Ampeg

Ampeg ("amplified peg") is a manufacturer best known for its bass amplifiers.

Originally established in 1946 in Linden, New Jersey by Everett Hull and Stanley Michaels as "Michael-Hull Electronic Labs," today Ampeg is part of the Yamaha Guitar Group. Although specializing in the production of bass amplifiers, Ampeg has previously manufactured guitar amplifiers and pickups and instruments including double basses, bass guitars, and electric guitars.

Everett Hull (born Charles Everitt Hull), a pianist and bassist from Wisconsin working with bandleader Lawrence Welk in Chicago, had invented a pickup for upright bass in an effort to amplify his instrument with more clarity. Hull's design placed a transducer atop the soundpost, a support peg inside the body of his instrument, inspiring his wife Gertrude to name the invention the "Ampeg," an abbreviated version of "amplified peg." On February 6, 1946, Hull filed a patent application for his "sound amplifying means for stringed musical instruments of the violin family," for which U.S. patent 2,430,717 was awarded the following year. The Hulls relocated to New Jersey, and Everett met electrical engineer and amp technician Stanley Michael, who was selling a bass amplifier of his own design, soon renamed the Michael-Hull Bassamp. In 1946, they established Michael-Hull Electronic Labs in Newark, New Jersey, to sell their two products. Michael left the company in 1948, leaving it to Hull, who relocated the company the following year to 42nd Street in Manhattan, above the New Amsterdam Theatre, renaming it "The Ampeg Bassamp Company."

Michael-Hull advertised in DownBeat magazine, listing bassists like Chubby Jackson and Johnny Frigo as endorsers. Additionally, Eddie Safranski signed on with Michael-Hull to promote Ampeg products, receiving a royalty payment for equipment sold by their influence. After Michael's departure, Hull continued to leverage connections with well-known musicians to increase awareness of his products within the New York jazz community; Ampeg's new location between Carnegie Hall, NBC Studios in 30 Rockefeller Plaza, and the Paramount Theatre helped establish relationships with bassists like Oscar Pettiford, Joe Comfort, Amos Milburn and Don Bagley.

In 1955, local musician and electrician Jess Oliver visited Ampeg's offices to purchase an amplified peg, and upon easily making the installation himself, Hull offered him a job. Oliver didn't join Ampeg on a full-time basis until 1956, the same year that Ampeg's name was simplified to "The Ampeg Company." In 1959, the company was incorporated as "The Ampeg Company, Inc.," with Everett Hull as President, Gertrude Hull as Secretary, and Jess Oliver as Vice President.

In 1960, Ampeg introduced the B-15, a bass combo amplifier with an innovative flip-top function, invented and patented by Oliver. The B-15 was the first in the company's Portaflex series, and after becoming the preferred studio amp of session musicians like James Jamerson and Chuck Rainey. The B-15 and its subsequent variants went on to become the most-recorded bass amplifier in history. By 1963, the Portaflex series business had grown to 44% of Ampeg's amplifier sales. In 1962, Ampeg introduced the plastic-bodied Baby Bass, a compact upright electric bass created from the Zorko bass, whose design Ampeg had acquired from the Dopera brothers, along with a unique Oliver-designed, Ampeg-patented pickup.

In 1962, Ampeg and its 40 employees moved to a new manufacturing facility in Linden, New Jersey. At 8,000 square feet, it was three times larger than their previous home. In June of the following year, after continued struggles to meet production demands and maintain cash flow, Ampeg announced an initial stock offering and became a publicly held company. By 1964, Ampeg had 100 employees and needed more space, relocating to a larger space one block away.

The combination of the rising popularity of rock and roll and the shift of bassists from upright bass to electric bass guitar during this time posed a challenge to Ampeg’s core business. The company's ads continued to feature prominent classical, jazz, and country artists, but with a notable absence of rock artists, and Hull strove to minimize rock musician visits to Ampeg's facilities. Hull's distaste for rock and roll music was further compounded by the success of Ampeg's chief competitor, Fender, as they continually bested Ampeg in overall sales. Through the 1960s, Ampeg amplifiers were designed for "clean, undistorted sound", with Hull saying "we will never make anything for rock 'n' roll".