Founded | 2009 |
---|---|
Founders | Michael Bernstein, Founder Howard Swimmer ,Founder |
Headquarters | 201 South Highland Ave. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, |
The Premier Builders Guild was a Pennsylvania-based organization that assisted small manufacturers of boutique guitars and amplifiers in producing and marketing their products. [1] [2] The group was founded by Michael Bernstein and Howard Swimmer in 2009 in Arroyo Grande, California, and was brought to an end in 2016.
Brands associated with the guild include Fano Guitars, [3] Tone King, Two-Rock Amplifiers, Gjika Amplification, [4] and guitars by Gene Baker, Jason Z. Schroeder, Roger Giffin, Saul Koll, and Johan Gustavsson. [5]
C.F. Martin & Company is an American guitar manufacturer established in 1833 by Christian Frederick Martin. It is highly respected for its acoustic guitars and is a leading manufacturer of flat top guitars and ukuleles. The company has also made mandolins and tiples, as well as several models of electric guitars and electric basses, although none of these other instruments are still in production.
Warwick is a German bass guitar manufacturing company. Warwick basses were originally a premium brand offering a small range of models built from high quality and exotic tonewoods. The company also produces valve and FET amplifiers, speaker cabinets, bass guitar strings, and is the owner of the Framus trademark. Their headquarters and custom shops are located in Markneukirchen, Shanghai, and Nashville.
The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation is an American manufacturer and marketer of musical instruments and amplifiers. Fender produces acoustic guitars, bass amplifiers and public address equipment; however, it is best known for its solid-body electric guitars and bass guitars, particularly the Stratocaster, Telecaster, Jaguar, Jazzmaster, Precision Bass, and the Jazz Bass. The company was founded in Fullerton, California, by Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender in 1946. Andy Mooney has served as the chief executive officer (CEO) since June 2015.
Peavey Electronics Corporation is a privately-owned American company which designs, develops, manufactures, and markets professional audio equipment. Headquartered in Meridian, Mississippi, Peavey is one of the largest audio equipment manufacturers in the world.
Ashdown Engineering is a British manufacturer of instrument amplifiers, particularly for bass and acoustic guitars.
Line 6 is a musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer, best known as a pioneer in guitar amplifier and effect modeling. The company's products include guitar effects, modeling guitar amplifiers, software, electric guitars, and wireless systems. Line 6 has an active user community, and provides software that allows users to easily download and share patches or device settings for many of the company's products. Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Calabasas, California, the company has been a subsidiary of Yamaha Corporation since 2014.
Ampeg is a manufacturer best known for its bass amplifiers.
Tone King is a manufacturer of vacuum tube guitar amplifiers and stand-alone attenuators located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. Tone King was founded by Mark Bartel in 1993 in Kingston, New York, after studying vintage fender amplifiers with blues guitarist Ben Prevo. In 1994 Mark moved the company to Baltimore. Tone King is one of the boutique "vintage" amplifier companies making Fender style amps. Tone King was owned by the company Premier Builders Guild (PBG). In 2016 PBG went out of business and sold the Tone King brand to Boutique Amps Distribution (BAD), which now manufacturers these amps in Huntington Park, California.
James Donald Root is an American guitarist. He is one of two guitarists for heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #4, as well as the former lead guitarist for rock band Stone Sour.
Seymour Duncan is an American company best known for manufacturing guitar and bass pickups. They also manufacture effects pedals which are designed and assembled in United States. Guitarist and luthier Seymour W. Duncan and Cathy Carter Duncan founded the company in 1976, in Santa Barbara, California.
The Harmony Company is a former guitar manufacturing company that is currently a brand owned by Singapore-based BandLab Technologies. Harmony was, in its heyday, the largest musical instrument manufacturer in the United States. It made many types of string instruments, including ukuleles, acoustic and electric guitars and violins.
Tanglewood Guitars is an English manufacturer of stringed instruments, including electric, steel-string acoustic and classical guitars, bass guitars, banjos, mandolins, ukuleles, and guitar amplifiers.
Valco was a US manufacturer of guitar amplifiers from the 1940s through 1968.
Suhr Guitars is an American company that manufactures electric guitars and basses, guitar amplifiers, and effect units. The company is based in Lake Elsinore, California and was founded in 1997 by John Suhr, who "has a reputation for building exquisitely crafted guitars" and Steve Smith.
Kiesel Guitars is an American manufacturer of custom electric guitars and electric bass guitars located in Southern California, with a heritage dating back to 1946. In 2015, Kiesel Guitars split from Carvin Corporation, taking the guitar and bass portions of Carvin.
D'Angelico Guitars of America is an American musical instrument manufacturer based in Manhattan, New York. The brand was initially founded by master luthier John D'Angelico in 1932, in Manhattan's Little Italy. In 1999, Steve Pisani, John Ferolito Jr., and Brenden Cohen purchased the D'Angelico Guitars trademark. Cohen serves as the brand's president and CEO. Original D'Angelico guitars are collector's items and have been used by musicians including Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, Drake Bell, Bucky Pizzarelli, Chet Atkins, and Chuck Wayne. The D'Angelico Mel Bay New Yorker model was featured on the cover of the Mel Bay Publications' guitar method books for decades.
Gjika Amplification was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in the early 1980s, by Robert (Bob) Gjika. Gjika amplifiers are original designs, and are completely hand-wired.
St. Louis Music (SLM) is a manufacturer and distributor of musical instruments, accessories, and equipment. SLM distributes products from over 260 music products industry brands, is the corporate owner of several string- and brass-instruments brands, and is the producer and exclusive worldwide distributor of Alvarez and Alvarez-Yairi guitars.
The Koll Guitar Company is an American guitar manufacturing company based in Portland, Oregon. The company, established in 1986 by Saul Koll, produces electric and semi-acoustic guitars.
Fishman is an American company based in Andover, Massachusetts, known for making guitar pickups and other products involved in the amplification of acoustic guitars and other stringed instruments.