I didn't get a chance to try this cord before buying it . . my decision was based on rave reviews from Bass Player and some other bassists. My previous cable was a Leader Whirlwind, which cost under $20. I heard a huge improvement when I switched to the whirlwind from a cheap-o cable (horizon?) a while ago, and was hoping for another quantum leap with the Alessandro. I didn't get it. The Alessandro does sound better, but you have to squint to hear the difference. It's nothing you'd hear on stage with other musicians playing. The difference might show up in a very high quality recording. Interestingly, the differences aren't what I expected--I thought I'd hear greater clarity and a more open high end. Instead, I heard more smoothness and little more midrange presence.

This is the cheapest of the the three Alessandro cables. The middle one is a double balanced design and probably sounds a lot better--this is the cable that a lot of people are replacing their MIT Ripcords with. It costs about $80, and I haven't tried it. The high end one is made of silver (mined on some other planet, maybe?) and costs as much as a car. I don't know if anyone uses this.

Overall, the Guitar 1 is a good cable--the best conventional cable I've used. But the differences are subtle, and not great enough to my ears to make it a good value. In the future, I'll either spring for the Guitar 2 cable, or go back to the cheap and very good whirlwinds.

One other thing--I'm not too convinced by the stress relief on it. George Alessandro will fix it for free if anything goes wrong, but I'd like to see a more solid design. Mine's been wrapped with gaffer's tape on the ends to keep them from kinking.

Construction	75%
Sound	90%
Customer service	100%
Coolness	95%
Value	70%
Overall	80%