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Import scarcity and the DIY imperative

Well supported

The economic pressure, high import costs and limited access to foreign gear, that pushed Jamaican and early diaspora builders to make their own amplifiers and instruments, as Hedley Jones did when he could not afford an imported guitar.

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At a glance

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Sources
Red Bull Music Academy 'Hedley Jones'; Tape Op Mad Professor; Lloyd Bradley, Bass Culture.

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In stories

Story · Well supportedThe electronics men and the birth of the sound system

Before there were selectors and deejays, there was the amplifier, and the men who built it.

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Compiled and researched by The Jamaica Music Atlas music desk. The sources that informed it are credited above.

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