The Studio at the Palms

Studio X at the Las Vegas-based Studio at the Palms, recently upgraded with a new Avid Pro Tools HDX system, sourced and supplied through GC Pro.

— GC Pro continues to be the first call for The Studio at the Palms for its
professional audio technology needs —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, November 29, 2012 — Las Vegas-based Studio at the Palms, located at the fabulous Palms Casino Resort and which has hosted such artists as Lady Gaga, Ne-Yo, The Killers, LMFAO and others, recently upgraded with three new Avid Pro Tools HDX systems. The new systems were installed in Studio X and Studio Y, along with a “floater” system that lets any space in the studio become a fully compatible recording environment. The HDX systems, sourced and supplied through Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, join the other gear that GC Pro has sourced for the facility over the years.

“We really pride ourselves on being state-of-the-art here and always ready at a moment’s notice to serve our clients,” says Studio at the Palms Director Zoe Thrall, noting that artists working on long-term projects or just passing through Las Vegas for performances or for awards shows often use some of their time there to record new tracks or finish up existing ones. “They expect the best from us, and that’s what we strive to deliver.”

Thrall, one of the most respected studio managers in the entire industry (prior to coming to the Studio at the Palms, she supervised operations for The Hit Factory and Avatar Studios in New York City), says GC Pro has been an invaluable resource in keeping her studios at the cutting edge of music technology. “They really know their stuff, and they can get me what I need quickly and cost-effectively,” she says, noting that she’s purchased DSP and software system through GC Pro, as well as used them as a portal to the vast inventory of musical instruments and equipment available at Guitar Center itself. “My relationship with GC Pro goes back to the New York days, and wherever I’ve worked with GC Pro, it’s always been a great experience,” she adds.

Las Vegas-based GC Pro Sales Associate Don Hartley, who handles the Studio at the Palms account, says that clients at that level need the kind of attention only a full-service, high-end pro-dealer can offer. “We give a facility like Studio at the Palms a concierge level of service, because that’s what they require in order to serve that caliber of clientele,” says Hartley, who will often personally bring equipment to the studio on short notice when necessary. “The Studio at the Palms has a huge inventory of great equipment, and a fantastic tech specialist in Brent Spear, who did the entire installation of the new Pro Tools HDX systems himself. But GC Pro is always here to fill in any gaps they may encounter – from a console to a guitar stand – any day, any time.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

GC Pro Helps Pentecostal Church Assembly of God

— Growing church had to move to larger quarters across the street, and GC Pro made sure that it was ready for them when it came to sound —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, November 16, 2012 — The Pentecostal Church Assembly of God in Trenton, New Jersey, had the kind of problem many churches pray for: they just keep on growing. Fortunately for this congregation, a former house of worship became available right across the street. Having also been used as a school, the main sanctuary had been converted into a gymnasium, and Assembly of God ventured to convert it back into a worship space. This was certainly a blessing for the church’s membership, but a lot more space to fill in terms of sound. That’s when they called on Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, which brought to bear the huge range of services that only GC Pro can offer.

With GC Pro Senior Account Manager Billy Walker coordinating the effort, JBL Professional engineers were called upon to provide analysis and design based on drawings by Malvicino Design Group, a Forest Hills, New York-based GC Pro Affiliate Services Program member. Working with GC Pro personnel, the JBL Professional engineers created several sound system designs for the church’s executive board to consider. Then, GC Pro called upon Horacio Malvicino, Managing Director of the Malvicino Design Group, for further design consultation and to install and tune the JBL VerTec and VRX line array PA systems, as well as the Midas Pro 2 FOH console, that the church had decided upon. The project was finished in August 2012.

Deciding on a complex and costly new sound system can be a trying proposition for any church, and GC Pro has as much or more experience in the HOW sector of pro audio than any other retailer in the world. Knowing how crucial this decision would be for the church, Walker arranged with local JBL rep firm Sigmet Corp. to host a demo of the JBL VerTec system at the Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center in nearby York, Pennsylvania, so the church leaders could see, hear and experience the systems first hand.

“PA systems aren’t just about the sound, though that’s their most important aspect,” Walker explains. “They also have to have certain visual elements -- they have to be able to blend in well with the rest of the church’s interior, and when they are seen they have to look good. Bob Reuther at Sigmet arranged for us to have a night at the Strand to ourselves, and the church could get all the time they needed seeing and hearing the JBL PA systems, until they felt comfortable with them.”

And they did. After the church made its decision, the Malvicino Design Group began the installation process, using the VerTec enclosures for the two main line array hangs and the VRX boxes for delay fills for the rear of the new larger church. “That’s the kind of comprehensive service we can bring to the HOW market,” says Walker. “We have the ability to source systems from many manufacturers, help churches pick the ones that are best for their needs, and even provide installation and integration services in a seamless, one-stop manner. It’s the best way to make the customer comfortable for a big purchase like this.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

GC Pro Helps Southwestern Oklahoma State University

The auditorium at Southwestern Oklahoma State University’s Fine Arts Center, recently outfitted with new lighting technologies from GC Pro.

— Lighting products from brands including Martin, Elation and Lightronics are
part of a large upgrade package sourced by GC Pro that will help keep this theater
a versatile hub for the community and the state —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, November 13, 2012 — Southwestern Oklahoma State University’s Fine Arts Center has become one of the cultural hubs of the region around Oklahoma City. Intended primarily for the support of university-sponsored activities, the auditorium is designed to serve not only as an instructional facility, but also as a cultural center for the development of quality activities for Western Oklahoma, providing, as its mission statement proclaims, “…diversity in cultural experiences, and developing awareness of and appreciation for the rich cultural heritage of the region.” But the Center’s lighting grew less-than-adequate over the years, failing to keep pace with the changes in lighting technology, such as the introduction of LED light fixtures over the last decade. However, that situation has been entirely remedied, thanks to new equipment and technologies sourced by Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users.

Among the new systems purchased by the University from GC Pro are an MA grandMA2 ultra-light lighting console, 20 Martin Stagebar 2 Long RGBW fixtures, 12 Elation Platinum Wash ZFX PRO fixtures, three Lightronics AC-1109 8-scene push-button scene remote stations, eight Lightronics RA-122 12-channel 2400-watt dimmers, and a Tripp-Lite SR42UB Smart Rack. It’s a lighting systems array that will light up the Center’s performances, which range from the school’s ballet and dance companies to touring theatrical productions and other performance arts. “The old lighting systems just bit the dust,” says Kyle Bartel, Director of the Fine Arts Center. “It was time to upgrade, and GC Pro had what we needed.”

David Almanza, Sales at GC Pro’s office in Oklahoma City, says the Center’s wish list included a new grandMA console, which several regional suppliers simply couldn’t source in time for the University’s needs, with new shows scheduled for the start of the new school year. Almanza called dozens of vendors around the country, seeking both availability and price. And the console was originally supposed to take weeks if not months to get. “We had one on the way here in less then a week,” he says. The same applied to other products. For instance, the manufacturer said that Elation’s moving-head fixtures were back-ordered for as much as two months, but Almanza was able to call on his supply chain to get them delivered within two days. “GC Pro has huge resources,” he explains. “That results not only in competitive pricing but also the ability to obtain a breadth of products that is second to none. That’s why customers come to us and stay with us.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

GC Pro Helps the James Burton Foundation

— Students at the Recording Studios Program, a component of the James Burton Foundation’s multiple approaches to bringing music and music education to those in need, now can work on an SSL AWS900 console and a complete complement of high-end gear —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, November 1, 2012 — The James Burton Foundation, founded by its namesake Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-member guitarist, best known for his work with Elvis Presley, supports music education for those in need through guitar donations and music instruction to schools, hospitals and community service organizations. The Foundation is currently expanding its outreach programs, including taking the organization’s recording education agenda to the next level. That initiative was moved substantially forward recently with a package of studio technology sourced through Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, including a new SSL AWS948 recording console, an Aviom studio cue system, new Mojave studio microphones and an array of outboard equipment. This acquisition, custom-tailored by GC Pro’s Nashville-based Senior Account Manager Chad Evans to exactly match the Foundation’s needs and budget, will help the Foundation continue to provide free-of-charge music and technical education opportunities to students and the community in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Foundation has given thousands of guitars to schools and children’s and veteran’s hospitals, and they continue music education outreach through programs such as the James Burton Foundation Museum and Performing Arts Stage, the Music Education Program, an Oral History Program and the Recording Studios Program, as well as events such as the James Burton International Guitar Festival.

What GC Pro was able to do for the James Burton Foundation comes about from GC Pro’s long history of helping both education and non-profit institutions. For instance, GC Pro works with technical and media arts schools including SAE and the Art Institutes facilities in locations across the U.S., and in Nashville it has sourced equipment and provided advice to music technology programs at schools including Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), Belmont University, Lipscomb University and Vanderbilt University.

“To effectively service educational institutions, you have to be able to put yourself in the place of the teacher and the student,” explains Chad Evans, Senior Account Executive for GC Pro in Nashville, who guided the James Burton Foundation through this acquisition process, providing consultation on which products and platforms would best help its students and teachers. “We’ve worked with schools and non-profits often in the past, so we’ve developed a good sense about which products are a good fit for each institution’s needs. And we’re very aware of how important budgets are to these kinds of clients. They need to know that their money is being spent wisely and effectively. We’re able to offer them the best possible advice that also fits their budgetary needs and allows them to further their missions without compromising. That’s why so many institutions like the James Burton Foundation partner with us.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

GC Pro Helps First Baptist Church

First Baptist Church of Sebring, Florida, recently renovated and featuring a new sound system sourced through GC Pro.
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, October 30, 2012 — The First Baptist Church of Sebring, Florida, was founded in 1922. A lot has changed in the intervening 90 years, including the church’s move to its current location in 1987. Since then, the church has continued to expand its campus, adding a Fellowship Hall, kitchen, elevator, children's department, and the "ROC" (Recreation Outreach Center) for athletic events, social gatherings, and youth activities. One of the things that didn’t change as quickly, however, was the church sanctuary’s sound system, which was both old and ill-designed for the church’s dimensions, which are wider than long, causing many sound problems (for instance, the 60-person choir would miss many of the weekly sermons due to lack of intelligibility through the PA system). A change needed to happen, so the church reached out to Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, for help. Today, everyone in First Baptist of Sebring can hear every word spoken by the Pastor and every note of music sung by the choir and played by the worship band.

GC Pro’s team assessed the church’s needs carefully, noting in particular the specification for a sound system with excellent horizontal dispersion characteristics, to address the building’s interior dimensions and lack of acoustical treatments. Commuting from GC Pro’s Tampa office, GC Pro Account Manager Mick Hall spent hours at the church, figuring out the best systems for its needs. These included a JBL VRX928 line array system configured as a center cluster, with two VRX dual-15-inch subwoofers.

“The old systems left a number of dead spots throughout the church,” Hall explains. “It simply didn’t have the reach, and as a result intelligibility suffered. Rooms with these kinds of dimensions need very specific kinds of system solutions.”

The new PA system was rounded out with a new Yamaha LS9 FOH console, Aviom in-ear wireless monitoring for the band, an Ashly NE24.24M matrix processor, a Sennheiser Evolution wireless microphone system, and a pair of JBL CBT 70 mini-arrays for the choir’s monitors. Hall also specified two Mitsubishi 8100 video projectors. “The big picture was to get even and consistent sound coverage for the entire sanctuary, which is something the church had never had,” says Hall.

GC Pro was chosen as the partner on this project based on the comprehensiveness of their approach, which included detailed design and consultation services and installation availability through its Approved Vendor Program, in addition to competitive pricing. “We let them know we would be their partners in this project, not just a vendor selling equipment,” says Hall. “That’s how GC Pro does it.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

FALL 2012: Amazing Avid Deals!

From now through December 14, GC Pro has some incredible savings to pass on to you from Avid! Whether you're getting your first Pro Tools system or are already a Pro Tools owner, take advantage of these deals now... contact your GC Pro rep today!

• Purchase Mbox or Mbox Mini (includes Pro Tools Express) and get Eleven and the Moogerfooger Bundle at no cost!
• Purchase the full version of Pro Tools 10 software and get Reverb One and Tel-Ray Variable at no cost!
• Crossgrade from Pro Tools Express to Pro Tools 10 and get Reverb One and Tel-Ray Variable Delay at no cost!
• Purchase Mbox or Mbox Mini (includes Pro Tools Express) and a Pro Tools 10 crossgrade and get Eleven, the Moogerfooger Bundle, Reverb One, and Tel-Ray Variable Delay at no cost!
• Purchase Mbox Pro, Mbox Pro Artist Bundle, or Eleven Rack (all include Pro Tools 10) and get Eleven, the Moogerfooger Bundle, Reverb One, and Tel-Ray Variable Delay at no cost!

As if that wasn't enough, current Pro Tools|HDX and Pro Tools|HD Native owners can get limited-time special pricing on a must-have collection of 18 superior-sounding, studio-essential Pro Tools® AAX* plug-ins that will not only help you capture brilliant performances, but also give your mixes that special presence and polish you crave.

• Avid ReVibe®
• Avid Tel-Ray® Variable Delay
• Brainworx bx_limiter†
• Brainworx bx_XL V2†
• Crane Song Phoenix II
• DUY MagicEQ
• elysia alpha compressor†
• Kush Audio UBK-1
• Maag EQ4†
• McDSP 4040 Retro Limiter
• Metric Halo Character
• Metric Halo HaloVerb
• Pro Audio DSP Dynamic Spectrum Mapper V2†
• SPL TwinTube†
• Softube Bass Amp Room
• Softube Passive-Active Pack
• Softube Summit Audio TLA-100A
• Sonnox Inflator

* This offer is only available to registered Pro Tools|HDX and Pro Tools|HD Native owners, and requires Pro Tools 10 software.
† Please note that these plug-in licenses (sold as part of the AAX Pack) are non-transferrable and do not include AU or VST versions. Once purchased, customers will need to register these plug-ins on the Plugin Alliance website to activate.

Remember, these Avid deals end on December 14, so don't delay. Contact GC Pro right now and get your Pro Tools system rocking!

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.