Ernie Ball

[1] His paternal grandfather, Ernest Ball, wrote the standard "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling"[2] and his father was a car salesman who taught Hawaiian steel guitar on the side.

During the Korean War, he did a tour of duty in the United States Air Force Band, playing guitar and bass drum.

[2] After the military, he returned to Los Angeles and continued playing in barrooms and lounges, until landing a job on the 1950s "Western Varieties" program at KTLA television.

[5] The position soon gained him wider recognition in the Los Angeles music scene and led to studio work and teaching jobs.

[3] Ball, along with former Fender employee George Fullerton, was instrumental in the development of the first modern acoustic bass guitar, introduced under the Earthwood brand in 1972.

[4] In the early eighties, Ball bought the Music Man Company, further expanding into the production of guitars, basses, and amplifiers.