bOrN iN The uSA! - Music & Sound Retailer

handful of OEMs manufacture fornearly every major brand (includingwell-known U.S. brands). Theresult is a flooding of ‘me-too’competitors in the marketplace.We didn’t see the point in beinglike everyone else. We are a small,boutique custom drum companythat began with a mantra: to buildthe Ferrari of drums. In order tomanufacturer a super-premiumproduct at the pinnacle of tier-oneproducts, it was imperative that wehave total control of the process.We’re proud of the fact that we’remaking a product on U.S. soil andputting people, vendors, and suppliersto work. Isn’t that what weshould be doing, after all?” —JayGaylen, Ford Drums“Over the last few years, wehave concentrated on improvingour technology in the U.S.A. andthat has paid a huge return to ourcompany and our customers. Onour U.S.A. instruments, we canoffer the customer the chance toselect the exact pieces of woodand hardware they want for theirinstrument.” —Stuart Spector,Spector Bass“We believe in supporting U.S.workers by keeping our productionhere at home. We believe thatour U.S. production (we produceeverything at our facility in Pacific,Mo.) consistently provides betterquality and reliability. As weproduce Mel Bay products at ourheadquarters, we can monitor productionon a daily basis to ensure itmeets the standards our customersexpect.” —Jeff Ponte, Mel Bay“We manufacture in the U.S.A.so that we can focus on customcase manufacturing. In the sewngoods market, there are a lot ofcompetitors, so being able to offercustom and OEM manufacturingin small quantities is a hugestrategic advantage. We also aredeeply embedded in the country/bluegrass markets, which tend tohave a higher loyalty and affinityfor American-made products.”—Steve Simmons, ColoradoCase Company“One hundred percent of ErnieBall strings and Music Man instrumentsare made here exclusively inthe U.S.A. We feel there’s a distinctquality difference, and more thananything, we like being in controlof the production process to ensurethe products that are shipped outmeet our family’s long-runningstandards.” —Brian Ball, ErnieBall“Building products in our factoryaffords us the ability to tweakour product for maximum performancethroughout the build cycle.We can make changes as needed.”—Ray Maxwell, Eventide“The majority of Barcus-Berrypickups are made in the UnitedStates. We have not strayed fromthe Barcus-Berry factory that hasmade the products what they aretoday. The level of quality fromthis U.S.-based factory has givenBarcus-Berry its reliable reputation.”—Kimberly Hawthorne,Barcus-Berry“Vic Firth manufactures all ofour drum sticks, mallets, practicepads, and drum mutes in Newport,Maine. We only use the bestgrades of American Hickory fromKentucky and Tennessee for ourdrum sticks due to their superiorquality and well-known durabilityover imported wood types. Thisallows us to maintain the highestquality standards and immediateproduct shipment to our partnerswithin 24 hours with a 99 percentfill rate, which is critical for thedealers to maintain our mutualcustomers.” —Mark Dyke, VicFirth“Fender is a company that wasborn in Southern California and,over time, has literally helped to defineAmerican music culture. Thatfact is essential to the proverbialDNA of our company and everythingwe do, and we will continueto remain true to our roots.(continued on page 27)Five wicked little pedals with killer stacks oF tone.Each tempting SansAmp Character Series pedal is a time capsule of distinctive ampliferstyles taken from decades of tone born in the UK and the USA. You can explore theseiconic tones, then tweak them your way with the amp-like knobs and the uniqueCharacter control, which delivers tones from classic vintage to red hot mod. Every pedalfeatures true SansAmp speaker cab emulation specifically voiced for each amp type,delivering a complete stage and recording solution. Go on, take a bite.BritishThe legendary crunch of British steel andGreenback-style speakers delivers searingblues to UK anarchy from this Anglo-voicedpedal. It all adds up to a well tasty spot o’bovver, Brit-style.caliForniaFrom chiming, woody cleans, gnarly ‘wickergrille’overdrive and supernatural silkysustain to devastating, ballsy chunk of ahigh gain rectifier. It’s everything you needto create your own California dream tone.Designed and Manufactured in the U.S.A. - www.tech21nyc.comBlondeThis Blonde dishes out pure American toneto the stratosphere. Sparkly, spanky cleansto the bark of a hard-pushed tweed, maxingout in fat boosted lead tone. Hop on for onewild ride through history.liverpoolThat distinctive diamond grille tone is yoursfor the tweaking. This smokin’ amp stylehas a voice that shook generations. Push itto the limit and it will, it will, rock you.vt BassLegendary bass tone for players who enjoybeing heard. Bask in thick, articulatedtones, from chunky funk to the high gaingrowl of indie rock. Clean focused punch todirty earthquaking rump, you dial it in.