Music Man

This is a edited message that I responded to on our forum about the old 5150 guitar strings.

It is an example of you never know when you take a little creative initiative where it can take you.

5150 strings are what put EVH and I together….

I was twenty two……but I want to be 17 again. It’s a blog….I get to. I want to talk about Albert Lee.

The Ball Family was always surrounded by music;. Family get togethers were everyone playing or singing something. If we weren’t doing that we were listening. Everything from Western Swing to Summer of Love Rock and all in between From Bob Wills through Lenny Breau all the way to Cream and beyond. We were always the ones that baffled record store clerks…..(That is like talking about the ice delivery man) with the varied stack.

The great thing about those times is that the lines were blurred. I was helping Leo, beta-testing amps for Tommy, getting them artists. I remember Tommy askng my Dad if he could hire me. My Dad said it was my choice. Talk about conflicted. I could be on the ground floor with my godfather and Leo Fender or I could stay in the family business. I chose Ernie Ball. I really didn’t have a choice as I have mentioned it is what I felt preordained to do.

We are settling in and things are going well. My Dad is Salesman/Graphic Artist/Product Designer/Back up shipper /and chief bottle washer. The kids are still showing up after work to stuff labels into strings and I got the pleasure of filing invoices. Back then there were just two other employees, Marie Farley the pick printing lady and a guy who I wont mention his name as he started as a 12 year old student and worked for my dad and handled all the shipping into his adulthood.