talk box

Jim Dunlop started the Dunlop Manufacturing company in 1965 in Benicia, California, and followed his dream to provide quality products for fellow musicians. Along the way he created the Dunlop Cry Baby, an innovative wah-wah pedal for the electric guitar. Jim focused on the accessories market and put out a line of capos, guitar slides and a new brand of plastic guitar picks he named Tortex, among other products. 

Peter Frampton is known around the world as a musician and singer who took the charts by storm in the 1970s. To the music products industry Peter is best known as a friend and promoter of the talk box. Bob Heil created a talk box that he gave to Peter as a Christmas gift in 1973. Peter later used it on his album Frampton Comes Alive! featuring the talk box on the hit singles “Show Me the Way” and “Do You Feel Like We Do.” Peter later established Framptone Products to sell his own line of talk boxes, among other gear. 

Bob Heil received his first break into the pro audio market when the Grateful Dead’s sound system was not available for a concert date. Bob’s own powerful system was used, and a new name for speakers and microphones was born into the world. Several of his innovative products, including sound systems, control units, and amplifiers, have forever changed the quality of audio products. His books on sound systems and lighting are used as field guides for a generation of techies and roadies.