Pete Cornish - Worth It ?

Gassage

I'll be completely honest about this.

1) I do see guitar gear as an investment- a way of getting money into savings you can use. On that basis, Cornish is a no-brainer for holding its value.
2) The myths- I can name a cheaper pedal that'll do much of what Pete's stuff will do to 95%. As an example, I still adore the Wampler Euphoria (will do SS3) and the only reason I don't have one is I'm very rigid about what can fit on my board. 8 pedals, that's it. A Luner Mod will do G2 territory, and a Skreddy Cog Diss will ape a P2. But, it's the 5% you pay for. It really is that good.
3) Live gigging- can an audience hear the difference? Not a hope.
4) Studio- yes, this is where it can be heard.
5) Unbreakability- a myth. I have had a couple of failures. But I have also had his pedals a long time. However, if you're playing out and your unobtanium P1 is totally central to everything, and it goes tits up, Joe's Musical Exchange isn't going to have another. So other brands score on that basis.
6) Noise issues- a myth. As noisy or not as any others.
7) TES- as a one trick pony, unbeatable. Timeline is better if you want more than a couple of delay sounds at 95% of the sound quality. Super Chorus- a complete and utter waste of £1100. I sold mine for £2000, so who's the mug? it spent more time as an amp splitter.
8) ABY Boxes and loop boxes- unbeatable. Utterly astonishing tone. These are the kiddies.
9) If I can only keep one, it would be the P1 all day long- all the others can be replicated. The P1 is a supreme muff if you like grain with your muff. CC1 is also awesome. it makes a Timmy sound like a toy.
10) Every single thing he's ever sent to me or supplied has been the finest money can buy. Even chicken head knobs. I sent him soem in a different colour once- sent them back with a snotty note saying plastic was rubbish and unusable in his jewellry!!
11) Would I buy them all again? Tough one. They are truly special. Part of me wants to sell the lot and achieve the same for a 1/4 of the price. Prob not.

I had the pleasure of back to backing an Effectrode Blackbird with my CC1/SS3/G2 the other day. Now the BB is miles cheaper, but still a bloody expensive pedal. However, the difference in separation and definition was absolutely noticeable and I tried it for hours. This is the 5% that I mean. it's like drinking out of a glass that's been in a dishwasher with dishwasher salt!! It's pristine. Blackbird is an incredible pedal and the best thing I've heard close to PC stuff.

Are they worth it? No, in the same way a Ferrari is not worth 50 times the price of a Subaru Impreza or something like that. But one thing I'd not diss is his dedication to doing things his way and the right way. He's a gem (if a very grumpy one) to deal with and will spend hours helping you.

EDIT- re TES, it's a gem, but £1100 and no tap tempo or digital read out? I prefer my Timeline for its all-round abilities, even if it doesn't do pure 2k/3khz delay quite as well as the TES does. But the TL lets me do Echoplex, DMM, TC2290.....so it wins. The 'rehoused DD2' thing is an urban myth- it uses one component- the DD2 chip. The TES is 240v for a start....

Buffer- every board can benefit from his awesome buffer- it's very good and everything works better as a result of having the buffers on the board. But you can get an LD1 for £175 on eBay (which makes a lot of sense).

LAST EDIT: one thing that is boring is it takes the fun out of tinkering. I have 4 dirt pedals, and will probably keep them forever. I buy things like EP Boosters and Lazy J things and they are not as good, even though I want to try them. So my board is pretty much as it'll always be now.

Gassage

ThePrettyDamned said:

Not sure, but IIRC the ss2 was a variant on a tubescreamer.

MXR Distortion +

Wazmeister

Gassage,

An absolutely wonderful post - thanks mate...

How does the P1 clean up with the guitar volume ?

Appreciate your time mate. By the way, post your 'board on here. It looks incredible !

Gassage

Waz-

It's great. It's bloody powerful though. I can never get the gain over 1 oclock or vol over 10 oclock. I stack into CC1 with a midhump.

Board:

octatonic

EdGrip said:

Pete Cornish sure solders those simple electronic components into simple circuits better than other people do.

LOL.

Gassage

Would also say- in the guitar world there's a few reference builders. Gil Yaron for LP's. Tom Anderson for superstrats, Howard Dumble for amps.

Are Gil's Les Pauls worth 5 times that of a Gibbo? To use the soldering analogy, does Gil sand with a 500 grit better than anyone else?

Is a Dumble worth £60k?!?!

No is the simple answer. But in each case, these are craftsmen with great track records, going to the next level of quality. Pete is lucky he was doing this when no-one else was, so his brand is halo'ed by the likes of Page, May and Gilmour. Of course it's not that much better, but they (Gil and co) are building a one off bespoke thing, as with Pete. That attracts a premium.

One thing I do know is that he does his very best in every aspect. Whether or not it's worth the money is your call of course.

As I said- would I do it again? No is the answer to that. But I'm happy I did, if that makes sense.

Wazmeister

Once again, a great and insighful post...

Gassage

Finally, finally....I love guitars and music as we all do. I'm 50 and have a good job.

Just like buying a Rolex, or a Purdy shotgun, or a bottle of 1995 Le Pin, there's something special about possessing what is perceived generally as the finest money can buy. Now in our case this is very subjective, and I know I have heard Mex strats that piss on CS strats, so it's always very difficult to make a call.

Compared to the Klon hype, PC's stuff is a bargain too!

Is Pete's stuff the best? Only our ears can decide that, but nothing is spared in terms of his input, his desire for quality and his dedication.

My ears say his dirt pedals (I underline the words dirt pedals- I'm less enamoured with other stuff and don't see the point of it quite so much) are the best I have heard and I know the quality is as good as you can get. Is it worth the price? Well maybe not but you'll lose a lot more money if you buy new Boss BD2, so at least you have the assurance that some other mug will take it off you for what you paid for it (or more!).

crunchman

Gassage said:

Buffer- every board can benefit from his awesome buffer- it's very good and everything works better as a result of having the buffers on the board. But you can get an LD1 for £175 on eBay (which makes a lot of sense).

I built myself a clone of the Cornish buffer.  It does seem to make everything sound better. 

Details here although I did it on stripboard and sourced the parts myself:

http://shop.pedalparts.co.uk/Cream_Buff_guitar_signal_buffer/p847124_8506552.aspx

Gassage

crunchman said:

Gassage said:

Buffer- every board can benefit from his awesome buffer- it's very good and everything works better as a result of having the buffers on the board. But you can get an LD1 for £175 on eBay (which makes a lot of sense).

I built myself a clone of the Cornish buffer.  It does seem to make everything sound better. 

Details here although I did it on stripboard and sourced the parts myself:

http://shop.pedalparts.co.uk/Cream_Buff_guitar_signal_buffer/p847124_8506552.aspx

A mate of mine in Israel has de-gouped a Cornish buffer. Said it was a simple 'bootstrap' buffer (whatever that means) but well made and with top quality stuff, but could be made for £30.

ICBM

I think the idea is that it mimics a traditional valve amp's input stage loading characteristics when seen by a guitar that's plugged straight in, so it gives exactly the same tone.

allicio

No offence to anyone who has one and I'm sure there incredible! But am I the only person that thinks there ugly as fuck??

ThePrettyDamned

allicio said:

No offence to anyone who has one and I'm sure there incredible! But am I the only person that thinks there ugly as fuck??

No.

For the money paid, I'd expect something beyond ZVex levels of artistry.

I always thought zvex justified cost with artwork alone, not to mention the fact they make some pretty innovative and bizarre circuits. 

ICBM

I actually quite like Cornish's '1960s military equipment' look.

Better than those ridiculous swirly paint jobs with no lettering, anyway.

Gassage

ICBM said:

I actually quite like Cornish's '1960s military equipment' look.

Better than those ridiculous swirly paint jobs with no lettering, anyway.

Pete worked for the military for years. That's where he learned.

Wazmeister

Well, i'll soon learn about the 'truth v hype' as there is a CC-1 incoming...

allicio

As if there was any doubt!! Lol I wanna see your board mate you've got some nice gear!

Gassage

Happy PC day.

Wazmeister

It's interesting because my whole 'board is undergoing changes...

I acquired a PTD Mini Bone last week, and that is truly mind blowing, as a light OD, clean boost AND as a fuzz. If this Cornish impresses, though, I will be ordering a G-2.

Gassage

Waz- the offer remains re trying mine. Bham B3.