Guitars
Orval Engling has become an expert on the Ibanez guitar brand, so much so that he helped write a book on the company’s history. Orval began collecting Ibanez guitars in the 1990s and has come to discover the many innovations the company created over the years. He has enjoyed learning stories from...
David Kalt remembers, with a smile, the Fender Stratocaster he dreamed of as a kid. He also recalls that great day in 1985 when he finally got a 1970s Strat! The instrument has a special place in his own passion for music, an idea and feeling he never forgot. In fact, it was that passion for...
Nick Bowcott is a founding member of the British heavy metal band, Grim Reaper. Nick put the band together in 1979 and by 1985 had gained commercial success namely due to Nick’s guitar skills and the band’s lead vocals by Steve Grimmett. While still with the band, Nick began writing about the gear...
Dan Crary first played an acoustic music festival in the 1960’s when the steel-string guitar was often in the background. However, Dan’s lead guitar playing caught the attention of a generation of fans and musicians and influenced their acceptance of the guitar as a lead instrument in folk and...
Don Morris is the founder and product engineer behind Electroplex Amplifiers, which includes their famous Rocket series. In 1993, Don sat down with Trev Wilkinson to design a new amplifier and the result was the Rocket 90! Don’s long and very interesting history in the music industry goes back to...
Jack Casady played electric bass for the Jefferson Airplane before forming the band Hot Tuna with his lifelong friend, Jorma Kaukonen. Jack and Jorma played together in Jefferson Airplane at the beginning of that band in 1965 and while the band continued to record, they formed Hot Tuna in 1969....
Curtis White was 11 years old when his father, Forrest White, resigned from Fender Guitar Company. Curtis remembers being devastated and wondering what the family would do since Fender was such a big part of his life. Forrest was one of the early employees of the guitar maker, located in Fullerton...
Frank Schlegel was born in 1967 to a family of musical instrument makers in Markneukirchen. Like so many families in this region, he and his father, Klaus Schlegel, carry on the tradition of crafting violins. His grandfather made mandolins and on his mother’s side, the Stöhr family, were bow makers...
Herbert Riedl was born into a family of violin makers and grew up on the street where Höfner produced guitars including the world-famous Beatles bass. With his friends he earned money stacking wood behind the factory and later became a journeyman at Höfner. He stayed with the company, building...
Dieter Fischer comes from a family of luthiers and started working for Höfner in Bubenreuth when he was 14 years old. He continued working for the next 56 years for Höfner, of which 30 years were as a plant manager. Dieter learned his craft from several luthiers in the company and from his dad,...