Our Company

Sound Checker's founder, Gordon Maretzki, needed to amplify his acoustic guitar. He played his Gibson Hummingbird clone in his local church on Sundays. It had no electronics on-board, so to be heard he had to resort to microphones, soundhole pickups or when that failed, he borrowed guitars that were fitted with OEM pickup systems with ho-hum results.

Gord was tired of struggling with his instrument and being distracted by poor sound, PA interface problems and poor reliability. It was time to do something about it. He researched the popular after-market manufacturers of pickups and purchased a unit via mail order. It was supposedly top of the line, and at the price it cost, it should have been. After he installed it, he was pleased at the improvement in sound. He was not pleased with the exorbitant price. It didn't seem right that a pickup should cost many times the price of his instrument. Being an engineer by profession, Gord set out to develop his own pickup, one that had a high performance/price ratio - a system that gave you your moneys worth.

The first prototype had it's electronics housed in a hollowed-out checker game piece, thus the name "Sound Checker". Many refinements and improvements were made since the first prototype. (They are not actually made with "Checkers" although the name has stuck). The current version of the first pickup has been dubbed "The Original".

Many products have followed since then, from the "Original" passive pickup to a line of pre-amps and active systems. Sound Checker continues to develop products to meet the needs of Joe Musician.

Sound Checker's goal is to provide great sounding instrument pickups and electronics at a price-point for the average consumer - Value for your hard earned dollar - You deserve it!