PIERRE BENSUSAN
Return of the
DADGAD Guru
SOCIAL DISTORTION
Punk Veterans, P- 90 Junkies
11
Guitar &
Bass Gear
Reviews
LINE 6, GUILD,
EASTWOOD,
NOLATONE,
STADLER, TEYE,
DLS EFFECTS,
MANSON, DDYNA
WAY HUGE, AND
BOOMERANG
THE PINKBURST
PROJECT
PHILANTHROPIC AXES AND AMPS
WITH HEART, SOUL, & TONS O’ TONE
$5.95 U.S.
THE GODS OF
FUNK GUITAR
& How They
Grooved the Globe
TWISTED HERO
Talented musician, devoted father, wonderful human being—Jay Jay French
[“The Pinkburst Project,” February
2011] gives true meaning to the term
“guitar hero.”
—Alison Richter
via Facebook
Heartbreaking and inspiring!
—Robert DiMaio
via Facebook
Thanks for the support of the magazine. The article looks great and really
addresses the disease in more depth than
I expected—and that is the most important thing to me. Uveitis is the leading
cause of blindness among American
girls, third outside the US. Thank you,
Elianne [Halbersberg, “The Pinkburst
Project” author] and the whole staff.
—Jay Jay French
via email
Thanks, Jay Jay. We were honored to be able to
help share a touching, important story andstoked
to be able to show PG readers/viewers such an
amazing collection of gear. We send our sincerest
condolences and wishes for a bright, healthy future
to you, your family, and all other uveitis sufferers.
Ned Steinberger on Rick Turner
When I first met Rick Turner [“The Father
of Boutique Guitars,” January 2011], near
the beginning of my career, we were on
opposite sides of a dispute about the use
of molded graphite in guitar necks. His
business partner at the time was ready to
hang me from the rafters when Rick wisely
stepped in to defuse the situation, saving us all from a costly and disheartening
conflict. Later, I had a chance to work with
Rick when he took a job as a consultant for
Gibson, where I learned that his knowledge
of guitars and the physics behind them is
nearly boundless. From acoustics to wood
and composites to pickups and electronics to strings and setup, Rick has studied
and absorbed the art and science behind it
all at the very highest level. Beyond that,
his generosity in sharing his knowledge
with me and many others should serve as a
model for all of us who care about making
the best possible tools for musicians. In the
instrument-making world, overrun as it is
with worn-out myths and misinformation,
Rick is a beacon of reason and originality.
Rick is also a very talented writer. If there
is any way that Premier Guitar could persuade Rick to share his technical and artistic
insight in a monthly column, your readers,
myself included, would be the richer for it.
—Ned Steinberger
via email
All I Got Was This Lousy Tour
You didn’t mention how darned nice everyone is at Ernie Ball [builder profile, January
2011]. I’m the very happy owner of a
Music Man Axis Super Sport, and about 10
years ago my wife and I were driving down
the Pacific coast on vacation. The road signs
said “San Luis Obispo,” so I said, “That’s
where they made my guitar. Let’s see if the
factory will sell me a T-shirt or something.”
We found the EB factory and the very nice
woman at the reception desk told me they
didn’t have any T-shirts, but asked if I could
wait for a couple of minutes.
A few minutes later, someone—it could
have been the factory manager—came out
and apologized for the lack of T-shirts and
asked if I would like a quick tour of the fac-
tory while I was there. We got a 30-minute
tour of everything, with explanations and
introductions to the people working there.
It was wonderful. For someone at a compa-
ny, any company, to take time out of what
I’m sure was a busy workday just to talk to
a customer and show him around the place
was, to me, amazing.
While we don’t encourage fans of gear brands
to bust into factories and workshops unannounced when standard tours aren’t already
offered, we have to say that your experience is
encouraging, And, in EBMM’s case, it’s not
surprising. Unit sales aside, most manufacturers dream of having customers loyal to the
point of wanting to take a factory look-see
while soaking up some brand mojo. Thanks
again to EBMM—and to all manufacturers
who open their doors to factory tours for PG
employees and readers.
Corrections
In “The Pinkburst Project” [February 2011],
we mistakenly referred to Jay Jay French as
Twisted Sister’s rhythm guitarist when, in fact,
he and Eddie Ojeda split guitar chores equally.
We apologize for the error. In addition, after
the issue went to press, the Pinkburst Project
auction date was changed to May 1 to avoid
conflict with Easter Sunday celebrations.
In our January 2011 profile of luthier
Tom Ribbecke, we neglected to list CFO
Len Wood as a key part of the partnership
that formed Ribbecke Guitar Corporation.
Sorry Len, Tom, and everyone else at RGC!
In the December 2010 Ask Amp Man
column [“Souping up a Bassman 10”], we
mistakenly omitted a phrase in the last half
of the second paragraph under the heading
“Getting Down and Dirty.” It should have
read: “Another change you can make is to
locate the .0047 capacitor that connects
the Treble pot wiper to the CW leg of the
Volume pot. This cap is limiting some of the
Studio channel’s frequency range. Removing
it and replacing it with a short wire will give
the channel additional punch.”
