Take a love of music, art and vintage goods, pair it with two creative minds and a propensity to try new things … and voila you have the Thumper. It’s a one-of-a kind rechargeable retro boombox made from vintage suitcase and authentic hi-fi speakers. It sounds as good as it looks, which is saying a quite lot.
Like most amazing ideas, it started with inspiration. While furnishing their new digital design studio in the King Plow Arts Center earlier this year, Curious Provisions founders David Preiss and Javier Santana discovered a shared penchant for upcycling vintage items into modern decor.
First they transformed antique sewing tables into contemporary workstations and created a conference table from recycled barn wood and plumbing pipes. Then Javier came across a pair of Cerwin-Vega speakers on Craigslist and a pair vintage suitcases while thrift shopping. Having home-schooled audio skills thanks to a cousin, Javier finally came up with the idea to pull the speakers from their banged up cabinets and into the suitcases. Friends and visitors reacted so positively to the combination, a new business was born.
Since February, Curious Provisions has been wowing people who love design and music with their Thumpers. The old meets new style is beautiful, functional art. Each piece has a style and a quirkiness all its own due to the custom-designed, hand-crafted considerations given to each.
But there’s nothing old about the technology inside. Thumpers are known for their killer audio. They’re portable and rechargeable. They work with any mobile device or laptop and most of them come with a volume, bass and treble controls mounted on the side. Music can also be streamed wirelessly using a bluetooth adapter or the Thumper can be converted to a guitar amp with a custom adapter.
Prices range from $590-$790. To check out the Thumpers, shop curiousprovisions.com or visit the exhibit The South’s Next Wave Design Challenge at MODA Design, which is up through March 31.