Ernie Ball

Roland Sherwood " Ernie " Ball ( born August 30, 1930 in Santa Monica, California; † 9 September 2004 in San Luis Obispo, California ) was an American musician and inventor of thin, fast recordable strings for electric guitars.

Work

Since the age of 19 Ernie Ball toured as a musician by the States only as a steel guitar player in the Tommy Duncan band, and later in the Air Force. After his army service, he settled in Los Angeles where he worked as a guitar teacher, and finally in 1958 in Tarzana in Hollywood opened a music store.

Developed in the early 1960s ball specifically for rock and roll guitarist, the first very thin steel strings ( called slinky, engl. For " seductive " ), the playability was better and faster than with the previously used, significantly stronger Banjo Strings. With this development, Ernie Ball revolutionized the market for stringed guitars. Also new was his idea to tailor for guitarists special string sets according to their ideas. To date, the Slinky String Sets are among the world's best-selling electric guitar strings.

1967 Ball moved his business to New Port Beach, where he met the growing demand for its strings with industrial production. Always Ernie Ball worked closely with guitarist to optimize its products. In 1984 he acquired the guitar manufacturing company Music Man and built it in the years to become one of the leading electric guitar and electric bass manufacturers. Since 2003, the production string has been moved to Indio, California, and the production of the Music Man instruments to San Luis Obispo.

Ernie Ball has developed and produced a lot of different accessories and was active until his death at his company operates. He also remained in private life, the music faithfully and came again and again at smaller gigs as a guitarist.

Publications

  • 30 easy guitar hits, Charles Hansen, Miami Beach, Florida, 1968
  • How to Play Guitar Phase 1, 1992, ISBN 1928571018
  • How To Play Guitar Phase 2, ISBN 1928571026
  • Ernie Ball Getting Started Easy Chords Book, ISBN 1928571034
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