Schaller GmbH

First Advertisement of Schaller for Pickups

The Schaller company was founded in 1945 by Helmut Schaller (1923–1999). Helmut Schaller was a toolmaker and a radio master mechanic. His radio repair shop prospered in the 1950s. During that time, another department was created, dedicated to the development of amplifiers and speakers, which turned out to be so successful that the entire company was restructured and renamed "Schaller Electronic". Echos and reverb devices were soon added to their portfolio.[2]

By 1953, Schaller had begun manufacturing electronic guitar components such as pickups and switches for Fred Wilfer's guitar company Framus in Bubenreuth, Bavaria.[3]

A couple of years later, other German guitar manufacturers such as Höfner, Hopf and Hoyer also became customers. By the 1960s, American guitar makers, including Fender, Gibson, C. F. Martin and Ovation, started to rely on Schaller products for their guitars and basses.[4][5][6][7][8][9]

Schaller M6 Machine Head

At the same time, Schaller extended its portfolio to tremolos (1961), bridges (1962) and machine heads (1966). The "M6" tuning machine made a mark as the world's first fully enclosed and self-locking precision tuner.[10]

In 1968, Schaller moved about 15 kilometers from Feucht to Postbauer-Heng into a new site. A new production facility was set up in order to meet the rising demand for Schaller products.[11]

The product portfolio was constantly expanded in the 1970s. The "M4" bass tuners, various bridges, including the "TOM" bridges for Gibson guitars, and numerous other variants of pickups ("Golden 50", "S6", "T6" etc.) were added.[12]

In addition, Schaller was coming up with many product designs on its own. Renowned guitar makers therefore came in touch with Schaller and were convinced to equip their guitars with components from Schaller. In 1977, Floyd D. Rose[13] uttered the idea of a double-locking tremolo system. After a joint workshop (that lasted for about three months) Schaller was able to develop this novel tremolo. The first prototype was produced soon after.

Due to the lack of demand, at the beginning of the 1980s, the production of loudspeakers, amplifiers and reverberators ceased. The core business shifted to metal components for guitars. In 1981 a new product was designed and patented in this respect: the security lock,[14] a part that helps provide a secure connection between guitar and strap. It has been Schaller's most-sold product since then.

The product portfolio steadily expanded during the 1980s and 1990s. This came to a stop after both Helmut Schaller and his son René Schaller died (in 1999 resp. in 1998). Until the late 1990s violin accessories were added to the portfolio as well as cables, and even special spinning machines for strings and ball ends; however, the newly introduced products did not achieve the same success as the earlier guitar components.[15]

A vital period for the company was from 1999 until 2006, since a community of heirs ran the company then. Grete Schaller (1926–2007), Helmut Schaller's widow, tried to lead the company without being able to generate new impetus, without providing ideas for new products, and without modernizing the production facility at Postbauer-Heng. This led to the company stagnating.[16]

In August 2006, a breakthrough was achieved, when the Schaller company was legally and financially restructured. It was renamed to a limited liability company ("GmbH") by a partnership. Subsequently, Dr. Lars Bünning became managing director of the company by December 2006. In January 2009, Dr. Bünning took over the shares of the GmbH belonging to the Schaller family, and has since then acted as both owner and CEO. Further restructuring occurred after 2007.

• 
  S-Locks
• 
  GTC Hauser machine heads
• 
  Signum bridge
• 
  LockMeister tremolo

• Official website
• Schaller 456 - Review