NASHVILLE — Some 35 years ago, Bob Heil built one of his now-famous talk boxes and gave it to Peter Frampton as a Christmas present. Frampton had left Humble Pie and was embarking on a solo career. As history would show, that Talkbox played a key role. Frampton Comes Alive!, released in 1976, went on to become the best-selling album that year, and still ranks as one of the best-selling live albums. Since then, both Heil and Frampton went their separate ways. Heil built Heil Sound, becoming a major designer and producer of microphones, while Frampton toured and sold millions of records.
This May, Frampton and Heil’s paths crossed again, with a discussion about microphones. Frampton, who had been using a few Heil microphones in his studio for recording, was curious about the latest developments at Heil Sound in the live sound world.
After they spoke on the phone, Heil Sound shipped 30 mics of various models to Soundcheck in Nashville, where Frampton was preparing for his summer tour.
Vinnie Kowalski, FOH mixer, was testing Heil’s new PR 48 on kick as well as PR28s, 30s and PR 20s on snare, and in a discussion in late July with Heil on Youtube.com, Frampton credits Heil’s PR40 for his guitar rig.
.
For more information, please visit www.heilsound.com.
