If you grew up in the ’70s and ’80s, you likely recognize the Aria brand. The company was founded by Shiro Arai in Japan, and while his main business was importing/exporting all sorts of goods, his side passion was playing guitar. Eventually, the two components of his life merged in the ’60s, and we still see Aria-branded guitars today.
There’s a somewhat similar story involving the Sackheim family in the U.S., but minus the guitar playing part. Norman Sackheim and his son, Ron, were in the nuts-and-bolts business, and they imported hardware from Japan through their connections there. The Sackheims were based in Chicago, Illinois, which was a primary hub city for importing instruments in the early ’60s. After having a conversation with Ed Targ of the large musical instrument dealer Targ & Dinner, Norman saw an opportunity. Soon, his Strum & Drum company was born, and the company’s Norma-branded guitars started to appear all over the United States.
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In the mid 1960s, the nuts-and-bolts importers ran a rather impressive showroom with a complete line of instruments, including drums, guitars, and basses. And their wares often featured some dramatic design flair, with plenty of personality. Strum & Drum initially used a Japanese harmonica factory called Tombo—which still exists today—to build all their sparkle-covered guitars that were adorned with plenty of switches and knobs. Eventually, however, Strum & Drum began buying guitars from many different factories, using the same hardware buyer in Japan named Eddie Wakayama. See? Nuts and bolts to guitars: easy peasy! (Eddie Wakayama eventually ended up playing a major role in guitar production in Japan, but that’s a story for another time.)
Strum & Drum had a pretty good run that coincided with the rise and fall of the first electric-guitar boom. The company existed from 1963 until the mid ’70s, shortly after Norman passed away. I got to know his son, Ron, pretty well, and talking with him was like perusing an old history book with plenty of jokes and one-liners scribbled in the margins. He was always a bit surprised that anyone had any interest in the business, but when you think about it, people like the Sackheims helped get instruments into the hands of kids all across America.
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For this piece, I wanted to highlight one of Strum & Drum’s most collectible and gonzo electric guitars: the Norma EG 421-4 (Photo 1). The guitar featured all the extreme design elements of the time—which were made even more extreme by Strum & Drum—including four pickups (Photo 2), a boatload of knobs and switches, and an aggressive look that resembles a prehistoric raptor. Check out the “N” inlays, the oversized headstock (Photo 3), and the saber-toothed pickguard!
This EG 421-4 model was sold alongside a two-pickup version called the EG 450-2, the 12-string EG 412-2T (with a tremolo), and a bass called the EG 467-2B. The split-coil pickups on the EG 421-4 are pretty weak and thin-sounding, and definitely benefit from a boost pedal to get some good grind going. Regardless, if you actually make it onstage with a Norma EG 421-4, you’re probably going to garner some attention. And speaking of attention, let’s give a little to the hardware guys who dove right into the music biz to produce some pretty cool guitars. Cheers!
See and hear this 4-pickup, control-packed Norma EG 421-4 demoed by Mike Dugan.
Designed and crafted by SeymourDuncan’s VP of Engineering Kevin Beller, these Jazzmaster pickups employ a patent-pending triple-coil system. With two outer coils canceling hum while an inner coil captures the unmistakable Jazzmaster sound, they offer pure, authentic vintage tone with plenty of punch and warmth, but with absolutely no hum.
Plus, the visible Alnico 5 pole pieces maintain the classic Jazzmaster look, so you get hum-free sound with an unaltered, vintage feel.
Enjoy the classic offset sound with a warm, punchy Jazzmaster neck tone and a bright and tight Jazzmaster® bridge sound with plenty of snap. Our Vintage Jazzmaster Silencer pickups are a drop-in replacement for any Jazzmaster®-sized pickups. Perfect for surf-inspired riffs, shimmering indie textures, modern pedal-driven explorations, and more, the Seymour Duncan Vintage Jazzmaster® Silencer pickups maintain bold presence without interference—just pure sonic clarity.
The Vintage Jazzmaster Silencer is a noiseless pickup that retains the bright, punchy neck tone and tight, snappy bridge sound that defines the Jazzmaster. Clean or overdriven, the Vintage Jazzmaster Silencer's vintage-voiced tone is perfect for shimmering indie textures, surf-inspired riffs, and modern pedal-driven explorations. No more hum holding you back—just the pure, classic Jazzmaster® tone you love.
The Hot Jazzmaster Silencer neck pickup has a crisp, full-bodied tone, adding extra warmth in the low end, while the bridge pickup brings sharp definition and sustain for solos that cut through any mix. Designed as a drop-in replacement for any Jazzmaster-sized pickups, this noiseless set lets you dive into gritty surf riffs, glimmering melodies, grungy fuzzed-out rock, reverb-drenched shoegaze, and beyond. With boosted output and zero hum, it’s everything you love about the Jazzmaster, amped up.
The Hot Jazzmaster Silencer pickups offer iconic Jazzmaster tone with powerful output and zero hum. Their patent-pending triple-coil design cuts unwanted noise while enhancing the rich, gritty Jazzmaster sound. Enjoy clear, punchy highs and warm, solid lows, perfect for distortion or clean tones. Get the classic Jazzmaster sound with boosted output—without the hum.
Kirk Hammett’s Top Three Guitars (Yes, Greeny Is One of Them)
Photo courtesy of The Collection: Kirk Hammett, Gibson Publishing
In a lavish new coffee table book from Gibson, The Collection: Kirk Hammett, Metallica’s lead guitarist shares some of his most spectacular vintage instruments and the stories that go with them, as well as his love of Hawaii.
There’s a good chance that if you’re a guitar fan, you’ve seen Nathaniel Murphy’s gear demos—either on his Instagram account, where he goes by @zeppelinbarnatra, or on the Chicago Music Exchange page. His solo arrangements of classic tunes display his next-level technique and knack for clever arranging, and he makes our jaws drop every time he posts. When we learned that the Irish guitarist is a huge fan of U2’s The Edge, we knew he had to be our expert for this episode.
Together with Nathaniel, we’re decoding our favorite eras of the Edge’s tones—from his early Memory Man days through his expanding delay rack rig, into his 1990s Achtung Baby sounds, and all the way through to his Sphere rig. How does he get those amazing delay tones? And what are those cool picks he uses?
