Brief History of Palmer

At the end of 1980, after more than seven years’ experience in the sound reinforcement sector and as a service technician for various music businesses in the Frankfurt am Main area, Martin Schmitz founded the company Martin Schmitz Musikelektronik. Initially all-tube guitar and bass amplifiers were manufactured under the label “Palmer Musical Instruments”. In 1979, the first prototypes were available for testing at the DiMarzio stand at the Musikmesse trade fair, which at that time was still part of the Frühjahrsmesse (Spring trade fair). In 1981, Palmer was represented with its own stand at the Musikmesse, which was by then an independent trade fair. Additional products included a series of passive crossovers, that were distributed by a company with which a friendly relationship had developed, Adam Hall GmbH.

By the mid-1980s, the required transformers were no longer purchased from the Pikatron company, but were manufactured in-house. This entry into the transformer technology field gradually enabled all types of audio transmitters to be manufactured at reasonable prices, resulting in products such as DI boxes, splitter boxes and signal isolation transformers.

Due to the closing down of Western tube production and the highly unsatisfactory quality of most tubes produced in China, the production of tube amplifiers became extremely problematic. It was thus decided to discontinue production in 1989.

By this time the portfolio of peripheral devices had developed to the point that it seemed appropriate to distinguish between the music and sound reinforcement sectors. This led to the creation of the second label, “Palmer Audio Tools”. The distribution of all the products was taken over by Adam Hall GmbH.

At the 1989 Musikmesse trade fair in Frankfurt, the now legendary PDI03 speaker simulator was exhibited for the first time. This was a special DI box that permitted guitar (tube) amplifiers to be connected directly to the mixing console, without the necessity of a microphone pickup. The typical sound of a guitar speaker was realistically rendered by means of special filters. The product was enthusiastically embraced by the booming home recording market that was emerging. In addition, Gladden Audio, the English distributor for Palmer at the time, had excellent relations with many relevant audio studios in England and the USA, where the PDI03 was also euphorically welcomed. The English press went so far as to refer to the product as a “Holy Grail”, and even a non-conformist such as Keith Richards “couldn’t deny that thing”, as he explained in an interview. However, a tragic blow soon followed in the form of an American patent, that was also accepted as a European patent. Aspen Pitman/Groove Tubes was inexplicably granted a patent for its “speaker emulator”, and mercilessly acted against Rocktron’s Juice Extractor, Marshall’s SE100, the H&K Redbox and also of course Palmer’s PDI03. In order to avoid unpredictable lawsuits brought before American courts, there was no alternative but to discontinue the product. The patent expired in 2004.

At the beginning of the 1990s, the basis was established for many audio tools, the details of which were continuously improved. These tools are still available today, with a contemporary exterior design. One example is the PPB20 signal distributor for press conferences which, at least in Germany, has more or less become accepted as a standard. More than 30 of these devices were used in Athens during the 2004 Olympics.

Contrary to the slogan “Price is all that matters”, over the long term there is clearly a market for high-quality products sold at reasonable prices. In 1998, Palmer had exhausted all of its resources in order to increase production so as to meet distribution demands. The good, solid relationship developed over the years with the Adam Hall company, for which Palmer also handled servicing for other electronic products, resulted in a merger. Since then, Palmer has been an integral part of Adam Hall GmbH. The “Palmer” department is under the direction of Martin Schmitz. In the year 2006, Palmer had 10 employees, and all Audio Tools and Musical Instrument devices were produced near Frankfurt am Main, with a comprehensive manufacturing program (including printed circuit board assembly, transformer production, parts of small housing production, and screen printing in-house). The proximity of the production facility and consequently the inspection of products during the course of manufacture pays off for both the manufacturer and purchasers: the ratio of returns is less than 10 in 1000.