How would you attempt to test and fix equipment that was in use nearly 24 hours a day? That was the challenge for Shure service teams when working with the many venues using Shure products in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the 1970s. All along the famous Las Vegas strip, Shure microphones, mixers, and speaker systems were working around the clock, as nightclubs, lounges, and public address systems were always on.
According to Dan Levine, a salesman for the West Coast Shure Sales Representative, Jack Berman Company, in the 1970s: “One reason that Shure was the equipment of choice was because it was rugged, reliable, and it sounded great. But you still want to check it from time to time to see that it’s performing the way it’s supposed to. The problem was pulling the equipment off the stage for a few days, so that it could be sent in and serviced. So rather than making the equipment go to the technicians, we brought the technicians to the equipment.”
Shure would come to town with a full-service setup and provide service 24 hours a day for two or three days in a row.
“We tried to schedule our service days in midweek, when Las Vegas wasn’t quite as busy. We’d work in three eight-hour shifts, so that the sound engineers who worked with the clubs around town could bring in their equipment whenever it was convenient,” commented Mr. Levine. “At that time, Shure had a lot of microphones and mixers in service all across the city. The Vocal Master was also popular. Most of the small stages used the Vocal Master as their complete sound system.”
Not only did Shure grace the stages of Las Vegas, Shure microphones were often placed in and over the audience to allow performers to interact with their fans and to pick up applause. Microphones also were used in sound booths and public address system operations as well as by announcers of keno, bingo, and other games. There was even a Shure microphone in an unusual concrete reverberation chamber that was part of the sound system at the Desert Inn Crystal Room.
According to Roger Ponto, then Shure Sales Manager: “Las Vegas was an excellent market for Shure, and the sound engineers and performers really appreciated our ability to work with them to make sure the equipment was always ready to go when the stage lights went up.”
Las Vegas has changed dramatically in the past 30 years, and most of the famous hotels have been replaced by larger, more extravagant incarnations. However, some things remain constant, and Shure is still the preferred microphone of most of the audiovisual engineers. Also, Shure continues to provide service clinics to check and maintain the equipment.
In fact, with the success of the Las Vegas clinics, Shure expanded the program to include two other resort cities in Nevada: Reno and Lake Tahoe.
In 1994, three Shure Associates serviced more than 750 wired and wireless microphones from hotels and convention centers in the three cities. Each unit was tested to make sure the output level and frequency response met original factory specifications, and worn grilles and switches were replaced. While audiovisual engineers waited for the tests and repairs to be made, they examined new Shure products and received advice from Shure representatives.
Four years later, in 1998, three Applications Engineering Associates brought 700 pounds of testing and repair equipment to Las Vegas, the first stop on the three-city tour. In a two-day microphone clinic at Caesar’s Palace, the Associates handled 194 microphones that were used in 12 venues. Any microphone that could not be repaired on site was shipped to Shure’s Service Department in Evanston, where it was fixed and returned to the owner within a few days.
To quote one of the Associates: “Most of the microphones are in fine condition, but the clinics demonstrate Shure’s commitment to the sound engineers in Las Vegas, Reno, and Lake Tahoe. It’s also an opportunity to meet professionals who rely on Shure and to show them some of the new products we have developed. Although good products can sometimes be copied, superior customer service is hard to match.”
