Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyler Petito.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’ve been a tinkerer my whole life. I disassembled anything I could get my hands on just to see how it worked. I remember looking at a circuit board when I was about 8 years old and being absolutely fascinated. Unfortunately, I did not take to the standard educational system, and I got myself into a lot of trouble. I dropped out of high school and started teaching myself as many technical skills as possible. I would attempt any electrical/mechanical/construction project opportunity that came my way. I have always been good at visually dissecting devices and spotting problems so I made this my living. People would ask me if I could install a fan or build them a skate ramp and I would say “yes” even if I had never done it before, and I would just figure it out. I decided very early that I did not want to work for anybody else. So, this was my life for a few years. I played music and did odd jobs. I even built my own equipment. When I was 22 years old a friend of mine, Jen Haines, literally and figuratively, drove me to get my GED. I felt it useless but she really motivated me so I did it. After that I married the most amazing person, Andi Christine DeStefano. She continued to push me in ways that were in parallel with my improvement, both in skill and as a person in general. As I expanded my experience, I ended up faking my way into a position at a commercial electrical company by spending one day reading a book of codes. The owner knew something wasn’t quite right but he gave me the job anyway and I worked under him as an apprentice. One day, my life was really flipped upside down when my good friend Alex Suarez offered me a job as a guitar tech for his band Cobra Starship, which had just started gaining good recognition. Before I knew it, I was on a plane to Buffalo, NY to join their tour with Gym Class Heroes (GCH). I quickly learned that most guitar techs really have no idea what they are doing beyond setting up a guitar. My skills in being able to fix just about anything quickly earned me recognition and before the end of the tour, some of the other techs got fired and I was teaching for 3 out of the 4 bands, including GCH. Tour after tour I started as a tech for one band and eventually worked for almost, if not ever, band Cobra was out with. This included Boys Like Girls, Head Automatica, and 30 Seconds to Mars amongst other smaller support acts. Being on the road eventually started to be a major strain on my marriage so I made the decision to come home and start my own repair business. At that point, I had so much experience repairing electronics I was able to sustain this as my sole means of income. In this time, I made the decision to start building my own equipment and selling it to friends. This included building clones of instrument amplifiers and FX pedals. As my she did, my wife began pushing me to become an engineer. I laughed and laughed. I had zero confidence that I could achieve completing college, let alone engineering, but she never let up. She even bought me a class for my birthday. I was so mad. It was College Algebra. As a testament to her supportive nature she took the class with me and we both got As. One day she called me from work and asked me if I was ready to start engineering school. Again, I laughed and laughed. Especially when she asked me to call the local community college and request what courses and GPA for engineering were required to transfer over to the major university. We were living in Gainesville, FL and that meant we were talking about the University of Florida (UF). Ranked 25th in the nation for engineering at the time. When I eventually called, I learned that the curriculum was Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus 1,2,3, Differential Equations, Physics 1,2 w/ Calculus, Pre-Chemistry and Chemistry 1, 2 in addition to all the other general ed classes…and all with a required 3.6 GPA to transfer to UF. I almost fell over. There was no way, I thought. Andi continued to push and push and off to Santa Fe Community College (SFCC) I went. I was 28 years old. As days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and months turned to years things got easier and I gained more and more confidence. I was doing really well and the whole time I was building the business. The repair and building I was doing started on the kitchen table, and as I went through school, kept graduating to bigger and bigger spaces. First to a 10ft x 14ft shed on the right side of the house that my amazing in laws bought me and then to a 1.5 story 20ft x 20ft building on the left side of the house that I built from the ground up with help from Kurt Strauss, Austin Petito, and Jaime Davis. Soon I found myself with a 3.8 GPA at the end of my course requirements at SFCC, earning my acceptance to UF. Trust me…No one was more surprised than me. I kept at it and I eventually graduate Cum Laude with a degree in engineering at UF. From there my wife and I moved to Atlanta so that she could attend Emory University for her master’s degree. Soon after we arrived here, I reunited with an old friend from Gainesville, Derron Nuhfer. He was working in the music industry and knew of my qualification so he started turning business my way. The house quickly filled with repairs and before long we needed to make a decision. In 2013 Acorn Amplifiers incorporated and we opened a small 800 ft^2 brick and mortar live/work space in Decatur. I took on an apprentice by the name of William Walters and he quickly made an outstanding impression on me with his work ethic and he earned himself a part ownership in the company. Together we were able to expand into the space next to ours after a year. We started excepting contracts for builds and we just kept growing. Eventually outgrowing that location which required us to move. We chose East Atlanta Village (EAV) because of the thriving music scene. Plus, almost every customer we had lived there. It was an easy decision. And this is where we are today. We love EAV…it’s our community. Those who live here and support/build the scene are dedicated to it in a way that you do not find in many places. We are so thankful that we are able to be a part of it. We are continuing to design and build our own products which are gaining more and more popularity. Our goal is to expand our product line and We are very excited to keep up this trend and to continue to support our community. We are also proud to mention that Avedissian Pickups has joined us in creating high quality music gear. It is very important for me to mention other, major contributing members to the Acorn family besides the above mentioned. The Petito/DeStefano/Walters family, Matt Finch, Josh Jordan, Bryan Akers, Mark Brown, Kevin Charney, Andrew Wiggins, Nick Wechsler, Andrew Elstner, Ryan Shea, Mark Bonner, Karl Kuutti, Joshua Weaver, Franky Coronado, Warren Bailey, Jeff Burgoon, and worthy of a double mention is my amazing partner in life Andi Christine, who without, I would probably be dead in a ditch. Thank you.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Our struggles have always been keeping up with demand and production inefficiencies due to lack of equipment, availability, and/or funds. Not a bad problem, but many of our customers make their living with music and our turnaround times have been extensive in the past due to the unknown quirks of operating a business. Both in general and within this industry. Although we still encounter obstacles, we are much more proficient and tackle hiccups with greater ease
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Acorn Amplifiers, LLC – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Our business was built on electronics repair related to the music industry. We also specialize in custom built instrument amplifiers and FX pedals, and we are pushing to expand this portion of the business. What sets us apart and what I am most proud of stem from the same foundation: High quality work and honesty. As far as quality goes, I have always explained that the repair side of the business has given us the advantage of observing what works best and what fails for equipment design. This allows us to pull together all the good parts of what make a device high quality and incorporate that into our design. Everything is inspected with a fine-tooth comb. Sometimes to an annoying degree for the apprentices that work here. There are no exceptions. Care in construction of the product and care in interacting with our customers. It’s well known that other techs/engineers in this line of work are known for being rude, elitist, and dishonest. I personally make sure everyone is treated with kindness and fairness. We will talk for hours to answer any and all questions someone might have about our products and/or a repair. It is especially important for us to return all parts to anyone receiving a repair. This helps to ensure everyone knows we are not scavenging their vintage parts for our own benefit. Which unfortunately is extremely common in this line of work.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Expansion of our product line. Every day I am working on a new amp design so that we have a complete spectrum to cover everyone’s needs. From the beginner to the advance, from those who require huge powerful rigs to those who’s needs are met with a more modest setup. It is also import for us to strive towards offering products to those who might be on a limited budget. We will always continue to expand our equipment line so we can do more production in house with less outsourcing. This is a guaranteed way to tackle the problem of being able to reduce cost so that everyone can afford a quality piece of equipment.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1259B Glenwood Avenue SE 30316
- Email: acornamps@gmail.com
- Phone: 404-600-3696
- Instagram: @acornamps
- Facebook: Acorn Amplifiers
- Twitter: @acornamps
Image Credit:
Lance Seymour
David Patterson
William Walters
Tyler Petito
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