Kaman Music Corporation

Kaman Music Corporation is a part of the Kaman Corporation founded by Charles Kaman. Kaman is also a guitarist and he came to explore the use of composite materials technologies to guitar building. He and his engineers created the round-backed, composite-body Ovation guitar which revolutionized the guitar industry since about 1966. Today, Kaman Music owns a number of subsidiaries and brands in music industry, being the largest independent distributor of musical instruments and accessories in the United States and a major producer of guitars and guitar parts and accessories. On 29th October 2007 the Kaman Corporation announced that it had agreed a definitive deal to sell its subsidiary, the Kaman Music Corporation, to Fender Musical Instruments Corporation for $117 million. On January 2, 2008 Kaman received approximately $120 million in cash from Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, which included the purchase price of $117 million and certain working capital and cash adjustments.

Brands, holdings and subsidiaries

Guitars

* Ovation — composite body acoustic guitars.
* Adamas — off-spin brand of Ovation guitars.
* Takamine — high-end traditional acoustic guitars.
* Hamer (since 1988) — high-end electric and semi-acoustic guitars and basses.
* GTX — Strat copy (Discontinued).

Amplifiers

* Genz Benz (since September 13, 2003 — [http://news.harmony-central.com/News/2003/Kaman-Genz-Benz.html press-release] ) — guitar, bass, keyboard, acoustic amplifiers, powered mixers.

Percussion

* Toca — world percussion.
* Gibraltar Hardware — percussion hardware (stands, pedals, racks).
* Gretsch Drums — professional drumsets.
* LP Music (since October 21, 2002 — [http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=104951&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=619797 press-release] ) — latin and world percussion, hand drums.
* Dixon Hardware — drum hardware.
* Dixon Drums — drum kits.
* Sabian — cymbals.
* Legend — premium, custom professional drums produced for a short period in the mid 1990s. Legend drums were highly acclaimed for their exceptional finishes.

Accessories

* Seiko — tuners and metronomes.
* Kaman Wearables — Ovation, Takamine, Hamer, Toca and Gibraltar clothing and accessories.
* Lee Oscar Harmonicas — harmonicas and accessories.
* Hercules — stands.

Value line

* Applause — "Applause by Ovation", budget Ovation subsidiary.
* Jasmine — "Jasmine by Takamine", budget Takamine subsidiary.
* Slammer — "Slammer by Hamer", budget Hamer subsidiary.

Educational line

* Becker Instruments — stringed instruments.
* CB Percussion — percussion and drum kits.
* LP Rhythmix — Latin Percussion (LP) line for children.
* Vic Firth Percussion (since 1997) — percussion and drum kits.

External links

* [http://www.kamanmusic.com/ Kaman Music Corporation]
* [http://www.kaman.com/history/history_p.html Kaman Corporate History]