instruments genre luthier founded 1984 founder ian schneller headquarters chicago illinois usa area served global key people ian schneller nadine schneller products string instruments tube amps owner ian schneller subsidiaries chicago school of guitar making website specimen products.com specimen products is a chicago based manufacturer of custom guitars tube amplifiers and audio horn speakers led by luthier ian schneller . specimen products also offers courses in guitar and tube amplifier design construction and repair through their chicago school of guitar making . the specimen workshop offers repair services to the general public making use of their collection of parts from rare and vintage manufacturers . contents 1 history 2 products 2.1 instruments 2.1.1 aluminum 2.1.2 pippin 2.1.3 maxwell 2.1.4 royale 2.1.5 singletons 2.2 audio 2.2.1 horn speakers 2.2.2 instrument amplifiers 2.2.3 hi fi stereo amplifiers 3 notable musicians using specimen equipment 4 references history edit the brand specimen products was conceived by company founder ian schneller in 1981 during his undergraduate study at the memphis college of art . after completing his graduate studies at the school of the art institute of chicago schneller began producing instruments in favor of sculpture . in 1986 as he began producing more instruments for friends and band mates schneller established his workshop on chicago s south side archer street in a loft rented by his band shrimp boat . 1 the first commissioned project specimen undertook was fulfilling tar guitarist john mohr s request for an indestructible guitar 2 a task that would develop the company s longstanding experiments with aluminum guitars . the archer street facility was creatively productive but schneller states that he only sold a single unit out of the many produced . in 1992 specimen was moved to madison street . it was at this facility that the company began to offer guitar and tube amplifier repair services . in the two years spent on madison street specimen introduced their first two standard models the pippin and the maxwell . at this time schneller began to experiment with mimicking the silhouette of established guitar models using non traditional materials . this experiment would prove central to the philosophy behind specimen s later designs . by 1994 specimen was working to fulfill backlogged orders . in 1994 specimen moved to a storefront on division street in the wicker park neighborhood . at this point specimen s plans for a production run of 10 watt amps materialized in the petimor amplifiers . the division street shop allowed for an expanded repair business . repairing so many guitars from big manufacturers impressed upon schneller the need for minimalist designs with very durable construction . these tenets have become the standard of specimen products designs . the division street shop became a prominent show room for the custom instruments establishing a customer base with many local musicians as well as those travelling through the area . in 2003 the business grew large enough to warrant moving to a new facility on chicago s near westside representing a shift to an industrial model of production rather than a boutique . it is equipped with modern specialized equipment for finishing completed products as well as intensive design of new models . in 2005 this facility became the operating center for schneller s chicago school of guitar making . 3 products edit specimen products offers a wide variety of products for sale from their showroom . the string instruments tube amplifiers and horn speakers produced by specimen use experimental designs and materials or seek to reinvent antique designs or concepts . instruments edit the instruments produced by specimen products have become highly regarded as both ornate works and quality sound . while specimen continues to experiment with different materials and designs most of their works fall into one of the various series designed by schneller . aluminum edit one of the first instruments designed by specimen as a custom order demand for aluminum instruments rose after they were featured on the cover of tar s album clincher . one of the most diverse styles produced by specimen schneller has produced bass guitars mandolas and guitars varying from standard design to the flying v design . the stated goal of the aluminum series is durability . 4 acoustically they are described as having the sustain of a hard bodied guitar with a resonance similar to a traditional acoustic guitar . pippin edit the pippin series is designed in the vein of the gibson les paul . the cutaway design is intended to make the guitar comfortable and easy to play . the majority of the pippin series are solid bodied giving them a long sustain . while styling within the series varies to a degree they all typically feature artifacts of early 20th century guitars such as slotted headstocks and engine turned aluminum accents . maxwell edit the maxwell series is styled after a handmade guitar purchased by schneller at the chicago s maxwell street market . costing only 5 the guitar of unknown origin was crafted improperly from crude materials giving it a very rough sound and appearance . the specimen line of maxwells pays homage to this using raw and unfinished masonite bolted on necks and very simple geometry . it was chosen as premier guitar magazine s guitar of the month in june 2009 . 5 royale edit the royale is a hollow bodied archtop with side by side resonance chambers meant to mimic the curves of the human ear . 3 this design focuses vibrations to the neck of the guitar in the manner that the ear focus vibrations to capture sound . the result is a guitar that provides more biofeedback to the player intended to allow the player to feel subtle nuances in sustain and intonation . singletons edit specimen has produced a variety of singletons or one off custom designs . some singletons were made to order by musicians looking to achieve a certain sound or to reinvent a particular instrument such as the electric lute . some are reinterpretations or modifications of existing instruments built by specimen as continued experimentation with design and acoustics . several singletons are entirely new instruments such as the moule bird 6 a hand held single stringed instrument that can be plucked or bowed . audio edit the stated design principle of specimen products audio equipment emphasizes durability and functionality over feature rich designs . the tube amplifiers are built without the functionality that comes standard on most production amplifiers theoretically limiting the number of possible locations for distortion and malfunction though there is some controversy to this claim . horn speakers edit specimen products employs an octagonal resonance horn on all speaker boxes intended to increase the spatial effect of music played through it . horn speakers have been made in varying sizes from 3 to 8 feet tall . specimen has made horn speakers in a variety of powers ranging from 10 or less watt speakers for personal use such as with an mp3 player 7 to 70 watt pieces intended for stage performance . andrew bird uses a specially designed horn speaker known as the janus horn featuring a two mouthed horn that spins during operation giving music played through it a doppler effect . instrument amplifiers edit the specimen products line of tube driven amplifiers began with the petimor model a 10 watt birchwood based amplifier designed to accommodate classical guitar . also available is the stereo amp which is essentially two petimors in one case angled at 25 degrees apart . after a variety of smaller scale experiments specimen released the horn amp a single tube amplifier fitted with a 24 inch horn in order to produce stage performance level volumes . hi fi stereo amplifiers edit specimen s line of tube amplifiers use 1940s era tube circuitry yet is compatible with an ipod or computer . the product line includes a single ended stereo amp 300b stereo tube amp single ended monoblock a single ended 2a3 tube amp a pentode driven 2a3 amp and the octoblock an eight channel single ended power amp created for the collaborative project with andrew bird called the sonic arboretum . notable musicians using specimen equipment edit andrew bird horn amp janus horn xl horn speakers custom maxwell jack white little horn speakers hi fi stereo tube amplifiers 300 watt subwoofer single hornling horn speaker ceiling janus double spinning horn speaker alan sparhawk of low aluminum thinline style telecaster guitar joe principe of rise against aluminum jazz bass jeff tweedy of wilco silvertone schnellercaster little horn speakers satellite subwoofer arista strungys of loraxx specimen flying a references edit rick kogan mar 24 2002 . sculptor of sounds . chicago tribune . david rothschild oct 22 1993 . schneller s fine specimens strike a chord . chicago tribune . a b http www.premierguitar.com magazine issue 2009 jul specimen products the chicago school of guitar making.aspx http www.gearwire.com specimen aluminummandola.html premier guitar magazine . eye candy . june 2009 http www.premierguitar.com magazine issue 2009 jun specimen products maxwell custom.aspx . missing or empty title help http www.specimenproducts.com moule bird http www.thrillist.com chicago little horn speakers retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title specimen products & oldid 743337174 categories guitar manufacturing companiesmusical instrument manufacturing companiescompanies based in chicagoguitar amplifier manufacturershidden categories pages with citations lacking titlespages with citations having bare urls navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout 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