HDBRbuilder Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 Ok Folks...this particular pic was taken "around back" at the plant where there was SOME shade giving a bit of relief from the hot sun...towards the final death throes of the final keg of a bonus-check party sometime around July 1980-1981. Now...I am not gonna mention any names, but SOMEBODY in this pic(and it AIN'T ME...because I am TAKING the pic!) just MIGHT be recognized by some of you folks on the forum! LOL! And if he IS recognized, then I hope he doesn't mind! As always, there is someone in the crowd who likes to "crack" a smile for the camera! LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted January 1, 2003 Author Share Posted January 1, 2003 OK...for those of you who have the "AS" builder code stamped into your Cornwalls or birch Heresys...this is the guy who is "S"...Steve...my helper...and a damned good builder in his own right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted January 1, 2003 Author Share Posted January 1, 2003 Now...for those of you who have the name, Janet Latham, written on your speaker labels as "inspector"...she was the one who did the installation of the components in your cabinets in final assembly, inspected them, and readied them for the final testing before they were boxed-up and shipped-out....this is a decent pic of her...same party Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted January 1, 2003 Author Share Posted January 1, 2003 Now...this is the look one sees from a fellow employee who is ahead you in line at the last keg of the party...when the keg is already "floating"...this look basically means..."Man, if you think I am NOT gonna get the very LAST beer out of this thing...you are MISTAKEN!...and NO...I will NOT share it with you!! Consider yourself SOL!!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted January 1, 2003 Author Share Posted January 1, 2003 Somebody realizes PWK hasn't made it over for a beer yet, and says "Somebody go get Paul, before all the beer is gone!!" So, yours truly goes looking for him...and what do I see when I get to the old lab? Hell, he is checking the dimensions on one of the birch Heresys I built that week! (I sure hope they are correct!!) LOL! Note the LaScala to the left in this pic...it has the experimental reinforcing horizontal pieces in its bass bin...between the sides and the doghouse there...to eliminate any possible resonances! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted January 1, 2003 Author Share Posted January 1, 2003 So...I tell PWK: "Hey, Mr. Paul...you need to get over to the keg before all the beer is gone, if you expect to get one!" And he gets up and starts to leave with me...then one of the new, over-eager, nose-to-the-grindstone engineers who thinks that just because HE would rather work than party, then it is OK for him to keep someone ELSE from getting to party any...comes in with some data for Paul to look over...so Paul sits down and peruses it...but I know EXACTLY what he is REALLY thinking in this pic..."I wish these damned people would let me get a chance to go get one of those beers before they are all gone!!" Note the infamous "little black book" on his desk!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prodj101 Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 ha, very interesting stuff. what is the deal exactly with the little black book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-malotky Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 GREAT PICS... Looks like a great bunch of people. JM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 Would the person that you said some of us might recognize in the first picture be Jim Hunter? BTW, I had to sear my retina's to rid them of the image of that fine fellow not only mooning but apparently, umm, "enhancing" the pose. DD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hwatkins Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 I find it interesting that all the folks that built my speakers look exactly as I thought they would. Those thin eye slits remind me well of times past.... Great post - What did the folks at the local drug store say when they handed back the 'moonshine' print? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 I recognize: Barry Manilow Andy Kaufman and, of course, myself. And I don't mind.... Andy, GREAT PHOTOS!! Thanks for sharing these "BEHIND-the-scene" glimpses of our favorite speaker manufacturer. Keep 'em coming! fini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skonopa Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 Out of couriosity, do you still manage to keep in touch with any of those folks? Do any of them still work for Klipsch (Besides, of course, PWK - may his soul rest in peace ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted January 1, 2003 Author Share Posted January 1, 2003 Doug... Like I said...not gonna mention any names(trying to protect the...ummm...innocent...yeah...that's it!...the INNOCENT, here! LOL!)...and, after going back and looking at my job of "moon-doctoring" for a public forum...I am thinking maybe I should have used a different color to accomplish the task...LOL! Sure looks HUGE the way it came out!! Ragged too! Thank goodness we weren't having 5-alarm chili w/beans along with the beer, huh? Hwatkins, Didn't I mention that we took the party around back that day to escape the heat and brightness of the afternoon sun out front(which faced to the west, BTW)? REAL speaker-builders don't wear sunglasses...they squint! LOL! Skonopa, Only one of the folks in these particular pics still works there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mobley Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 Andy, Hmmm, I see what you've been saying about Janet. What's the deal with that first pic of PWK? Is that some kind of giant economy size LS in the background? Looks way too big in the photo. Probably just some kind of photo effect, I guess. Did the stabilizer/dampener mod not work out? I couldn't help noticing how resonant the boxes are when I was running an orbital sander on them. they get to drumming pretty good, but I don't know if that's got much to do when playing actual music through them. I think they would have to be getting pretty loud to stir up that rsonance deal, probably wouldn't be able to hear it over the music at that point. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted January 1, 2003 Author Share Posted January 1, 2003 Tom, I think it worked out fine...but other than extra labor costs...there were other issues involved in putting it into manufacture. Just think about it for a minute...you need to move a LaScala around a bit...and that reinforcing horizontal piece is just perfect for grabbing ahold of, and lifting the cabinet around..."Oops...something made a cracking sound...hmmm...lemme give them a listen...damn!...there is a buzzing in that one now...ok...lemme see what happened...yep, glue seam cracked...better get these back to the factory for a warranty repair"...get my drift? As for your question about the giant economy LaScala...are you talking about the one on the left in that pic?...because that is the only one in the pic....I actually DID have to open-up my f-stops to take those inside pics of PWK...by switching my Minolta XM over from "auto" to "shutter-speed-preferred" mode...and in those close quarters(which altered the proper depth of field for the pic), I also had to crank back on my 35-105mm lens in order to get into the "wide-angle" mode to get the pic...so that may have caused some distortion of that LaScala in the pic since it is toward the extreme end of the pic...if that is what you are asking about. I wasn't in my "photography as art" mode when I took these pics...just trying to burn up some frames with snapshots...so I could get the roll in the camera processed...LOL! Also, I doctored these pics somewhat in order to get them under the 4MB limit when I scanned em in...by cropping and such....I guess I could have doctored them a little more...but since it was WAY past midnite last nite, I just kinda rushed the job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00n Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 I kept expecting to see a bong laying around. How much larger is the factory now? Are there a lot more employees these days? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted January 1, 2003 Author Share Posted January 1, 2003 How big is the plant today...and how many people are there? Boy...that is a hard question to answer! Just look at it this way...the new shipping warehouse down the road from the plant is actually LARGER than the entire interior height AND floor space of all the buildings combined at the time that I worked there. Now the plant itself is even harder to determine the size of...it has been more than doubled in size since I worked there...and there are numerous "add-ons" to it...and some "temporary structures"...plus the lab section has sprawled out to over twice its original size!! As for number of employees down there...I have no idea, but there were at least 3-4 times as many in the new warehouse alone as there used to be committed to shipping when I worked there!! As for production personnel...I would imagine there are around twice as many...maybe a bit more...but I am sure there is alot more automation and such inside now than there was back then. Keep in mind, the corporate offices are no longer in Hope, either! That other pic I posted elsewhere of all the employees in spring of 1977...included the office personnel(except for one telephone answerer and PWK), most of the dealer reps, and the honchos, engineers...etc. I would imagine you could at least triple the amount of people in that pic to get an idea of the number of folks today! Hell, since I have never been to the corporate HQ in Indy...there may well be twice as many personnel in that location alone!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 Andy, Any shots of Janet, uh, cracking a smile? fini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted January 1, 2003 Author Share Posted January 1, 2003 Janet was a really nice person, in addition to being quite a "looker". She was relatively quiet in her nature, but her mind was always working overtime...and we became friends. She spent alot of time at home alone with her dog, who just happened to be viciously "anti-social" to almost everyone whoever dropped by for a visit. Strangely, her dog actually LIKED me by the end of my first social visit...so I wasn't scared to death to come over again afterwards, as most folks were! LOL! I would often stop by after work and help her out with her "honey-do-fix-its" around her place, and she knew all she had to do was ask. In those days, we employees tended to spend lots of time hanging-out with each other after hours...and I was not the only one of the guys who often were called upon by some of the single gals to "lend-a-hand" on something after work. We always helped each other out whenever asked!...and often without being asked! The bonus of lending Janet a hand, or dropping by for a visit was the sitting in her living room on the couch with a glass of iced tea, and chatting some with her, while admiring her Perfectly-Matched, Clear-Gloss-Laquered LaScalas as they did their "blast you outta your seat" thing just a few feet in front of us!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.