Guitars
Darren Webb has played a key role at Santa Cruz Guitar Company since joining the team in the 1990s. With a focus on the service and repair of older Santa Cruz instruments, most importantly their lifetime warranty, he ensures quality and consistency in each instrument that is sent back to the shop...
Will Glover was among the first wave of surf rock guitarists when he formed a band with several friends from high school in 1961. The Pyramids, the Long Beach, California based rock group had a big instrumental hit with “Penetration” in 1963. The songs success led to several important...
Mike Vernon formed an instrumental rock band inspired by George Tomsco called The 3 Balls of Fire (the name taken from the first song they learned to play "Great Balls of Fire"). During his career, Mike played with several legendary instrumentalists such as Tomsco and Link Wray, as well as Davie...
Bob Spikard formed an instrumental rock band with his high school buddies and they called themselves the Chantay’s. The band’s greatest hit, co-written by Bob, was entitled “Pipeline”! The song redefined the instrumental hit recordings of the era and helped put Surf Guitar on the map. Although...
Randy Holden was a teenager when he formed a rock and blues band in Pennsylvania called The Iridescents. The core of that band moved to California to follow the wave of emerging Surf instrumental bands and formed The Fender IV. The band recorded several songs that have since played an important...
George Tomsco formed the influential rock band The Fireballs with several of his high school friends. The band became known for its instrumental recordings, which were very popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Many of the band’s best known songs were written by George, including “Torquay”...
John R. Smith and his wife, Valerie Day, formed the 1980s pop band Nu Shooz, which charted several hits and helped established the synth sound of that decade. As a kid, John played guitar and dreamed of being a rock star. He soon discovered that he had a talent as an arranger and songwriter,...
Roger Giffin is a master guitar luthier whose guitars have been played by musicians around the world. He began building guitars as a teenager in London and went on to work for Gibson in the Custom Shop in Los Angeles. In addition, he has created his own line of instruments under the Giffin name...
Brian Setzer nearly single handedly brought back the popularity of the rockabilly electric guitar sound that was first established by Scotty Moore, Elvis Presley's first guitarist. Brian was interviewed for the NAMM Oral History program within a month of Scotty Moore's passing in the summer of...
Knud Damgaard loves guitars. Not surprisingly being regional sales manager for Fender in Scandinavia since 2000 is a dream come true for him. A long career starting as guitarist, owning a guitar shop and sales rep for another guitar manufacturer made him a prime choice for the job. Knud’s ardor for...