Alma Gates (old article)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 25, 2000
KICKER and Team Gates Plan All-Out Assault on SPL Record Books

Stillwater, OK - Two of the world?s top names in car stereo competition announced today an agreement to combine forces in pursuit of new advances in the art of going loud. Stillwater Designs, maker of KICKER car audio components, and Team Gates, whose world-famous Ford Bronco rewrote the SPL competition record books, will totally revamp the world-famous ?Beast? for a new assault on the soundoff circuits? dB meters. ?The pairing is a natural,? says Stillwater Designs Special Products Applications manager Greg Davis. ?KICKER and the KICKER Competition Group have dominated the Sound Quality side of car stereo competition for the past several years. Alma and Patrick Gates, along with the rest of their crew, have been doing the same in the SPL arena. It makes perfect sense that we pool our talents and move things up to the next level.?

Mrs. Gates and Team Gates installation whiz Scott Owens visited the Stillwater Designs headquarters in Stillwater, OK, earlier this month to kick off the partnership. They met with KICKER President Steve Irby, Director of Advertising Jay Tonsfeldt, and representatives of the firm?s Technical and R&D departments, to begin planning the 2000 SPL campaign.

The new version of the Team Gates dB-monster will feature KICKER speakers and amplifiers. Team Gates will design and install the system, with support from the Stillwater Designs technical staff.

In addition to making the major competitions, the newly-refurbished ?Beast? will also appear at a select number of KICKER dealer events around the United States.




(L to R) KICKER Special Product Applications Manager Greg Davis, Team Gates Owner Alma Gates, and Stillwater Designs President Steve Irby announce new SPL partnership at Gates? recent visit to Stillwater Designs headquarters.

Guess some of us got to work harder on their DB numbers

dbracer79 wrote:

Guess some of us got to work harder on their DB numbers

I guess you are right! That darn thing never did work. I probably need to clarify my statement..The Kicker products were great. The bronco design sucked and there was no way to correct it except by taking it completely down and re-doing it.

It was easier to get another bronco and start over again, which I did. Again, the products were good, bronco looks good and sounds great, but it still didn't live up to my expectations and the old PPI Bronco.

My one big regret is permitting the original bronco to be destroyed! It was the true masterpiece.

I think the main difference in all 3 designs was that Rick Jones and the PPI guys put their heart and soul into that car and it showed. Patrick and I also worked on it and the bronco was a true Team Gates effort. Those were the good old days and will never be forgotten.

Love the article and Love the beast and Ma, you are the best.

You are the best Alma. The PPI Bronco inspired me to try harder on my installs and to get louder. I now have a GMC 1500 truck in the works with 24 12s. I wanted 64.

Whatever happened to the red one alma? I heard nate had it??

Navi wrote:

Whatever happened to the red one alma? I heard nate had it??

Nate - who is a friend - told me many times that I needed someone who knew something about SPL to re-do the bronco. Sooooo- we took all the Kicker stuff out of it and returned the products to Kicker and delivered the bronco to Nate..

I do not know if he will ever do anything with it. I had planned to contact him and see if he wanted me to take it back. Thanks for reminding me.

Id love to see a return of it and the pumpkin.

Navi wrote:

Id love to see a return of it and the pumpkin.

So would I!

well im glad I posted this old reminder.....maybe it will put some plans into action

I would love to see it back in the lanes as well. Boy would that be a great day.

Moparbass28 wrote:

I would love to see it back in the lanes as well. Boy would that be a great day.

Ditto! And Alma in great health walking alongside it as it rolls into the lanes.

Mike Jaffe wrote:

Moparbass28 wrote:

I would love to see it back in the lanes as well. Boy would that be a great day.

Ditto! And Alma in great health walking alongside it as it rolls into the lanes.

Now that would be the Best right there.

Ive been hounding her to build another head cracker for a long time! Alma good to hear from you.
xo Donnie & the loud and clear team