Most of us are quite enchanted by the magic of guitar. The mesmerizing tune and sweet tingling of the guitar strings have enamored many a man who has later moved on to become musical legends in their individual niche. There is a roster of famous and successful guitarists who have mastered this enigmatic art of music.

Amongst the many legendary stalwarts, Jimi Hendrix undoubtedly tops the list of profiles of famous guitarists. A genius in its truest sense, the legendary Hendrix was born in 1942. An American by birth, the maestro was a singer and lyricist, and is considered around the globe as one of the most influential and enigmatic personas in the ambit of rock music. One of the milestones in his career was his 1967 performance at the Monterey Pop Festival which raised him to instant fame in the United States and was followed by many accolades.

Besides earning a huge name and fame for himself through his forte as a great singer and musician, the legendary maestro also improvised the art of rock music in his own signature way, and he incorporated a number of innovations and techniques into the older forms of rock and jazz music. Quite recently, Hendrix was inducted into the USA’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005.

The very meaning of rock music becomes insignificant without the mention of B. B. King, the master craftsman in the art of music. An ingenious guitarist and singer-cum-song writer in the American Blues, B.B. King was considered the Third Greatest Guitarist of All Time in the 2003 listing of Rolling Stone magazine.

The legendary musician started his journey in the world of music in 1946, and worked in the local R&B radio channel as a vocalist. However, soon after this he began recording under big names and became a prominent figure among the best musicians in the R&B music scene. Some of his greatest all time hits during this period include, “Whole Lotta Love,” “Every Day I Have the Blues,” “You Know I Love You,” and “Please Accept My Love.” Amidst his many achievements as a successful singer and composer, is included his most recent felicitation at the Three Deuces Building in Greenwood, Mississippi, for his maiden in radio broadcasting. Also, a grand memorial in the name of B. B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center is all set to be inaugurated on September 13, 2008, in Indianola, Mississippi.

Robert Johnson is another of the famous names in the world of guitar and its magic. Born on May 8, 1911, as Robert Leroy Johnson, the veteran guitarist was one of the brightest stars in the entire Delta Blues group. The period between 1936 and 1937 saw him in great guns when he claimed and proved his forte as a brilliant guitarist and lyricist, as well as an awesome singer. Often regarded as the “Grandfather of Rock-and-Roll,” Robert Johnson is believed to have been a great influence in the world of rock music, inspiring many legends of the same genre, including Bob Dylan, The Allman Brothers Band, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Black Keys, and many others. Eric Clapton, another legend of the same kind, has called Johnson “the most important blues musician who ever lived.”

CD’s initially started off as music on discs or audio format in the mid-to-late 1980’s. CD-R’s (R means recordable) then became popular when being produced cheaply. CD ROM’s (ROM means Read Only Memory) then shortly followed to provide data discs for computers which can not be written on.

CD-Rs – written to once only. This obviously didn’t help if you had made a mistake in creating your CD and was a waste of a disc, which was expensive back in those days. Unlike a cassette, where you could record over and over (do you know anyone who still owns a cassette these days?). Therefore, the CD-RW (CD-Rewritable) was created which means you could write over the data several times. The discovery of CD duplication and CD copying has also helped to keep the compact disc alive.

CDs today are used in all sorts of industries today. Obviously, the music industry is the main source of most of the discs we have around the house. However, over the past 5 years, CDs have become an essential tool for marketing, selling, promoting, learning, informing and many, many more. Examples are:

# Promotional CDs – marketing companies use them as handy aids to distribute either by post, or to hand them out at conferences

# Music/Audio – Artists use them to record albums and also use as language learning aids.

# Training – You can put a whole training manual onto 1 CD which is far cheaper to produce and much easier to send.

# Software – This is the most used second to music.

These are but just a few uses for CDs.

We all receive CDs in the post as part of product recognition or sales. Newspapers give us freebies with either music or software. CD printing has allowed these forms of marketing to be customized to improve the effectiveness of the overall campaigns. At the moment the demand for CDs is on the increase and looks to remain that way for the next few years anyway. However, just as it’s predecessor, the cassette, the CD may be superseded by the USB stick.

As we all know CDs & DVDs are prone to scratching, marking, cracking & breaking.

If you leave discs out near your PC or stereo, dust will settle or the data side will get scratched or marked. Now the best ways to prevent this happening are simple. They may sound straight forward but you’ll be surprised how many times CDs & DVDs are not protected properly. Following these simple steps will ensure you can use your CD’s and DVD’s for dvd copying and cd copying for years to come.

Keep your CDs in there Jewel Cases. If not there are PVC wallets which act as ample protection or Card Wallets. For you DVDs you must keep them in their DVD boxes or, as previously mentioned, PVC Wallets and Card wallets will do.

If your CD or DVD gets scratched, you may think that it’s damaged forever……..Wrong! The scratching on the surface of the disc simply fools the laser and makes it skip. Or, if you’re player has difficulty in loading the data, it’s due the surface being scratched and unable to read the digital data below.

However, do not panic! There are plenty of repair kits around to eliminate this problem and allow you to perfrom that all important cd copying or dvd copying. If you’ve thought you’ve lost a CD forever due to mark or scratch, think again!

These repair kits are a compound mixture of polish, which are specially designed for plastic (which discs are made up of). The mixture interacts with the polymer and allows the polish to get to work on the scratch. This polish will remove the majority of the disc that has been damaged and restore the music/data back to full playability.

Therefore, you revive your discs using these kits. However, I suggest you look after your CD or DVD by putting them back into their Jewel Case, DVD box, PVC Wallet or Card Wallet. Keep them in a dust-free environment or storage case.
Keep your discs playing longer…

When you remove your discs from their CD Jewel Cases or DVD box then you risk the centre-hub cracking or breaking. This will lead to disc failures. Especially for console playing or DVD films. Having looked around for a remedy to this common problem, we have found a solution…

It’s in the form of a metal reinforced centre-hub. It’s easy to attach and will reduce the stress that is normally applied when removing CDs or DVDs from Jewel Cases or DVD Boxes. This will prevent the discs from cracking at the centre. “Hurray!” I hear you say.