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Standel
The Standel Company is an American company that makes guitar amplifiers. It was founded in 1953 by Robert "Bob" Crooks in Temple City, California. Standel (a portmanteau of standard and electronics) was the name of Crooks' side-business of radio and hi-fi repair, located in his garage at 10661 Freer Street, Temple City, California.
In 1952, Bob Crooks was approached by inventor-musician Paul Bigsby, who advanced the engineer 75 dollars to build him a custom amplifier to go with the then famous Bigsby solid-bodied electric guitars and pedal steel guitars. It was the first Standel branded amplifier.
When designing the amplifier, Crooks played Les Paul's recording of the song Lover through the amplifier several times as a reference to adjust the sound. However, the final result was inappropriate for amplifying a musical instrument. Paul Bigsby played through the amp with one of his steel guitars and thought it "sounded terrible." Crooks noted the difference between building a guitar amplifier and building a standard hi-fi amplifier. Resultingly, Bigsby loaned Crooks a guitar so he could continue improving the amplifier.
Bigsby's involvement in the project lowered. Crooks, however, continued working on his own design. After several months, Crooks came up with what he saw as a satisfactory design. It featured cabinet padded Naugahyde, aluminum guards around the cabinet, a lighted control panel, a JBL D-130 speaker, and independent bass and treble controls. He used his shop's name "Standel" as the amplifier's brand. He called the model the 25L15, because it had 25 watts of power and a Lansing 15-inch speaker. Bigsby eventually purchased a Standel 25L15, #1018 on April 10, 1954.
Once satisfied with his design, Crooks started attending local concerts to spread the word about his amplifiers and get musicians to test them. The first one of these musicians was the late "Speedy" West. Crooks asked West, a steel guitarist to try out his amplifier at Cliffie Stone's "Hometown Jamboree" show. West liked it, and ordered the first Standel amplifier that night. Crooks then took his amp to the Town Hall Party dance in Compton, California, where Merle Travis and Joe Maphis were playing. They ordered the second and fourth Standel amplifiers.
Standel amplifiers benefited from a rise in popularity among professional musicians, though at a small scale. Due to the high cost of building these amplifiers, they were used mostly by session musicians. Their high prices put them out of reach for most amateur musicians.
By 1963, Standel introduced hybrid amplification and by 1965 developed a full line of all solid-state amplifiers. From 1963 to 1969, Crooks coated the amplifier's modules in color-coded epoxy resin.
In 1970, Standel unknowingly received a batch of defective output transistors that, over time, failed with a burst of direct current that also destroyed the speakers. Following this, Standel began to experience an uptick in warranty repairs.
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Standel
The Standel Company is an American company that makes guitar amplifiers. It was founded in 1953 by Robert "Bob" Crooks in Temple City, California. Standel (a portmanteau of standard and electronics) was the name of Crooks' side-business of radio and hi-fi repair, located in his garage at 10661 Freer Street, Temple City, California.
In 1952, Bob Crooks was approached by inventor-musician Paul Bigsby, who advanced the engineer 75 dollars to build him a custom amplifier to go with the then famous Bigsby solid-bodied electric guitars and pedal steel guitars. It was the first Standel branded amplifier.
When designing the amplifier, Crooks played Les Paul's recording of the song Lover through the amplifier several times as a reference to adjust the sound. However, the final result was inappropriate for amplifying a musical instrument. Paul Bigsby played through the amp with one of his steel guitars and thought it "sounded terrible." Crooks noted the difference between building a guitar amplifier and building a standard hi-fi amplifier. Resultingly, Bigsby loaned Crooks a guitar so he could continue improving the amplifier.
Bigsby's involvement in the project lowered. Crooks, however, continued working on his own design. After several months, Crooks came up with what he saw as a satisfactory design. It featured cabinet padded Naugahyde, aluminum guards around the cabinet, a lighted control panel, a JBL D-130 speaker, and independent bass and treble controls. He used his shop's name "Standel" as the amplifier's brand. He called the model the 25L15, because it had 25 watts of power and a Lansing 15-inch speaker. Bigsby eventually purchased a Standel 25L15, #1018 on April 10, 1954.
Once satisfied with his design, Crooks started attending local concerts to spread the word about his amplifiers and get musicians to test them. The first one of these musicians was the late "Speedy" West. Crooks asked West, a steel guitarist to try out his amplifier at Cliffie Stone's "Hometown Jamboree" show. West liked it, and ordered the first Standel amplifier that night. Crooks then took his amp to the Town Hall Party dance in Compton, California, where Merle Travis and Joe Maphis were playing. They ordered the second and fourth Standel amplifiers.
Standel amplifiers benefited from a rise in popularity among professional musicians, though at a small scale. Due to the high cost of building these amplifiers, they were used mostly by session musicians. Their high prices put them out of reach for most amateur musicians.
By 1963, Standel introduced hybrid amplification and by 1965 developed a full line of all solid-state amplifiers. From 1963 to 1969, Crooks coated the amplifier's modules in color-coded epoxy resin.
In 1970, Standel unknowingly received a batch of defective output transistors that, over time, failed with a burst of direct current that also destroyed the speakers. Following this, Standel began to experience an uptick in warranty repairs.