Your local electronics store (not ratshack) should have everything from XLR connectors to wire strippers to MIDI connectors as well as high quality 3 contuctor mic cable, 60/40 solder, shrink wrap and nearly everything else you would need.
http://www.partsexpress.com i get all my stuff from them, they have everything, well markertek.com has bulk snake cable and stuff, but yeah partsexpress still has alot
I agree about buying local, but the price difference can be way too great. I used to buy switchcraft XLR connectors from a local electronics distributor for $5 and $6 apeice (M/F). Then I found that markertek carries the exact same ones for $1.99. They also wanted to charge like a buck a foot to special order 40 cent canare. That's just too big a difference