TONE REVIVAL ENGINEERING
STAND #4. GROUND LEVEL
Some business ideas emerge after a long period of brainstorming, planning and maybe even go as far as the consideration of focus group data. Then there are products which just emerge out of pure practicality. I’m talking about common sense solutions to irritating problems which often spark from a single creative thought. These are the kind of products which materialise from the minds of Warwicke Newman and Jason Webb of Melbourne based company Tone Revival Engineering. Both Warwicke and Jason have worked in the music industry for over 20 years.
Warwicke has been a FOH and studio engineer, working with Australia’s biggest guitar names such as Diesel, Ian Moss, among many others and actually mixed last year at the Melbourne Guitar Show. “I did the finale and James Ryan’s set.”. Jason while also doing gigs as a guitarist and Diesel’s guitar tech, has spent most of the last 23 years running a Metal Engineering Workshop (Norwebb P/L) where his hard work, creative and inventive mind are put to task in high-end custom engineering, design and fabrication.
It has been through the many years of touring with Australia’s top musicians, that they have arrived at some really interesting solutions to problems that many guitarists face. After witnessing the great vibe of previous Melbourne Guitar Shows and being encouraged by other exhibitors to get involved, Warwicke and Jason decided this year to book a booth and display a couple of their fantastic new products; the ‘Stomp Top’ and the ‘Mic Hanger’.
“The Stomp Top is a little plastic button that we make in-house which you stick onto pedal’s switches, just to give you more surface area to hit,” Warwicke tells me. “On crowded pedal boards it makes them stand out a bit better and helps when you have lots to hit quickly…especially multiple switches at once. The Stomp Top is something we came up with when I was building a pedalboard for a customer, who had trouble getting to a pedal. Jay and I nutted out the basic concept pretty quickly..having a working prototype within a couple of hours. We are lucky to be in the position to put out ideas straight into the hands of players like Mark Lizotte (Diesel). I’ve worked with him for at least 12 years … doing sound, tour managing, taking care of his gear and I even engineered his last album. I showed the stomp tops to him … gave him a bag … next time I saw his board, he’d put Stomp Tops on everything. On stage he has a lot going on … singing, playing and operating his array of pedals, we are always searching for tools to make his gig easier. He loved them and helped us to road test them by stomping them hard on stages all over the country.”
The Mic Hanger is another great product which you’ll be able to check out at the Tone Revival Engineering booth this year. “The Mic Hanger attaches to the cabinet, very sturdy and doesn’t leave any screw holes. I use really expensive microphones and I don’t like them dropping. All the other ones that attach don’t work well for touring, leave behind screw holes or are flimsy. It’s more of a high end item that we custom build and you can see that at the guitar show.”
Not only will you be able to see these fantastic new products on the Tone Revival Engineering stand, you’ll also be able to meet and chat to Warwicke and Jay as well as some of their heavy weight music mates too. Expect to see Diesel, Ian Moss, Dave Leslie (Baby Animals), Pete Robinson (Electric Mary), Andrew Higgs (King of the North) and more on their stand at various times over the weekend.
“Diesel is going to be at the show for Vox anyway and I’ll be doing sound for the clinic” says Warwicke, “This year I am also mixing Marcel Yammouni’s two piece (with Andy Sylvio), so he’ll come down to the booth afterwards. I’m also doing Shannon Bourne’s set as well and mixing the finale again. It’s really fantastic that there’s an integration of exhibits and live guitar-based performance at the one show.”
Apart from the products Tone Revival Engineering are presenting at the show, Warwicke is also happy to chat about the modification and repair service that he offers.
“I also do amplifier modifications and repairs. It has just been for players and the guys that I tour with in the past, but we will be discussing those services with people at the guitar show as well. This is not your average ‘take something to get fixed’ sort of thing. It’s bring your rig in and I go over every pedal, make sure everything is working and go through the amp, try different pre amp tubes and really tailor it to you and your playing. It’s a more high end service than what’s traditionally out there.
Warwicke and Jason were inspired to exhibit at this year’s show due their positive 2016 show experience.
“I loved it last year,” said Warwicke. “I’m a music nerd, have been ever since I started playing guitar. I used to go to the shows at the Prahran Town Hall in the 90’s. I went to anything to do with guitars and now its my life. Last year I was asked to go to the show and mix some artists, walked around and loved the vibe. There were a lot of people there I knew who were exhibiting and everyone was saying ‘you should get a booth and start telling people about what you guys do’. We’ve never advertised anything we do, so this is our grand introduction to the greater guitar playing community.”
Come down and say ‘hi’ to Warwicke, Jason and their high profile muso mates on stand #4, ground level of the exhibition and check out the Stomp Top and Mic Hanger.