What a Difference a Forum Makes

San Luis Obispo (September 18, 2006) - In May of this year a member of the Ernie Ball/Music Man forum reported that his Sterling bass had been stolen by a friend and former band mate. This member told a sad tale of his bass being left at a band mates home for safe keeping, only never to be seen again. True to Ernie Ball style, our forum members rallied behind him, offering advice for the possible retrieval of the bass

All was thought to be lost, no one had heard or seen the bass anywhere. Then just over three months after the original post, a senior forum member reported that he might have the found the missing bass on Ebay. Dozens of forum members inspected the suspicious auction. They all came to the same conclusion, that is the stolen bass in question.

Now, this in itself is an amazing story about the Ernie Ball forum members looking out for their own. Only, now that the bass had been found, the rightful owner could not. The member who originally posted such a sad tale of betrayal and loss 3 months prior, could not be reached. Many forum members attempted to contact him through email, AIM, Myspace, and the telephone directory. To no avail, he had, as it seemed disappeared. They did not give up, they searched for people who might know him. They also made contacts to the seller of the stolen bass, a pawn shop, to make them aware of the situation.

After hours of research and long distance phone calls, the rightful owner of the bass had been located. He was amazed to learn of all the effort and care his fellow forum members had taken to help get his long missed bass returned. He struggled to retrieve his bass through the police, for the pawn shop would not return it. The police refused to seize the stolen item, and the true owner of the bass did not have the funds available to purchase his own instrument back from the pawn shop.

It seemed then that the bass is gone and this musician will never see it again. The Ernie Ball/ Music Man forum members just couldn't let that happen. They again rallied behind him, and contributed a total of $410.75, towards the purchase of his bass back. Almost the exact amount that the pawn shop was demanding.

Ernie Ball/ Music Man is more than just a company, we are a community. We are place where people from all over the world can meet and share their love of music and instruments. Our community has shown itself to treat each other like family and the statement made by CEO Sterling Ball "We watch out for our own" has proven itself to be true.

Ernie Ball was the first to offer rock strings with the creation of Slinkys, and further revolutionized the market by offering guitarists Custom-Gauge single strings. The Ernie Ball Company also produces Music Man guitars and basses, volume pedals, and other accessories. The company's strings and accessories are available in more than 6,000 music stores throughout the U.S. The company also exports to 82 countries. For more information, contact the Ernie Ball company at (800) 543-2255, or visit their website at www.ernieball.com.

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