Friends in the news

[Enzo]

Hey, don't know how many of us reads the Music and SOund Retailer magazine, but our own John Frondelli got hisself a nice write-up starting on the front page of the April 15, 2009 issue. A story about the service end of the musical instrument industry. Got a photo in there and everything. Way to go John.


I could make some catty remark about him needing the Grecian Formula 16, but the good lord has seen fit to make that irrelevant in my own case. So I won't say anything.

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

I could make some catty remark about him needing the Grecian Formula 16, but the good lord has seen fit to make that irrelevant in my own case. So I won't say anything.

Ha ha ha us old geezers need to stick together... regardless of counting hairs...

[jrfrond]

Yeah, too bad I haven't received my own copy yet!

Guys, this was a pitch for recognition of the ENTIRE service industry that resulted in the interview with editor Brian Berk. One day, while reading M S & T over lunch, Brian was discussing SERVICE in his column, but it was focused at SALES service in the retail store. A little perturbed that the industry is painfully UNAWARE of the technical service end of the business, I e-mailed Brian, and he said "Well, let's do an interview". This was just prior to NAMM. At NAMM every year, we have a "service dinner", comprised of various service center owners/managers from private service centers around the country, with service directors from various manufacturers, so we invited Brian to our dinner. After NAMM blew over, he came to our shop (he lives a couple of blocks away) and did the interview, pics, etc. Myself and our owner, Steve Dwork, supplied him with pertinent information, as did our colleague and West Coast counterpart, Ruth Fischler, from Advanced Musical Electronics in Los Angeles.

It was great that we got the interview, but it wasn't about us (i.e. dBm) as a shop, it was about ALL of us who own and/or manage service centers. I wanted to let it be known that we service folk, the bastard children of the industry, are part of what makes a smooth-running music retail industry for retailers and manufacturer's alike. It's about time we got some past due recognition.

[stingray_65]

KUDOS to you!

[bnwitt]

John,
I share you sentiments. It seems though that with manufacturers heading towards disposable equipment and away from warranty repairs we may be more underappreciated than ever in the future.

[Amp Kat]

Way to go John and nice job Sir !

[jrfrond]

Thanks guys!

We are a relatively small industry, and have always gotten FAR too little recognition. For several years now, I have thought about forming/chartering a formal service center alliance. There is MITA, but it's geared mainly for keyboard servicers. I am talking more about MI/Pro Audio.

As far as our obsolescence is concerned, while it is true that there is a lot of new, disposable gear, there will ALWAYS be larger and/or pricier items to service. The key to survival is to roll with the changes. Guitar amps and keyboards will always be there, but at the pro audio level, there have been major paradigm shifts. For instance, we specialized in ADAT's way back in the day, then it went to DA88's, HD recorders, and now we are servicing Digidesign hardware. All of this required training and authorization. At the same time, outboard gear has slowed down because of plug-ins, but legacy vintage outboard gear, as well as vintage keys has seen an upswing. The old saying is that money is green no matter where it comes from, so if you can adapt, you can stay in the black.

Hey, anyone need ADAT parts?

[jrfrond]

For those who might want to read the interview, it is now online:

http://www.msretailer.com/html/2009/04/coverC1.htm