Sonic Maximizer BBE 802 The Music Trades Company Story

User Manual: Sonic Maximizer BBE 802

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TOP GLOBAL MUSIC & AUDIO SUPPLIERS
SALES RANKINGS

es, lmtlate rentals, or check on an
instrument's repair status directly
through a website portal.
Rycent developments have made it
possible for users to interface AIMsi
with eBay and Amazon, allowing the
dealer to either send product and pricing
information to the website or retrieve
information about products already list
ed on the site. In response to user

BBE

PERFORMANCE

PROFILES

demand, Tri-Tech has also updated its
package with an automated phone noti
fication system to alert customers when
repairs are completed or special orders
have come in. The company is in the
process of setting up touch-screen capa
bilities and an automated system to con
tact customers by text message.
"Our software could not have become
what it is today without feedback from

every single cLlstomer who has come
onboard," says Acton. "When someone
suggests a new feature, chances are
someone else could use it too. More
often than not we add that feature and it
just makes our product that much more
attractive."

ttl-l ow about

(800) 670-1736

a~~E

www.aimsi.biz

SOUND, INC.

with that?"

A leading audio innovator's diversification is helping to build a global,
cross-market brand.

BBE's new D82 Sonic Maximizer plug-in for computer recording applications.

IN AUDIO, A FEEDBACK loop is typi
cally viewed as a situation to be avoided,
but that's precisely the goal at BBE
Sound. Located in Huntington Beach,
California, BBE Sound has created a
unique promotional feedback' loop
among its signal processing products for
musicians and studios, its G&L electric
guitar line, and its audio technologies
licensed to consumer electronics manu
facturers whereby the company's brand
image in each market compounds and
fortifies its marketing impact in the other
commercial sectors.
A music products industry veteran since
1959, BBE Chairman and CEO John
McLaren left his native Manchester,
England, to work at Steinway Hall in
New York before relocating to California
to join Yamaha. After rising over the next
16, years to senior executive vice presi
dent, in the 1981 he left Yamaha to
accept a challenging appointment as
president ofthe CBS Musical Instrument
Division, which at the time included
Steinway, Fender, Rhodes and other
illustrious brand~. Among the noted
Yamaha executives' who would follow
him were Bill Schultz and Ed Rizzuto.
But within a few years John grew disiJlu

sioned with the parent company's appar
ent lack of passion and dedication to its
m.i. businesses, and on his 50th birthday
he quit CBS. Following a brief interlude
of publishing the McLaren Report, an
industry newsletter, John was introduced
to Barcus Berry Electronics. A spin-off of
the original Barcus Berry transducer
manufacturer, the company was formed
in 1984 to license sound enhancement

BBE has a fast-growing line of gui
tar effects pedals.

126
,.

technology.
Developed by inventor Bob Crooks, the
technology addressed the phase and
amplitude distortion inherent to loud
speakers. Crooks' circuit automatically
compensated for these problems, allow
ing speakers to more faithfully repro
duce amplified sound. "I went to hear a
demonstration of the circuit, not expect
ing much," John recalls, "but the clarity
and detail in the sound made the hairs on
my neck stand up, As a musician, 1 knew
immediately that this was something
special."
By then the company had already con
sumed nearly all of the venture capital
funds originally invested, but John took
over the company in 1985, renamed it
BBE Sound to better distinguish it from
the Barcus Berry company, and invested
his own money while raising additional
outside capital. John's son, Dave, who
joined BBE in 1993 and is now execu
tive vice president, recalls, "It was a
tough period, as the company didn't
have a chip small enough for licensing
and there was only a home audio proces
sor sold through a direct mail campaign
with ads in the back of aUdiophile mag
azines." John reasoned that the people
who would embrace the technology's
concept were musicians, so he had the
device repackaged into two rack-mount
models, With his extensive network of
contacts in m.i" he was able to get the
products established fairly quickly,
By 1987 there was finally a single
channel chip ready to be licensed. With
dogged persistence John convinced
Aiwa, then a part of Sony, to incorporate
the BBE High Definition Sound circuit

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CHANNELS

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l-iere:~ a tip-~top leaVing money on the tabl
"Sonic Maximizers are great
because making the sale is as
easy as the pushing a button. "
Clay Bailey, owner
Bailey Bros. Music
Montgomery, AL

"I love Sonic Maximizers
because my average sale goes
up every time I sell one. "
Larry Fischer, owner
Metro Sound and Lighting
St. PaUl, MN

"It's the only product I sell by
turning it off. It's so easy"
Evan Sheely, owner
Bass Northwest
Seattle, WA

"BBE makes any gear sound
better, but more importantly,
every customer who walks
through my front door is a
potential BBE sale. "
Ryan Clement, Manno r
Grandma's MUIlI,:
Albuquerque, NM

MUSIC TRADES APRIL 2009

P~ofitabl~ restaurants pump up the average meal tab and fatten margin'
Wlth,lu~clous dessert treats. Profitable music dealers do it wi.th SSE Sonic
~axlmlzers. T~eY're irresist!ble to customers once they hear the big
Improvement In sound quality that only a Sonic Maximizer can provide.

It's, easy as pie. Have a Sonic Maximizer on demo in every department:
gUitar, bass, keyboards, recording, PA and OJ. Don't let a customer le8v
the store without a demo, and make sure you've got good stock of SOil (,
Maximizers, 'cause YOU'll be selling them like hotcakes.

BBE PROFIT FACTS:
• Sonic Maximizers are the best "plus sale" item in your store
• Everybody is a customer for a Sonic Maximizer
• Easy to demo: Just punch the "SSE Process" button
and get ready to ring the register
• POW~rfUI national advertising and editorial coverage in major
musIc and pro audio magazines.
• ~reat word-of-mouth references from your customers help you
nng up even more sales of SSE Sonic Maximizers
({) 800-233-8346

www.bbesound.com
5381 Production Drive, Huntington Beach, California 92649, USA

C.___::. a l1:........us at

....J,L_ _

(~---

TOP GLOBAL MUSIC & AUDIO SUPPLIERS
SALES RANKINGS

into its mini-component stereo systems.
Per John's advice, Aiwa marketed the
feature aggressively in its print and tele
vision advertising, stressing that BBE
technology, used by musicians and sound
professionals around the world, was now
available to consumers in home audio.
Aiwa's sales, profits, and stock price
soared, and its annual report cited BBE
High Definition Sound as a major con
tributor to the company's turnaround.
Consumer electronics companies licens
ing BBE sound improvement technology
now include Alpine, Clarion, JYC,
Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Sony, Philips,
Pioneer, Sanyo, Sharp, and Toshiba. Its
semiconductor partners who produce
chip devices incorporating BBE tech
nologies include Mitsubishi, Sanyo,
Toshiba, and Yamaha, among others.
"With the launch of the BBE 802 and
402 Sonic Maximizers, the sales effort
desperately needed more muscle," John
recalls. "In 1988 Rob Rizzuto came on
board and put his relentless drive and
charisma to work, quickly ramping up
sales. Dealers and reps thought of the
Sonic Maximizer as a marvelous, but

PERFORMANCE

PROFILES

esoteric, device, but Rob showed them
how it could be one of the easiest high
margin add-on sales a dealer can make."
Rob's success, however, presented chal
lenges of another sort. "The technology
was still in its infancy," Dave explains,
"and the early pro m.i. units had some
performance and reliability issues."
Fortunately, in 1990 Paul Gagon, who
brought engineering experience from
CBS and Fender, came on board and dra
matically improved the products."
Though sales were growing, so were
expenses. Faced with the difficulty of
supporting the company with just two
products, John pushed for expansion.
With a wealth of guitar industry experi
ence in the company, John had several
conversations with Leo Fender about
buying G&L Musical Instruments in
nearby Fullerton. "Each time we got
close to doing a deal," recalls John, "Leo
backed off, confiding, 'This is what
keeps me alive.'" Following Leo's death
in 1991, his wife, Phyllis, sold G&L to
BBE because she believed BBE would
help G&L achieve the level of success
Leo had dreamed of. Today, Phyllis

remains honorary chair of G&L.
"For years Leo had been injecting cash
to keep G&L going," Dave recalls.
"Though we were thrilled at the opportu
nity, it was a daunting challenge because
we couldn't continue to absorb the loss
es as Leo had. We had to move fast." But
with diligence and marketing savvy,
G&L became a success for BBE Sound
on many levels. BBE gained sales vol
ume and strength with reps and dealers
because G&L guitars were sold largely
through the same distribution channels
as BBE's m.i. products.
Economies of scale were realized in
everything from electronic components
to advertising space. Also, having a
glamorous guitar company helped accel
erate the popularity of BBE Sonic
Maximizers among artists. Dave
explains, "G&L's fine instruments natu
rally attract artist endorsements, which
provides opportunities to introduce more
artists to the BBE products. This further
enhances the reputation of our brand and
the technologies we license to the con
sumer electronic industry. Today, mil
lions of musicians and sound profession

als around the world love what BBE
does for their sound, and these people
have wide spheres of influence.
Undoubtedly, the synergy with G&L has
played an important role."
Dave adds, "Managers at consumer
electronics companies appreciate that
BBE is immersed in the music commu
nity, building beautiful instruments that
inspire musicians, making equipment
that heightens the thrill of live perform
ances and captures more nuance and
detail in recorded works. By the nature
of our activities, the message heard by
the licensees is, 'Who would know more
about sound than these people?'''
This "validation by association" is
reciprocal. As many of the world's lead
ing consumer electronics manufacturers
have licensed BBE technology, BBE's
credibility is strengthened in pro audio
and m.i. markets. Recognizing the huge
potential in this "feedback loop," BBE's
goal is to achieve a level of brand recog
nition comparable to what Ray Dolby
accomplished with his noise reduction
technology. "The difference," John adds,
"is that BBE technologies can be used

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
COMPANIES ARE
IMPRESSED THAT

BBE IS

IMMERSED IN THE MUSIC
COMMUNITY, BUILDING
BEAUTIFUL INSTRUMENTS
WHICH INSPIRE MUSI
CIANS, MAKING EQUIP
MENT THAT HEIGHTENS
THE THRILL OF LIVE
PERFORMANCES

anywhere there is amplified sound. The
market potential is limitless."
BBE has also begun seeing its develop
ment of products for consumer electron
ics lead to promising products for the
m.i. market. Recently it began licensing
a new technology designed to improve
the quality of compressed MP3 audio.
"MP3 compression removes 'pixels'
from the audio picture," Dave explains.
"We've developed BBE MP technology
that examines what's left after MP3 com
pression and generates additional infor
mation to replace the missing material,

making the sound richer and fuller. This
technology will be of particular interest
to the growing number of mobile and
nightclub DJs who are working with
MP3." He adds that today's car Ilidio
market is influenced by hip-hop 'ulllll ,
"
so the DJs and remix artists wh< II l
BBE sound enhancement processors w; II
be significant to the brand's car audit,
licensees.
Several years ago BBE's managemenl
team resolved to grow the BBE brand in
the m.i. market by venturing into areal';
that, in Dave's words, "are a significant
departure from BBE's high-tech prod
ucts. For example, an analog guitar pedal
is very old technology. We've got this
team with so much personal experience
with pedals that once we came to terms
with our high-tech brand doing low-tech
products, a torrent of creativity was
unleashed." Having solved technological
challenges that hampered an effort in the
early '90s to produce a Sonic Maximizer
pedal, BBE introduced a successful foot
pedal version called the Sonic Stomp in
2005, opening the door for the company
to develop a full range of effects pedals.

L0 LLA R rIc K U r s

/'~~ / /i

r::,
.
/

','

the Straight Truth About Pickups by Jason Lollar
The"magic"found in some (but not all) classic vintage pickups
was created by accident. Don't let anyone tell you different.
And over time, some pretty stellar accidents happened. The
only way to recreate that magic is to study more than a few
exceptional examples of all the classic pickup types, while
acquiring athorough understanding of exactly what materials
were used and precisely how each pickup was constructed and
wound. Only then is the "magic" repeatable, if you are willing to
spend the time and money required to chase the dragon. Iam.
I personally design and wind over 30 different pickup models,
including all the vintage classics, many obscure works of art
known only to lap and pedal steel players like Robert
Randolph, and even afew of my own designs that never
existed in the past.
I invite you to call or visit our web site to obtain afree catalog.

Lollar GUi~ffi PO Box 2450 VashOlllsland, WA 98070 (206) 463·9838 ¥N1\'I.ioliargUl~rs.com

128

MUSIC TRADES APRIL 2009

129

TOP GLOBAL MUSIC & AUDIO SUPPLIERS
SALES RANKINGS

The line now includes 15 products, and
more are nearly ready for market.
Meanwhile, BBE's range of high-tech
products continues to grow. In response
to the substantial migration of recording
industry from hardware to software,
BBE recently introduced the D82 Sonic
Maximizer, the company's latest plug-in

PERFORMANCE

PROFILES

version of its signature 482i. And the
company is close to launching a suite of
sound enhancement plug-ins employing
some of the DSP codes developed for the
licensing program. "Without revealing
too much," says Dave, "BBE will soon
be introducing "a proliferation of plug
ins."

As has been the case since John
McLaren took BBE's helm in 1985, the
dynamic "feedback loop" among the
company's multifaceted interests contin
ues to fuel growth and innovation.
(714) 897-6766

www.bbesound.com

B.G. FRANCK BICHON
Building a recession-proof business around high-fashion accessories
QUITE POSSIBLY THE ONLY manu
facturer to elevate musical accessories
to a fashion statement, BO Franck
Bichon occupies prime territory in one
of the industry's most recession-proof
segments. In the weeks leading up to
Musikmesse 2009, the Lyon, France
based company was looking to main
tain its advantage with a number of
new products and an aggressive game
plan. "Our answer to the global reces
sion is to stay on the attack: more
shows, more advertisement, action on
FaceBook, new packaging, and new
products for now and 201Q," says
founder and President Franck Bichon.
Nearly 25 years since launching its
stylish small goods line, BG is carrying
over its artistic concept into new pack
aging to be showcased in Frankfurt.
"You buy with your eyes," says
Franck. "Just as you can be attracted to
a person before knowing him or her,
the same is true of packaging. You aim
to be the most eye-catching and the
best-looking." With a space-saving
design, BG's new packaging allows
dealers to stock, for instance, twice as
many of its instrument swabs in a
given footprint. All packaging can be
opened and reclosed without damaging
it, allowing customers to examine the
product for quality before they buy.
Supplementary dealer materials have
also been updated and distilled, with
product information expressed in easy
to-understand charts and bullet points.
"Simplicity is actually the hardest
thing to do in design and marketing,"
says Franck. "There is always so much
to show, to say! But with this 'less is
more' approach, dealers don't need to
waste time sifting through longwinded
explanations to find the model they

130

Franck Bichon

want to stock."
Among the BG products slated to
appear at Musikmesse are new microfi
bre "cozies" used to protect instru
ments from dust-either for musicians
who leave their instruments on a stand
between sets or practice sessions, or
for dealers who want to ward off dust
collection on the merchandise when
they close their stores at night or over
weekends. New instrument warmers in
silk and polar fleece insulate instru
ments from extreme temperatures and
shocks.
Also new this year are BO Propacks,
kits containing a bundle of related BO
accessories. Fifteen different Propack
concepts have been introducedMUSIC TRADES APRIL 2009

including a "Best Of' collection for
each version-each of which repre
sents a 15% discount on the individual
purchase of the products it contains.
"BO is always full of new projects, but
we must also focus on existing lines,"
says Franck. "In these economic times,
accessories are what dealers turn to."
Plans for a wave of products to be
released for BO's 25th anniversary in
2010 have been kept close to the vest,
although the company has prean
nounced a new classical sax mouth
piece design-to be pre-introduced at
the World Saxophone Congress in
Bangkok this July-and new "DIVA"
hybrid. reeds. Both products were
developed by Franck's father, wood
wind expert Serge Bichon. "DIVA is a
unique concept, mixing natural fiber
(no cane) and synthetic material," says
Franck. "We are offering an alternative
between natural cane and synthetic
reeds."
This year marks the start of a mer
chandising campaign highlighting the
company's distinctive interlocking
"BO" logo. Where other companies
propagate their names and logos with
complimentary pens and keychains,
BG features musically relevant give
aways including sample pad driers and
glass cleaners made from the microfi
bre used in BO's instrument swabs and
care cloths. In a particularly luxurious
offering, the company will hand out
branded scarves in the designer-quality
silk used in its swabs, key covers, and
instrument cushions.
"Why should we offer pens when we
don't sell pens?" says Franck. "The
only things we offer as giveaways are
products that musicians can buy later
in shops. When musicians carry our

TOP GLOBAL MUSIC & AUDIO SUPPLIERS
SALES RANKINGS

BBE

PERFORMANCE

PROFILES

ttl-l ow about

(800) 670-1736

a~~E

www.aimsi.biz

SOUND, INC.

with that?"

A leading audio innovator's diversification is helping to build a global,
cross-market brand.

BBE's new D82 Sonic Maximizer plug-in for computer recording applications.

BBE has a fast-growing line of gui
tar effects pedals.

126
,.

o.~g

\.)v • •

'a'" 'a'""

•

1()(,)r~IOUn

CHANNEL A

I'llllf~~

aUT

DBEPROCESS

.'"'.
·a· .\Q

'~"'"
til!

t{J~l)rJrCJLJR

PH()lI"~

o ••
'"~o

V
CHANNELS

POWER

l-iere:~ a tip-~top leaVing money on the tabl
"Sonic Maximizers are great
because making the sale is as
easy as the pushing a button. "
Clay Bailey, owner
Bailey Bros. Music
Montgomery, AL

"I love Sonic Maximizers
because my average sale goes
up every time I sell one. "
Larry Fischer, owner
Metro Sound and Lighting
St. PaUl, MN

"It's the only product I sell by
turning it off. It's so easy"
Evan Sheely, owner
Bass Northwest
Seattle, WA

"BBE makes any gear sound
better, but more importantly,
every customer who walks
through my front door is a
potential BBE sale. "
Ryan Clement, Manno r
Grandma's MUIlI,:
Albuquerque, NM

MUSIC TRADES APRIL 2009

www.bbesound.com
5381 Production Drive, Huntington Beach, California 92649, USA

C.___::. a l1:........us at

....J,L_ _

(~---

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Sonic Maximizer BBE 802 The Music Trades Company Story

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