Schaller GmbH
| Schaller GmbH
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|---|---|
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| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | 1945 |
| Seat | Postbauer-Heng , Germany |
| management | Lars Bünning (managing partner) |
| Number of employees | 80 (2018) |
| sales | 5 million euros (2017) |
| Branch | Musical instrument making |
| Website | schaller.info |
The Schaller GmbH is a German manufacturer of musical instruments hardware based in post-Heng at Nuremberg . It develops, produces and sells machine heads, bridges, tremolos , strap locks and other accessories for guitars worldwide .
history
The Schaller company was founded in 1945 by Helmuth Schaller (1923–1999). He was a toolmaker and radio master mechanic. From the initial repair of radios, the development and manufacture of loudspeakers and amplifiers for the music industry under the name Schaller Electronic developed as early as the 1950s . There were also echo and reverb devices, pedals and distortion devices .
Since 1953, Schaller has been developing and producing pickguards , switches and pickups for Framus . Later the companies Hoyer , Höfner , Hopf and internationally Ovation , Fender and Gibson were added.
In the 1960s, the product portfolio was expanded to include tremolos (1961), bridges (1962) and mechanisms (1966). The M6 mechanism was the world's first fully encapsulated and self-locking precision mechanism. From 1967 brand manufacturers such as Ovation, Gibson and Martin Schaller used machine heads. Leo Fender initially used machine heads made by the Chicago-based manufacturer Kluson . From 1965 he had his own machine heads produced until he switched to Schaller machine heads in 1976, which were used until 1983. In 1968 the Schaller company moved from Feucht to a new production facility in Postbauer-Heng.
In the 1970s, bass mechanics ( M4 ), bridges including TOM bridges for Gibson guitars and other pickup variants (Golden 50, S6, T6) were added to the portfolio. Well-known guitar manufacturers used developments from Schaller, during this time their instruments were often equipped exclusively with Schaller products, from bridge to pickups to machine heads. In 1977 Floyd Rose came to Schaller with an idea for a double-locking tremolo. In a joint workshop over 3 months, this new type of tremolo was developed at Schaller and later produced.
At the beginning of the 1980s, the production of loudspeakers, amplifiers, reverb devices etc. was discontinued. In 1981, Schaller developed and patented the Security Locks , with which a secure connection between guitar and strap is achieved. They are still the best-selling Schaller product to this day.
Until the death of Helmuth Schaller and his son René Schaller (1953–1998) in 1999, the product range was constantly expanded (violin accessories, cables, etc.) and even special machines for strings and ball ends were built. However, it was no longer possible to build on previous successes. In the years after Helmuth Schaller's death, a community of heirs with the widow Grete Schaller (1926–2007) ran the company without being able to provide sustainable impetus for new products.
In August 2006, Schaller was renamed from a partnership to a GmbH. Lars Bünning has been running the company since December 2006.
Since 2007 the company has been concentrating on the field of guitar hardware. In January 2009 he took over the family's shares in the GmbH and has been a managing partner since then.
Products
S-locks
Schaller mechanics GTC Hauser
Schaller bridge Signum
Schaller Tremolo LockMeister
Machine heads: GrandTune Series, M6 Series, Replacement machine heads and bass machine heads
Bars / Bar holders: Signum, Hannes, TOM and 3D bars
Tremolos: LockMeister, Schaller and Vintage
Accessories: strap locks, “Flagship” preamp, piezo pickups (Oyster) and mega switches as well as pickup frames and caps.
The production of pickups was discontinued in 2017. The focus on precision mechanical products was reflected in the name change from “Schaller Electronic” to “Schaller GmbH” in 2016. All products are manufactured in Germany at the Postbauer-Heng plant.
The customers are guitar manufacturers and half are end customers, i.e. musicians.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ schaller.info: Imprint
- ↑ decomag.ch: Schaller GmbH , p. 25
- ↑ konradin-service.de: mav: Innovation in machining , p. 44
- ^ Tony Bacon, Paul Day: The Fender Book . A complete history of Fender electric guitars. 1st edition. Balafon Books, London 1992, ISBN 1-871547-54-7 , pp. 92 (English).