Video Gear Feature - Ernie Ball Music Man - Brian Ball
 

Ernie Ball's high standards and no-nonsense approach have attracted the world's greatest guitar players to his products. The list of musicians who have made music using Ernie Ball strings, accessories, or instruments includes: Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Keith Richards and Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones, Glen Frey, Joe Walsh and Don Felder of The Eagles, Jeff Beck, Albert Lee, Eric Clapton, Steve Morse, B.B. King, Steve Lukather, Carlos Santana, Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, along with members of U2, The Pretenders, AC / DC, and Fleetwood Mac.

The new generation of guitar heroes using Ernie Ball products ensures that the company will play a vital role in the world of music throughout the 90's and into the next century. These players include Metallica, Mike McReady and Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam, Slash of Guns and Roses, Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains, Kim Thayil and Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, as well as members of Live, Collective Soul, 311, Bush, Nine Inch Nails, No Doubt, Smashing Pumpkins, Matchbox 20, Sugar Ray, Reel Big Fish, Social Distortion, Pennywise, Lagwagon, and the Descendents.

Darrin: Brian, the Dargie Delight editions of some of the favorite Music Man models are now shipping out. Can you tell me a bit about how the Dargie editions came about, and what makes them so special?

Brian: The Dargie Delights materialized through my brother Scotty Ball's avatar on the Ernie Ball Forum. We had a color called Logan Green that was specially made only on two instruments (Jesse Bastos Johnny A's bass player has the other)
Internet demand for the color enabled Sterling Ball and Scotty Ball the ability to offer a small window for Forum Members to order any instrument in this color. The instrument comes with a limited edition silkscreen and custom Martini Olive Green
Inlays! I think 400 were sold in total in a week's time period.

Darrin: What are some of the new models we will see this year?

Brian: At the 2007 Winter NAMM show we unveiled a brand new line of instruments called The Ball Family Reserve. This line of instruments allows us to celebrate our heritage as a family business successfully manufacturing
guitars exclusively here in the United States. A really cool feature that we've unveiled is the Mahogany Tone Block that is centered directly below the sweet spot of the pickups. Tonally and Aesthetically, they are by far and away the best instruments we've ever made.

All BFR instruments come with beautiful 10 tops, Mahogany Tone Blocks, 4 Custom Colors, A Ball Family Reserve Inlay, and a custom made Ball Family Reserve instrument case.

Darrin: How does Music Man stay on top of it’s impeccable quality control? You never hear about instrument issues, or complaints.

Brian: Quality has remained our number one priority since we acquired Music Man in 1984. We don't want to just meet customer expectations, we want to exceed them.
We use a combination of hand building and machine building with all our instruments. I think the marriage of the two allows us to find exactly what we are
looking for in the highest quality craftsmanship. There are no seconds that leave the factory, when an instrument isn't perfect we cut it in half and start over.

Darrin: What are some of the comments that seem to be repeatedly made by the endorsers of EBMM products

Brian: I generally always hear about the consistency. Steve Lukather recently was in Europe playing in front of 20,000 people with Toto and had an unfortunate
shipping experience with his gear. He went into a store in Croatia that carries our guitars, picked one of the wall and ended up playing the guitar that night.
He knew that he could go into any store, pick up an instrument and the quality would be the same as his models.
A similar experience happened with John Petrucci at one of his clinics.

Darrin: Do you have a personal favorite instrument or EBMM product?

Brian: My personal favorites are the new Ball Family Reserve Instruments. The Luke in the Bahama Blue Burst, and the Petrucci model in the Walnut Burst are my favorites. (both models pictured at left)

Darrin: What makes EBMM unique from the other instrument companies out there?

Brian: We want to directly involve ourselves in the lives of musicians and provide the highest quality tools for musicians to grow as artists. A few good examples are our Battle of the Bands which provides unsigned bands the opportunity to play live on the Vans Warped Tour and Rockstar Taste of Chaos tours. We've built the largest live music promotion in the industry through giving back to the bloodline of our consumer base.

Another example is The Ernie Ball Forums. The CEO of the Company Sterling Ball actively communicates on the forum along with the Sales managers, R&D team, and more. We provide unrivaled customer attention and communication to all musicians....

Darrin: What is your favorite part about being a part of the EBMM company?

Brian: I have a great deal of pride for what my dad Sterling and my grandfather Ernie have built here at Ernie Ball Music Man. Each day I wake up excited to go to work and try to carry on the tradition the best way that I can. Some of my current responsibilities include Marketing, Artist Relations, Coordinating our Battle of the Bands, and some Product Development amongst Ernie Ball products.
(Shameless Plug - Check out the new Ernie Ball Wonder Wipes today)