ELECTRO-HARMONIX

Mike Matthews founded Electro-Harmonix in 1968, and they first produced the LPB-1 (Linear Power Boost). Jimi Hendrix was one of the first big-name guitar players to use an Electro-Harmonix product in the late 1960s. Hartley Peavey also received his inspiration after attending a NAMM show where Matthews was demonstrating his LPB-1. Peavey started building channel-switching amplifiers after this design. In 1970, they introduced the Big Muff Pi fuzz effect pedal. In 1971, EH introduced their first guitar amplifier - the AC/DC Freedom Amp. In the late-1970s, EH released an amp named after the president - The Mike Matthews Dirt Road Special. Electro-Harmonix thrived throughout the 1970s and early 1980s reporting at least one year of five million dollars in sales. However, in 1979, a union group attempted to get Matthews to make the company unionized. Matthews declined the move, but in 1981, the union came back and offered money to employees to join the union. Things did not go well, and six employees attacked Matthews in 1981. Matthews exposed the union group behind the entire situation on a local television station. The union went away, but the damage had been done. EH could not return to their previous production capacity and Matthews filed for bankruptcy in 1982. He bought the company back shortly thereafter, but ran into more trouble with the increasing Japanese market. EH filed for bankruptcy again in 1984. In 1988, he decided to start producing vacuum tubes in a Russian factory. He was able to utilize all the Russian military factories that were not producing anymore to build tubes for him. The first tube company he made was New Sensor Corporation and in 1989, he introduced Sovtek. After a few years of trying other ventures, Matthews bought the company one more time in 1991, however, the first new product released wasn't until 2001. They reintroduced a Freedom amp in the 2000s, but they currently focus on effects pedals and other accessories. For more information, visit Electro-Harmonix's website or contact the company directly.