Pioneers

Shawn@PRS

yogi
Joined
Aug 23, 1985
Messages
6,871
Location
Stevensville, MD
Society is built on successes. One person learns how to build a fire and another learns to cook. One person learns how to make bricks and another learns how to build a home. Today would have been Jimi Hendrix’s 76th birthday and I can’t help but think about his impact on guitar playing and music in general. Jimi not only built on the advances of others, he was a pioneer. Just like what Michael Jordan did for basketball and what Arnold Schwarzenegger did for body building, Hendrix didn’t just take things to another level, he kicked the freaking door in. I'd put Paul Smith in that category as well.

Who else was a pioneer in their field?
 
Bobby Orr in hockey. Completely changed how the defenseman position is viewed.

Carl Sagan in science. He may not have had the most groundbreaking ideas, in quantity or scientific impact, but he helped popularize (or repopularize) science in the 80s and make intelligence cool again. A voice that was sadly missing before Bill Nye and - probably more significantly Neil DeGrasse Tyson - picked up the mantle.
 
Leo Fender and Les Paul even though I prefer Paul Reed to both!:eek:

However, more impactful to the world stage would be A. Bell or we of course wouldn't have a phone. Of course we need light so T. Edison should probably count too.
 
Tom Anderson
It's no secret I seriously love Anderson guitars. I think his mark on the guitar industry is well documented.

Bill Collings
One of my biggest regrets is not visiting his shop and shaking his hand. I absolutely adore his guitars and the vibe I get from his videos. They both tell amazing stories. RIP Bill.

Bob Moog
Likely the most popular name in the synth world and for good reason. There's nothing more phat than a Moog. Nothing. The things I've heard Sergio say about Moog gear would make any one of you blush. I'm sworn to secrecy.

Don Buchla
Wikipedia says "...an American pioneer in the field of sound synthesizers..." , that's certainly one way to put it. A great deal of my synth modules are very openly inspired by Buchla designs.
 
One of my favorite NAMM moments was shaking Ted McCarty's hand and chatting with him a little at the PRS booth.
Most people were walking right by him. I didn't understand at the time really his impact, other than I knew he'd been head of Gibson and worked with Paul on the McCarty.
But such a nice man, I'm very pleased I took that opportunity.

I didn't do so with some other folks and regret it.
Paul still owes me a signed backplate from Indy Namm when he said come back later. (Teasin Paul, you were gracious and I wasn't going to bug you again when you were obviously busy).
Dealer got me one., poor guy was workin his tail off.
 
Karsten Solheim, founder of Ping golf equipment. The Anser putter - copied even to this day. Perimeter weighting in irons - almost all irons sold now have this to some extent. Custom building / fitting of clubs as standard - almost all mid to high-end manufactures now offer this. The old Ping Irons made while Karsten was alive such as the Eye 2 have a brutal functionalism about them that I love.

And Gary Adams (Taylor Made) for the idea of metal woods and Ely Callaway / Callaway Golf for developing the idea to what it is now with their oversized Big Bertha and Great Big Bertha models - Ping were still making wooden woods in to the mid 1990s.
 
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Tom Anderson
It's no secret I seriously love Anderson guitars. I think his mark on the guitar industry is well documented.

Bill Collings
One of my biggest regrets is not visiting his shop and shaking his hand. I absolutely adore his guitars and the vibe I get from his videos. They both tell amazing stories. RIP Bill.

Bob Moog
Likely the most popular name in the synth world and for good reason. There's nothing more phat than a Moog. Nothing. The things I've heard Sergio say about Moog gear would make any one of you blush. I'm sworn to secrecy.

Don Buchla
Wikipedia says "...an American pioneer in the field of sound synthesizers..." , that's certainly one way to put it. A great deal of my synth modules are very openly inspired by Buchla designs.

You forgot Alan R. Pearlman of Arp, equally important in the early development and manufacturing of synths.

Your post reminds me to add Harold Rhodes and Ernst Zacharias, the respective inventors of the Rhodes piano and Clavinet.
 
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