TEAC

 Yoshiharu Abe is known as the father of personal multi-track recording in the audio engineering field.  He was one of the five founders of TEAC in 1957 and went on to become one of the company’s most important product designers.  Abe-son designed several landmark products over his long career including the 80-8 and the Portastudio series.  He later worked for Fostex and was a key player in the teams that created the B-13 and X-15.  Beginning in 1948 he also began writing extensively

Fred Allard has been passionate about music making since he began playing guitar in the 8th grade. As a teen he worked for Milano’s Music Center in Mesa, Arizona in the mid 1960s. Fred worked for the music store for over eight years working his way up from salesman on the floor to manager of one of the stores in the chain. After another stint in retail with Bill Fry’s Music Center, Fred was hired as western regional manager of Kustom Electronics. The relationships he built up over the years took him to TEAC, where he stayed for over 15 years. In 2002, Fred formed his own independent rep firm all the while continuing to play his guitar!

Budd Johnson was a key member of the TEAC team that oversaw the development of the American branch of the company known as TASCAM. As a result Budd was there in the late 1960s through the early 70s to witness first hand, the remarkable and somewhat unexpected success of the home recording market. His product spec sheets and ads later proved to have been a key role in the popularity of TASCAM's reel and mixing units. He also played an early and important part in the success of Fostex and served as that pioneering company's president in the early years.  Within all of his fascinating stories he stressed the joy he had going to work each day and doing something he loved.

Hajime Yamaguchi was born on September 26, 1944 in Tokyo, Japan. At the age of 18 he traveled the country as a professional drummer and a year later landed a stellar job as drummer for a late night TV talk show in Japan. After a few years his girlfriend (and future wife) explained her parents concerns for her getting married to a musician. They wanted him to have a steady paying job. Knowing a friend who worked for TEAC, Hajime applied for a job and was hired.