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Review by Forum Moderator - Terry Anderson (Six String)
With the loss of my “mom and pop” shop, I admittedly haven’t been out much… but I had the very good fortune recently of taking a tour of Sweetwater Sound just outside of Fort Wayne IN. (http://www.sweetwater.com) For those of you that are not aware of Sweetwater, they are a gear center like none I have seen. They have just put up a new state of the Eco-Art building that is unbelievable.
My tour host was Mike Ross, Director of Marketing for Sweetwater. I sincerely thank him for his time and information.
Mike went way beyond the 25 cent tour with the "behind the scenes" conversations and us relating our "stories behind the guitars" stories. Mike first pointed out that Sweetwater is celebrating their 30th year in business and to commemorate this event, they have reenacted the manor in which Mr. Chuck Surrack, President and owner of Sweetwater, began the business in 1979.......
Chuck loaded up his 4-track equipment into the back of a VW bus somewhat like the one shown and made the rounds as needed. The keyboard equipment shown is the original board used and it’s interesting to note the “tiny” computer sitting on the edge of it. This too I understand is the original equipment. But from that start, Sweetwater expanded with much labor to what it is today.
BTW…. The “Down Beat” in the photo is the cafeteria we had lunch at. Next to it is a sheet music shop and upstairs is a guitar luthier making his own guitars……
…… and this is the original art work from one of the Pro-Gear catalogs they issued….
But on with the tour…….
Yes, that’s one of a set of two putting greens there and a row of electronic games along the wall AND it doesn’t show the electronic golf range just off to the left. You don’t need any quarters to play them. This is made available to the customers and the employees (on lunch). When mom or dad bring child A in for guitar lessons, what do they do with child B, C and D…………….? There’s your answer.
But anyway, on to the important things like equipment ordering…….. When your order is taken…….
…… it is sent down to the warehouse electronically and filled, checked and double checked here…..
In the window on the second story location we were standing, this placard was posted.......
Because of their double check system, they have a 99.95% accuracy rate on their shipments…… which are around 1200 plus a day. But I found it more interesting, that being a player that likes to play before I buy that there are a couple of features that Sweetwater offers that is appealing. First, if I were to go into the Guitar Gallery (http://www.sweetwater.com/guitargallery/ ) and see a particular guitar that struck my fancy, I can get the serial number of that guitar and assuming it is available, come in and play it. Second, again being one that likes to play the guitar first, I can go into the music shop there and try almost any combination out……….
But they offer so much more…..
But it doesn’t stop there…….
And just a note, the little chrome box sitting on top of the white VOX head is called the VOX Night Train. It is an AMAZING little 15 watt box!!! We ran it through some paces and holy cow!!!! If you get a chance, check one out………
And……………….
There are many more photos I did take and even more I thought I took…… and several I see now I should have taken, but the difference that struck me the most is that everyone I talked to knew what they were talking about. They answered my questions and if someone wasn’t sure they found someone who did know the answer. I think this is in part due to the caliber of people they hire but is also due to the 13 week enrollment to Sweetwater’s “Sound University” required of all employees. There are also a number of manufacturer reps that work full time at the complex. This is unlike my experiences elsewhere.
While I was overwhelmed with much of what I was seeing, Mike had shown me much more about Sweetwater. It is not only a premier catalog outlet to get your gear but is still very involved with recording, instrument and equipment instruction, performance technologies, equipment repair…….. only to mention the tip of the ice berg.
They have state of the art recording studios that are light years beyond my Porta-Studio 2 days….. All the way from smaller home basement type set ups to full studio abilities…..
I got a kick out of this one. It’s the “Mic Vault” where they keep all their studio Mics…….
And the equipment! You name it……. They have it. I took some pictures of it but what I took would be like showing the plug into the wall outlet…….. (lol) Doesn’t begin to do it justice. But if this isn’t enough, Mike took me into see their performing auditorium……. Amphitheater. This place is so huge that my camera couldn’t do it justice……..
The acoustics in this room were awesome. Clap your hands and there was basically NO echo. However, from the control console, the operator could make it sound like Caragie Hall, a cathedral or your local bar! When you have 100 plus speakers around the room, it’s amazing what you can do with sound! Oh, and if you don’t like the ambient sound, you can plug into the individual setting inputs in the seats……
There are so many things that impressed me on this tour and I’m sure there are many things I have not covered. But the important thing I have come away with is the overall attitude of Sweetwater. They are like none I have seen. They start with their employees and make for a great place to work by offering the Health Club……
…. The Racquet Ball court, Barber shop, free DVD checkout, Concierge Service and the list goes on……. So how does it relate to you and I? They work very hard to make their employees happy so that will reflect in the service they extend to the customers they serve. What has this hard work resulted in…….? Kudos from all over.
In summary, I hope my poor effort to relate our tour has been enjoyable. For those that have more interest, Sweetwater does have a virtual tour on their website. Mine is here to let you know that think I have found my new age “mom and pop” shop. An awesome place and one I’d recommend for anyone that gets in the area of Fort Wayne, IN, USA to stop by! Again, Mike….. Thanks!!! |
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