The Steel Guitar Forum

There is a Hartley Peavey interview 8 months old on You Tube, here is the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0VsGb88Hmg
A matter of fact interview of Hartley Peavey's view-- of the world of music equipment manufacturing. Most of the talk is how Peavey was supposedly the leader in innovation, but also interesting observations about equipment and the people that make equipment. For example Hartley claimed a particular Marshall amplifier was a direct copy of a Leo Fender amplifier. I found it interesting when Hartley explained how the brand names stay the same, but the people behind the brand names are different. I also found it interesting when when Hartley Peavey talked about the time when large "non music" companies bought out and tried to run music manufacturing companies. Example: When CBS bought out Fender. We have had some of that, non musical companies dabbling into the steel guitar world.
There were many things Hartley talked about that I found interesting. One thing Hartley talked about stuck in my mind. Hartley said manufacturing musical equipment is like a "Rodeo". The last manufacturer to stay on the bucking horse is the winner. I totally agree with that. Manufacturing is a incredibly difficult business, and the more employees you have the more difficult it becomes. I think Peavey Electronics had over 2,000 employees at one time. Think about paying 2000 weekly paychecks, and keeping 2000 people happy.
I thought about Peavey outsourcing manufacturing to Asia/China. That concept has been a total disaster for many companies. I visited a Ford Dealership recently--- there were zero new cars, and zero new trucks. The vehicles were built but useless--sitting in fields because the chips that operate the vehicle computers are not available. These computer chips are all made in China. Are we becoming a service economy? Go into a music store and most of the equipment is made outside the United States. If you manufacture electronics, try to find a PCB maker in the United States. Yes, there are still some small ones, but the Environmental Protection Agency has virtually shut that business down. Most PCBs are made in China and Taiwan.
I probably put this post in the wrong section of the Forum---BUT---there was a time when the vast majority of steel guitar players used Peavey Equipment.

Good post.

Yes the original Marshall JTM45 was essentially a narrow panel tweed baseman clone.

I worked in R&d for an audio company and had contacts who worked for Hartley. They would always fall back on "you can't deny what he built" as the nicest thing they'd say about him. Former employees of Hartley had much better stories.

My take? Hartley's way worked once upon a time. When it didn't he was much better at crying big salty tears to the media than being honest with himself over why his way wasn't working anymore.

Thanks for the link.
I'll give it a watch.

I'm a Peavey gear fan,(I still record with a T40) but I've heard enough to know better than to lionize Hartley as some model human being. I choose to respect him for the products he's created and how he's supported musicians. After joining the steel brotherhood my respect in that aspect has only grown.

Good post from Keith. I will add that manufacturing in the USA has become difficult. We are a service industry and it's not working out well. It makes me sad to see all our Music manufacturing, automotive and appliances imported. Think our jobs hasn't suffered enough? I'm glad my struggles are over. Now I worry about pension and SSI.

Copying electronic circuits is no big thing, and certainly nothing new. There were literally hundreds of radio manufacturers that produced portable and table radios in the middle of the last century. They were so common and similar that most of the radios of that period earned the term "All American Five" radios - simple superhet designs with five tubes. Electronic design is always moving forward, always innovating. And by the time you acquire patent protection, it's quite likely that your design is obsolete, or at least well on the way toward obsolescence. And if that's not the case, then the components themselves will be history in short order. Manufacturing has always been a "dog-eat-dog" business. And regrettably (in this country, anyway) we're no longer the "big dog".

During WWII, one Ford plant in Michigan produced the big (four-engine) B-24 bombers at the rate of one per hour, and that was before computers or any large scale automation.

We have a high corporate tax rate and labor union standards that make the cost of U.S. goods expensive. If I recall correctly, the Curtis-Mathis televisions were the last to be made in the U.S. They were expensive, but top of the line and didn't sell many as a result. Then they started building them off shore and became less reliable and eventually folded as a result of Asian company competition. Guitars have gone the same route.

Donny, I agree with the things you said. Electronic design is moving forward faster than it ever has. Most designs are obsolete as soon as they come out. A perfect example of that would be the cell phone. Yes, manufacturing is a dog-eat-dog business. I wonder how many pedal steel guitar manufacturers will be around in the next 5 years? For that matter how many amplifier manufacturers will still be around in the next 5 years. When I was younger I could never imagine Sears, or K-Mart, going out of business.
I do have a soul searching question for you Donny. Your example of one B-24 bomber per hour being built was a great example. An example of how the United States was the "big dog" in innovation, technology, and manufacturing. Donny what has changed all of that? I know that is a difficult question that may not have one single answer. I do suspect every person has their opinion. My opinion is probably prejudiced by an event in my life. I was a school teacher during the Vietnam Draft. I was drafted into the Marines, and sent to Vietnam to kill people. Back then our country needed killers more than school teachers. I think the Vietnam draft, and Vietnam War, had destructive lasting consequences on the country we love. Vietnam Veterans came home with zero respect for their sacrifice. What do you think Donny?

One other thing Donny, I always wondered how Hartley Peavey got out of the Vietnam Draft.

Dennis Detweiler wrote:We have a high corporate tax rate and labor union standards that make the cost of U.S. goods expensive. If I recall correctly, the Curtis-Mathis televisions were the last to be made in the U.S. They were expensive, but top of the line and didn't sell many as a result. Then they started building them off shore and became less reliable and eventually folded as a result of Asian company competition. Guitars have gone the same route.

Guitars have never been more consistently well made. Japan and Korea both put out stuff on par with the US with Indonesia just below. Somewhere well down the line quality wise is about half of what Gibson puts out.

I have been fortunate to sit with Hartley and hear this story of his life on more than one ocassion.
He is a phenominal man with a great history.

Courtland must have heard the story before as he looks bored in this video.

Really I thought Courtland did a good job of portraying the interested interviewer in a piece that seems made as a means of promotion. And that is perfectly fine. For those who don't know, Courtland Gray is Hartley's step son. He knows the story very well!

It is a good story if you have not heard it before, and I don't think the Peavey company gets nearly enough credit. I know very little about how it was (is) to work there, but I do know for sure that the company at least offered some decent jobs for a long time in a place where there were probably not many opportunities otherwise. I do know one of the guys who helped develop the first guitars, he generally has positive comments. I doubt it was any different than working for any large organization.

I offer my congratulations to the Peavey company on a job very well done, with innovation and class. The situation of the world has changed, we will see what it brings. If Hartley decided today to turn out the lights and lock the doors for good I wouldn't blame him one bit.

I was just kindof joking Doug.

Of course Courtland is interested. I am sure he has heard the story multiple times, as have I.

However, every time Hartley and I are together, I get to hear parts of it again and I love it every time. The man is a genius and has surely been good to the steel guitar community when all the others dropped us like flies.

Bill Ferguson wrote:I was just kindof joking Doug.

Of course Courtland is interested. I am sure he has heard the story multiple times, as have I.

However, every time Hartley and I are together, I get to hear parts of it again and I love it every time. The man is a genius and has surely been good to the steel guitar community when all the others dropped us like flies.

Bill,I once read an interview with Buddy Emmons and he said”every steel player
owes Hartley Peavey a debt of thanks”...

...and I agree...

SH

Keith Hilton wrote: Donny what has changed all of that?...I think the Vietnam draft, and Vietnam War, had destructive lasting consequences on the country we love. Vietnam Veterans came home with zero respect for their sacrifice. What do you think Donny?

Thanks for your service, Keith, and your response! Some already view me as a "troll" here, so I'll throw some more thoughts together and send them via a PM. No sense tying up more bandwidth with stuff not steel-related.

Peavey has stuck by and supported the steel guitar for years when other's may have forgot about us. All the greats played and loved their Peaveys as we still do. A lot of bang for the buck.

The NV112 is still available and the only steel amp left their.

I played a Christmas party for the Peavey employees with
Michael Martin Murphey in the early 80’s.
We loaded up the bus with free gear after show.
I tried a Vegas 400 that night and Hartley came up to
me and said, “Here’s the settings I use”
I still have that amp and still use those settings !!

Finally got around to watching the whole thing.

More of a promotional biographical monologue than an interview but I still quite enjoyed it and learned some things I did not know before.

Say what you will, he's still one of the only guys from that era who still owns the company that bears his name.

Plus, in 1974 he started building amps to meet the needs of steel guitar players.