Dunlop Manufacturing

Last updated
Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc
Company type Private
Industry Consumer electronics
Founded1965
FounderJim Dunlop  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Headquarters Benicia, California
Subsidiaries MXR
Website http://www.jimdunlop.com

Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc. is a manufacturer of musical accessories, especially effects units, based in Benicia, California, United States. Founded in 1965 by Jim Dunlop Sr., the company grew from a small home operation to a large manufacturer of music gear. Dunlop has acquired several well-known effects pedal brands, including Cry Baby, MXR and Way Huge.

Contents

Background and history

Scottish immigrant Jim Dunlop founded the Jim Dunlop Company in 1965 as a part-time business while working as a processing and chemical engineer at Barr and Stroud in Glasgow. He was an apprentice of the creator of the first hip replacement, William "Bill" Wallace. His first product was the Vibra-Tuner, a small device that attached to a guitar with a suction cup and displayed whether the guitar was in tune with the vibration of a small reed.

While visiting music stores to sell his new product, someone told him that musicians needed a good capo, remarking that anyone who made a good capo that could handle a 12-string guitar would make a lot of money. Using his engineering background, Dunlop created the toggle capo, and then worked with a local machine shop to build the first capo dies, manufacturing what eventually became the long running "1100 series" capo.

Starting from his living room, Dunlop later moved construction to his garage, and then to a location outside the house.

On March 19, 1972, he moved into the pick market, after reading every issue of Guitar Player magazine and noting musicians’ comments concerning what they liked and did not like about picks. He made his first picks from nylon, and continues to produce these.

Also in 1972, Dunlop left his job at Dymo Industries to focus on his own company full-time. He moved his family to Benicia, California and set up shop in Benicia Industrial Park. A few years later, he outgrew that building and moved to Industrial Way.

Dunlop products now range from capos and picks to slides, strings, fret wire, strap retainers, and a variety of electronic effects, including the original Cry Baby wah-wah pedal, the Uni-Vibe phaser, Heil Talk Box, and the MXR and Way Huge lines of stompboxes.

Dunlop Manufacturing founder Jim Dunlop Sr died on February 6, 2019, at the age of 82. [1] [2]

Way Huge Electronics

Jeorge Tripps launched Way Huge in 1992. [3] In late 1999 the company closed its doors when Tripps went to work for Line 6. In 2008, Tripps and the company moved to Dunlop Manufacturing and resurrected the Way Huge line, including the Swollen Pickle (a fuzz), Pork Loin (an overdrive), Fat Sandwich (a distortion), [3] and Green Rhino (another overdrive). They have also recently reissued the much sought-after and often cloned Red Llama overdrive, notable for its volume boost and gain past 2 o'clock which results in a sound that is very distorted and has considerable mid-range presence. [4] Way Huge has also collaborated with Joe Bonamassa on various drive pedals including the 'Penny Saver Royale' and the 'Overrated Special'. [5]

Tortex

Introduced in 1981, Tortex is the company's brand name for an acetal based line of plectra. The overall feeling of the picks is meant to mimic the feeling of vintage tortoise shell picks (as genuine tortoise shell picks have been banned since 1973). [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Effects unit</span> Electronic device that alters audio

An effects unit, effects processor, or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vox (company)</span> Musical equipment manufacturer

Vox is a British musical equipment manufacturer founded in 1957 by Thomas Walter Jennings in Dartford, Kent, England. The company is most famous for making the Vox AC30 guitar amplifier, used by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, Queen, Dire Straits, U2, and Radiohead; the Vox Continental electric organ, the Vox wah-wah pedal used by Jimi Hendrix, and a series of innovative electric guitars and bass guitars. Since 1992, Vox has been owned by the Japanese electronics firm Korg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wah-wah pedal</span> Effect pedal used manually with electric guitars to express a sweeping vocal quality

A wah-wah pedal, or simply wah pedal, is a type of effects pedal designed for electric guitar that alters the timbre of the input signal to create a distinctive sound, mimicking the human voice saying the onomatopoeic name "wah-wah". The pedal sweeps a band-pass filter up and down in frequency to create a spectral glide. The wah-wah effect originated in the 1920s, with trumpet or trombone players finding they could produce an expressive crying tone by moving a mute in, and out of the instrument's bell. This was later simulated with electronic circuitry for the electric guitar when the wah-wah pedal was invented. It is controlled by movement of the player's foot on a rocking pedal connected to a potentiometer. Wah-wah effects may be used without moving the treadle as a fixed filter to alter an instrument’s timbre, or to create a "wacka-wacka" funk-styled rhythm for rhythm guitar playing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boss Corporation</span> Japanese musical effects manufacturer

Boss is a manufacturer of effects pedals for electric guitar and bass guitar. It is a division of the Roland Corporation, a Japanese manufacturer that specializes in musical equipment and accessories. For many years Boss has manufactured a wide range of products related to effects processing for guitars, including "compact" and "twin" effects pedals, multi-effect pedals, electronic tuners and pedal boards. In more recent times, Boss expanded their product range by including digital studios, rhythm machines, samplers and other electronic music equipment. They also are now manufacturing solid-state amplifiers and speaker heads such as the Waza and the Katana. Both feature multi-effects units meant to emulate Boss' classic effects pedals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scholz Research & Development, Inc.</span> Music technology company

Scholz Research & Development, Inc. was the name of the company founded by musician and engineer Tom Scholz to design and manufacture music technology products.

Morley Pedals is the name of a guitar effects pedal company, famous for manufacturing wah-wah pedals and other treadle type effects for guitar. Morley pedals use electro-optical circuitry rather than a potentiometer to control the effect. The foot treadle controls a shutter inside the pedal that in turn controls the amount of light reaching a photoresistor. The advantage to this system is that there are no potentiometers in the signal path to wear out and become "scratchy sounding" over time. Electro-optical circuitry is used throughout the classic Morley pedal line, which includes or has included volume pedals, delay pedals, chorus and phaser pedals, and many others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunlop Cry Baby</span>

The Dunlop Cry Baby is a popular wah-wah pedal, manufactured by Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc. The name Cry Baby was from the original pedal from which it was copied, the Thomas Organ/Vox Cry Baby wah-wah, first manufactured in 1966. Thomas Organ/Vox failed to register the name as a trademark, leaving it open for Dunlop. More recently, Dunlop manufactured the Vox pedals under licence, although this is no longer the case.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibanez Tube Screamer</span> Guitar overdrive pedal

The Ibanez Tube Screamer is a guitar overdrive pedal, made by Ibanez. The pedal has a characteristic mid-boosted tone popular with blues, rock and metal players. The Tube Screamer has been used by many guitarists to create their signature sound, and is one of the most successful, widely copied, and custom-modified ("modded") overdrive pedals in the history of the electric guitar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calm Like a Bomb</span> 1999 song by Rage Against the Machine

"Calm Like a Bomb" is a song by American rock band Rage Against the Machine from their third album The Battle of Los Angeles. Like their song "Tire Me" from the 1996 album Evil Empire, “Calm Like a Bomb” never had a music video or was released on any media formats. It did, however, receive enough radio airplay to become an album favorite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MXR</span> Music effects company

MXR is a New York–based manufacturer of effects pedals from Rochester. The company was co-founded in 1972 by Keith Barr and Terry Sherwood and incorporated as MXR Innovations, Inc. in 1974. The MXR trademark is now owned by Jim Dunlop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fuzz Face</span> Guitar Effect Pedal

The Fuzz Face is an effects pedal for electric guitar, used also by some electric bass players. It is designed to produce a distorted sound referred to as "fuzz", originally achieved through accident such as broken electrical components or damaged speakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maxon Effects</span>

Maxon is the brand name used by the Nisshin Onpa company of Japan for its line of effects pedals designed for guitar and bass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cummings (musician)</span> Musical artist

John Cummings is a Scottish musician and record producer, best known for being a former member of Glaswegian band Mogwai, mostly playing guitar, as well as programming, production, keyboards and vocals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vladimir Holstinin</span> Musical artist

Vladimir Petrovich Holstinin is a Russian guitarist. He is one of the founding members of heavy metal band Aria.

The MXR Dyna Comp is an effects unit, which is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument. This effects unit is produced by the MXR company intended for use with electric guitar. Made since the 1970s, the MXR Dyna Comp, which adds its own coloring to the tone, has become a frequently copied and widely used guitar effect, even a standard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MXR Phase 90</span>

The MXR Phase 90 is a phaser effects pedal introduced in 1972 by MXR.

Keeley Electronics is an American manufacturer of effect units for electric guitars. The company, founded by Robert Keeley and operating from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, started with the Keeley Compressor pedal along with modifications for effects by Boss and Ibanez.

Shenzhen Mooer Audio Co., Ltd. is a manufacturer of musical accessories, especially effects units, based in Shenzhen, China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fulltone</span> American musical effects manufacturer

Fulltone USA Inc. is an American manufacturer of effects pedals for the electric guitar. Founded by Michael Fuller in California in 1991, Fulltone was one of the first "boutique" pedal companies and became best-known for its overdrive pedals, the Full-Drive and OCD, with the latter dubbed by Music Radar "one of the most legendary overdrives ever made."

References

  1. ↑ "Jim Dunlop Sr., Music Gear Innovator, Has Died". Loudwire.com. February 7, 2019. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Jim Dunlop". Napa Valley Register . Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises, Inc. February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
  3. 1 2 Childs, Zac (May 2009). "Stompbox Flashback: MXR '76 Dyna Comp, Three by Way Huge". Vintage Guitar . pp. 143–44.
  4. ↑ Riario, Paul (27 December 2011). "Guitar World Staff Picks: Paul Riario's Top 10 Effect Pedals of 2011". Guitar Player . Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  5. ↑ "Way Huge Overrated Special review". Musicradar.com. 15 October 2016.
  6. ↑ "The Ultimate Guide to Guitar Picks". ehomerecordingstudio.com. 10 September 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.