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 What
a gas it is to sit down with Hartley Peavey this month. Undeniably
an icon to our industry and testimony to a creative genius. Musicians
Hotline is very proud to have this time with Hartley who shares
his 37 plus years of experience in our industry. A genuine, honest
man whose contribution to this industry is unsurpassed. A special
thanks to Hartley from myself, for it was a treat for me personally
to share his insight, his determination and most of all his passion.
Here is what Hartley has to say....
MH: How did you first get your start in music and what was
your first instrument?
HP: I had the good fortune to grow up
in a very interesting part of the country during a very interesting
time. My teenage years spanned the middle 1950s . . . . Mississippi
(and the surrounding states) was literally the birthplace of what
we now know as rock 'n roll. My father ran the local music store,
and he put me to work there cleaning up and helping buy records
when I was 14 years old. I was also a disk jockey throughout my
last two years of high school and into college as well. This was
before the days of "payola," and everyday the station
used to get huge quantities of sample records--most of them ended
up in my record collection (ha).
In 1957, I went to a Bo Diddley concert in Laurel, Mississippi
and from then on, I wanted to be a guitar player. I begged my father
to give me an electric guitar but got nowhere with that request.
He told me that I could take some guitar lessons and IF I learned
to play guitar, he would "consider getting me
a guitar." Obviously, being a teenager, the concept of "waiting"
was not very attractive, so I ended up modifying a classic guitar
to accept steel strings. I then built my own pickup because I
couldn't afford one.
I went back to my dad and begged for an amplifier . . . . same
story as on the guitar. That's when I built my first amplifier--at
the end of 1957 and the early part of 1958.
MH: What musical styles influenced you early on?
HP: Obviously,
I was very much into what was then rockabilly and rock 'n roll.
Even before that, I had learned to appreciate Rhythm and Blues.
This was way before Blues became "cool." My dad had so
many customers coming into the store buying  harps
and then going outside and blowing some of the most unbelievable
Blues riffs on a "Marine Band" Harp. It gave me goose
bumps. It still does! I think I have every BB King record ever made
and all of his old Crown LP's, that sold back then for 99 cents
. . . . still have them!
MH: Can you recall your first actual paying gig either
performing or in sales?
HP: When I started out trying to play,
obviously I wanted to play rock 'n roll. Two of my friends played
in a local rock band called The Jokers. They played a lot of music
by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, Dale Hawkins, Bo Diddley, James
Brown, as well as all the New Orleans rock 'n roll guys. Meridian
is fairly close to New Orleans, and we used to have lots of New
Orleans' musicians playing in the area. I didn't really start "playing
for pay" until I got to college. Of course, back then, we would
play a dorm party for $50 and all the beer we could drink . . .
. We did drink a lot. After five or six beers, even my playing sounded
good . . . . at least to me. The truth is I was a lousy musician.
Every band I became involved with always needed equipment. I've
always been very good at building things, and I inherited some tools
from my late grandfather. I had taken a lot of shop courses in Junior
High and High School, and I was lucky enough to be able to build
just about anything I wanted, even with my hand tools in the basement
of my Dad's house or at one of the classrooms at Ross Collins Vocational
School here in Meridian. By the time I graduated from college, I
had built 50 or 60 amplifiers, about 15 guitars and four or five
basses. By the time I had gotten to be a junior in college, I had
been kicked out of every band I had been a part of (after I had
built all the gear they needed, of course), and I decided that my
future as a "rock star" was doubtful, indeed.
MH: When and where did you officially open the Peavey Company
and what was the first product to display the Peavey logo?
HP: At the beginning of 1964, I decided
I would do what every musician I talked to said . . . . "I
wish someone would build good guitars, amps and PA systems at a
fair and reasonable price." That sounded good to me. Leo Fender
has always been my idol. When he started his company in 1946, he
started out building damn good products that weren't fancy but represented
great performance and great value. I figured if it was good enough
for Leo, it was good enough for me. I decided then and there that
I would build the best musical equipment possible at fair and reasonable
prices even though I knew it would have to be done a different,
and hopefully, better way. When I graduated from college in 1965,
I started Peavey Electronics. I came up with the original Peavey
logo "doodling" in my notebook in high school. I put the
first versions of this on my amplifiers that I made in my Dad's
basement. At that time, both my amps and logos were pretty crude,
but I learned a lot. In fact, after nearly 37 years, I'm still learning
and that's  what
keeps me interested. Since I conceived the company in 1964, my goal
was to be the best . . . . By definition, you can't be the
best unless you are different. Peavey IS a different kind of company
and has been from the first.
MH: Tell us about the early days of the company and the goal
of the company at that time.
HP: The year I started my company (1965)
was the year that Leo sold out to CBS. Beginning about that time,
the huge conglomerates were buying up most of the music companies
who were (then) family owned. LTV bought Altec Lansing. Norlin bought
Gibson from Chicago Musical Instruments. Gulf & Western bought
Unichord (the Marshall Distribution) and countless other traditionally
family-owned music companies were gobbled up by the money men. Almost
universally, prices went up drastically while quality did the opposite.
It was a wonderful opportunity for Peavey.
MH: Explain the mission statement of Peavey in the early
days and has that mission statement changed over the years?
HP: We were building great
equipment at fair prices. It seemed that the conglomerates were
only too willing to sacrifice quality and performance on the "altar
of profit". Although I didn't have the experience (and certainly
not the financial resources of the conglomerates), I had a passion
for the product and for the people and for the industry. . . . I
still do!
Since the invasion of the conglomerates in the 60's and 70's, many
companies with famous names have changed hands--often several times.
Unbelievably, many musicians think that because the name
is the same, the company is the same. This is not true! After all,
companies are nothing but groups of people called "organizations".
The truth of the matter is that when people change, so do
the companies.
My company has been under the same ownership for nearly 37 years.
I can think of only one other amp company (Marshall) that has been
under the same ownership longer than Peavey. I believe Jim started
his company in England one year before I did (1964).
Throughout all those years, we continued to "dare to be different"
and to try to build the best products possible. Currently, my company
has over 130 patents worldwide with new  ones
being applied for at all times. A major difference between Peavey
and our competitors is that some of the famous names seem more interested
in desperately trying to "recreate the glories of the past"
than in trying to build a better product for today's (and tomorrow's)
musician.
Interestingly, if you look at both the major American guitar companies,
neither has introduced any significantly new guitar designs in the
last 35 years. A very interesting contrast when compared to Peavey's
introduction of 80 to 100 all new products every year . . . . Our
goal was (and still is) "to be the best," even though
that means being different. Several years back, we introduced
the only major new innovation in drums since the synthetic drumhead
was introduced 30 years ago. Peavey drums
sound better than anything made anywhere. Check them out--give them
a listen. Yes, they look different and the reason for this is that
they are better!
MH: Is there a single Peavey Product either past or present
that you feel was revolutionary to this industry?
HP:
Peavey has achieved so many breakthroughs and so many firsts that
it would be difficult to attempt to catalog them . . . .
Our revolutionary TransTube® amps are built under four separate
patents. We believe they come very close to duplicating a tube amp
with solid-state devices, and we continue to refine that process
every day. There have been so many revolutionary products and projects
at Peavey that it would probably take up most of this interview
just to discuss the most interesting ones. From our diamond-coated
mic diaphragms to Peavey's pioneering use of numerical controlled
and computer controlled machinery to manufacture guitars, Peavey
has always been a leader. We
have never "followed the pack," and we definitely do not
buy into the "retro thought
process" (i.e., The best guitars and amps that will ever be
built were built in the 50's). I
believe this simply isn't so. When the best guitars and the best
amplifiers are built, I want tobe sure they feature a Peavey logo!
MH: Tell us briefly about Peavey's facility and how many
people are employed there?
HP: Peavey presently has 31 separate
facilities with overall square footage of about 1.5 million square
feet. Although we have moved some production to the Far East for
our lower end products, we continue to add sophisticated production
equipment to our  U.S.
and England-based manufacturing facilities. As a matter of fact,
we've added approximately $7.5 million dollars of new and
sophisticated production gear within the last year. The reason that
we continue to make this commitment is that our goal "to be
the best" still remains our guiding philosophy.
Over the years, we've had the opportunity to work with musicians
of almost every imaginable background--all the way from garage bands
to superstars like Edward Van Halen. Believe me, it has been a learning
experience. There is no substitute for experience. I've been building
musical equipment longer than most of our customers have been alive.
As we enter 2002, the company and (thank God) myself are still
going strong . . . . I'm still excited, still passionate and still
pushing the "state-of-the-art". Peavey has steadfastly
resisted the temptation to "go public" and "to sell
its corporate soul for a few bucks". Today (just as in 1965),
I still own the company.
You may be interested to know that not one single time have the
"stockholders" of Peavey (i.e., me) ever received a "dividend".
Whatever profit we've made has gone back into the company for new
machinery, technology and new "directions". Peavey is
one of the very few amp companies in the world that makes its own
loudspeakers. We make our chassis, circuit boards, speakers, cabinets,
metal work, etc. Indeed, Peavey is generally recognized to be the
most highly vertically integrated company in the music and sound
business today. From the time a guitar string is plucked until the
sound comes off the speaker cone, Peavey makes "every link
in the chain". We make microphones, mixers, power
amps and some of the most sophisticated speaker systems available
anywhere and we're still growing.
Peavey's MediaMatrix® Division produces the world's most sophisticated
audio systems. These systems have been used in the most prestigious
facilities
in the world such as the Opera House and the huge International
Airport in Sydney, Australia. This system has been installed in
the US Senate as well as in the main legislative chambers in China
and many other nations. MediaMatrix is installed in
literally hundreds of coliseums and convention centers all over
the world. The huge new Heathrow terminal in London, England is
the latest venue covered by Peavey's MediaMatrix computerized audio
system.
Our Architectural Acoustics® Division is one of the fastest
growing audio companies in the field of commercial sound. Overall,
Peavey is far more than just a little company down in Mississippi
that makes a few guitars
and amps. Peavey (and its divisions) do business in 130
countries around the world.
Three years ago, Peavey acquired Crest Audio, America's premier
manufacturer of premium power amps and audio mixers. Recently, Crest
moved into an all-new facility to better serve its customers in
the U.S.A and, indeed, around the world.
MH: What personal business philosophies do you feel have
been responsible for your incredible success?
HP: My personal business philosophy
is very simple. It is based on the "Golden Rule". I treat
everyone, as I would want to be treated. Here at Peavey, and at
our sister company, Crest, everyone is on a "first name"
basis. While I would stop short of claiming that we have no corporate
"B.S." (every company does), I truly believe we have much
less than the competition. It all goes back to the Golden Rule.
If you treat people right, deal with customers fairly, they'll stick
with you. I'm thankful that our
employees, dealers, distributors and customers have hung in there
with us. They know that when they buy a Peavey product, it will
last through decades. Our Service Department often tells me that
they see products that I personally made 35 years ago that are still
in use . . . .
I'm always pleased to hear people tell me that they visited some
country and went on this or that expedition to the outback or deep
into the jungle or took a cruise down the Nile or in some obscure
part of the world and were very pleased to see Peavey equipmentbeing
used. 96% of the world's population lives outside of the U.S.A.
and we've been actively
exporting since 1972. The export market continues to be important.
Last year, we formed a joint
venture inBrazil to manufacture and distribute Peavey equipment
in that nation. We lookforward to other opportunities and challenges
that will enable Peavey's employees, dealers and customers to share
in the rewards generated by a company that has lead the industry
for nearly 37 years with new
and unique products and approaches to doing business while sticking
to its original core values of fair deals and adherence to what
most people call the "Golden Rule". It has worked for
me personally and it has worked for the company since 1965..
MH: Any special predictions or assessments about our industry
you would like to share?
HP: There have been many changes in
products, lots of changes in our production methods, a few changes
in personnel, but our basic approach of trying to be the best and
"daring to be different" hasn't changed. Change is not
necessarily bad. In fact, I tell
my employees that if we (Peavey)
and our customers are to have a "better tomorrow", then
we (by definition) must have change. We must learn to embrace change
and to make it a part of our everyday philosophy. To do otherwise
would cause us to get stuck in yesterday's thought processes.
MH: What will be the greatest challenge for Peavey over the
next ten years?
HP: I see no reason to change the "recipe"
now . . . . Down South we have an old
saying that goes something like this, "When you are making
good biscuits, don't change the recipe." We may "tweak"
it a little, but the basic recipe
is still "cookin'" everyday and in every way here at Peavey.
MH: What advice would you pass along or what lessons do you
feel you have learned that has attributed to your success?
HP: I consider myself to be one of the
luckiest men on earth. Over the past
three and a half decades, I've learned one helluva lot. I've been
tested to the limit in almost every way, and I've learned that I'm
far stronger than I ever dreamed possible. That is the only way
that my company (and I) have been able to survive through "thick
and thin". Believe me, the B.S. gets thick sometimes in the
music industry and the money gets awfully thin, but through all
that, determination and passion have gotten my company and myself
through the hard times. Like the weight lifters say, "no pain,
no gain". That's the truth! Today, so many people want to get
to the top the easy way. For most of us, there is no "easy
way" to get to the top. The sad news is that IF you are lucky
enough to get to the top, it is even harder to stay there. Being
at the top of the heap is one "precarious perch", but
it sure keeps you on your toes. Believe me, I know. The only advice
I could give anyone who has the desire to truly succeed is 1) have
the PASSION for what you do and 2) DON'T QUIT! That
about sums it up.
Photos courtesy of Peavey
www.peavey.com
Photos courtesy of Zion Guitar
Technology
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