Peter Bartkus grew up in Rockford, Illinois and was proud to establish a music shop there in the early 1950s. Tru Tone Music became a hub for musicians and was known throughout the area f...
Patricia Bartolini and her husband William formed the Bartolini Pickup and Electronics Company in 1973 largely based on the acoustic research both had conducted over a range of several ye...
William Bartolini and his wife, Patricia, are among the world’s foremost experts on the science of acoustics. Their early publications on the subject in the 1960s and 1970s have since bec...
Jennifer Batten is often found at a NAMM booth checking out the gear or providing her feedback on products she has played over the years. Washburn Guitars released a signature model that...
Mike Battle invented the Echoplex, the pioneering electric effects device, which played a vital role in the early development of the rock and roll sound. The Echoplex was famously used by...
Scott Baxendale is a noted guitar luthier who has crafted a unique career based on his own style of guitar building that echoes several of his favorite luthiers. While working for Mossman...
Jeff “Skunk” Baxter gained enormous international fame as a founding member of Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers. Skunk’s solo licks are among the most noted and influential in rock and ...
Joe Beard doesn't remember a time when he didn't have a guitar. He grew up near Ashland, Mississippi becoming friends with locals Syl and Jimmy Johnson and Floyd and Matt Murphy. In Memp...
Kevin Becka started playing guitar at 11 years old and aspired to become a famous guitar player. Eventually realized he had a passion for engineering while working on construction crews b...
Tom Bedell began giving guitar lessons in his home town of Spirit Lake, Iowa. Just a few months later, when Tom was 14 years old, he imported guitars with his name on the headstock from ...
John Beeson is the visionary founder and dedicated owner of The Music Shoppe in Terre Haute, Indiana. His lifelong love affair with the guitar began when he received one as a Christmas gi...
Adrian Belew had the NAMM attendees on their feet when he joined the All Star Guitar Night in Nashville 2003. Perhaps the feelings were more than just an appreciation for his music as man...
Vinnie Bell was a studio musician in New York who often was asked to create new and unique sounds. As a luthier, Vinnie built several innovative guitars including one tuned like a sitar. ...
Bob Benedetto is a guitar luthier’s luthier! Respected around the world, Bob has achieved what few have in guitar craftsmanship: a unique style and sound, creative and classic design, and...
Bobby Guitar Bennett was among the pioneering musicians who proved that Fender Stratocaster was the perfect instrument for the blues. Mr. Fender designed his electric guitar for country ...
Stephen Bennett provided music lessons in two music stores in the late 1970s while gigging at night. It was the first time he quit his day job, at a department store, to focus on music fu...
George Benson recalls befriending Bob Cavanagh at the EU Wurlitzer Music store in Boston long before his noted career as an entertainer took off. George often visited the store and spent ...
Jason Berg is a guitar tech at Union Grove Music in Santa Cruz, where he was interviewed for the NAMM Oral History program to discuss his involvement with the Supro Guitar line as well as...
Joe Berger knows sound! Joe has been mixing sound for over 30 years and he stopped counting at 35,000 bands! Also a virtuoso guitar player with his own definitive, unique playing style an...
Chuck Berghofer is the answer to such trivia questions as Who played bass on Nancy Sinatra's big hit "These Boots Where Made For Walking" and Who is playing the bass lick for the TV theme...
Fred Bernardo was repairing and teaching guitar in his local music store when the idea came to him to open his own shop. In 1972, with one guitar and a set of strings he was given as a pr...
Ted Berquist had a touch with fame in the 1960s with the group, the Novas. Their song, “The Crusher” was picked up by the national billboard charts and shot the group to stardom. After th...
Trent Berry and his twin brother have always been musical. They formed bands together starting in junior high school. While in college at Kent State University, Trent played guitar for pu...
Cindy Lee Berryhill is the creative singer/songwriter whose twist on Folk Music (with a bit of a Punk Rock edge) has led to several albums and performances around the world. In 1987 Rhino...
Ron Bienstock was playing gigs by night and the editor for the International Musicians & Recording World when he was hired by Hoshino to serve as their General Counsel. It was at th...
Beeb Birtles developed a passion for music at a young age when his parents bought him a piano-accordion while growing up in Amsterdam. After emigrating to Australia with his family, Beeb ...
Elvin Bishop was inspired to play the guitar because as an early teen he noticed that the girls at the dance seemed to always hang out with the guitarist! When he discovered the blues, h...
John Blair grew up during the first wave of the Surf Music craze in America during the late 1950s and early 1960s. John later formed his own surf band and again, years later, in the 1970s...
Tony Blair is the proud president of the Kay Musical Instrument Company, which has a long and important history in the music products industry. As Tony points out, many noted musicians to...
Herschel Blankenship’s love for music all began when he saw Buddy Holly on the Ed Sullivan show as a kid. It sparked his interest and led him down a path filled with performing and tourin...
Thomas Blug was just 17 years old when he began working as a studio musician in his native Germany. He developed his own unique tone, which was based on modifications of his amplifier and...
Joseph Blumenthal had his sights on being a schoolteacher during his college days when he began to focus on working in retail. He worked at Sears and later at the Good Will Store in New E...
