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Signature Gear For Artists In The Rock And Roll Spotlight
– Co-Development Deals With Quincy Jones, Joe Satriani, Billy Sheehan, Gene
Simmons and Sammy Hagar Add Up To Star Sized Equipment Sales
September 13, 2005
Companies such as SLS (SITI.OB), Peavey, and Loud Technologies (LTEC.OB)
have all developed signature gear for musical artists for consumers who
desire the exact equipment that the stars use themselves.
In the music industry, manufacturers and retailers recognize the power that
an artist’s association with a specific piece of gear can wield over
consumers of musical products. When a performer thinks enough of a piece of
gear to put his or her name on it, it is a signal to other musicians that
this piece of gear comes with an intrinsic seal of approval.
Obviously musicians that wish to emulate a certain artist’s tone, or sound,
will be interested in utilizing signature gear; but it is when that gear
appeals to performers outside of the specific musical genre that the
equipment is aimed at, that widespread acceptance will equal long production
runs and seemingly universal agreement on the tonal qualifications of an
instrument. A great example of this statement would be what is regarded as
probably the first signature instrument, the Gibson ‘Les Paul’ guitar, which
for almost half a century has been highly regarded by musicians of almost
every genre.
Equipment of the Stars
Musical equipment manufacturers such as SLS International (SITI.OB), Peavey
Electronics, Crate, and Ampeg (both subsidiaries of Loud Corp (LTEC.OB))
have all designed and manufactured signature equipment in association with
musicians who are well known for performing music with much energy expended
towards the attainment of tonal perfection.
Peavey Electronics recently completed their work on the Joe Satriani series
of guitar amplifiers, the JSX Line (including a 120 watt head as well as a
combo). On his website’s news section (www.satriani.com)
Joe Satriani (on tour in India) writes about the efficiency and ease of
relying on commercially available signature Satriani equipment from Peavey.
“Here in Mumbai, I will use a local JSX amp and speakers, and leave it here
in India when the tour is over. It's a dream come true to have my signature
series gear meet me whenever I am in the world and always sound so great.”
Satriani actively sought out the Peavey Company to work on his signature
amplifier, as much of the equipment he had been using to create his tonal
arsenal already came from Peavey products, such as the Classic 50, The
Triple XXX and the Peavey 6505. However, the wide variety of amplifiers that
he found himself using to craft tones on his recordings quickly became
unfeasible to utilize for live performances. Joe contacted Peavey to inquire
about the possibility of developing one amplifier that suited all of his
needs.
In an interview with Peavey’s Monitor magazine, Satriani said that, “My
requirements weren't bizarre or anything; I was looking for what most people
want, which is a great sound, flexibility in gain, the ability to have a few
different channels with the widest variety of tone controls possible.”
In an interview on his website, Satriani stated that the JSX amp represents
for him, “a holy grail of searching for an amp that has all of the
components that I would need, not only for a live performance, but also all
of the different applications that arise in the studio when I’m making
records”. Joe was looking for a three channel, all tube amplifier featuring
a variety of tones from vintage sounds right to modern ones.
The JSX of course features innovations that are exclusive to this product,
from the very simple and obvious (all of the controls are located on the
front of the amp) to the in depth (inclusion of a variable noise gate – once
again with the control knob on the front of the amp).
Signature Sound Equipment For The Masses
SLS International are unique in that their line of signature equipment – the
Q Line Series of home theatre and stereo speakers - is not only available
through dedicated high end music retailers, but is available to consumers
through the Wal Mart chain of retail locations. Their signature line product
is also unique in that the Q Line is affordably priced to be appealing to a
mass-market level of consumer.
The Q Line was co-developed in concert with Quincy Jones (who's known in the
music and film industry as 'Q') an entertainment icon of notable stature
(Sting would be a member of this exclusive club, and he also happens to
endorse SLS speakers). The Q Line combines SLS' proprietary "ribbon driver"
technology, which provides some of the marketplace's highest level of sonic
engineering with Mr. Jones' innovative design for optimum sound. Future Q
Line products may also incorporate SLS' Patented Evenstar digital amplifier
technology.
"This milestone event will place our systems throughout the country at one
of the most successful retailers in the world," said John Gott, SLS
International's chief executive officer. "We are gearing up for the
distribution of the system to the mass consumer market, and in the coming
weeks, we will increase our marketing initiatives in order to expand the
consumer awareness of this exciting new system."
In addition to a widespread distribution, thanks to the Wal Mart contract,
the Q Line is also currently being featured in Mark Burnett's "Rock Star:
INXS" Reality Show. "Our partnership with entertainment icon Quincy Jones
should help us gain wide exposure throughout the music industry,” said Gott,
“while our promotion agreement with Mark Burnett Productions should ensure
that our products gain key product placement on many of the leading shows on
television. Now is the ideal time for us to build brand recognition through
the exposure of the Q Line Silver Surround Sound Home Theater System before
a national television audience."
The Low End
The Ampeg company, which is famous for building bass amplifiers of notable
stature, has developed signature lines for the likes of Gene Simmons, and
Billy Sheehan, both models of which have unfortunately sold through their
initial sales runs but as Mr. Sheehan said in an interview with
MusicIndustryStocks.com, “They (Ampeg) have gotten so many requests for it
(it was very successful - why they stopped making it is beyond me) that they
may put it back into production. Many players depend on it in their systems
- guitar players too, so I think they'll do another run”.
Steve "Doc" Dachroeden, artist relations manager with St. Louis Music (owner
of the Ampeg and Crate companies and a subsidiary of Loud Technologies) has
worked on many signature series guitar amps, bass amps and guitars. “Most
signature series we sign up for a specific period of time. Once they run out
we decide whether or not to renew the contract." 'Doc' agreed with Billy
Sheehan's statement, "In regards to the Billy Sheehan signature pre amp, I
do have a lot of artists who use and rely on that pre amp, so we are going
to have to do another run at some point.”
Sheehan is notorious for providing a solid bottom end foundation in his gigs
with David Lee Roth, Talas, Mr. Big, and Steve Vai. According to a statement
on Billy’s website, his goal for his signature Ampeg gear was to, “eliminate
multiple preamps and outboard gear to achieve distinct, quality sounds”.
The Ampeg SVP-BSP is a two channel bass pre amp rooted in versatility and
designed to emanate Billy's solo signature sound. The SVP-BSP features a
hybrid preamp design making use of both tube (one 12AX7 valve) and
solid-state power sources as well as including a 9 band graphic equalizer, a
compressor, and a noise gate.
Mr. Sheehan told MusicIndustryStocks that he chose Ampeg to build his
signature line, “because they really wanted to do something with me as far
as outboard bass accessories. I've been a self-proclaimed bass gear head
since the early '70's. I think I had the first "rack" ever, and I've had
much custom gear designed (for me) over many years. I've used Ampeg gear
almost from the very start, and the engineers at St. Louis Music (Ampeg’s
parent company) were willing to listen, as well as add expert and creative
ideas to the SVP-BSP project. We will probably do more together in the
future.”
Sheehan continued to say that the SVP-BSP has a, “very cool parallel design
that allows a "mix" of effect, rather than running your whole bass through
it and losing low end. (I've used this technique since the beginning). This
is a coming trend now - I've spoken to several manufacturers, all of whom
are making and designing "parallel effect loop" boxes for bass AND guitar.”
Red Voodoo and The Punisher
The Sammy Hagar Crate Red Voodoo amp was discontinued last year when Sammy
started playing a different model of Crate amp onstage. St. Louis Music’s
Steve Dachroeden elaborated, “We are now talking with Sammy Hagar about
doing a redesign of his Red Voodoo amp, but it is still in the works. We
still make the Crate amps that Sammy uses personally on tour – eight
half-stack custom made Red Voodoo cabinets. We hope to be working with Sammy
again in the future.”
In Dachroeden’s experience, each signature equipment deal is initiated
differently. “Sammy was playing Crate heads, he was not a paid endorser, and
he used the amps because he liked them. So we spoke to him about the
possibility of making a signature line of Crate amps. Having a big name
artist like that involved with one of our products is always good to boost
the sales of an amp – it looks great for both parties involved.”
About eight years ago Ampeg manufactured the “Punisher” Bass amp for Kiss
bassist Gene Simmons. “That came about from a phone call from Gene,” said
Dachroeden, “he called us up and said, ‘Let’s make some money’.”
The process for the technical development of each signature piece of gear
also varies – for example Billy Sheehan was very involved with engineer
George McKale on the design of his signature preamp. “Billy would listen to
all of our prototypes and provide feedback; then the engineers would go back
to the drawing board,” said Dachroeden. “Sammy was also very involved; he
wanted more bottom end so we had to change the pre amp section of his head.
He also wanted no reverb, but we ended up putting a reverb on there anyway,
as we thought that that would sell better.”
Loud Technologies recently bought the St. Louis Music company, and
Dachroeden says that Loud is very excited about the opportunities available
through the existing artist roster, “and they are looking forward to doing a
lot more artist based business, from sponsorships to signature series.”
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