NEWS
Manufacturers Step Up
to Help Nashville
By Rebecca Dirks
Nashville, TN – In the wake of the devastat-
ing Nashville floods, the music community
has rallied to help musicians affected by
the flood rebuild their rigs and their lives.
Among the companies reaching out in vari-
ous ways are Guitar Center, Visual Sound
pedals, Mercury Magnetics transformers,
and Gibson—whose Nashville factory also
suffered losses.
Guitar Center’s Operation High Ground
Guitar Center’s Operation High Ground ini-
tiative has been in action since shortly after
the floods began. The company sent special-
ists to Nashville where they assessed damage
at the hard-hit Soundcheck instrument stor-
age facility (see page 156 for our story) and
advised flood victims on repairing and replac-
ing their gear. In addition, they have set up
a hotline (877-687-5405) for flood victims to
get information and specialized support for
replacing their instruments. Guitar Center is
also taking donations and partnering with
MusiCares and two Nashville radio stations
to help provide financial support to local
Nashville musicians.
guitarcenter.com
Guitar Center Nashville Guitar Technician Ron Matthews works on a five-string Fender Jazz bass that was damaged at
Soundcheck Nashville during the flood of May 1, 2010.
CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, donated $250,000
to MusiCares specifically to help repair or
replace damaged instruments. Musicians
looking for support can apply through
musicares.com, musicrising.org and gibson-
foundation.org. The application process is
confidential, and applicants must be able to
demonstrate that they have a damaged or
destroyed instrument.
musicrising.org
Compressors, Fulltone Fulldrives, and Ibanez
Tube Screamers can be swapped for the
Comp66, Double Trouble Dual Overdrive, or
Route 808 Overdrive, respectively. Musicians
looking to swap pedals must relinquish their
damaged gear to qualify.
visualsound.net
Gibson Foundation
Gibson’s philanthropic division, the Gibson
Foundation, placed donation banks made of
guitar cases throughout the city in May and
June in a fund-raising effort. At press time,
the culmination of this effort was planned for
a June 18 “Night Out for Nashville” event
that would include music events throughout
the city to benefit the Gibson Foundation
Flood Relief Programs. Gibson’s Austin division also set up guitar banks throughout that
city in support of the programs.
Mercury Magnetics
In addition, the Gibson Foundation launched
a series of public service announcements fea-
turing Gibson and Epiphone artists including
Slash, Zakk Wylde, Peter Frampton, Sammy
Hagar, and more.
gibsonfoundation.org
Renowned amp transformer company
Mercury Magnetics is offering their support
for musicians whose amps have been damaged in the flood. The company has specifically designed a process to salvage and
restore flood-damaged transformers, and is
offering the service for free—amp owners
just pay shipping costs. Mercury Magnetics
advises owners to not attempt to power
up the amp before having the transformers
worked on because they will risk frying the
transformer. If the transformer is damaged
beyond repair, the company will offer a
replacement or upgrade at a discount. The
company is reporting a 90 percent success
rate in repairing damaged transformers.
mercurymagnetics.com
Martin Guitar Offers
Guitar Design Workshop
By Rebecca Dirks
Bethlehem, PA – Martin Guitar is hosting
a week-long guitar design workshop from
August 9–13 where participants will design
their own three-dimensional model guitar.
The workshop will be held at Northampton
Community College, and class instructors
are guitar maker Dale Unger and Martin’s
Director of Instrument Design Tim Teel.
All workshop participants will receive complimentary Backpacker guitars. In addition,
three prizes—a Martin 16 Series and two X
Series guitars—will be awarded to the top
three designs.
The cost, which includes instruction, lab time,
materials, continental breakfasts, lunches, and
an awards luncheon, is $1149. Enrollment is
limited to 15.
Music Rising
Music Rising, a campaign launched in 2005 to
aid musicians affected by hurricanes Katrina
and Rita, has partnered with MusiCares to
administer Music Rising Nashville Flood Relief
Efforts. The organization, co-founded by U2’s
the Edge, producer Bob Ezrin and Gibson
Visual Sound
Visual Sound pedals, based in Nashville
suburb Spring Hill, is offering to swap flood
damaged Visual Sound pedals for brand
new ones at no cost. In addition, the company says they will replace select damaged
pedals of other brands at no cost—Keeley
On-campus residence hall housing is available
at $35 per night/single occupancy and $28
per night/double occupancy.
martinguitar.com/news
northampton.edu
