Ernie Ball

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

Act

Since he was 19, Ernie Ball toured the United States as a musician , first as a steel guitar player with the Tommy Duncan Band and later with the Air Force . After serving in the army, he settled in Los Angeles , where he first worked as a guitar teacher and finally opened a music store in Tarzana near Hollywood in 1958 .

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

In 1967 Ball relocated his company to New Port Beach , where he met the growing demand for his strings with industrial production. Ernie Ball always worked closely with guitarists to further optimize his products. In 1984 he acquired the guitar manufacturer Music Man and in the following years expanded the company into one of the leading manufacturers of electric guitars and basses . Since 2003 the string production has been relocated to Indio , California and the production of Music Man instruments to San Luis Obispo .

Ernie Ball developed and produced a lot of different accessories and was active in his company until his death. He also remained loyal to music in his private life and appeared on smaller occasions as a guitarist.

Ball is the father of the actress Nova Ball and the grandfather of her daughter Hannah Marks .

Publications

  • 30 easy guitar hits, Charles Hansen, Miami Beach, Florida, 1968
  • Popular guitar teaching pieces. the red book: easy arrangements, Los Angeles, Calif. : West Coast Publications, 1969
  • 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

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Music Trades; October 1, 2004
  2. ↑ Music Trades
  3. ↑ ernieball.com/hist
  4. ↑ a b Country Boy: A Biography of Albert Lee , pp. 189 f. On-line
personal data
SURNAME Ball, Ernie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ball, Roland Sherwood (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American musician and inventor
DATE OF BIRTH August 30, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Santa Monica , California
DATE OF DEATH September 9, 2004
Place of death San Luis Obispo , California