Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Scholz Research & Development, Inc.

Scholz Research & Development, Inc.[EXTRACT]

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Scholz Research & Development, Inc. or SR&D is the name of the company founded by Tom Scholz to design and manufacture music technology products. Scholz is also a key member of the rock band Boston.

The uniquely stylized and much-coveted "Boston guitar sound" was the result of Scholz's endless experimentation with guitar amplifiers, microphones, equalizers, and other gear. Modified equipment, which was the result of much of this experimentation, inspired some one-of-kind products that Scholz knew other guitarists would find useful. Thus, SR&D was founded in 1980.

SR&D's first product was the Power Soak, which places a load on a power amplifier allowing only a portion of the signal to reach a speaker cabinet. Lower volume is the result, but the unique tonal characteristics generated by an amp at full power are not lost. Lower volume is useful in recording studios or any place where loud amps can be a problem.

In 1982, the company developed and released the Rockman headphone guitar amplifier. This product was truly revolutionary and is still manufactured today.

Later on, SR&D added other signal processing equipment to their product line, notably the Rockmodules, which were half-rack effects that modularized and expanded individual components of the Rockman. Guitar amplifiers and other gear were also produced.

Because the Rockman line was staunchly analog, the digital effects boom of the early 1990s essentially put the company out of business. Today, some SR&D products are highly collectible and have a well-deserved reputation as some of the finest signal processors available, digital or analog.

In 1995, Scholz sold the Rockman line to Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc. and closed SR&D.

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