By Christian Wissmuller
Josh Vittek has spent his career helping MI brands cut through the noise. As the founder of Vittek PR, he works closely with musical instrument and pro audio companies to shape stories that resonate with dealers, artists, and players alike. In this Q&A, Vittek shares stories from his past, his perspective on today’s MI media landscape, effective brand communication, and where smart PR can make the biggest impact right now.
For those unfamiliar with your background, can you walk me through the various MI and MI-adjacent roles you had prior to founding VittekPR?
Right out of high school, I went to work at Carvin Corporation where I started out taking apart their famous X-100B guitar amplifiers and the huge FX and MX mixing consoles. The X-100B’s were a big part of the 80’s, especially in LA. Eventually I moved upstairs where I started assembling chassis’. Lots of pots, jacks, PCB’s, tubes, ribbon cables, and transformers. Then I moved back downstairs to start installing the chassis’ into cabinets. Ultimately, I end up at the end of the assembly line with my own final testing room. My job was to final test all the guitar, bass, and PA products before final packaging. They would literally roll 50 of these X-100B guitar amplifiers into my room at a time and it was my job to play through every single one of them. Tweak every knob. Slide every slider. Frequency sweep every speaker. I took it very seriously. There was no way I ever wanted a product returned because I might have missed anything. Even back then, I had a lot of pride in my work. Listening for snaps, crackles, and pops along the way. Rinse and repeat every day. I played through and listened to thousands and thousands of product. It was awesome.
Parallel to all of this, I had always had an interest in business. I was mowing yards by age 6. I charged a quarter for the front. A quarter for the back. As a teenager, I had subscriptions to magazines like Money, Worth, and Fortune. And papers like the Wall Street Journal and Investors Business Daily. So, when I turned 21, I went and got my Series 7 and Series 63 licenses. I became a “financial advisor”. That sounds more glamourous than it really was. I started off at a small firm. I was unaware of their notoriety at the time. Think Boiler Room. Wall Street. Wolf of Wall Street. It was amazing, in the most bizarre and wonderful way. It was a very fast way to learn how to become resilient and persistent. It also taught me that if I was going to be working 12 hours or more a day, that was not what I wanted to do with my life. I went back to Carvin and beg for a job in a different department.
Now, back at Carvin, my goal was to work at the factory during the day and gig at night for the rest of my life. This time, I was in the speaker department, installing crossovers and speakers into cabinets. I learned a lot about frequency response and how speakers performed. But after about six months, I was getting bored and started sticking my nose in the sales room. That was a no-no. If you’ve ever worked in a factory environment, it is common policy for the people in the back not to talk to the people in the front. But I eventually convinced them to let me cross the line. I thought I had made it! But the curiosity kept me wanting more. After having success in the sales department, I transitioned into the international distribution department, then became their inventory manager, then the buyer, and finally oversee marketing and artist relations. It was amazing. I had relationships with every magazine around the world, contacts for all of the raw material supplies needed to make musical instruments and audio products, international distributors, and had worked with and collaborated on product designs with the likes of Steve Vai, Alan Holdsworth, Tony MacAlpine, Frank Gambale, Bunny Brunel, Brian Auger, Derek Sherinian, Timothy B. Schmit and Joe Walsh of the Eagles, Mark Wills, Lit, Staind, and POD. Carvin was a family business. I was not a part of the family and changes were starting to become clear. By the time I was 28, I had climbed as high I could inside the Carvin business. Our daughter was now 10. Old enough to where we felt stable enough for me to leave and pursue a career playing guitar. I had to do it. We both knew if I didn’t do it then, it would never happen, and I would regret it later. So, I went and chased that dream. I played relentlessly all over Southern California for a couple of years. Then the phone rang…
In 2005, Gary Kahler of Kahler Tremolos and Brass Factory had acquired the rights back to his business, Kahler USA. He needed help putting it all back together. Initially, I started out just helping with artist relations so I could keep gigging. But I ended up coming in full-time as his General Manager. I rekindled the brands relationships with Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman of Slayer, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Glenn Drover of Megadeth, Les Dudek, and Jerry Cantrell and Mike Inez of Alice In Chains. We began selling bridges to Gibson, Fender, Peavey, BC Rich, Dean, PRS, ESP, Warwick, Framus, and Cort Guitars. I was crossing political lines. Then the smaller builders started coming on board. Fodera. Buddy Blaze. Rick Turner. Neal Moser. We were making waves.
One of my early memories of you, of course, was your inclusion in MMR’’s “40 Most Influential Under 40” feature in 2006. You and your company have rocked up quite a few other honors, as well — walk us through a few of the most significant and talk a little bit about how such accolades directly impact professional opportunities?
I was over the moon about that. To be recognized was fantastic and something I am still proud of to this day. Especially given that we were such a small company within the industry. In 2008, I was selected as a member of the Presidential Advisory Board for NAMM.
To help grow the Kahler business, I started helping the smaller builders with their own marketing. The more visibility they got, the more visibility Kahler got. It became a side hustle. That side hustle was becoming more profitable. The thought was crossing my mind to go out on my own. I bounced the idea off a couple industry legends to get their thoughts. Mal Stich had been a long-time part of BC Rich and was a key player in keeping that machine running throughout the 70’s and 80’s. Hap Kuffner gave the idea a thumbs up. Joe Lamond, CEO of NAMM said to go for it. At the time, Max Kay was really the only guy doing it independently and I knew he was phasing out of the MI industry and focusing more on other interests. But Elliot Rubinson of Armadillo Enterprises is the one who summed it up perfectly for me. We were sitting up in the Dean booth at NAMM, I presented the idea to him, he laughed, put his hand on my shoulder and said “the simple fact that you are asking me tells me you need to do it. If you don’t, you will regret it later. So, if you do, call me and I will be your first client.” In September of 2008 I started my own PR and Marketing firm and called Elliot.
On October 8, my first press release out of the gates was announcing Pantera’s Vinnie Paul leaving Pearl Drums for ddrum with a brand-new signature kit. I’ve since represented brands such as Dean Guitars, ddrum, Cort Guitars, Aristides Guitars, Peavey, Trace Elliot, Crest Audio, Korg USA, Spector, Dean Zelinsky, Darkglass, Aguilar, Wizard Amplification, Albion Amplification, B.C. Rich, Dean Markley, Fargen Amplifiers, NAMM, and Sheptone. In addition to working on their public relations, I’ve assisted in product development and managed collaborations with artists such as the Rolling Stones, Michael Bolton, Bruce Springsteen, Toby Keith, Jason Aldean, Motley Crue, Duran Duran, the Misfits, Earth, Wind and Fire, Rush, Night Ranger, Los Enanitos Verde, Poison, Andy Johns, Los Tigres de Norte, Lita Ford, Judas Priest, Misha Monsoor, Warrant, Robert Fripp, Steve Trovato, Brian Kahanek, Jeff Richman, Walter Trout, and Richard Smith.
- In 2025, NAMM interviewed me as part of the industry’s Oral History Archives.
- I have had the opportunity to work for, with, or represented some of the biggest brands in the business.
- I have collaborated with, and chased tone with, some of the greatest musicians in the history of music.
- A few years ago, we were recognized as a Power Partner by Inc. magazine and a Business to Business All Star. That really is cool as it comes from outside our industry.
Alongside all of it, there have been acknowledgements from Musicians Institute for contributions to music education, guest speaking engagements at USC to students in the music and business departments, and something of a mentor/speaker at Covenant House to the kids and young adults in the program. These are the ones that warm my heart. It is all a bit surreal.
