Guitar tone is something we all take very seriously, with companies like Voltage Cable Co. ensuring that our big purchases like amps and guitars can sound their best with premium cable between them.
We had the chance to chat to Thomas from Voltage Cable Co.
Thomas, thanks for taking the time! Can you give us a little backstory into your experience in the industry?
My start in music retail began when I got a call to start work at the local shop. I was in a tough spot in life and these guys gave me a shot at probably the coolest job I could imagine. Something I’m very thankful for.
I’ve been playing guitar since I was about seven and as soon as I heard and could play some Hendrix it was all over, being involved in the guitar industry either playing and or selling guitar stuff is all I had my sights set on. As much as I loved playing and making sounds I also became obsessed with what tools helped make those sounds. I remember pulling practice amps and pedals apart with my brother and figuring out how to make them work again! I started soldering at around 10 making robotics kits and fixing broken electric guitars handed down to me by my uncles…
Photo credit: Agnus Lewry @Angus.lewry
A blessing at the time, the local guitar shop mainly focused on boutique high end guitar amplifiers, it gave me an excellent education on tone and what sounds good. I was selling amps like Soldano, Bogner, Reynolds Valveart, hand wired Marshall/Fender and 3 Monkeys amps. We manufactured and offered amp modifications too so listening to amps being tested all day was very integral for shaping my early years/ears in the industry.
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Working at the shop allowed me to also see a gap in the market for products being manufactured in the USA that weren’t offered here to local shops. 2018 Voltage MI was formed as a distribution company and I started importing and offering cool niche USA products to shops here. I also always wanted to have a manufacturing business and seeing my American partners do it was very inspiring. Starting my own handmade range of boutique products has always been a dream of mine.
Voltage Cable Co.
I kept hearing from local shops that they wanted quality cables so then I began sourcing, designing and hand soldering products in my bedroom. Voltage Cable Co. (VCC) was born.
As VCC grew, I couldn’t keep up with it all myself, I needed help with the soldering. I managed to start collaborating with Pete Reynolds, my old boss at the music store I started in, way back at 18 years old. The story has come full circle. Pete is a valve amp genius and one of the best minds/engineers in the industry so I couldn’t have asked for a better lead technician to help scale this manufacturing operation and build our cables. Having Pete’s help allowed me to focus on sales and product. We have grown organically which is always nice.
We now sell our cables to many guitar stores in Australia, USA, EU, UK, China and Thailand. Chicago Music Exchange is one I’m very proud of!
It was such a great feeling to design a product and then offer it to the market. To see our cables sell and guitarists use them on some of the biggest stages, is an honour and dream come true. Incredibly grateful for having the privilege to start something like this.
How has your experience as a musician shaped your company today?
As a musician and being in love with sounds and tone, it has greatly shaped my opinion on gear in many ways. I guess I have to go right back to when I was seven, shopping in the local guitar store and being handed the right stuff. My ears gravitated towards the expensive stuff and so did my eyes. I learnt a long time ago that if you want that sound you have to have the right stuff.
Photo credit: Kristoffer Paulsen @kristofferpaulsen
Growing up realising this, it has fuelled an obsession for boutique guitar products like valve amps and pedals. As you can tell my distribution company deals only in boutique guitar gear and with our brand Voltage Cable Co, endeavour to manufacture the best lifetime cables possible. It’s what I want out of a cable and what many artists do too.
In your own words, why are quality cables so important?
Quality cables are important for tone and durability. Also there are other benefits like the way they feel and look, thus inspiring confidence so that the artistic expression can be what it will be.
We want our artists to feel confident on stage using our gear knowing it won’t fail them. It’s our worst fear! I think the biggest stage one of our Vintage Coils®️ has been used on is the Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre in the USA. Played by Vincent Neil Emerson, a country artist using a black coil!
Coiled cables
Why have you gone with the coiled design? What advantages have they got over straight cables?
Our first products are the Voltage Vintage Coils®️ due to local demand. I knew that what was in the market wasn’t up to standard. We were told this by artists and music shops around the globe. So we started to manufacture them and then here we are! I also think we could offer the designs and colours we wanted. It’s just a super cool line of products to begin with.
Have you got a horror story of your own about a cable debacle or a cable failing? How would a Voltage Cable Co. cable have helped?
Yes! My first ever expensive amp.
I saved up years for this thing – a Soldano Hot Rod 100+ head blew a transformer due to a dodgy speaker cable during a recording session, cables and their quality then became very important.
If you have good gear and even if you have non boutique gear, it’s best to use quality.
Voltage Cable Co. and their Voltage Vintage Coils®️ are all about quality, reliability, and ultimately allowing musicians to focus on the music, without worry of cables failing during the rigours of touring and gigging, without sacrificing quality of tone. Voltage Vintage Coils®️ are available for $139.00 AUD at their website, with cables offered in varying colours to match your mood, style, aesthetic or stage show, all built to last and a new length of 30ft, rolling out over the next month or so to keep you rockin’.
A few artists who choose Voltage Vintage Coils®️:
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Vincent Neil Emmerson
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Grace Bowers
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John Bohlinger (Songwriter & Premier Guitar)
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Steve Stout (Lifehouse)
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Jason wade (Lifehouse )
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Melanie Faye
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Minnie Marks
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Zane Banks
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Dave Powers (The Paper Kites )
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Clay Cook (Zac Brown Band)
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St Paul and the Broken Bones
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Adam Warrington (YUNGBLUD)
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JOY (Olivia McCarthy)
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Alessandro Martiny
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Sam Simmonds
