GC Pro Outfits St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church

A worship band performs at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, in Newport Beach, California. Visible in background are two new DaLite 10x13-foot screens, sourced through GC Pro, along with four Panasonic PTDZ21KU 3-Chip DLP projectors (not pictured).

— As an authorized Panasonic dealer, GC Pro sourced the high-end projectors and screens necessary to overcome a large amount of natural light in the church’s sanctuary —

— GC Pro’s Affiliates Program, which matches each project with the right AV systems integrator, found the church the right installer partners in FirstFire AV and subcontractor Olsen AV, Inc. —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, February 5, 2014 — St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, in Newport Beach, California, obviously aims for its members “seeing the light” as a primary goal. However, on account of the space’s terrarium roof, the church’s sanctuary is often filled with bright natural light all day long. That created a problem for viewing the church’s video content that plays during services. Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, came to the rescue.

Drawing on the wide array of high-end projector products now available to GC Pro since having been named an authorized Panasonic dealer in 2013, GC Pro Account Managers assessed the situation and determined that a solution could be found in two new DaLite 10x13-foot screens lit by a total of four Panasonic PTDZ21KU 3-Chip DLP projectors, achieving 40,000 lumens per side, more than enough to cut through the bright Southern California sunshine. “We have most of our services in the daytime, and with so much light inside the church from our glass ceiling, it can be a challenge getting the screens to be readable,” says Dustin Laemmlen, the church’s Director of Production. "We wanted to achieve a real cinematic effect for our testimonials and announcements, so we needed to find a way to increase the necessary contrast.”

Church leadership wondered whether projection of LED displays would work best, and GC Pro set up demonstrations on site at the church of both types for comparisons. Once it was determined that dual-stacked projectors were the best solution, GC Pro Affiliate Program member FirstFire AV was assigned the installation phase of the project, with Olsen AV, Inc., of Fontana, California, engaged as the installation subcontractor for the projects.

“There is a huge amount of ambient light inside the church that would not have made for a good viewing experience without the projectors that GC Pro were able to source,” says Arthur Olsen, Operations Manager at Olsen AV. “GC Pro was able to make sure we had everything we needed, including custom projector lenses, the mounting hardware for the screens and the custom enclosures from Panasonic that enabled us to mount two projectors atop each other per side, as well as over 300 feet of cabling for all of the projectors. The images are crisp and clear, even in the bright sunlight inside the church.”

GC Pro also coordinated with Panasonic Sales Engineer Randy Moreau on the installation, to provide exact alignment for all four of the projectors. “Everything was pretty much where we needed it, when we needed it,” says Olsen, “and if there was a question, GC Pro was there to answer it.”

Laemmlen adds, “Our experience with GC Pro was super smooth. What they can do that most other vendors cannot is really search out the absolutely best solutions and be able to negotiate pricing directly with the manufacturers. We even had Panasonic corporate right here at the church.”

Olsen notes that all parties will be back at the church to renovate the sanctuary’s podium area and install even larger projection screens. “We’re looking forward to working with GC Pro again on that,” he says.

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.

Phenix City First Assembly of God Looks to GC Pro

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, August 12, 2013 — Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, has built a strong relationship with Jonathan “JT” Thornton, the Worship Pastor at Phenix City First Assembly of God, a “lively, upbeat, encouraging, and Spirit-led” church led by Senior Pastor Barry Danner in Phenix City, on the Alabama-Georgia state line. Thornton has been working closely with Brad Lyons, his Account Manager at the GC Pro office in Atlanta. “I need a trusting relationship with someone who can help me take my church forward, Thornton states. “I found that with GC Pro.”

Brad Lyons and his team worked closely with Thornton over the two years he’s been at the First Assembly of God church, helping him choose an entire new PA system for the main sanctuary, new projectors for the space’s video, and even two Yamaha keyboards for the church’s 10-piece praise band. GC Pro sourced a Yamaha LS9 console, an entire JBL VRX line array system, an Ashly Audio NE24.24 8 X 12 processor, Crown XTi power amplifiers and upgrades to the church’s existing Sennheiser evolution wireless microphone system, as well as BenQ SH960 6,000 lumen Projectors, Kramer VP728 Video Scaler/Switcher and Lyntec PDS-10 Power Sequencing system.

Thornton says there are two key principles that guide him: the need to find the equipment that best fits the church’s needs and that also best fits its budgets. “You need to have the quality that stands up over time and that keeps the church’s AV systems current for as long as possible, but I also have to be a steward of the church’s resources, to allow the technology to best further its evangelical goals in the community,” he explains. “To do that, I need a relationship with someone whom I trust who also knows what our goals are, knows the rooms we have to work in and understands our budget concerns.”

The collaboration with GC Pro has been a good one so far, and Thornton says some additional upgrades are under consideration, including possibly adding in-ear monitoring for the sanctuary stage. And through it all, he will turn to GC Pro: “I do have to do my due diligence and check out different options for equipment,” says Thornton. “You can call around and get quotes all day, but ultimately there are certain people you trust, and for me that someone has been Brad.”

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.