Daisy Rock Guitars is a guitar manufacturer established in 2000 by Tish Ciravolo. The company markets guitars and bass guitars designed and marketed specifically for girls and women. Daisy Rock is currently co-owned and distributed by Alfred Publishing.
Daisy Rock guitars are designed with light-weight bodies and narrower necks. Some models also incorporate a shorter scale length, which reduces the spacing between frets. These design features are meant to make the guitars easier to play for girls and women with small bodies and hands. The colors, finishes and body shapes are also designed to appeal to girls and women. Most manufacture is done outside the United States (the location of manufacture was not readily indicated in Daisy Rock's marketing materials), with the exception of instruments in the "Rock Candy Pink Label" series, which are made in the United States.
Daisy Rock also markets hard cases and soft gig bags, guitar picks, cables, straps, pins, guitar instruction books and DVDs, and a variety of t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, and other apparel with Daisy Rock logos in pinks, blues, and other colors similar to the available guitar colors.
The Daisy Rock web site contains a gallery of endorsing artists. Most are women or bands consisting primarily of women, although a few male artists are featured.
The site also features a gallery of signed guitars, which according to company sources are not sold directly but instead are usually auctioned to raise money for various charitable causes.
Most girl guitar models are relatively inexpensive, with suggested retail prices ranging from $279 to $699 (widely available with discounts of 30% or more). The exception is the Rock Candy Pink Label model, with a list price of $2,999, also available discounted by approximately 30%.
Models for 2007
Children’s Models
Debutante by Daisy Rock has several models of solid-body electric guitar are available with unusual body shapes. While scale lengths of electric guitars are not standardized across the industry, for comparison purposes note that a popular electric guitar, the Fender Stratocaster, has a scale length of 25.5 inches, while a popular electric bass, the Fender Precision Bass, has a scale length of 34 inches, and many other manufacturers use similar scale lengths (see Scale (string instruments)). All the children's models come with gig bags.
- Daisy – beginner electric guitar with a daisy-shaped body and leaf-shaped headstock. Available only as a short-scale six-string guitar with a 22.5-inch scale length and 22 frets, in blue and pink.
- Heartbreaker – electric instruments with a heart-shaped body and leaf-shaped headstock, available as a short-scale six-string guitar with a 22.5-inch scale length, an "artist" model six-string guitar with a 24.75-inch scale length, and a four-string bass guitar with a 30-inch scale length. All three designs have 22 frets. Available finishes, depending on model, include pink, purple, and red.
- Star – electric instruments with a star-shaped body and leaf-shaped headstock; models are similar to the instruments in the Heartbreaker series.
- Butterfly – electric instruments available in the same three designs as the Heartbreaker and Star series, but with a butterfly-shaped body and a multi-colored butterfly finish.
Acoustic Guitars
- Wildwood Series six-string beginner acoustic guitar are available as an acoustic-only model with a 22.75-inch scale length and 21 frets, or as an "artist" model with a 25.5-inch scale length, 20 frets, and a piezoelectric pickup built-in, allowing the instrument to be plugged into an amplifier. The "artist" model's electronics include a built-in tuner. Finishes include pink, purple, sparkle, and a light wood color. A gig bag is included.
- Pixie Series six-string acoustic short-scale guitar are also available in acoustic-only and acoustic-electric models. Both have a 25.25-inch scale length and 20 frets. Finish options include solid pink, purple, blue, and sparkle purple finish for the acoustic-only models, and a dark purple and blue sparkle burst for the acoustic-electric models. A gig bag is included. The acoustic-only models come with reusable decorative decals for customizing the guitar's appearance. Acoustic-only models in pink, purple, and blue are also available in "starter kits" that include the guitar, instructional materials, gig bag, strap, string winder, picks, and decorative decals.
Adult-Sized Guitars
A variety of models are available, broken into the Rock Candy series, the Rebel Rockit series, the Tom Boy series, and the Stardust series. These are generally mid-priced guitars with the exception of the "Rock Candy Pink Label" instruments.
- Rock Candy Series – consists of several guitars for girls models of six-string solid-body electric guitars with a single-cutaway body, similar to the body outline of a Gibson Les Paul or Paul Reed Smith "single-cut" guitar. Instruments are constructed with a 24.75-inch scale length and 22 frets, and four-string electric bass models with a 34-inch scale length and 22 frets. These instruments differ from the children's series in that they feature more expensive components, such as Grover tuners and a Tune-o-Matic bridges, and are available at a number of different price points, with a variety of pink, purple, "champagne," and sparkle finishes.
- Rock Candy Pink Label consists of a single higher-end (and corresondingly more expensive) American-made model, built by luthier John Carruthers, in a hot pink finish. This is a great beginner girl guitar.
- Tom Boy Series – currently this guitars for kids series consists of only the six-string solid-body electric "Tom Boy Deuce" model, with a 24.75-inch scale length and 22 frets. This guitar is similar in design to several Danelectro guitars designed for playing surf rock and features a coil-tap control.
- Stardust Series – the "Retro-H" and "Retro-H Deluxe" youth guitar models are six-string semi-hollow body electric guitars with Bigsby vibrato systems, 24.75-inch scale length, and 22 frets. These instruments use a design similar to Gibson hollow-body guitars designed for playing jazz and blues such as the Gibson_ES-355.
- Stardust Elite Series - Although they share the "Stardust" name, these instrument designs are quite different than the "Stardust" series; they are solid-body guitars with a symmetrical double cutaway body shape. There are several other student guitar "Elite" models including a short-scale "Elite Petite Rebel" with a 22.5-inch scale length and 22 frets and an "Elite Venus" model with elaborate floral inlays in the fretboard. A short-scale bass guitar is also available, with a 32-inch scale length and 21 frets. Finishes include pink, black, and purple and blue sparkle "burst" color schemes.
- Rebel Rockit Series - six-string solid-body youth electric guitar with tremolo systems and Fender Stratocaster-like dual-cutaway designs, with 25.5-inch scale length and 22 frets, tremolo systems, and pearlescent pickguards. The "Heart" model has a heart-shaped pickguard.
Artists who Endorse Daisy Rock Guitars
Company History
A musician herself, Tish Ciravolo designed the first guitar, but according to company materials "in a sense, Ciravolo’s daughter Nicole is the true visionary behind Daisy Rock. When Nicole was a one-and-a-half years old, she drew a picture of a daisy, and her mom was inspired to draw a neck on it. She developed the design and took it to her husband, Michael Ciravolo, the president of Schecter Guitars." The first model was thus the "Daisy" student electric guitar, and debuted in November 2000 at Seattle’s ROCKRGRL Conference. Daisy Rock was launched as a subsidiary of Schecter Guitars. The company achieved sales of over $400,000 by the end of 2002.
External links
Founder & President - Tish Ciravolo
Combining a lifelong passion for making music with a desire to “level the playing field” for dedicated female guitarists and bass players of all ages, Tish Ciravolo, founder and president of Daisy Rock Guitars, is a Renaissance woman of the music industry and a true pioneer of the instrument manufacturing world.
Since being founded in 2000, Daisy Rock has increased in size at an astonishing rate, with unit sales in 2008 reaching nearly 25,000 guitars—that’s 25,000 girls whose lives are forever changed by picking up a Daisy Rock! In addition, Daisy Rock remains dedicated to getting guitars into the hands of girls globally, and Daisy Rock guitars, youth acoustic guitar and basses are now available in more than 20 countries worldwide. 2008 marked the birth of Daisy Rock’s newest line, the Debutante series. Daisy Rock now offers dual guitar lines, designed to better fit the needs of guitarists of all ages, skill levels, and most of all, personalities. The Daisy Rock line for adult and professional players features acoustic guitars, electric guitars, acoustic-electric guitars, and bass guitars in a variety of body shapes and finishes. The highlight of the line is the recently-released Rock Candy Pink Label guitar, an ultra-lightweight, ultra-stylish guitar hand-crafted in the USA by guitar guru to the stars, John Carruthers. The Debutante Series is the company’s beginner line, and offers fun, playful acoustic and electric guitars in shapes that stand out, colors that pop, and best of all, prices that won’t break the budget.
Ciravolo’s dream that “every female guitarists who wants to play guitar is welcomed and inspired to do so” is centered on the love she has for her two daughters, nine-year-old Nicole and seven-year-old Sophia. “When the time comes, I want their experience as musicians to be different from when I was growing up, when every guitar available was designed with men in mind,” Ciravolo says. “I want them to be able to walk into a music store anywhere and be able to find something made with them in mind. Daisy Rock is not about making me rich and famous or being a hero to anyone. It’s simply an opportunity to leave a legacy for my kids and to provide females with great instruments designed with them in mind.”
In a sense, Ciravolo’s daughter Nicole is the true visionary behind Daisy Rock. When Nicole was a year and a half old, she drew a picture of a daisy, and Tish was inspired to draw a neck on it. Tish developed the design and took it to her husband, Michael Ciravolo, the president of Schecter Guitars. (Schecter had grown, under Michael’s leadership, from its original roots as a small instrument parts company in the 1970s and ’80s into a major guitar manufacturer. Early Schecter endorsees included Michael’s old friend Robert De Leo from Stone Temple Pilots, as well as artists like Prince.) “I told Michael that I wanted to create a line of guitars designed just for girls and women,” says Ciravolo, “so that’s what I did.”
Daisy Rock offers a variety of starter guitar that appeals to girls of any age. Younger girls are drawn to the Debutante line of guitars, with their Butterfly, Daisy, Star, and Heart shapes as well as the pallet of purples, pinks, reds and blues. Adult women are drawn to the solid construction and amazing sound quality of Daisy Rock’s light-weight guitars and their trademark “Slim & Narrow” neck designs.
Famous artists from across the musical spectrum also love their student acoustic guitar and Daisy Rock guitars, including Avril Lavigne, Joan Jett (The Runaways), Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson, Louise Post (Veruca Salt), Miley Cyrus, Miranda Cosgrove, Hilary Duff, Lindsay Lohan, Kathy Valentine and Jane Wiedlin (Go-Go’s), Share Ross (Bubble and Vixen), Susanna Hoffs (The Bangles), Nina Hagen, Annie Minogue, Lisa Loeb, Wanda Jackson, Dolly Parton, Ella Hooper (Killing Heidi), Precious Finch (L7), Marla Sokoloff, Shonen Knife, The Veronica’s, and Anna Waronker. Girls, however, aren’t the only ones having fun with Daisy Rock guitars—The Cure’s Robert Smith, and The Psychedelic Furs’ Tim Butler, Chris Stein from Blondie, Sylvain Sylvain from The New York Dolls play them, too, as do Adam Levy (Norah Jones) and Paul Leary (Butthole Surfers).
Tish grew up in Merced, California, where her best friend Barbara taught her to play guitar as they attended El Capitan High School. The young Ciravolo—whose first exposure to a girl playing rock bass was Suzi Quatro as Leather Tuscadero on the television show “Happy Days”—was a quick learner and by age 16 was on tour with a band called Plateau. When Plateau ended up playing in Kansas City, she decided to stay there and enrolled in Penn Valley Community College as a journalism and business major. After receiving her degree, she relocated to Los Angeles, where she balanced a series of crazy-making day jobs (waitress at Duke’s Coffee Shop, temp positions, assistant to Jay Leno and his former manager, the late Helen Kushnick, to name a few) with amateur night performances at The Improv and Comedy Store. Intent on being a rock star during those middle 1980s, she gravitated towards what would become her primary instrument, the bass. Like her influences Simon Gallup and Tim Butler, she played with a pick. “They kicked me out of the Dick Grove Music School after five minutes,” she recalls, “because I didn’t want to play with my fingers.”
Hopping from band to band, inching ever closer but never getting to that elusive record deal, Ciravolo became the quintessential L.A. rock queen. She played in several bands over the years, including Rag Dolls, The Velvets (a female Psychedelic Furs-type outfit), They Eat Their Own (new wave pop), and eventually, her own group, Shiksa and the Sluts. Then she entered her “big hair metal phase,” hanging with the popular band Lypstik from 1988 to 1992. “We had a billboard on the side of the Roxy and everything,” she says. “We did the windmill head shaking routine when we played, which was big at the time. We were also house band at the Whisky for a time, and played in the Battle of the Bitches at FM Station.” Finding other creative outlets, Ciravolo also made two independent films (The Wake, and Birds & The Bees) and wrote sitcom with partner Karen Peterson.
“Through all those years of playing music, of great success and crushing disappointment, I always had so much fun,” Ciravolo says. “It’s physical, it’s artistic, and it’s who I am at heart. These days, I’m in this punk band called sASSafrASS, and we do covers like “Cherry Bomb” by the Runaways plus original material. I’m kind of over the whole ‘getting the record deal thing,’ and it’s more fun than I ever had before. If I got a record deal now, it would probably interfere with everything I’m doing with Daisy Rock.”
Ciravolo’s commitment to young female musicians extends into the realm of book publishing. With print music publishing giant Alfred Music Publishing, she has released three instructional titles: Girl’s Guitar Method, books 1 & 2, and Girl’s Bass Method. Each teaches easy-to-follow course material from a female perspective, with a style and design that addresses the interests of today’s young women.
Barbara’s passing from breast cancer in 2000 inspired Ciravolo to donate liberally to breast cancer organizations such as Susan G. Komen, the National Breast Cancer Foundation, weSpark, and many others. Daisy Rock also promotes breast cancer awareness through a national ad campaign in which Ann and Nancy Wilson are extensively involved.
Ciravolo is committed to numerous female-driven causes in addition to promoting breast cancer awareness. Through a scholarship program called Girls Rock (for which the Donnas are spokesgirls), Daisy Rock sponsors underprivileged girls, hooks them up with guitars, and sends them off for the experience of a lifetime at DayJams Rock & Roll Camp. Daisy Rock sponsorships include Girl Scouts, Children’s Diabetes Foundation, Reach for the Rainbow, the sixth annual VH-1 Divas special in 2003, and the 2005 national LadySixString Lyric Writing Contest. Among the company’s numerous guitar donation recipients are the Make a Wish Foundation, VH-1 Save the Music, and Los Angeles Women in Music. Additionally, the Ciravolo’s hold online auctions at Guitars4Kids.com, an organization they created from which all monies raised benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
2008 was a truly remarkable year for Daisy Rock. Following on the heels of the 2006 induction into the Museum of Making Music, and the 2007 launch of the Debutante line, Daisy Rock has empowered more girls than ever before to play guitar and enjoy music. But the innovation doesn’t stop there. This year’s newest Daisy Rock models offer an array of new features and finishes, including the Rock Candy Special Guitar, the Siren Electric Guitar, and the Butterfly Jumbo Acoustic-Electric.
“There are so many things I love about Daisy Rock Guitars and all of the endeavors we are involved in here,” Ciravolo says. “But there’s no greater feeling than reading letters from young girls who had no idea there were guitars out there for them. The wonder of discovery is so incredible, and it’s as if learning how to play our guitars helps them discover their true selves. I always wonder how different my own life in music would have been had I grown up playing a Daisy Rock guitar. It’s exciting just to know that something I have created has made such a difference.”
Partners:
Daisy Rock works closely with the following companies/organizations to help more people learn to play guitar and enjoy music.
Alfred Publishing: Since its inception in 1922, Alfred Publishing remains dedicated to helping people experience the joy of making music. With hundreds of expert authors and composers backed by a talented staff in seven offices worldwide, Alfred publishes educational, reference, pop, and performance pieces for teachers, students, hobbyists and performers spanning every musical instrument, style, and difficulty level.
Alfred currently has over 45,000 active print, DVD, software, general MIDI, audio CD and enhanced CD titles in circulation throughout the world. Titles represent a full range of musical tastes and styles, including the works of George and Ira Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Henry Mancini, Led Zeppelin, the Eagles, Madonna, Green Day, and hundreds more. In addition to its own titles, Alfred distributes works from the National Guitar Workshop, the Dover Music catalog, and Faber Music. www.alfred.com
The International Music Products Association (NAMM): is working closely with Daisy Rock to communicate the advantages and importance of helping people play music. NAMM, founded in 1901, is an international association representing more than 9,000 retailers and manufacturers of musical instruments and products from 85 countries worldwide. Their mission is to unify, lead and strengthen the global music products industry and increase active participation in music making. www.namm.com
The Guitar and Accessories Marketing Association (GAMA): has been expanding the guitar industry for over 50 years. GAMA helps schools start guitar programs in their classrooms. To date, an estimated 800,000 students have learned guitar as a result of the program. www.discoverguitar.com
DayJams: is a summer music camp for kids ages 9-15 that was created by the National Guitar Workshop (NGW), the nation's largest summer music program. Since 1984, NGW has been teaching musicians at overnight programs across North America and Europe. Through DayJams, NGW's outstanding program is available for younger students at day camps in their own communities. The professional staff of music teachers, art teachers, and counselors is committed to providing a safe, fun-filled week of music, creativity, and fun. Teachers guide groups through a team-oriented process of writing, rehearsing, recording, promoting and performing their original song. Daisy Rock happily supports the DayJams program through guitar donations and scholarships. www.dayjams.com
Seymour Duncan: is the world's leading manufacturer of guitar and bass pickups. A good portion of Seymour's life has been devoted to studying, and helping to create some of the world's most identifiable guitar tones. Rock Candy Pink Label, Tom Boy Deuce, Stardust Elite Rebel, Rock Candy Custom Special, Rock Candy Special, and Rock Candy Classic guitars, as well as the Rock Candy Custom Bass are all fitted with pickups from Seymour Duncan. www.SeymourDuncan.com
D'Addario: For more than 300 years and over nine generations, D'Addario has offered players the highest-quality tone and consistent reliability, making D'Addario "The Player's Choice." The world's largest manufacturer of guitar strings, D'Addario offers a full line of strings for electric, acoustic, bass, classical, banjo, mandolin, and other fretted instruments. Daisy Rock Guitars proudly ships all guitars and basses standard with D'Addario strings. www.daddario.com
Los Angeles WoMen in Music (LAWIM): established in 1986, is a non-profit organization made up of women and men dedicated to fostering, promoting and providing career opportunities and education to women and men, regardless of race, ethnic origin, religion, sexual preference and socioeconomic status. The goals and activities of the organization are founded on the belief that women and men working together, sharing abilities and expertise, will strengthen the business and the music that is at its heart. www.lawim.com
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