Amplifiers
Bill Putnam Jr essentially grew up in the music business. Bill’s father, Bill Putnam Sr., started Universal Audio in 1958 and was basically the inventor of the modern day recording console among many other fundamental recording technologies. Re-founded by Bill Jr. and his brother Jim in 1999,...
Florence Wilfer was born in France and was working for a musical distribution company when she met HP Wilfer, her future husband. The two have been working together at HP's Warwick Company since getting married in 1991. Florence has been critical in the operations, marketing and book keeping side...
Adrian Emsley is the Technical Director at Orange Amps in London. The company’s founder, Cliff Cooper, hired Adrian to lead the teams that created several key products for Orange including the RockerVerb, the OR-50 and the AD series, which was introduced in 1998. Over the years, Adrian has become...
Clive Roberts has wonderful memories of his parent’s passion for music. His mother played piano and his father performed his own songs on the ukulele-banjo for the troops during World War II. Clive picked up on their love of making music and set off to do the same. While interested in playing...
Brian Douglas enjoyed a career as a touring musician and songwriter both in rock and in house music, which gives him a unique perspective in understanding several facets of the needs of performers. As president of Cream City Music outside of Milwaukee, and an owner, he is able to provide that...
Kenny Smith serves as the Managing Director of the Peavey Hollywood store on Sunset Boulevard. However, this is only part of what he does in the shop. Kenny is a born salesman and enjoys teaching others fresh and effective ways to sell musical products. He feels nothing is more important than...
Bill Hughes is a hero among musical gearheads for his innovative amplifier designs throughout his career. He was hired into the industry by Jess Oliver (interview class of 2005) at the Ampeg Company. A year after joining the company in 1964, Bill worked on the SB12 bass amp, which led to a series...
Phil Jones grew up in the UK in the 1960s and, like many of his schoolmates, he wanted to be a Beatle! He played guitar and his first guitar was one he made, and later a bass. He created his own sound reinforcement company to assist local bands and soon discovered he loved PAs and building...
Bob Rufkahr's long career in the music business began in retail in 1962! He later moved into wholesale and manufacturing before he formed his own company, Image Marketing in 1980. Along the way he mentored a generation of industry salesmen who credit Bob for their own success both in marketing...
Earl Matzkin was arrested by the East German Army in 1985 for trying to pass the Berlin Wall that divided the country without the needed visas in order to visit the Petrof Piano Company. Earl had high hopes for exporting the piano to the United States, but was unaware of what was required to enter...