Ernie Ball Forum Members Privy to Open House Celebration

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA (September 7, 2005) ? Company President and ?Big Poppa? of the Ernie Ball Forum, Sterling Ball welcomes forum members, their families and friends to San Luis Obispo, California for an open house September 16-17. The two-day event celebrates the rising popularity of the Ernie Ball forum, featured on the Ernie Ball website, www.ernieball.com.

The Forum was started on June 10, 2002, and now boasts over 3500 members discussing everything from music to current events.

The open house will feature a tour of the Music Man factory, a roundtable discussion with Sterling Ball, the Music Man design staff, and an artist panel including Steve Lukather, Steve Morse, John Petrucci, Tony Levin, Vinnie Moore, Dave LaRue, John Ferraro, and many more.

Two live concerts will take place during the weekend?s festivities including a Friday night concert where forum members will jam cover tunes. On Saturday night the aforementioned artists will play some of their favorite tunes for those attending the open house weekend.

The event is open to forum members only, and signups have closed. To check out the Ernie Ball Forum and become a member go to www.ernieball.com/forum.

Ernie Ball is a leading innovator of guitar strings. The company was the first to offer rock strings with the introduction of Slinkys, and further revolutionized the market by offering guitarists Custom-Gauge® single strings. Ernie Ball also produces Music Man® guitars and basses, volume pedals and other accessories. Strings and accessories are available in more than 5,500 music stores throughout the U.S. and in 75 countries. For more information, contact the Ernie Ball Company at (805) 544-7726, or visit their website at .

These products are Ernie Ball trademarks registered in the USA and many foreign countries:

ERNIE BALL®     CUSTOM GAUGE®     SLINKY®     EARTHWOOD®
MUSICMAN®
STINGRAY®     SILHOUETTE®     AXIS®
STERLING®     4+2®     3+1®

Trademark ownership is indicated by the symbol ®, however, for the sake of brevity it is omitted during the story.

Contact:
Brian Ball
Ernie Ball, Inc.
(800) 543-2255

Media Contact:
Keith Negrin
MORSEKODE
(952) 853-9555