How the Best Was Born (The GFP Story)
The creation of the GFP was brought about by Arnie Lazarus, the current CEO of SC Laboratories, a longtime guitar enthusiast and a former sales representative for MXR, and Arnie Lazarus, the inventor of the legendary FRAP pickup. (You are reading this correctly, there are two unrelated men named Arnie Lazarus).
SC Arnie approached FRAP Arnie to develop a new kind of under-the-saddle pickup. One that would blow away the tonal range of the products currently on the market. They both agreed they could build a better sounding pickup than anything else that was on the market.
While developing the prototypes, Arnie and Arnie discovered some things that were never done before. Even in early, crude versions, they realized the sound quality was superb. The irritating characteristics common to under-the-saddle pickups such as "quack," feedback and poor dynamic range were notably absent.
To bring this new pickup from a concept to production, Sunny Wai, an innovative electronics engineer who had worked for FRAP over 25 years ago joined the company. In the months that followed, he completely redesigned the GFP, set high technical standards, sourced special components, made work instructions and developed it into the product we recognize today.
Sy Wilens, the company's former Executive Vice President, a master toolmaker and an expert in precision production techniques came out of retirement to help with the project. He supervised production and he designed and built all of the tooling and fixtures that we use to manufacture the GFP.
Now you can see why the GFP is THE must-have pickup for today's demanding musicians. An incredible matching of minds and lots of hard work has created performance that is unmatched in the industry.
And Now... the Birth (and Rebirth) of SC Laboratories
The US Indestructible Gasket Manufacturing Company was founded in the early 1900s by George Hamilton Ames as a manufacturer of gaskets and custom, short-run metal products. Zack Berlin bought the company in 1940 and changed the name to Gasket Packing and Specialty Company.
Edward Staver founded the Staver Company in 1948 as a manufacturer of deep drawn components and electronic hardware for the Radio and TV industry. The two companies merged in 1957.
As the years passed, a large product line of heat sinks and other mechanical devices was developed, many of which are still in daily use today in brand name guitar amplifiers.
The Staver Company also built its own tools and dies, and quickly developed a reputation for meeting very tight tolerances and specifications that others could not. Some of the most difficult products were developed for the airbag industry.
Other products included Signalex brand electromagnetic displays. These were installed worldwide in highway signs, scoreboards, tollbooths, outdoor clocks, and other uses. Eventually, both the Signalex and metal product lines were sold and the company's name was changed to SC Laboratories.