RIP Ernie Ball (Guitar strings) 9/9

Janice Brooks · From: Pleasant Gap Pa

String maker Ernie Ball dies

From correspondents in San Luis Obispo, California
10sep04 http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,10725823%255E10431,00.html

ERNIE Ball, a pioneer maker of rock 'n' roll guitar strings used by legions
of artists from the Rolling Stones to Merle Travis, has died. He was 74.

Ball died at his home yesterday after an ongoing illness, the mortuary
handling services announced.
His strings and instruments were used by music stars over the past four
decades, including the Stones, BB King and Metallica.

Beginning with a small music shop in the San Fernando Valley, Ball built a
business with annual sales of $US40 million ($A58 million) and a worldwide
reputation. Along the way, he bucked traditional thinking in the music
business.

"He changed the way people thought of guitar accessories, and how they sold
and marketed them, and to this day the Ernie Ball way is the industry
standard," his son, Sterling Ball, said in a statement.

In 1958, Ball opened a shop in Tarzana, California, that, uniquely, sold
only guitars.

"Sales reps would come in and say, 'Ern, you've got to sell clarinet reeds,
drum sticks, valve oil, blah blah blah,"' Ball once recalled. "And I'd tell
them 'I just want to sell guitars.'"

In 1962, complaints from customers that they couldn't find lighter-gauge,
flexible strings for their rock 'n' roll instruments prompted Ball to create
and sell sets of strings he called "Slinkys".

They were a hit. He later branched out into instruments and accessories,
buying the Music Man electric guitar company in 1985.

Today, Ernie Ball items are sold in more than 5000 music stores in the
United States and exported to more than 70 countries.

------------------
Janice "Busgal" Brooks
ICQ 44729047

Brad Bechtel · From: San Francisco, CA

That's a real shame. What an influential life he's had.

From the Ernie Ball web site:

Ernie grew up in Santa Monica, California, where his father sold cars and taught Hawaiian steel guitar on the side. "I first picked up the steel guitar when I was nine because my father wanted me to," he recalls. "Bored stiff, I gave it up; but later as a teenager I got the bug and began practicing two to three hours a day. In less than a year I joined the Musicians' Union and landed a jod a job playing six nights a week in a beer bar in south central Los Angeles."

At 19, he successfully auditioned for the pedal guitar slot in the Tommy Duncan band, (former lead singer for Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys.) For a year they toured the southwest until the Korean War broke out and EB enlisted in the U.S. Air Force Band. His three-year tour as an Air Force bandsman involved him in diverse musical styles that included Dixieland, concert band, jazz, classical, and big band arrangements. He formed a five-piece combo and soon was playing four nights a week right on the air base. During these years he learned to play standard guitar. When the military band played for various ceremonies or marched in parades, Ern played the bass drum.

After leaving the service Ernie returned to the honky tonks of Los Angeles, but the $53 a week take-home pay wouldn't support his wife and young sons, so he took a teaching job to supplement his playing. At that time KTLA Channel 5 was producing a popular weekly show called Western Varieties. The bandleader heard Ernie play and hired him for the staff band and two solo spots. This job increased his earnings three-fold, and better yet helped Ernie build a name for himself in the L.A. music scene. In those days TV performances were live; no tape delays and no way to dub over a mistake. "This added an element of excitement (and panic.)" Ernie recalls. He soon was getting calls for studio work, and his student enrollment ballooned to a clientele of over 80.
AMERICA'S FIRST GUITAR STORE

In 1958 EB opened a small music shop in Tarzana, a few miles from Hollywood. "We were the first store in the country to sell only guitars. Sales reps would come in and say, "Ern, you've got to sell clarinet reeds, drum sticks, valve oil; bla bla bla," and I'd tell them "I just want to sell guitars," and they'd argue: "There's no such thing as a guitar store; you'll never make it." But Ern wasn't interested in anything else. He knew and loved only guitars. People traveled from miles away to visit the store.
THE STRING IS THE THING - THE GAUGE IS THE RAGE

It was the store's customers who were responsible for EB taking the step that carried his name and his business - far beyond the city limits of Tarzana. He noticed that beginning students were having difficulty pressing down the third string of the Fender #100 medium gauge set, which were the most popular electric strings of the day. "The third string was a 29 gauge, like a giant cable, and the poor kids were getting finger blisters."
IF YOU DON'T DO IT . . .

"I called my Fender sales rep, Tom Walker, and asked him to tell Leo Fender about the problem. Tom reported back that Leo wouldn't allow lighter gauge strings on his guitars because they caused string buzz, and he wasn't about to re-engineer his neck tension rods. I thought, "OK, Leo; If you won't do it, then I will! I talked a string manufacturer into making me some custom medium gauge sets with a 24 third string instead of a 29."

In the early 60s rock and roll guitar was exploding. More and more people came in to buy a set of guitar strings, throwing away the sixth string, and then buying a banjo first string. This caused every string in the set to be much thinner. Ern thought there should be a rock & roll string set packaged with these lighter gauges. "Again, I called Tom Walker to explain my idea; and again, he reported back that Leo Fender wouldn't discuss it. Then I contacted the people at the Gibson guitar company and tried to talk them into making Rock & Roll strings, but they thought it was a lousy idea. OK; if you guys won't do it, then I really will! And that's how I came up with the first set of Slinky strings (Regular 10 - 46). At first they were only sold locally in ly in my retail shop."

"It occurred to me that a guitarist might want a set of strings in any combination of gauges of his choosing, so I called the string maker again and asked for more strings, but this time I ordered plain strings, all gauges 8 through 24, and all even-numbered wound strings 18 through 58. I built a storage rack out of plywood and pieces of electrical conduit. This fit conveniently next to the workbench behind the counter. When I was busy with customers I would invite a string buyer to use the workbench behind the counter and experiment on his own. Soon scores of guitar players were tinkering around with the Custom Gauge string rack. They loved it!"

The legendary Merle Travis and the Ventures were regular store customers. They took the strings along on their tours, and when asked what kind they used, they would reply, "Ernie Ball." Mail orders started coming in, first from out-of-town guitarists and later from other stores. "We weren't a string company yet." Ernie says, "We were just a little store that had some strings people wanted to buy."

The demand for EB's Slinky strings continued to grow and in 1967 he sold the retail store and moved the string business to Newport Beach. "I wanted to change my lifestyle and work shorter days, learn to surf, learn to fly a plane, and grow a beard." With his staff of only two employees, he found himself doing everything from laying out artwork to packaging string sets. His sons, Sterling, David, and Sherwood, helped out in the warehouse after school.

During high school Ern's third son, Sterling, got a job at a local music store, gaining valuable retail sales experience. After graduating high school he quit the music store and joined the Ernie Ball Company full time as a travelling road rep and phone salesman. He would ultimately become a key character in artist and dealer relations, and later in the design of the Music Man instrument line.

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

Lately I've been buying Ernie Ball strings by the different gauges in single packs. I have a whole box of strings in different gauges. The above article kind of makes me glad that I decided to do it this way. He sounds like quite a guy!

Erv

Jerry Clardy · From: El Paso, Texas, USA * R.I.P.

This is bad news. Ernie contributed a lot to the music community. I hope his family will carry on his legacy.

Ken Lang · From: Simi Valley, Ca

Boy do I remember the throw away bottom string and add a banjo string on top from the 60's. It was the only choice available for a lighter gauge set, and made players guitar heros for what you could do with them.

The only problem was the banjo strings had no ball on on the end, so many an hour was spent trying to add the ball and twisting the loop to fit the ball without breaking the loop.

These days you can buy string set so thin it's not possible to stay in tune. Just grabbing a chord throws every thing off.

Rick McDuffie · From: Benson, North Carolina, USA

Me too. I was introduced to Ernie Ball Super Slinkys and string bending by the same guy, the same day. Prior to that, I heard that some guys were using banjo strings, but I was never quite sure how it was done. Those string opened up a whole new world.

In high school I had a great orange Ernie Ball tank top with the EB Eagle on it. "Balls Are Best" it said.

E.B. made a great contribution.

Rick

[This message was edited by Rick McDuffie on 11 September 2004 at 09:58 AM.]

Jason Odd · From: Stawell, Victoria, Australia

<<<
At that time KTLA Channel 5 was producing a popular weekly show called Western Varieties. The bandleader heard Ernie play and hired him for the staff band and two solo spots
>>>>

It was Eddie Cletro's band, and the show was hosted by Doye O'Dell. While with Cletro, they also played as part of the Palomino house band staff.

Eric West · From: Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.

Janice..

You aren't pulling up anything on Eric West are you...

EJL

Tay Joslin · From: Clarksvillle, Tennessee USA

According to Mr. Jerry Brightman, Don Rich used to play with Ernie Ball 9s. Perhaps I should try that approach and see if I can find the same magic that Don Rich did on his Telecaster. I have always purchased D'Addario 11s, but I prefer Ernie Ball Bass Strings to other brands. Maybe it's time for a switch to Ernie Ball 9s for my Telecaster. I am very sorry to learn of Mr. Ernie's death. Hopefully, his product line will remain consistent.

Yours truly,
Tay Joslin
Newbern, Tennessee
U.S.A.

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