MERIDIAN, MS — Peavey Electronics announced that Jack Sondermeyer, the company’s chief engineer for 29 years, died Jan. 4 at the age of 75. Describing Sondermeyer as “a brilliant and gifted analog design engineer,” company founder and CEO Hartley Peavey noted that Sondermeyer had more than 30 patents to his credit and was well-respected in the engineering community.
“Jack and I were a great team,” Peavey added. “I knew what to design, but didn’t know how to design it. Jack didn’t know what to design, but knew how to design it! Together, we created the magic of Peavey, with the help of many who knew Jack and respected him highly here at Peavey.”
Sondermeyer joined Peavey in the late 1960s and was instrumental in such products as the Peavey CS-800 power amp. In the 2005 book, The Peavey Revolution, longtime Peavey clinician Marty McCann referred to Sondermeyer as “the godfather of all modern power amp technology and engineering.”
Along with his engineering prowess, Sondermeyer had a great love for music. He spent his last days surrounded by his family, who sang a chorus of his favorite carols and hymns.
