Hilgen Amplifiers
  • Home
  • The Genius Behind Hilgen: Jack Gentul
  • WARNING: DANGER OF ELECTROCUTION
  • The 1965 Hilgen Pricelist
  • The 1966 Hilgen Catalog
  • Model 5063 "Swing Away Guitarist"
  • Model R2522 "Victor" Dual Channel Build
  • Model R2523 "Champion"
  • Model R2024 "Challenger"
  • Schematics
  • Hilgen Artifacts
  • HilBlog

May 01st, 2013

5/1/2013

1 Comment

 
As I get deeper and deeper into the research for this site, I am finding that the Hilgen story arises out of a web of relationships among guys who were connected with super high-end hi-fi in the 1950's. These guys weren't a bunch of hacks trying to copy Fenders or more popular brands to make a quick buck. They had a different idea about how electric guitars could or should sound. Several of them held patents for critical advances in the design of amplifiers and loudspeakers.  Maybe geeks, but not shysters.

Judging from the Internet, most modern guitarists sneer at folks like Jack Gentul because they didn't make it big.  The assumption seems to be that if someone has built an excellent product, lots of people will purchase it;  if they don't, the product must be inferior.  That assumption rests on another assumption: that people know about the product, try it, and reject it on its merits.  But what if they don't even know the product exists? 

Jack Gentul did not have control over how his amps were advertised or distributed; that was left in another, more powerful person's hands.   And that person was not interested in making any substantial investment in Hilgen.

I have possession of a distributor's catalog from about 1966.  The distributor, "Music Distributors, Inc.," was from Charlotte, North Carolina.  This company apparently had the account for distributing Hilgen Amps.  The other products in the catalog are execrable.  Unbelievably hideous, low-priced guitars and amps.  If I'd run a music store in the mid 1960's and someone had handed me that catalog, I would probably have thrown it away either (a) without reading it, in which case I would never hear about Hilgen amplifiers, or (b) after reading it, in which case I would assume that Hilgens were junk and nothing I'd want to sell in my store.

And what about Elmore Heppner?

But that's another story...
1 Comment
Don DeJong link
5/30/2013 01:10:55 pm

Fascinating web site! The point about Jack being sneered at by some because he didn't make it big seems to come from very simplistic thinking. In many cases it's just the most aggressive or egotistical or wealthy entrepreneurs who are able to flood the market with their junk, while the work of very clever people never makes it to market. Sometimes the most creative thinkers are quite content to fly under the radar, or to just make things for their own enjoyment.

If the masses were convinced that the only flavors of ice cream were vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry they would miss out on a world of flavors. So too with amplifiers, there's a world of flavors out there for those with open, inquisitive minds. Thanks for bringing the Hilgen flavor back to our attention.

Don

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    John Bannon

    I've been playing electric guitar for 44 years.  That's an alarming statistic... Anyway, I admire underdogs and unsung heroes.  Particularly when they labored in complete obscurity, making spectacular amps that were forgotten for more than 30 years. Another alarming statistic.

    Picture

    Archives

    September 2015
    February 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly