Rebirth
Ernie Ball had started producing a modern acoustic bass guitar in 1972 under the name Earthwood but, despite endorsement by players of the stature of John Entwistle, the bass was only moderately successful in terms of sales and production stopped around the mid-1970s. Ball's partner in this company was George Fullerton. The factory, which Ball still owned at the time of the Music Man purchase, was located in San Luis Obispo, California and that is where Music Man started producing basses in 1985.
Ernie Ball Music Man improved their visibility in the guitar market with a succession of new guitar models, largely player-endorsed, including the Silhouette (1986), Steve Morse Signature (1987), Eddie Van Halen Signature/Axis model (1990), Albert Lee Signature (1993), Steve Lukather Signature (1993), the John Petrucci 6 & 7-string guitars (1999). They also introduced a series of new electric bass models, including the StingRay 5 (1987), the Sterling Bass (1993) and the Bongo Bass (2003) (the futuristic look of which was designed in conjunction with the BMW DesignworksUSA team). While none of these could compete against Fender or Gibson on sales figures, Music Man outpaced the competition by making 'players' guitars with quick change pickup assemblies, Teflon coated truss-rods, low noise pickup designs, piezo bridge pickups, 5 and 6 bolt necks, sculpted neck joints, graphite acrylic resin coated body cavities and most importantly, consistently high quality fit and finish.
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