Imitated, Never Duplicated – The Story of SKB

The story of SKB is a story of innovation. With every good story most people start at the beginning, and in the story of SKB it all began with two guys. “SKB started with two college friends, Dave Sanderson and Steve Kottman,” explains Jerry Andreas, senior vice president of SKB. “While Dave worked as a stagehand at Knott’s Berry Farm, he offered to repair the flight cases of performing bands at the park. They (Dave and Steve) both thought there was a better way to transport gear. Receiving a suggestion from a local dealer (Doug Browne – California Music) that someone should develop a line of molded plastic cases that were lighter weight and more rugged than flight cases, Dave and Steve began experimenting in their parents’ garages.” Despite many failed attempts and a devastating fire in their small shop behind California Music, Sanderson and Kottman went on to develop a mold design that Andreas refers to as “the standard for the industry.” That simple phrase – the standard for the industry – and the act of creating those first designs is what Andreas believes sets SKB apart from anything else on the market and any other company in the industry today. “Dave and Steve have always been clever in the development of cases. When hearing of a need in the market, they would find a way to produce a solution that worked – even if it required the development of a new machine to produce the product… Innovation and design sets SKB apart from the competition. SKB invented this type of product. We are not a company that looks to ‘knock-off’ a product by stealing a design and sending it overseas to be made cheaper with inferior materials and workmanship… We know that SKB is a target for many companies. Many off shore manufacturers try to copy our designs and form. SKB has become a generic name for molded cases in the music industry. However, SKB must always remain ahead of the copy companies by being innovative and developing products that the world will have a difficult time duplicating. We never sit still and the amount of investment we make into new products and processes keeps us ahead of everyone chasing us.” Presently, SKB has worldwide production capabilities. Over 85 percent of their products are manufactured in the United States and their plant in Mexico. “The fastest growth is in the U.S. manufacturing, and new equipment and infrastructure is being installed on a constant basis,” explains Andreas.

For the first 15 years, SKB became known for their guitar cases and band instrument cases. But a few years later, they expanded their horizons. “Leading brands such as Fender, Jackson, Martin, Ovation, Ernie Ball, Rickenbacker, and others looked for SKB to provide them with their cases,” says Andreas. “In 1986, SKB branched out into the military and medical equipment markets. In 1990, SKB launched a line of golf travel cases that were considered the only way to fly with clubs. In 1991, a revolutionary product changed the rack case business forever. The vacuum formed rack case quickly became the #1 selling series of rack cases worldwide.” 6 years later, SKB expanded even further into Rotational Molded products for the audio and drum markets. “These rugged roto cases provided the best way to transport larger mixers and acoustic drums from gig to gig,” comments Andreas. “Before the year 2000, SKB started making investments in injection molded cases. This type of manufacture is very costly upfront, but produces an exceptional product that can be certified waterproof and corrosion proof. In order to expand into the U.S. Military markets, SKB needed a variety of different sizes to compete with the few Injection mold case companies. In the last 10 years, SKB has added over 35 sizes of Injection molded cases. Some of the molds for the iSeries Injection Molded cases can weigh up to 20 tons.”

It’s this iSeries case line that Andreas says is sparking a lot of interest. “So many bands need to fly their gear and traditional flight cases are too heavy and expensive to airline check,” says Andreas. “Our iSeries cases are the perfect solution – a lightweight, waterproof, and indestructible case for flying. Every major band flying out of Nashville is flying with SKB… at Winter NAMM, we expanded our iSeries guitar line to hold Jumbo Acoustics (3i-4719-20) and 335 style semi-hollow body guitars (3i-4719-35). These two sizes represent a tremendous investment in molds and machinery to manufacture these cases.” The biggest news at Winter NAMM for SKB, however, was the launch of the medium format mixer console case series. “With the growth in mobile churches and the need for professional digital 32-channel consoles, there is also a need for reliable transportation cases,” Andreas explains. “SKB launched a case for the Behringer X32 and Allen & Heath QU32 at Winter NAMM that includes four heavy duty casters. This series has specific cases for specific mixers. The Roto-molded design also includes a built in rubber gasket to keep moisture and rain out of the case. In June, two more cases will be available for the Midas M32 Console and the brand new Yamaha TF5 Digital console.”

Moving forward, SKB will continue to focus on developing their injection molded case line. “To date, we have 40 different sizes with more than 367 different interior configurations (Empty, Cubed Foam, Guitar and gun inserts, custom equipment water jet cut foam, etc.)… SKB will continue to expand the iSeries case line. Along with new mixer cases, we will also be introducing more custom foam interiors developed on our water jet foam cutting machine (another process developed from the minds of Dave and Steve).” They will also continue to focus on innovation. “There are a lot of SKB style companies out there claiming that they have a better case than us,” Andreas says. “Don’t be fooled. SKB was the original, and continues to be the innovators in the case business. We innovate and don’t imitate. There is a reason why everyone in the music business refers to molded cases as SKB style. It is because SKB has been in the business for 35 years and millions of SKB cases are still in the field doing their job to product and transport equipment.”