BUSINESS • SPOTLIGHT
Carrying on
a Legacy
usic has embraced Ed Heisler’s life. A Marine City, Michigan, native, Heisler traveled south to the Detroit area to perform in clubs throughout his teens and early 20s. He stepped away from music to start a family and, after six years with Chrysler, packed up and moved his family to the Valley. “I started playing seriously when I moved out here,” Heisler says about the relocation in 2000. He joined the Scottsdale Bible Church
M
Ed Heisler, owner of Black Mountain Guitar Co. in Cave Creek, plays a Sweetwood Telecaster.
Black Mountain Guitar strikes a chord By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
worship team and spent every Sunday morning there for 15 years. Now Heisler has found his calling as the owner of Black Mountain Guitar Co. in Cave Creek. The shop continues the legacy of Paul Turchetta Jr., who owned the spot, then known as Cave Creek Guitar Co., until he died April 15, 2021. “I was a longtime customer of his,” says Heisler of Turchetta, another Michigan native. “I have another company, Mad Hatter Guitar Products, that makes guitar electronics. That company was growing, so I was looking for space for it.
“He and I had conversations. He knew I was looking for space. When he became ill, he said, ‘Why don’t you buy me out?’ Unfortunately, he passed away before we could carry that through.” Heisler took over the spot in May 2021, remodeled it and rebranded it Black Mountain Guitar Co. In the shop, which opened the following month, he’s joined by his son, Kyle, who is the in-house guitar tech and a graduate of the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery in Phoenix. “When this opportunity came up, I immediately called him,” Heisler says of Kyle. Black Mountain Guitar Co. specializes in guitars of all price points and offers accessories like pedals. Guitar, ukulele, piano and voice lessons are offered, too. Chuck Hall of the legendary Arizona blues act Chuck Hall and the Brick Wall is the premier guitar instructor.
NORTHVALLEYMAGAZINE.COM FEBRUARY 2022 | MARCH 2022
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