Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Kleinman
Ben, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Ray Raydecker is an LLC. based in Columbia, Maryland.
The name is a pseudonym a friend would use when making a restaurant reservations restaurant, leading to a Seinfeld-like banter:
‘I’d like a 7:30 reservation for two, Ray Raydecker.’
‘That’s 7:30 for Ray Decker.’
‘No, it’s for Ray Raydecker.’
‘Ray Ray Decker?’
‘NO, RAY RAYDECKER.’
Etc., etc., etc.
Not a real musician, I’d tinkered with bass and guitar for 25 years and accumulated a small herd of high-end, boutique, custom-made instrument pedals.
These are used to build pedalboards, adult Lego sets. All rigging, no gigging.
Necessary glue for these pedal puzzles consists of patch cables (1/4” audio cables that connect pedals) and power cables (supplies DC power from a power supply to pedals).
One can purchase these pre-made, however, the need for many different lengths and configurations quickly becomes apparent.
What if I learned how to make these cables in any length for a fraction of the price?
I discovered a cable company that produced instrument cables with different colored sheaths, a material called TechFlex, making these the first ‘nice’ cables I’d encountered.
I wanted to make my own. I wanted to make mine better. I wanted to make mine different.
To do this, one must know how to solder, a skill then foreign to me.
YouTube, practice, sourcing parts from many different companies, failure, more practice, more failure and a boatload of persistence fueled my wont and ability to produce near-bulletproof cables. I started this journey in October 2018, one day after taking my board exams; I needed a new activity.
My right brain was jolted to life with the help of one cable component, a three-inch long by one-inch wide piece of maple or mahogany from a plug manufacturer called G & H Plugs. This ‘wood housing’ holds the 1/4” copper plug that connects instruments, amplifiers and pedals.
To create something different, something akin to the gear that I adored, I needed aesthetics and the wood housings fit the bill.
The formula for prototyping different types of cables became established: I would only use the best, sexiest, most rugged and durable parts, mix them together like a stew and create things the world had never seen.
In 2019, an instrument cable, speaker cable and two types of patch cables were prototyped, only to be refined and redesigned again and again. I bought a half dozen different colors of TechFlex and asked six musician friends to try them out.
Their impressed and positive feedback lead to the suggestion to actually produce and sell these.
I needed to be a real company. I wanted to be high end. I wanted to be boutique (a word I’ve never used when describing anything RR but use liberally when referring to other makers in the industry). I needed to make cables that ‘were not Etsy products.’
I had to stand out. The Raydecker (the first cable design, one with a wood housing on one side and a regular plug on the other) was unique but had potential to get to the next level. Painters were going to make this happen.
A pedal company called ZVEX Effects out of Minneapolis inspired me with their production of beautiful, one-off, handpainted chassis to house delicate, complex circuits. Tommy Rehbein, my first RR mentor and long-time ZVEX employee, suggested I reach out to Laura Bennett, also of Minneapolis, a painter, artist and musician whom I’d already purchased paintings from several times.
Laura painted for ZVEX throughout the late 2000s, creating iconic, recognizable-from-a-mile-away artwork and has since collaborated with other boutique pedal makers as well as Fender Custom Shop. It seemed like a natural team-up.
Equally as multi-colored and talented as Laura, yet completely different in style is Elizabeth Hlavek, ATR-BC, LCPA, of Annapolis, Maryland, a childhood friend of my wife’s since their years together at summer camp.
On January 9, 2020 the company was incorporated and Liz and Laura were hired, boasting one-of-a-kind work, evolving cables into usable art.
8 weeks later Covid hit without a sale. I assumed the role of homeschool teacher and filled my empty hours prototyping new items.
Traction was finally gained in the Grateful Dead community, largely consisting of musicians recreating Jerry Garcia rigs in May 2020. These generally older individuals proved to be the customers willing to pay top dollar for highly specialized cables. One of which, Jerry Decker, a dual cable for guitars with an OBEL (on-board effects loop), à la Jerry Garcia. Had it not been for the impromptu surplus of free time, new creations and builds would likely never have been made.
Then came professional connections. What better way to get the name and product out there than have professionals use cables on stage? A no-name gaining recognition in an already oversaturated audio cable industry was seeming impossible and I’d take any help I could get.
One professional musician led to another and Minneapolis soon became the first RR hub. In November 2020, I was introduced to Alex Maas of The Black Angels, psych rock stalwarts in the rich, far out Austin music scene. A founder of Levitation, an annual Austin-based music festival featuring nearly 100 bands, Alex selflessly introduced myself and the company to several indie musicians who were starting to tour again, now that Covid stopped canceling tours.
Living in close proximity to the Baltimore and DC concert circuits, Levitation connections helped introduce the brand when bands passed through town. Like one brings a bottle of wine to a party, I never show up empty handed when invited to a show. It’s as much fun for me as it is for them and I’ve always considered this my form of advertising.
Who actually uses the cables or not? Quite frankly, I don’t want to know. With that said, since January 2020, cables have landed in the hands of Steve Miller, Dinosaur Jr. (meeting Lou Barlow in front of the 9:30 Club before their show in February 2022 and handing him cables is a top 2 RR moment), John Waters, Primus (I bought the Q & A ticket to make it happen), Mike Gordon of Phish, a 52nd birthday gift commission for Q-Tip (A Tribe Called Quest) from the producer of Tribe’s last studio album, a Rothko-inspired hand painted Raydecker for Steve Swallow, an iconic bass player best know for switching from upright to electric bass and Josephine Wiggs of the Breeders, a band I saw perform at Lollapalooza 1994 when I was 12. She was the first musician to use a Ray Raydecker cable on stage at Madison Square Garden in April 2024, a feat topping of my wishlist for A LONG TIME.
I never know if the cables are thrown in the garbage or actually used, but getting cables in the hands of professional musicians gives me the feeling that somehow, in some way, RR has crossed a wrinkle in their brain. Maybe so, maybe not; for whatever reason, this means something to me. Some people collect baseball cards, some collect handbags.
Instagram (@rayraydecker), vending at pedal / instrument shows and word of mouth are how RR spreads through the community.
In less than 5 years, over 1300 instrument cables and a countless number of patch cables have entered the world. RR cables have been purchased in Brazil, Norway, Italy, the Middle East, Canada and Taiwan. We’re still searching for that Africa and Antarctica connect.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Balancing RR with my family was extremely challenging the first two years. I had difficulty separating the want and need to foster a budding company with the responsibilities of having a family.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
RR builds professional audio cables. We are known for unique, artisan instrument cables. I am most proud of the durability of the products and the professional industry connections I have made. I am also extremely proud of the https://rayraydecker.com/some-of-rays-friends page, showcasing many photographs I have personally taken of musicians using our cables on stage.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Eric Buchner has been Chief advisor since the start of the company. He is an extremely intelligent and reasonable sounding board. He had been a personal and professional friend for 7 years before the company was created.
Paul Haas of G & H Plugs has served as both technical and industry help since I started tinkering with a soldering iron.
Tommy Rehbein was a mentor well before the conception of the company, always there for industry communications and technical advice.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rayraydecker.com
- Instagram: @rayraydecker
