Factory

A factory (previously manufactory) or manufacturing plant is an industrial site, usually consisting of buildings and machinery, or more commonly a complex having several buildings, where workers manufacture goods or operate machines processing one product into another.

Factories arose with the introduction of machinery during the Industrial Revolution when the capital and space requirements became too great for cottage industry or workshops. Early factories that contained small amounts of machinery, such as one or two spinning mules, and fewer than a dozen workers have been called "glorified workshops".

Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production. Large factories tend to be located with access to multiple modes of transportation, with some having rail, highway and water loading and unloading facilities.

Factories may either make discrete products or some type of material continuously produced such as chemicals, pulp and paper, or refined oil products. Factories manufacturing chemicals are often called plants and may have most of their equipment – tanks, pressure vessels, chemical reactors, pumps and piping – outdoors and operated from control rooms. Oil refineries have most of their equipment outdoors.

Guitar

The guitar is a popular musical instrument classified as a string instrument with anywhere from 4 to 18 strings, usually having 6. The sound is projected either acoustically or through electrical amplification (for an acoustic guitar or an electric guitar, respectively). It is typically played by strumming or plucking the strings with the right hand while fretting (or pressing against the frets) the strings with the fingers of the left hand. The guitar is a type of chordophone, traditionally constructed from wood and strung with either gut, nylon or steel strings and distinguished from other chordophones by its construction and tuning. The modern guitar was preceded by the gittern, the vihuela, the four-course Renaissance guitar, and the five-course baroque guitar, all of which contributed to the development of the modern six-string instrument.

There are three main types of modern acoustic guitar: the classical guitar (nylon-string guitar), the steel-string acoustic guitar, and the archtop guitar. The tone of an acoustic guitar is produced by the strings's vibration, amplified by the body of the guitar, which acts as a resonating chamber. The classical guitar is often played as a solo instrument using a comprehensive finger-picking technique. The term "finger-picking" can also refer to a specific tradition of folk, blues, bluegrass, and country guitar playing in the United States.

ESP Guitars

ESP Company, Limited (株式会社イーエスピー, Kabushiki Gaisha Ī Esu Pī) is a Japanese guitar manufacturer, primarily focused on the production of electric guitars and basses. They are based in both Japan and Los Angeles, California, USA, with two distinct product lines for each respective market. ESP Company manufactures instruments under several names, including "ESP Standard", "ESP Custom Shop", "LTD Guitars and Basses", "Navigator", "Edwards Guitar and Basses", and "Grassroots". Their products range from Japanese-built custom shop instruments to lower end mass-production Korean, Indonesian and Chinese made instruments.

History

In 1975, Hisatake Shibuya opened a shop called Electric Sound Products (ESP) in Tokyo, which provided custom replacement parts for guitars and quickly gained a reputation for the high-quality of these replacement parts. At this time, ESP also began crafting guitars under the ESP and Navigator brand in the Japanese market. Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones and Akira Takasaki were users of these guitars.

Music Man

Music Man can refer to:

Premier Guitar

Premier Guitar is an American multimedia guitar company devoted to guitarists. Founded in 2007, it is based in Marion, Iowa, and has an editorial staff composed of experienced musicians. Content includes instructional material, guitar gear reviews, and guitar news. Interviews have included guitarists such as Pete Townshend of The Who, Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Guthrie Govan, Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher of Mastodon, and Dave Mustaine and Chris Broderick of Megadeth. The magazine is published online for free, and includes multimedia such as instructional videos and podcasts. The magazine also has a free weekly newsletter and an online "Gear Search" service, where guitarists can search for, buy, and sell guitar equipment. As of March 2012, the magazine's print and multimedia platforms combined served 1.5 million unique readers per month, making it the most read magazine on this topic worldwide.

History

Premier Guitar was founded by Peter Sprague and partners in February 2007.Premier Guitar is published by Gearhead Communications, LLC, a privately owned company that is headquartered in Marion, Iowa. Premier Guitar also has offices in Nashville, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fort Dodge, Iowa, and Peterborough, New Hampshire. Revenue growth for the company was 38% in 2009, and approximately 41% in 2010. The company's consistent growth has led to Peter Sprague being included in 2009's Folio Forty.