In addition to being a great place to find the latest products, the NAMM show also offers a wealth of feel-good entrepreneurial stories. You’ll find countless examples of passionate people who launched successful businesses with little more than a dream, an idea and some initiative. Loknob (loknob.com), manufacturer of the innovative accessory of the same name, is one such story. According to Loknob’s Owner, Tony Livolsi, the company started out simply enough. “My wife said to me, ‘Go outside and build something, one of your ideas.’ So, I got a couple of wooden dowels and a dremel, and that lead to the first Loknob. Two-and-a-half years—and a lot of money—later, and here we are at our first NAMM show. And people are loving it.”
As is the case with so many game-changing products, Livolsi invented the Loknob to solve a problem he had experienced many times and that he knew other people had to deal with, as well. “I’ve been a musician my whole life,” he explained. “And I’ve always dealt with this problem where, every time I go to a gig, my settings get lost.” He continued, “I use 24 knobs on my Marshall. Every time I got to a gig, I’d take out my road map and put all my knobs back to my settings with a flashlight. It’d be an annoying 10-minute deal every time. So, I invented a retrofitting knob. You can just take off your old knob, put the Loknob on instead, pull it, turn it to your setting, release it, and it locks.” The Loknob comes in two sizes (the smaller ½-inch model, and a larger ¾-inch version) and it can be used on everything from pedals and amps to basses and guitars. “Me, I’m a rock guy, so I play at 10. When I knock my knob down it upsets me. So, I put Loknobs on my guitars,” said Livolsi. “And, with a sound board, if you’re working on a mix for a couple of weeks or months, the Loknob lets you get in and clean the board without your knobs moving, which was always an issue.”
Thanks to the exposure his company received at the NAMM show, Livolsi is optimistic about the future. “In my mind, I’m looking three years ahead to when Loknob becomes a household word, and you start seeing pedals and instruments made with Loknobs already on them. I think it should be on everything.” Livolsi attributes much of his company’s success so far to the support of his family. His wife, son and sister were all on hand to help out at the booth; this was fortunate, as the Loknob drew quite a bit of attention. “I’ve got about 9 countries that want to distribute for us,” said Livolsi. “So, when I get home, I gotta start making a lot of Loknobs and learning a couple of languages!”