Chasing Tone: How Rob Turner and EMG Revolutionized the Guitar’s Sound

Musician Reilly (Steinberger: A Story of Creativity and Design) tells the story of Rob Turner, a serial innovator best known for refinements to the electric guitar pickup. This component converts string vibration into amplifiable electrified signals. Coming of age in Southern California in the late 1960s, Turner saw iconic acts, including the Doors, the Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Airplane, all of which provided ground-floor exposure to a musical and cultural revolution. Turner and his brother applied the family’s inventive penchant to changing the evolving musical landscape. Turner’s key breakthrough was developing a preamplifier built directly within the pickup, creating a new design with improved vibrancy and clarity. As he continued to explore and refine, he rubbed elbows with a host of rock stars who were eager to find new sounds. Keith Richards, Béla Fleck, Jim Root, James Hetfield, and many other famous musicians used Turner’s EMG pickups, often working closely with him to find their ideal tone. The book describes these encounters with engaging, fluid prose that brings readers deep inside the creative process and details an inspiring life of ingenuity.