Video and Audio Systems for Anastasia Baptist Church

The Christian Life Center, a 15,000-square-foot sanctuary holding up to 1,200 worshipers, at Anastasia Baptist Church in St. Augustine, Florida, featuring new video and lighting systems sourced through Guitar Center Professional.

— Working with GC Pro Affiliate AV integrator Sound System Engineering, GC Pro continues assisting the church in refining its media systems and enhancing its ability to communicate its message —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, April 14, 2016 — The St. Augustine Lighthouse has been a beacon for Florida mariners since it was built in 1874. Similarly, the Anastasia Baptist Church, also located in what is the oldest city in the United States, describes itself as “a spiritual lighthouse” for its members. Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the business-to-business (B2B) division of Guitar Center providing highly customized service for professional accounts, has been a partner with Anastasia Church for the last three years, helping it keep its message clear and articulate.

The church’s main campus houses its Christian Life Center, a 15,000-square-foot sanctuary holding up to 1,200 worshipers. To enhance the worship experience in the sanctuary, Eli Higginbotham, the church’s Technical Director, again sought GC Pro’s help, and GC Pro responded. Jeff Aldrich, GC Pro Account Manager of North Florida at GC Pro’s Jacksonville office, recommended a new video system consisting of four Sony EVIH100V HD cameras, a Sony RMBR300 EVI BRC PTZ VISCA remote control unit, and a Roland V-40HD multi-format video switcher integrated into the churches existing video platform. The project also saw two 80-inch Sharp LCD monitors installed in the main sanctuary as well as 60-inch Sony monitors in two classrooms on the campus. In addition, a second, smaller sanctuary that seats 600 for more traditional worship services, had a JBL CWT128 8-inch 2-way loudspeaker system suspended above the orchestra area. Sound System Engineering (SSE) was the approved GC Pro AV system integration Affiliate that assisted in the systems’ design and performed the installation.

To illustrate the church’s 2016 sermon theme around mountains, the church suggested a custom LED lighting strip that would outline a mountain background lining the rear of the stage in the Christian Life Center. Lighting was addressed in a unique way for this systems upgrade: the installation of a 400-foot run of Aspect LED RGBW strip lighting tape to line the mountaintops that were designed and built by Doug Brown, Florida School of the Arts Technical Director.

“The church wanted to enhance their media capabilities and the overall worship experience,” Aldrich explains. “We’ve been working with them for the past two years, helping them do exactly that for all of their AVL needs.” Each and every component of the systems that GC Pro recommended was tailored to the church’s specific needs. For instance, the 180-degree dispersion pattern of the JBL CWT128 was what Aldrich calls “a phenomenal fit” with its programmable wave pattern. “One speaker for the entire choir and orchestra monitoring system,” he says.

The smaller sanctuary at Anastasia Baptist Church in St. Augustine, Florida, which seats 600 for more traditional worship services, featuring a JBL CWT128 8-inch 2-way loudspeaker system sourced through Guitar Center Professional.

Higginbotham notes that the relationship between himself and Aldrich goes back nearly a decade, to a time when Higginbotham worked as a manager for several Guitar Center store locations in the Southeast. “Jeff was one of my reps, and he was one of the best, so it was natural for us to continue this relationship when I came to the church,” he explains. Higginbotham says Aldrich’s astuteness is characteristic of GC Pro’s approach to dealing with clients, starting with the installation of new video cameras at the church two years ago, the results of which he described as “spectacular.” “They took care of everything then just as Jeff did with this most recent project, including sourcing the electrical contractor for the new lighting,” he says. “The great thing about working with GC Pro is, you never have to go anywhere else. They have it all.”

And as good as the technology has been for the church, it was the reaffirmation of the relationship that will be most enduring, and of the most benefit to the client. “The intangibility of a trusting relationship is really what GC Pro customers are experiencing,” says Aldrich. “I’ll always be there for them, and that means that GC Pro, with its huge depth of resources and its pricing power, will always be there for them. No one else offers that level of support.”

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

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
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.

Bellevue Christian Center (Bellevue, Nebraska)

The Bellevue Christian Center, in Bellevue, Nebraska, featuring new audio, video and lighting solutions sourced through Guitar Center Professional and installed by Whiteley Solutions.

— AV systems integrator Whiteley Solutions relied on GC Pro to execute a lengthy and varied equipment list for a Nebraska church that needed to renovate two auditorium spaces over a strict timeline —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, September 24, 2015 — The Bellevue Christian Center, in Bellevue, Nebraska, had a big project to tackle: the renovation of an auditorium that would be used as a temporary sanctuary so its existing sanctuary could also be renovated. It was a huge project, one that generated a lengthy equipment list for audio, video and lighting, and one that would require every item from that list to arrive exactly on time, to keep to the project timeline and to assure that the congregation would have a suitable sanctuary every Sunday during the renovations. That’s why the AV systems integrator on the project, Whiteley Solutions, turned to Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. “We knew they’d have what we needed, and they’d have it on site when we needed it,” says Zach Anthony, the Senior Systems Engineer at Whiteley Solutions.

The equipment list was substantial and included lighting systems from Martin, Chauvet, Altman and Elation; audio products from Yamaha, RCF, Sennheiser and AKG®; and video platforms from manufacturers including Vaddio, Blackmagic Design and Da-Lite. The project was scheduled for two phases, the first taking some audio and acoustical products into the church’s auditorium to allow it to be used to hold Sunday services. Once that was done, the work switched to the existing sanctuary, where the vast majority of the equipment purchased through GC Pro would be utilized.

GC Pro’s depth of inventory and logistical capabilities were crucial to the project’s success, says Anthony. “We’re a young contender in the AV industry,” he says, referring to the very recent merger of Whiteley Solutions with another regional AV systems integration company. “What GC Pro gives us for complex projects like this is a one-stop vendor that can supply us with everything we needed on this job — every part, every product, every bolt. And they can do it at competitive prices. And on a project like this, time is critical. They simplified the process for us and the client.”

GC Pro also supported the project by taking care of the logistics, arranging for shipping from Dallas to the suburban Omaha job site. Jeff McDaniel, the GC Pro Account Manager that Anthony worked with, says this is what GC Pro does every day. “We have the broadest selection of equipment in the business, so even the esoteric items are able to be sourced immediately,” he explains. “And GC Pro has locations all over the country, so getting it to a remote job location on time isn’t a problem. There’s no other company that can offer that level of service.”

Zach Anthony agrees — the Bellevue Christian Center project was scheduled to finish on time, with the opening on June 7. “I’ve been working closely with GC Pro for five years, and they have never let me down,” he says. “It’s been a rewarding relationship, for me and for my clients.”

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

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
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.

Koinonia Christian Center Church

The A/V equipment rack at Koinonia Christian Center Church in Arlington, TX, featuring a variety of gear sourced through Guitar Center Professional and installed by GC Pro affiliate Featherston Media. Photo courtesy of Featherston Media. © 2015.

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, August 3, 2015 — Since its founding in 2004 by Pastor Ronnie Goines and his wife Nikki, Arlington, Texas-based Koinonia Christian Church has gathered a congregation of over 4,000 people. Now, as a result of an extensive renovation of a new church site whose technology needs were sourced by Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, the church is ready to move forward on an even greater scale.

GC Pro worked hand in hand with Featherston Media, an AVL and IT systems integrator in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, providing a wide range of equipment and technology platforms, including an Avid SC48 Venue FOH console, Shure in-ear monitors, Sennheiser wireless systems, JVC cameras and Blackmagic Design video systems. These were installed by Featherston Media’s integrators in consultation with GC Pro Account Managers. Featherston Media is also the newest addition to GC Pro’s highly successful Affiliates Program, which matches AVL clients’ projects with the best systems-integration partners and vendors nationwide.

A view of the stage and screen at Koinonia Christian Center Church in Arlington, TX, featuring a variety of gear sourced through Guitar Center Professional and installed by GC Pro affiliate Featherston Media. Photo courtesy of Featherston Media. © 2015.

The Koinonia Christian Center Church project was a large one — the church acquired a former Albertson’s supermarket site in Arlington and needed audio and video systems designed and installed for a new sanctuary, youth and children’s center, and gymnasium. They were already working with Featherston Media on the project when Adam Barnes, Featherston’s Director of Audio, Video & Lighting, brought Jeffery McDaniel, his former colleague and Senior Account Manager at the GC Pro location in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, into the project to consult on design and product choices. “I used to work at the Guitar Center store in Dallas before coming to Featherston, and I knew that Jeff was the absolute best at making really practical technology and product suggestions, and GC Pro was the best at sourcing those systems and working with project budgets,” he says. “It was a great fit working together with them for this project, and as a result the client got the benefit of our design and integration capabilities, and of GC Pro’s depth of resources, their pricing power and their experience.” Barnes says he sent the project’s original bill of materials to McDaniel, who made some additional technology suggestions and then came back with an attractive proposal in terms of delivery times and budget-matching. “Also, Jeff makes himself available and can be on site if we need him,” says Barnes.

For his part, McDaniel says the project went as smoothly as it did because GC Pro and its Affiliates achieve a synergy that no other vendor can offer. “Featherston Media are what we look for in an integration partner — totally professional, easy to work with,” he says. “We’re already planning the next set of projects that we’ll be working together on. Companies like theirs are what lets GC Pro continue to be the leader in turnkey solutions for AV systems projects anywhere in the country.”

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

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
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.

Panasonic Projector Deals

For houses of worship, live sound venues, and other A/V systems installations that need a professional-quality projection system: now's the time to get the Panasonic projector you've always wanted! Between now and March 31 2013, you can get a free lens or a $1500 cash rebate on select Panasonic projector models.

MODELS ELIGIBLE FOR FREE LENS*:

• PT-DZ21KU
(shown above)
• PT-DS20KU
• PT-DW17KU
• PT-DZ8700U
• PT-DS8500U
• PT-DW8300U
• PT-DZ770ULS/ULK
• PT-DZ680ULS/ULK

MODELS ELIGIBLE FOR $1500 CASH REBATE**:

• PT-DZ770US/UK
• PT-DZ680US/UK
(shown above)

* These models, which usually do not come with a lens, will include a lens at no additional cost when ordered by March 31, 2013.
** A lens comes standard with this model. Customers can apply for a $1,500 Cash Rebate for purchases made through March 31, 2013.

Contact your local GC Pro representative here, or by calling toll-free at 877-704-2776. But don't delay! You can only take advantage of this special offer by March 31, 2013!

Islamic Center of Hernando County, Florida

The interior of the Islamic Center of Hernando County, in Spring Hill, Florida. The Center recently upgraded its audio system with Bose Panaray® units and other components sourced through GC Pro.

— Bose Panaray® MA12EX system and supporting technologies, as well as an acoustical treatment that cut the reverb time in the mosque in half and restored speech intelligibility during worship, show how GC Pro is the single best resource for any HOW AV need —

— Project was completed through GC Pro’s Affiliate program, with the help of program member Christian Sound Installations of Valrico, Florida —


WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, February 8, 2012 — Like many houses of worship, the Islamic Center of Hernando County, in Spring Hill, Florida, had some specific audio issues: the main hall of the mosque had a reverb time measured at six seconds, enough to reduce speech intelligibility to near zero, and a second prayer room reserved for women had no separate sound system at all and had to rely solely on reflected sound from the men’s prayer hall for prayer leadership. A visit to Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, solved all of the space’s audio problems, thanks to GC Pro’s breadth of technology solutions and the depth of its Affiliate program, which lets GC Pro find exactly the right fit for system installation.

Last August, Christian Sound Installations of Valrico, Florida, one of the certified Affiliates in the highly successful national GC Pro Affiliate Program, installed a Bose Panaray® MA12EX full-range modular line array with four speakers in the men’s prayer hall, controlled via a Bose Control Space ESP-88 processor and powered by a Crown XTi 4002 amplifier. In addition, the women’s prayer hall now has its own sound system consisting of Bose FreeSpace® DS 100SE loudspeakers powered by a Crown XTi 1002 amplifier. A TASCAM CD-200i CD player with integrated Apple iPod® dock serves as the music source for both systems. When praying, the Imam’s lavaliere microphone was often muffled when his head bowed to the floor; a Countryman E6 wireless headset supplied by GC Pro solved that issue. And the main hall’s reverberation problem was eliminated with the application of acoustical absorption materials to the walls, cutting the six-second reverb time down to three seconds.

Mick Hall, Account Manager at the Tampa Bay-area GC Pro location, says that what they were able to accomplish cost-effectively at the Islamic Center of Hernando County is an example of how keenly GC Pro can help houses of worship solve their AV concerns. The solutions for any AV problem are within GC Pro’s extensive inventory, and ways to implement those solutions are at the ready through the Affiliates program, which allows customers to access the talents and skills of certified acoustical designers, acoustical architects, systems integration companies and other technical services organizations nationwide.

“We have all of the resources necessary to handle any situation, large or small, from renovation to ground up construction,” says Hall. “We have the product and systems solutions and we have the talent, in the form of people like Paul Garner, Owner of Christian Sound Installations, who can integrate those solutions in the best ways possible. That’s what GC Pro has to offer.”

Hall elaborated on how the system was put together: “Traditional mosques are very beautiful and also very live acoustic spaces,” he stated. “The client wanted a system that was small and unobtrusive to the room décor but powerful enough to be an effective upgrade of the existing ceiling speaker system. The main request of the sound system was that it be capable of substantially amplifying the sound in the space while still remaining open and natural enough to give the impression of no PA. It was also a requirement that the system be capable of extremely wide horizontal and controlled vertical dispersion to minimize reflections and artifacts caused by excessive spill on architectural details. Finally, the complete control for the system needed to be as compact and user friendly as possible. The system with Bose MA12EX Panaray speakers in the main room and DS100SE speakers in the anteroom along with the ESP-88 processor and CC-64 remote was an eloquent and high quality solution to solve all of the integration and performance criteria.”

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 Pyramind

A student at Pyramind tracks in the studio. Pyramind excels as both a commercial audio production/post-production facility and as an educational institution with the help of GC Pro as a key vendor partner.

— Pyramind produces professional commercial audio for clients and also offers professional music production training, and GC Pro has been able to provide technology support for both sides of Pyramind’s services —

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, January 16, 2012 — Pyramind occupies a special space in professional audio: As a commercial audio production and post production facility, it excels as a leading supplier of audio for the video game industry. As such, they are noted for their work with major studios such as Sega, 2K Games, LucasArts, Sony PlayStation and others, producing the scores, voice over and sound design for blockbuster games like Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Kinect Disneyland Adventures, Infamous 2, Iron Man 2, Bioshock 2, the God of War trilogy and dozens more. Pyramind is also a leader in the growing field of pro audio education. Award-winning educators including YouTube Guru David Earl (sfLogicNinja), CSI composer and sound designer Brian Trifon (Trifonic), and G.A.N.G award-winning engineer Steve Heithecker teach Pyramind’s signature “Core” program (devised by Chief Academic Officer Matt Donner), emphasizing the three key disciplines for individual success in any creative field: creativity, technology, and business acumen. Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, has been a vendor partner with Pyramind for over a decade, providing equipment, expertise and services that address Pyramind’s needs in all of their ventures. These include the sales of products such as Genelec Active Monitors, Avid ProTools systems, mic pre’s from Focusrite and Avalon and high-end microphones from over a dozen manufacturers, as well as being an educational partner, providing discounts for Pyramind students and staff and offering advice for students on an array of pro audio topics.

“We’ve been working with [GC Pro Account Manager] Vince Bedford for ten-plus years now, and the service has just been great,” exclaims CEO Greg Gordon. “We’ve had a longstanding relationship with Vince and GC Pro, and they have helped us across the board, from the biggest consoles to the smallest items. We really appreciate how responsive they’ve been in terms of helping out students, not only with educational discounts on equipment but also with advice and input on so many subjects. They treat everyone like a professional, and that means a lot to our students.”

Bedford says the feeling is mutual: “Pyramind is one of the finest music production schools in the country – every teacher there is an author or is a professional producer/engineer working in the field. We’re glad that a school of that caliber feels good enough about GC Pro to send all of their students to us. We are able to provide students with the right tools essential for their education, as well as high-quality information that reinforces their training at Pyramind. We’ve enjoyed supporting them in the past and look forward to continuing to do so in the future.”

Matt Donner, Pyramind’s Chief Academic Officer, says that GC Pro has been a long-time supplier to both of the company’s business lines. “On the training side, we recommend specific computers, keyboards and software – including Pro Tools, Reason, Live and Logic- and our students get great advice along with competitive pricing on all of that from GC Pro,” he says. “On the studio side, GC Pro has provided us with just about everything, including several last-minute needs that GC Pro solved immediately for a vocal session for the Halo soundtrack. Our relationship with them is very strong because they have what we need and they’re there when we need them. Most importantly for the students, they get solid advice, great pricing and solid customer service. In one purchase with GC Pro, they transition from being a hobbyist to becoming a professional. It’s worth its weight in gold.”

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.

Perry Hall Family Worship Center

The new Perry Hall Family Worship Center, which features A/V and lighting gear from GC Pro.

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, January 9, 2012 — The Perry Hall Family Worship Center has finally found a home of its own. After years of saving up contributions as they worshiped from the basement of Pastor Dominic Correlli, Sr., they were able in 2010 to begin construction on their new facility in the suburban Baltimore area. And thanks to the ability of their technology partner in the project, Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, the Perry Hall Family Worship Center was able to realize all of their audio, video and lighting hopes on budget and on schedule.

The church’s new sound system consists of eight QSC WL2082-i dual ILA speaker cabinets and a pair of QSC WL118-sw subwoofers, controlled through a QSC SC28 2X8 System Controller. Other key pieces of equipment include QSC PLX3602 and PLX3102 power amplifiers, an Aviom A-16 input module, lighting systems from American DJ including PAR 64 fixtures and Elation DMX 4-channel dimmer rack, BenQ DLP projector and DaLite 108 X 144-inch projection screen. All of the systems were designed and sourced by GC Pro, and the installation and systems integration was accomplished by KoKo Brothers, one of the certified members in GC Pro’s highly successful national Affiliates program.

The Perry Hall Family Worship Center celebrated its tenth anniversary as a congregation in 2011. The church is a part of the Dove Christian Fellowship International network, which has over 80 churches internationally. Mitchell Shaivitz, the GC Pro Account Manager who serves the Mid-Atlantic region’s professional audio and video needs from GC Pro’s Baltimore location, says the project needed GC Pro’s expertise and guidance. “The design called for a very high ceiling, so we’d need a PA system that had good throw characteristics as well as good dispersion, and that could provide that kind of performance at a reasonable cost,” he says. “The QSC ILA system was a great choice for that. And the church leaders said that they wanted the church to be able to keep up with its growth, so we made sure to design in the ability to expand the systems as needed, such as the choice of the Aviom A16 input module, which we can add additional I/Os to as necessary in the future. The entire design was intended to meet the church’s budget while giving them the best possible technology for their money and the ability to let the systems also meet any future requirements as they grew.”

John Correlli, Pastor Dominic Correlli’s son and the church’s Director of Multimedia, says that the experience of working with GC Pro was exceptional. “We gave them a budget and they worked closely with us,” Correlli recalls, noting that when the original proposal called for several lighting fixtures that would push the costs over budget, GC Pro was able to find substitute products that lowered the costs substantially yet offered similar performance. “They were able to save us as much as $17,000 just in lighting,” he estimates. Correlli is equally impressed with the performance of GC Pro’s Affiliate Program partner. “They often worked in the evenings, after the construction crews had finished, and one particular night, because it was the last time they would have access to the lift, they worked straight through from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.,” he remembers. “Everyone we worked with at GC Pro showed that kind of dedication to us as customers. I’d recommend them to everyone. And in fact, I already have.”

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.