 In 1997, after 25 years of abandonment, the Standel Trademark became public domain, and Bob Crooks quickly secured it.Wanting to produce Standels again, and after a number of coincidences, Crooks came into contact with Danny "Sage" McKinney, the founder of Requisite Audio Engineering and through Franklin Garlock (Standel's west coast sales rep from the 1960s), requested a meeting with McKinney.McKinney, having first met Crooks when he was only 14 years old, saw him as a mentor and looked forward to seeing him again.