Hanson buys Lakland

[ilan]

Press Release, For Immediate Release
April 30, 2010

CHICAGO, IL-USA. Pickup and electric guitar manufacturer Hanson Musical Instruments,LTD, announces that a group, led by itself, has purchased the globally respected bass guitar brand Lakland Basses of Chicago. Former Lakland executive John Pirruccello has been named President of the newly formed Lakland Guitars, LLC, and will be responsible for managing the company's daily operations and future development effective immediately. John assumes these duties in addition to his position as head of the Hanson Musical Instruments guitar division.

Pirruccello's background includes 11 years at Lakland as Global Sales Director as well as the company's Chief Operations Officer. He contributed greatly to the development of current Lakland products, including the "Skyline Series" line of bass guitars; and was responsible for expanding Lakland's dealer and distribution network around the world. ''JP'' is also a prominent Chicago musician that has performed, recorded and or collaborated with the likes of Keith Richards, Staind, Alejandro Escovedo, Wilco, and others. John will oversee the seamless transition at Lakland's present facilities in Chicago. Lakland Guitars, LLC is retaining current luthiers and support staff.

Hanson Musical Instruments wants to thank Lakland founder Dan Lakin for his vision and stewardship of the Lakland brand, which he founded in 1994 with Hugh McFarland.

Hanson Musical Instruments has been Lakland's primary supplier of bass pickups and preamp products since 2005. The principals of Hanson Musical Instruments, LTD were previously shareholders of Lakland from 2000 until 2009.

Lakland is a manufacturer of high quality bass guitars and accessories.
Website: www.lakland.com

Hanson Musical Instruments is a manufacturer of professional electric guitars and of electric guitar and bass pickups and electronics.

Websites: www.hansonguitars.com and www.hansonpickups.com

Bo Pirruccello, President
Hanson Musical Instruments, LTD
2044 N Dominick St.
Chicago, IL 60614
bo@hansonguitars.com (847) 207-7680

John Pirruccello
President, Lakland Guitars, LLC
2044 N Dominick St.
Chicago, IL 60614
jp@hansonguitars.com (773) 251-9684

[Dave W]

Wow, the way they thank him, sounds as if Dan may be leaving the business.

I'm not familiar with Hanson, but since they have been shareholders in Lakland as well as pickup suppliers, they should have the knowledge to manage the brand.

Not surprising to see this happen in a recession. Good luck to them and to Dan.

[Basshappi]

Yep, this has caused a nuclear meltdown on a few other boards, made worse by the fact that, so far anyway, there's been no word from Dan himself.

One of their first moves have been to drop all Artist sig models.

I don't own a Lakland nor am I a fan but I'm siding with those that think that this deal is at least slightly dirty.

We'll see.

[OldManC]

One of their first moves have been to drop all Artist sig models.

http://www.lakland.com/basses.htm

As can be seen here, they actually only dropped the names on those models. The DJ is the only model that's not on offer now (that was before), and even that one looks to be coming soon as the 44-75 and 55-75. I don't know why artist names were dropped but I'd imagine there was some sort of payment to each artist for using their name. Could have been a cost cutting measure... Some of the threads I've read elsewhere mention that John P. has been at Lakland for a while and that he and his brother are well thought of in their community. At least at this point, they seem to be indicating a desire to move Lakland forward in positive ways, so I'm thinking this could end up being a good thing for fans of the brand.

[TBird1958]

Maybe it'll be like CBS and Fender or Gibson and Norlin, (or Henry J  )  *as we all know* how these sort of things go......... 

[Denis]

It's somewhat heartening that it appears Lakland will stay in Chicago. It seems that when someone takes over a company and moves it around that's usually when longtime employees bail out and quality drops.

[Dave W]

If there's been no word from Dan and people already involved with the company have taken ownership, it could very well mean that Dan had pledged the company to raise capital and that Hanson is a debtor who took control for nonpayment. If so, nothing dirty or unethical about that. It happens.

[Andrew]

As a Lakland fan I'm interested to see what news comes out of this.

[Chris P.]

Lakland was for sale for like a year. I know a couple of companies were offered to buy it. I hope Lakland stays Lakland.

[Freuds_Cat]

Bo Pirruccello, President
Hanson Musical Instruments, LTD

Former Lakland executive John Pirruccello has been named President of the newly formed Lakland Guitars.

Pirruccello's background includes 11 years at Lakland as Global Sales Director as well as the company's Chief Operations Officer. He contributed greatly to the development of current Lakland products, including the "Skyline Series" line of bass guitars; and was responsible for expanding Lakland's dealer and distribution network around the world.

Hanson Musical Instruments has been Lakland's primary supplier of bass pickups and preamp products since 2005.
The principals of Hanson Musical Instruments, LTD were previously shareholders of Lakland from 2000 until 2009.



Doesn't sound to me like much will change for the worse reading that.

[Barklessdog]

I know through the last Dude Pit LE fiasco that we only dealt with John. Dan did not seem to be around much in that 6+ month period. Seems John has been running the business for a while?

I got the feeling that Dan was held responsible for the mess, as John & Dan did not appear to be one the same page, or in communication on the mess?

The bottom line is Lakland stood behind the orders at a decent price, although they were not a limited edition. They did their best to please all buyers.

As far as them staying in Chicago, one can only guess as the place where they are at, I belive, was own by Dan's family (?), which had a steel foundry on it. I know he steel company was recently bought by a German company, which said they are moving it & selling off the land.

Lakland will have to relocate eventually either way.

[Dave W]

I forgot about the Pit fiasco and how Dan was MIA. Now I'm connecting the dots. John is the same guy who dealt with the problems. Dan eventually spoke up but didn't seem to be connected to the process at all, his story was that he was on a leave of absence.

[OldManC]

I had some limited e-mail contact with Dan around the same time. It was a bit frustrating and the project I had in mind never got off the ground as I couldn't get a straight answer on what was being discussed. I just figured my request was small potatoes and he couldn't be bothered (though he was very friendly in all his correspondence). I guess there were other factors in the mix...

[Barklessdog]

Dan eventually spoke up but didn't seem to be connected to the process at all, his story was that he was on a leave of absence.

When I brought up about Dan (Dude deal) to John, he seemed to be unaware of anything that transpired, or was not admitting so, implying that Dan was doing things without the company's consent. They were not on the same page, that was for sure.

[Dave W]

When I brought up about Dan (Dude deal) to John, he seemed to be unaware of anything that transpired, or was not admitting so, implying that Dan was doing things without the company's consent. They were not on the same page, that was for sure.

Yeah, I don't want to dredge up the whole situation with Steve but now I remember more. People who called Lakland about it were told by John that Steve was no longer a Lakland dealer, then Dan reappeared and posted his support for Steve, either on TB or the Pit or both. A strange situation for sure. Dan didn't appear to be involved with the operation of the company even back then.