Chord Company's Cable Mastery Hits the Road

Beyond the home audio system: Chord Company's cable mastery hits the road

The UK’s leading AV cable specialist opened its Wiltshire factory to touring musicians, who built their own instrument cables, and rewired their pedalboards, using the same conductors and shielding found in its audiophile hi-fi cables

18 August 2026, Amesbury, Wiltshire: In a factory on the outskirts of Stonehenge, usually reserved for hand-building the UK's most advanced hi-fi and AV cables, two touring bands recently swapped their guitars for soldering irons. Blue Nation and MeMe Detroit spent a day at Chord Company's Wiltshire factory, building their own instrument cables and rewiring their guitar pedalboards, alongside the same technicians who normally craft the company’s top-of-the-range audiophile-grade products.

The visit represents the most visible chapter yet in a relationship that's been developing quietly for months: working musicians turning to a manufacturer better known for high-performance hi-fi cable to get the best tone from their instruments, both in the studio and on stage.

Almost famous: Audiophile engineering goes on the road

For over 20 years, Chord Company has been quietly hand-buildinginstrument cables in the UK, alongside its established hi-fi and AV ranges, a move driven as much by the fact that its own team is packed with active musicians as by engineering diversity. The company identified a clear gap between off-the-shelf instrument cables and the sound quality its team took for granted in the audioworld and set about closing it.

The Chord Company Cobra instrument and patch cable rangeapplies trusted hi-fi geometry directly to the stage and studio: silver-plated copper conductors, low-loss FEP insulation and dual-layer foil-and-braid shielding in a twisted-pair configuration, engineered for maximum signal integrity. And there’s more: the cables are built to survive touring, including bespoke patch cable plugs designed to fit tightly packed pedalboards as seen on the board of Blue Nation's Luke Weston (see below).

The diversification doesn't stop at instrument leads: Chord Company's hi-fi power cables, which use extensive shielding, high-grade conductors and proprietary ARAY technology, have also found a home feeding guitar amplifiers, delivering cleaner power for musicians crafting their sound in the studio and on tour

Band aid

On the bench alongside Chord Company's technicians, both bands cut, soldered and tested their own leads before moving on to the more delicate job of rewiring their pedalboards — access rarely offered to touring artists, and a close-up look at the work behind every lead they now play through.

Speaking about the experience, Neil Murdoch of Blue Nation said: “Chord Company gets us and gets our sound. From the word go, they wanted to get to the bottom of what we wanted and how they could support us to level up not only our live sound but also in the studio. The power cables are like nothing on earth and the amount of comments and feedback we get from sound engineers and stage hands about the build quality is scary. That is when you know you have a great product on your hands, when it stops people in their tracks.”

Blue Nation’s Luke Weston added: “I loved the visit to the Chord Company factory; it's always nice to be able to ‘eye a gaff’properly. They make incredible products, though. And I love taking things apart, so it was great to put some cables back together!”

MeMe Detroit said: “Choosing to work with Chord Company was an easy decision. They're such an ace company that we, as a band, can both rely on and trust. They're attentive to our needs, ensuring we have all bases covered when it comes to our cables, and their cables not only improve our sound substantially (goodbye old hums and fizz), but they're also hard-wearing enough to last us when touring from show to show. Getting to visit the Chord Company factory recently was such a buzz! Seeing behind the scenes of how our cables are made and meeting the amazing team and talent that handcraft our fabulous leads was really eye-opening and inspiring. The Chord Company blatantly take real pride in the quality of their work and it definitely shows!”

Trusted by a growing roster of talent

Blue Nation and MeMe Detroit join a wider, cross-genre group of artists already relying on Chord Company’s proprietary cable technology, including acclaimed jazz guitarist, composer and arranger Rob Luft, and singer-songwriter Reema, whose acoustic recordings demand ultra-clear signal translation. Direct feedback from working musicians across genres remains central to Chord Company's development process, ensuring every cable withstands real-world touring while delivering uncompromised sound.

Why diversification matters

The Chord Company Cobra project challenges the assumption that audiophile-grade cable engineering belongs only in home hi-fi systems. For Chord Company, it's a natural extension of its range, inspired by a team who are musicians as much as technicians and engineers, and for touring artists, proof that audiophile engineering holds up — and makes an audible difference — on stage