Ernie Ball
Ernie Ball (born Roland Sherwood Ball; August
30, 1930 September 9, 2004)[1] was an American
entrepreneur, musician, and innovator, widely acclaimed
as a revolutionary in the development of guitar-related
products. He began as a club and local television musician
and small business entrepreneur, building an international
business in guitars and accessories that would eventually
gross US$40 million a year.
1 Early years
Ball was born Roland Sherwood Ball in Santa Monica,
California, U.S., and grew up in a musical family, the son
of Frances (ne Shankland) and Roland Adelbert Ball.[1]
His paternal grandfather, Ernest Ball, wrote the standard,
"When Irish Eyes Are Smiling"[2] and his father was a car
salesman who taught Hawaiian steel guitar on the side.[3]
Although Ball initially picked up the steel at age nine to
please his father, he became bored and gave it up. In his
early teens he began to take a renewed interest in the in-
strument, practicing as many as three hours a day. Within
a year he was a member of the Musicians Union.[4]
2 Musician
While still in his early teens, Ball began playing profes-
sionally in South Central Los Angeles beer bars. By age
19 he joined the Tommy Duncan Band playing pedal steel
guitar. Duncan, the former lead singer with Bob Wills
and His Texas Playboys, took the band on tour through
the Southwestern United States. During the Korean War,
he did a tour of duty in the United States Air Force Band,
playing guitar and bass drum.[5] After the military he re-
turned to Los Angeles and continued playing in barrooms
and lounges, until landing a job on the 1950s Western
Varieties program at KTLA television.[6] The position
soon gained him wider recognition in the Los Angeles
music scene and led to studio work and teaching jobs.[7]
3 Entrepreneur
Sometime in 1957 or 1958, Ball opened what was ar-
guably the rst music store in the United States to sell
guitars exclusively, in Tarzana, California.[8] When mu-
sic sales representatives criticized him for refusing to sell
drumsticks and other musical equipment, Ball replied, I
1
just want to sell guitars. He was repeatedly told that a
guitar store would never be a success, but the words rang
hollow as people began to come from miles around to
visit the shop.[9] Eventually, the products spawned from
his company would sell in more than 5,500 stores and be
exported to more than 70 countries of the world.[10]
4 Slinkys
With the guitar-based rock revival of the 1960s, Ball no-
ticed that beginning students were having diculty play-
ing the bestselling Fender #100 medium gauge strings,
particularly in holding down or bending the sti 29-gauge
third (G) string. At the time, it was common for a set of
strings to have a wound third string. He approached the
Fender company with the problem, suggesting a lighter
gauge but was rebued. Ball convinced a string manu-
facturer to make him custom sets with a 24-gauge third
string which he sold in his store. It was the beginning of
the Ernie Ball brand. Located not far from Hollywood,
the store began to attract a large patronage of professional
musicians, including The Beach Boys, Merle Travis, and
The Ventures. Ball also began to notice the practice of
slack stringing among players who discarded the bot-
tom sixth string and added a banjo rst string on top. This
resulted in an overall lighter gauge set with a plain third
string. Again, he contacted Fender with a suggestion for
a lighter set and was turned down. He then approached
Gibson, who also turned him down. So, once again he
ordered from the manufacturer naming the product the
Ernie Ball Slinky.[11] Slinky strings traveled the coun-
try with the pro musicians who used them and before
long, Ball was receiving mail orders from individuals and
stores.[12] Still not a string company, he ordered separate
strings in various sizes and displayed them in a makeshift
case allowing musicians to experiment in creating their
own sets. It took o, and in 1967 he sold the store and
moved his string business to Newport Beach, California.
Today Ernie Ball Slinkys are used by many world fa-
mous guitar players. A very small sampling of these
guitarists includes: Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, Jimmy
Page, Angus Young, Dave Murray, Paul Gilbert, Slash,
Buckethead, Billie Joe Armstrong, Adam Levine, Juan
Alderete, DJ Ashba, Je Beck, The Edge, John Fogerty,
Synyster Gates, Janick Gers, Steve Vai, Tommy Kessler,
Kirk Hammett, James Heteld, Albert Lee, John Mayer,
Dave Navarro, Scott George Huckabay, Brad Paisley,
John Petrucci, Omar Rodrguez-Lpez, Mick Thom-
2 11 SEE ALSO

son, Chris Broderick, Daron Malakian, Curt Kirkwood, 7 Ernie Ball: The Pursuit of Tone
Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Tom DeLonge and Joe Bona-
massa.[13] In 2016, Ernie Ball launched Ernie Ball: The Pursuit of
The characteristic packaging of Balls guitar strings was Tone,[21] an AT&T Audience Network documentary se-
designed by Disney Imagineer, Rolly Crump.[14] ries that focuses on the sonic journeys of some of to-
days most interesting and compelling guitarists, includ-
ing Buddy Guy, Mike Ness (Social Distortion), Billy
Duy (The Cult), Tom Delonge (Blink-182, Box Car
Racer, Angels and Airwaves), James Valentine (Maroon
5) and Hunter Hayes. Created and produced by Ernie
5 Marketing innovation Ball, the documentary series proles the worlds great-
est guitar players and their lifelong search for their own
unique sound.
Ernie Ball did not create anything new he simply
saw a demand and improved upon existing products and
found ways to better fulll market demands. By the
early 1970s he took the company global by establish- 8 Ernie Ball: String Theory
ing distributors in Europe and Asia.[7] Jimi Hendrix,
Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, and other rock icons In 2016, Ernie Ball launched Ernie Ball: String The-
were stringing up Slinkys, a trend that continues into ory,[22] a web series that focuses on how todays top
the present, making Ernie Ball the second biggest string guitarists and bassists came to play the specic alloy(s)
manufacturer in the country. He was unorthodox in his and gauge(s) of guitar strings that help them achieve
management methods, disregarding market surveys, pre- their signature sounds. Artists have included Kirk Ham-
ferring instead to test products in the marketplace to mett (Metallica), Justin Chancellor (TOOL), Joe Bona-
see if they would succeed.[15] He regarded prot-and- massa, Courtney Barnett, Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big, Racer
loss as necessary evils and trusted his instincts. In the X), Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Mike Herrera (MxPx),
early eighties the company bought the Music Man Com- Steve Stevens (Billy Idol), Butch Walker, Bobb Bruno
pany,[12] expanding into the production of high quality (Best Coast), Dustin Kensrue (Thrice), Joe Don Rooney
guitars, basses, and ampliers with Leo Fender making (Rascal Flatts), Ilan Rubin (Nine Inch Nails, Angels and
the instruments and Tom Walker building amps.[16] Ball, Airwaves, The New Regime), The White Bualo, and
along with former Fender employee, George Fullerton, more.
was instrumental in the development of the rst mod-
ern acoustic bass guitar, introduced under the Earthwood
brand in 1972. Although unsuccessful, surviving models
are highly collectable.[17] 9 Personal life
In 1985, the company was moved to a new facility in San
Luis Obispo and remained there with all of it operations Ball had diverse interests including collecting cars, surng
until early 2003, when the company relocated its string and ying airplanes. He also authored a series of books
manufacturing to Southern Californias Riverside County. and manuals on guitar playing. He was married to Nova
Under his leadership it grossed more than $40 million per Gail (Conley), and had three sons, Sherwood, David, and
annum.[18] The company established an annual Battle of Sterling Ball, and a daughter, Nova.[23] His granddaughter
the Bands contest and participated in other trade events is actress Hannah Marks.[24]
nationwide.[19]

10 Death
Ball remained active in his company until his death 42
6 Battle of the Bands years after its founding. He died from an ongoing, undis-
closed illness on September 9, 2004, leaving the business
to his sons and other family members. He was buried
In 1997, the very rst Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands near his home at San Luis Cemetery in San Luis Obispo,
kicked o at the San Francisco date of the Warped Tour. California.[11]
The Battle of The Bands 1 had 18 stops in its rst year
and developed into a long-lasting relationship with Kevin
Lyman and the Warped Tour.[20] In 2016, the Ernie Ball
Battle of the Bands was rebranded to Ernie Ball: PLAY 11 See also
Warped. 2016 marked the 20th anniversary of the Ernie
Ball/Warped Tour Battle of the Bands relationship. Michael DeTemple
 3

12 References 13 External links

[1] Person Page 2667. The New England Ball Project.
1993-10-08. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
Ernie Ball/Music Man Company
[2] Music Trades, No. 9, Vol. 152; Pg. 177; ISSN 0027-
4488: Ernie Ball; Deaths; October 1, 2004 Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands

[3] Guitar Pioneer Ernie Ball Dies At 74; Knight Ridder Tri-
Guitar Player story Captured 7 April 2007
bune Business News, Pg. 1; September 10, 2004; Hu,
Ryan

[4] History. Ernie Ball. Retrieved 2014-03-24.

[5] Music Trades; October 1, 2004

[6] Ball: SLO Man Made Name In Guitar Strings: 'Ernie' Ball
Dies; The San Luis Obispo Tribune, A-SECTION; Pg.
A1; September 10, 2004

[7] Music Trades

[8] Archived February 6, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.

[9] Ball: Slo Man Made Name In Guitar Strings; 'Ernie' Ball
Dies; The San Luis Obispo Tribune, A-SECTION; Pg.
A1; September 10, 2004

[10] Guitar Pioneer; Knight Ridder September 10, 2004

[11] Music Trades, October 1, 2004

[12] Country Boy: A Biography of Albert Lee, S. 189 f.

Online

[13] http://www.ernieball.com/bonamassa/us

[14] Tim Forster, Carte Blanche, Record Collector, #440,

May 2015, p.136

[15] Pioneer

[16] History. Ernie Ball. Retrieved 2014-03-24.

[17] History. Ernie Ball. Retrieved 2014-03-24.

[18] SLO Man; Tribune, September 10, 2004

[19] Battle Of The Bands. Battle Of The Bands. Retrieved

2014-03-24.

[20] History. Ernie Ball. Archived from the original on

2007-02-06. Retrieved 2014-03-24.

[21] Inc., Ernie Ball,. Ernie Ball Presents The Pursuit of

Tone. www.ernieball.com. Retrieved 2016-08-15.

[22] Ernie Ball: String Theory. Ernie Ball. Retrieved 2016-

08-15.

[23] SLO Man, September 10, 2004

[24] http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2012/06/28/v-print/
2123127/hannah-marks-actress-spider-man.html.
Retrieved July 8, 2012. Missing or empty |title= (help)
4 14 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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