Music Man is an American guitar, bass guitar and amplifier manufacturer. It is a division of the Ernie Ball corporation.
The MusicMan logo
Early Years
The Music Man story began in 1971 when Forrest White and Tom Walker talked with Leo Fender about starting a company they would call Tri-Sonic, Inc. White had started working with Leo in the very early days of Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company as the plant manager and stayed on after the company was sold to the CBS Corporation, but had grown unhappy with their management. Tom Walker worked as a sales rep at Fender. Because of a ten year non-compete clause in the 1965 contract that sold Fender to CBS, Leo Fender was a silent partner.
The name of this partnership was changed to Musitek, Inc. by 1973 and in January 1974 the final name, Music Man, appeared. In 1974 the company started producing its first product, an amplifer designed by Leo Fender and Tom Walker called the "Sixty Five". It was a hybrid of tube and solid state technology. The number of designs rapidly increased. Fifteen of the 28 pages from 1976 catalogue were dedicated to amplification. In 1975 Fender's legal restriction had expired and after a vote of the board he was named the president of Music Man.
This wasn't Fender's sole enterprise however. He also owned and ran a consulting firm called CLF Research(Clarence Leo Fender) in Fullerton, California. By 1976 it had built a manufacturing facility for musical instruments and was contracted to make Music Man products. In June of 1976 production started on guitars and in August basses followed. The 1976 catalogue shows the first offerings; A two pickup guitar called the "StingRay 1" and the StingRay Bass. Both instruments featured bolt on neck designs with headstocks bearing distinctive 4+2 and 3+1 tuner arrangements. The StingRay Bass featured a single large humbucking pickup (located somewhat toward but not adjacent to the bridge) with a two-band fixed-frequency EQ. A row of string mutes sat on the bridge. Basses were produced in fretted and fretless versions.
These instruments were designed by Leo Fender and Forrest White. Sterling Ball assisted in the design of the bass. Tom Walker played a large part in the design of the bass preamp. They were the first production guitar and basses to use active electronics which could boost frequencies, whereas traditional electronics could only reduce frequencies. The preamps were coated with epoxy to prevent reverse engineering. The StingRay Bass sold well. While highly innovative electronically the guitar was not blessed cosmetically and met with little success. In December 1978 a two pickup bass was introduced called the Sabre (discontinued in 1991). A redesigned guitar bearing the same name followed. Both sold poorly.
Low sales stressed the staff. The company's internal conflicts caused Leo Fender to form another partnership. In 1979 he started a company called G&L with George Fullerton, an associate with whom he first worked on the solid body electric guitar in 1948. George Fullerton states that this company started producing guitars at CLF in January of 1980. This date also marks the end of wholly CLF produced Music Man instruments and Fender's active involvement with the company. By all accounts it was an acrimonious affair. Sterling Ball, the current owner of Music Man, describes the circumstances on the Ernie Ball website forum:
"Leo was very disappointed that his stingray and sabre guitars didn't sell and that was the basis for G&L. G&L (GEORGE AND LEO) was started at CLF behind Music Man's back and [by] coincidence or other CLF made 2,500 Music man bass necks with straight truss rods. Tommy was forced to go to a young upstart Grover Jackson to make the basses. Grover was the one who introduced the trans finishes. I often asked Tommy why he didn't sue over the suspect necks and he replied "My dady[sic] didn't raise me like that".
Sterling Ball makes no mention of dates these incidents occurred but many place the date of the 'neck incident' in late 1982. So what happened during the two years between the G&L start up and the final CLF blow out? A contract was given to Grover Jackson to build bass bodies and assemble the instruments with CLF necks and the remaining CLF hardware. When CLF stopped making necks Jackson made those also. Oddly, it was Grover Jackson that would provide the headache that would torment Fender and Gibson in the coming years. His Jackson and Charvel line of guitars seemingly would pop into every guitarist hands in the 1980s.
Given this climate the StingRay guitar was quietly dropped from the line. The Sabre soldiered on until 1984 but its doubtful there were problems filling orders. A graphite necked StingRay Bass debuted in 1980. Fender had been opposed to the idea. The neck was made by Modulus. It was called the Cutlass and the two pickup variant, the Cutlass II. Neither it, nor the new translucent finishes, were able to turn the financial tide and by 1984 the company was near bankruptcy. Music Man was in good company as both Fender and Gibson reached the nadir of mismanagement. After looking at a few offers Music Man was sold to Ernie Ball on March 7, 1984. Music Man's remaining physical assets were sold on June 1, 1984. The production of amplifiers, which were manufactured at a separate factory, ceased.
Rebirth
Ernie Ball was not a novice guitar maker. He had started producing a modern acoustic bass guitar in 1972 under the name Earthwood but the venture collapsed by the mid 70s, some say due to poor marketing. It seems it was an idea twenty years before its time. Oddly enough, his partner in this was George Fullerton. The factory, which Ball still owned at the time of the Music Man purchase, was located in San Luis Obispo, California and that is where Music Man started producing basses in 1985. Some people mistakenly assume that the buyout of Music Man was like the CBS and Norlin buyouts of Fender and Gibson(and Moog Music) and that it was another in a line of big corporations ruining good guitar manufacturers, but nothing could be further from the truth. One important difference is that Ernie Ball was a musician and spent his life in the service of musicians. Another is that since Sterling Ball was a longterm employee of Music Man the buyout had more in common with the employee buyouts of Fender and Gibson in 1984 and 1986.
So what had Ernie Ball really bought? They were going to stop making amps, the guitar line was a mess, and he had the designs for two basses and the tradename 'Music Man'. It seemed unlikely that out of this Ernie and Sterling Ball would achieve one of the greatest turnarounds in the industry, but that's what happened. The Music Man name brought the reputation of bulletproof, functional design. Ernie Ball, by being the first manufacturer to provide light gauge strings and the first retailer nationally to sell only guitars, had set himself well apart and ahead of the music establishment. The common ground was fertile.
So, as the rest of the guitar industry moved into an age of nostalgia, Music Man continued in the only tradition it had, innovation. The plan of attack was simple, great products and player endorsments. By using player endorsed models Music Man racked up a string of successes including the Silhouette(1986), Steve Morse Signature(1987), StringRay 5(1987), Eddie Van Halen Signature(1990), Albert Lee Signature(1993), Steve Lukather Signature(1993) and the Sterling Bass(1993). While none of these could compete against Fender or Gibson on sales figures, Music Man outpaced the competition by making 'players' guitars with quick change pickup assemblies, teflon coated trussrods, low noise pickup designs, piezo bridge pickups, 5 and 6 bolt necks, sculpted neck joints, graphite acrylic resin coated body cavities and most importantly, consistently high quality fit and finish.
Recent Years
Previously, Music Man had ignored the option of offering low priced instruments. This gave other companies the opportunity to profit by producing low priced knock-offs. In response, Music Man licensed its designs to HHI/Davitt & Hanser, launching OLP (Officially Licensed Products) to give Music Man market coverage in this price point.
The 'SUB' line was launched to prove that a quality instrument without the bells and whistles could be made in the USA. The product was a success and helped Music Man when its main price point was in a slump. Sterling Ball has commented that, due to the quickly growing $1,000+ segment of the guitar industry, there have been fewer and fewer SUBs in production each year. This line is made at the same plant that makes the higher priced models.
Some could cynically suggest that these products are a symptom of a manufacturer entering old age and cashing in on its past glories but some suggest it could be that Sterling Ball saw a real need to provide these products due to his expriences with the 'Vans Warped Tour'. In 1996, Ernie Ball/Music Man began an annual 'Battle of the Bands' contest to spotlight unsigned talent. It gives away thousands of dollars in gear from many sponsors. The real prize however is a chance to play on the Ernie Ball/Music Man stage on the Warped Tour. Sterling Ball personally attended many of these events and it is not unrealistic to say that he may have realized that hoards of teenages are unable to cough up the money for his premium products and decided to give them an alternative. He realizes that if kids don't start playing guitar he isn't going to have anyone to sell to in a few years. The 'Battle of the Bands' contest is now the largest and longest running live-music promotion event in the industry.
In 2001, Sterling Ball decided to institute a living wage at the plant. The entry level wage would be $10.10 per hour. One third of the then current workforce of 226 people got for a raise. He cited the need to attract and retain quality employees, and the moral responsibility to provide his employees with a decent income. Fewer than twenty percent of the residents in San Luis Obispo county can afford to buy a house. He had this to say in a New Times interview concerning the decision, "It's contrary to a lot of traditional business theories, I know, but I did it because it's the right thing to do, fundamentally."
2003 saw the introduction of the radical Bongo Bass, the result of a partnership with a design firm better known for its work with BMW. While it's aesthetic appeal appalled some critics the bass has found many ardent supporters and is merely one more example of Music Man putting innovation before tradition.
Opinions
Some bassists consider pre-Ernie Ball basses to be superior, in part due to a string-through-body design that was later dropped. Sterling Ball has commented that he believes most players prefer post Ernie Ball/Music Man instruments.
StingRay aficionados sometimes react to criticism that StingRays have only one pickup by saying, "but it's in the right place!"
Artists who use Music Man Instruments
Famous users of MusicMan basses and guitars include:
- Cliff Williams (AC/DC)
- Steve Morse
- Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Robert Fripp, John Lennon, Yes)
- Rob Trujillo (Metallica, Infectious Grooves, Suicidal Tendencies, Ozzy Osbourne)
- Albert Lee
- Brian Gibson (Lightning Bolt, Wizardzz)
- Steve Lukather (Toto)
- Benji Madden (Good Charlotte)
- Jaret Reddick and Erik Chandler (Bowling for Soup)
- Dave Farrell (Linkin Park)
- Nikola Sarcevic (Millencolin)
- Patrick Haid (Ides of Space)
- John Deacon (Queen)
- Tim Commerford (Rage Against the Machine)
- Rick James
- Kim Deal, (Pixies, The Breeders)
- Josephine Wiggs (The Breeders)
- Simon Gallup (The Cure)
- Paul Denman (Sade)
- Bernard Georges (Throwing Muses, 50 Foot Wave)
- Murphy Karges (Sugar Ray)
- Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
- Chris Frangou (Global Frontier)
- Mark Hoppus (Blink-182)
- Louis Johnson (Brothers Johnson)
- Tom Hamilton (Aerosmith)
- Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen)
- Dave Larue (Steve Morse Band, The Dixie Dregs, Bruce Hornsby)
- John Petrucci (Dream Theater)
- Jack Williams (Cowpilot)
- Sam Hickey (Three Dirty Birds)
- John Moyer (Disturbed)
- Jake Psenicka (Clockwork Orange), (Treasury of Flower Fairies)
- Toshiya (Dir en grey)
- Johnny Christ (avenged sevenfold)
Famous users of MusicMan amplifiers include:
- Eric Clapton
- Johnny Winter
- Albert Lee
- Tom Verlaine.
- Robbie Robertson
Music Man Guitars
- StingRay I
- StingRay II
- Sabre
- Axis
- Axis Super Sport
- Luke
- John Petrucci
- Benji Madden
- Silhouette
- Silhouette Special
- Steve Morse
- Albert Lee
- SUB1
Music Man Basses
- StingRay
- Sabre
- Cutlass
- StingRay 5
- Sterling
- Bongo
- SUB
- SUB Sterling
External links
Originally published on Wikipedia
Linear Mode
