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HANSER MUSIC GROUP RETURNS TO SPOTLIGHT Following a strategic reset and years of behind-the-scenes development, Hanser Music Group-owned Kustom Amplification emerges with new modeling amps and a player-driven design. — By Kimberly Kapela Ted Burger
A s Hanser Music Group celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2024, the Cin- cinnati-based company showed no signs of slowing down. Instead, the milestone year marked a period of renewed growth with a recent move into a new facility dedicated to U.S. engineering and sales, alongside major expansions of its Kustom Amplification brand and Powerwerks product lines. Founded originally as a music retailer, Hanser has evolved over the decades into distribution and eventually into brand own-
ership. For much of its existence, Hanser Music Group operated as a third-generation, family-owned business under the Hanser brothers. A shift came in 2019, when long- time employee Bob Imhoff purchased Hanser Music Group from the Hanser family. Under Imhoff’s ownership, Hanser imme- diately began reinvesting in its core brands, launching a redesign of Kustom and Power- werks. Today, Kustom’s offerings span ampli- fiers and pedals, while Hanser’s engineering expertise continues to drive innovation.
“The brand has a ton of history, but we also haven’t had new products for five-to-10 years, as far as anything truly updated,” said Ted Burger, president of Hanser. “But now, [we have] all brand-new stuff. The Kustom line and the guitar and bass products are brand new, and there’ll be brand-new Kustom P.A. products coming before the end of Q2.” Hanser is partnering with a U.S.-based 3PL, warehousing all inventory in-house and selling directly to retailers. “For the longest time, even after we ac-
14 I MUSIC INC. I FEBRUARY/MARCH 2026
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