P4 Topic Ideas

Specimen Products

Specimen products is a custom guitar and amplifier designer and manufacturer based in Chicago. They've produced guitars and audio equipment for musicians such as Andrew Bird, Tim Hurley, Mark Greenberg, and many more. In addition to being a prominent producer of comissioned work, Specimen Products also operates the Chicago School of Guitar Making, offering courses to the general public in the design and construction of guitars and sound equipment.

I'm interested in the subject because I've seen the facility, as well as the performances of some musicians who use their equipment. The business has been getting more press, and it's probably getting to the point where there is enough information available that concentrating it in one place would be useful.

Some of the sources include their own websites: http://www.specimenproducts.com/index.html , http://www.specimenproducts.com/guitar_school/chicagoschoolofguitarmaking.html

as well as websites that focus on bands that use Specimen products : http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2009/01/27/chicago-made-horn-amps-tv-tonight

there are futher websites that detail the contents of the various courses, http://www.guitarsite.com/news/other/chicago_school_guitar_classes/

Working Draft

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