Full Interview
Bob Benedetto is a guitar luthier’s luthier! Respected around the world, Bob has achieved what few have in guitar craftsmanship: a unique style and sound, creative and classic design, and tooling that is second to none. His knowledge of guitar building was evident in our interview with Bob along...
Jack Coffey is the founder of Coffey Music in Massachusetts. Coffey Music was a one-store operation that later grew to a chain of retail stores noted for their music lessons and attention to details. As a leader in the industry, Jack held many key positions within a number of organizations,...
Kline Locher was one of the good old veteran piano salesmen who travelled the great one-lane highways of America before the advent of the blessed two lane interstates. Kline worked for a number of piano companies during his long career and in all, covered most of the United States as his territory...
Robert Beals was just a young man when he first met Chick Evans. The two worked to perfect and promote Mr. Evan’s idea of a synthetic drumhead in the 1950s. Up until that time, drumheads were made from cow skin, which presented several problems. With the skin drumheads, any change in temperature...
Don Randall met Leo Fender before World War II when both men worked in radio repairs. After the war they decided to form a business together that would allow Leo to focus on developing a line of guitars. Don’s history of radio amplifiers and his business education made for a perfect match. The...
Robert Perine was raised in Los Angeles in a very artsy family. At the age of six, his father drew his portrait and asked young Bob to do the same. “It was like magic and from that time on I knew I wanted to be an artist.” After enlisting in the US Navy during World War II, Bob studied at the...
John Boylan is best known as a hit-making record producer working with Charlie Daniels, Linda Ronstadt, Boston and the Little River Band. In addition to his successful career, John has a passion for the history of electronic and recording equipment. He has studied the roots of recording gear and...
Dick Dale was the King of the Surf Guitar whose driving style redefined instrumental music in the early 1960s. His music conjures the mood of the era so successfully that many of his tunes such as Miserlou are often heard on movie soundtracks and television programs that help evoke that era. Dick...
Dr. Ruth Lion’s late husband, Alfred Lion, was the founder of Blue Note Records. Together they played a colossal role in the documentation of jazz throughout most of the 20th century. The long and impressive list of artists they recorded and promoted reads like a Who’s Who of Jazz including Monk...
George Fullerton befriended Leo Fender back in the days before Leo quit the radio repair business and started in the guitar making business. George worked for the Fender Guitar Company from the beginning and up to the day it was sold to CBS Musical Instruments. After the sale of the company, Leo...