THE CORE TEAM AT PHIL JONES BASS

Rick Carlson
Sales and Marketing Director

PHIL JONES
President

● 1954 - Phil Jones was born in London, England.

● 1968 - Phil Jones builds his first bass guitar, amplifier and speaker cabinet.

● 1980 - Joined the historic Vitavox Loudspeaker Co. as production engineer making high performance cinema sound and home audio loudspeakers.

● 1981 - Started sound reinforcement company in London using his own proprietary designs. First in the world to develop subwoofers in sound reinforcement systems and first to discover the phenomenon of power compression in audio transducers. Pioneered the use of Ferro-fluid technology in PA compression drivers.

● 1987 - Founded Acoustic Energy and designed the famous AE-1 near-field monitors; used in Abby Road Studios among many others.

● 1990 - Designed Boston Acoustic’s premier Lynnfield Series loudspeakers.

● 1994 - Founded Platinum Audio designing and manufacturing hi-fi speakers and monitors.

● 1998 - Designed and produced Air Pulse loudspeaker system which sold for $275,000 per pair. Praised by Japan Audio Society winning the Golden Sound Award as best loudspeaker developed in 100-year history of loudspeakers

● 1998 - Founded American Acoustic Development (AAD) for pro audio, home and mobile. Current products include hi-fi, guitar amplifiers and PA systems.

● 1998 - Opened manufacturing facility in China producing every component including drivers and cabinets. 200 employees, 300,000 square foot facility.

● 2002 - Pioneered use of 5″ drivers for bass guitar amplifiers after 10 years of research.

● 2002 - Founded Phil Jones Bass developing hi-fi amplifiers for bass players.

A Message from Phil:

For over 45 years I have had a love affair with the electric bass. I first picked one up and began learning to play at the age of 13. It was the time of Jimi Hendrix and Motown. This is when I first heard on the radio the great Motown bass legend James Jamerson; this gave me the inspiration and desire to become a bass player. It was no easy start. Back then as a schoolboy I could not even afford to buy my own bass and amp. My folks saw this as a road they did not want me to take. I soon ran out of opportunities of borrowing and had no choice but to build my own instrument and sound equipment. So I studied all I could about bass construction, amplifier electronics (even winding bass-guitar pickups on my Dad’s gramophone when he was out) and how loudspeakers worked. I never knew that this passion was to take me down such a long road living and working in 6 countries.

After graduating from college in electronics in the early 70’s, I enrolled into The Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff, Wales where I was living at the time. The WCM&D then had a very conservative view on music. They did not even consider the bass guitar a real instrument! So I opted for learning the Upright Bass classical-style and taught by Earnest C. Haigh. (He was an 81-year old musician with 60 years of bass playing experience and a former principle bassist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra).

I was playing in Rock, R&B and Jazz groups in bars, nightclubs and did some studio work for the BBC TV company in order to pay for my music tuition. One thing that had always frustrated me was that the current equipment for bass players was never up to the sound that was in my mind. It seemed that there was always a disconnection between the equipment and me. So I started to modify my basses and amplification on the search of the Holy Grail of great bass tone. I learnt about loudspeakers from a true pioneer of audio, the late Mr. Reginald Solomon. A cinema - sound engineer, who worked most of his life for Western Electric. (W.E. was the original founder of the pro-sound industry). This led me to becoming a pro-sound engineer working first for Vitavox, a respected and old British Loudspeaker company that manufactured huge horn cinema speakers. After this I started my own sound reinforcement company in London. Two things stayed with me, my fascination for bass playing and sound. I was building a lot of my own recording equipment in my studio then. The speakers I used for near-field monitoring were my own design. These later became the Acoustic Energy AE1’s now considered a milestone in the evolution of hi-fi and also in the recording industry. GRP records (a renowned Jazz label) used AE speakers and even eventually the famed Abbey Road studios too.

In 1990 I moved to USA and worked briefly for Boston Acoustics in New England designing their premier loudspeaker range, the Lynnfield series. In 1994 I founded Platinum Audio, which made expensive home hi-fi speakers and studio monitors. In that period I designed probably the worlds most expensive and massive home loudspeaker system: the Air-Pulse, which sold for $175,000 a pair! The Japan Audio Society praised the Air-Pulse as the best loudspeaker ever developed in the 100-year history of loudspeakers!

In 1998 I founded American Acoustic Development which is the parent company of PJB bass amps and AIRPULSE guitar amps. We have staff of over 150 employees and a 200,000-sq. ft. facility dedicated to designing, manufacturing and marketing of loudspeakers and amplifiers for home, and pro-audio markets. All PJB products are made in our factory with pride and passion under my guidance.

In 45 years I have come full circle to my first love, a long hard road but one that has been enriching and a many hard lessons earned. I now bring to the bass community something that is my greatest passion and one that has encompassed all my life’s lessons in bass playing and sound engineering. Our staff at PJB shares my passion to build only the best. That does not mean the most expensive. We are dedicated to giving our utmost in quality, value and service to the discriminating bassist.

If you have any questions about how to get that ultimate tone, please do not hesitate to contact us. We will endeavor to give you the best advice possible.