GC Pro Returns to Rubber Tracks

— As an authorized dealer for Panasonic Professional Products, GC Pro chooses PT-DX800ULS 8000-lumen XGA projector with ET-DLE150 lens for comprehensive projection system —

— All equipment was installed by GC Pro Affiliate Program member Koko Brothers Entertainment —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, March 14, 2013 — Converse, Inc.’s innovative Brooklyn-based recording studio and live performance venue facility, Converse Rubber Tracks, is a community-based studio designed to generate interest in music recording and live music performance among young and aspiring artists. The facility was fully outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment and instruments sourced by Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, for its opening two years ago. Now, GC Pro is back, supplying Rubber Tracks with a new round of technology that adds an entirely new video element to the facility.

Key items installed at Rubber Tracks late last year, in a large open multi-use and performance space between the facility’s two recording studios, include a Panasonic PT-DX800ULS 8000-lumen XGA projector with a Panasonic ET-DLE150 lens, a Da-Lite Cosmopolitan® Electrol® 106x188 projection screen, and a Gefen GTV-AUDDEc-N 4X1 HD switcher with integrated audio decoding. The installation was done by Baltimore area-based Koko Brothers Entertainment, a member of GC Pro’s innovative Affiliate Program.

What GC Pro was able to do was supply and coordinate a completely turnkey solution for Rubber Tracks. “All it took on the part of the client was a single phone call to set the entire process in motion,” says Billy Walker, Senior Account Manager, GC Pro Northeast / Mid-Atlantic, who had previously also matched Rubber Tracks up with GC Pro Affiliate program member Malvicino Design Group of Forest Hills, New York, which provided acoustical design and treatment for the facility. “We offered the customer several options in terms of equipment and helped them make decisions as to which ones were best suited for their needs. Then we connected them with our Affiliate Partner Koko Brothers Entertainment, who has done numerous projects for GC Pro customers. Basically, GC Pro made all the arrangements to assure that all of the equipment was there in time for the installer to work with it, and we’re here 24/7 if any issues arise after installation is complete. We take care of everything.”

Angelo Kokkinakos, Vice President of Koko Brothers Entertainment, adds that the synergy between their company and GC Pro was evident on this project. “Often, integrators find it challenging to work directly from a spec sheet that someone else created; with GC Pro, our understanding of each other’s strengths really plays to the customer’s advantage, since GC Pro lets us look at the project ourselves and make recommendations as to what products will work best,” he explains, noting that being able to see the Rubber Tracks performance space ahead of time led to his recommendation of a high-lumens projector to assure a high-definition result.

Says Walker in conclusion, “We find that our clients like this kind of comprehensive project management. It’s less for them to think about. One phone call, one payment, one vendor.”

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 and Holy Trinity Parish Church

The sanctuary of Holy Trinity Parish Church, in Wellsville, Ohio, outfitted with upgraded sound systems by regional service provider Koko Brothers Entertainment, a member of GC Pro’s acclaimed Affiliate Program.

— GC Pro provides turnkey solution for Holy Trinity Church and calls upon the services of Affiliate Program member Koko Brothers Entertainment to provide the AV systems installation and integration —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, August 29, 2012 — The AV systems at Holy Trinity Parish Church, in Wellsville, Ohio, needed an upgrade, and Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, knew just what to do. Billy Walker, Senior Account Manager at GC Pro’s Northeast/Mid-Atlantic office in Wilmington, Delaware, working with regional service provider Koko Brothers Entertainment, outlined a plan to upgrade all of the church’s sound systems, as well as some of the audio and video systems at the affiliated St. Aloysius School. Koko Brothers is a member of GC Pro’s acclaimed Affiliate Program, which provides approved AV systems integrators as vendors for complex AV integration and installation projects.

The project was completed this summer and included systems and products such as the QSC AD-S282H-WH dual 8-inch 2-way speaker enclosure, Crown XTi 4002 power amplifiers, Shure wired and wireless microphones, a Countryman E6DW5l1SL E6 directional earset, BenQ MX717 3D-ready DLP projector, Da-lite matte white screen and PM2425 Pixmate monitor cart.

“It was really a tune-up and an upgrade, and it was a very smooth project that left their systems in a much better state,” says Walker. “The church’s sanctuary now has all-new speakers and amplifiers, and the intelligibility of the system has been greatly improved,” with new audio zones also added around the church’s interior. The school’s gymnasium and cafeteria also received new audio systems, and the BenQ / Dalite projection system is cart-mounted, making it available throughout the school for AV educational and instructional applications.

“Father Peter Haladej at the church had visited one of our local Guitar Center stores and when they realized that the customer needed design help and larger components, they sent them to GC Pro,” Walker explains. “We went in there with Koko Brothers Entertainment, evaluated their needs and created a plan that would give them the benefit of a proven installation vendor and access to GC Pro’s wide inventory and pricing. When you factor all of that in, GC Pro can’t be beat.”

Angelo Kokkinakos, Partner with his brother Lou Kokkinakos in Baltimore-based Koko Brothers Entertainment, which has done a number of projects at houses of worship, restaurants and retirement communities in partnership with GC Pro, says the church’s existing sound system wasn’t fulfilling its needs. “That’s really one of the great benefits for us and for clients in working with GC Pro,” he says. “We can take the time to really analyze what needs to be done to make a project fit the particular requirements of each location, and we have access, through GC Pro, to a much greater array of possible solutions. It’s never about one-size-fits-all; it’s always about what works best for each customer’s needs. And we were able to make a big difference in the sound at the church – when we came in, one of the biggest problems the church had that I found was a 12 dB drop in the back of the sanctuary. After the install it is less than a 3 dB drop.”

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.