.