THE STEDMAN STORY

HISTORY

Stedman Corporation was founded by Bill Hannapel in Richland MI in 1992. Richland is a small community located in Kalamazoo County.

Kalamazoo has a rich history in the music industry. It is the birthplace of The Gibson guitar factory, ProCo Sound, Systems & Technology in Music (Systech) and is the current home of Heritage Guitars Inc.

Prior to Stedman Corporation, Bill, an avid guitarist and electronics design engineer, founded Analog Control Technology (ACT). In 1983 ACT began production the world ’s first rackmount programmable analog guitar preamp. In 1988, ACT was sold to Rockford Corporation where Bill would spend the next three years developing products for the music industry at the Rockford Hafler division in Grand Rapids, MI.

As soon as his work at Rockford was finished, he founded Stedman Corporation. With his passion for music, guitar, and recording he developed the successful N90 microphone. At this time, there was a fast growing demand for an affordable side-address microphone for the home and professional studio. A dynamic large diaphragm capsule was chosen so that phantom power was not required. This unique product offered excellent sonic properties at an affordable price. The N90 listed at $399.

Stedman added several more microphone models, ranging from a $139 LD23 dynamic to a $4500 1100B multi pattern tube condenser. Also added were some electronic accessories including direct boxes for guitar and bass. In the following years, inexpensive import microphones and electronic products flooded the market. Stedman made the decision to begin phasing out its microphones and electronic products to start shipping a unique new product line, the world’s first patented metal pop filters. Up to this point, pop filters were made from woven fabrics and were not able to stop bursts effectively without some loss of high frequencies and critical vocal detail.

In July of 2018, Stedman started shipping an exciting and unique line of audio tools to help maintain good quality audio connections. This includes two PureConnect kits and three sizes of refill cleaning materials that provide a professional high quality method to maintain 1/4 inch and XLR connectors.

On September 20, 2020 Scott Dana, Vice President, signed an agreement to purchase a major portion of Stedman Corporation stock. Scott has taken over many of the responsibilities as vice president and is a welcome addition to the Stedman team.

TODAY

We at Stedman care greatly about the environment and the planet we live on, because we are pretty sure that it doesn’t have a lifetime warranty. We recycle containers, packaging, office supplies, batteries, and paper.

Stedman is a privately owned company. Stedman has always built products based on the philosophy of providing only the best quality US made studio accessories and backing them all with a lifetime warranty. We value our relationships with vendors, customers, and dealers. When you purchase a Stedman product, we want you to feel as good as you sound.