Fender guitar auction to benefit local sound man

The difference between a mediocre band and great band can sometimes be as simple as the sound engineer a band uses.

"You can be an average band, but with a great sound man, you're a great band," said Dave Hufstedler, bass department manager at Alpha Music near Rosemont.

According to Hufstedler and other local musicians, Virginia Beach sound man RD Sisk is one of the top sound engineers around. He's been a fixture of the local music scene for the past 30 years, Hufstedler said, so when word got out that Sisk suffered a stroke last month, area musicians lined up to help.

"If you walk into any collection of musicians and say, 'RD was mixing my music the other day,' you'd get an immediate response because he's that well-known and he does that good a job," Hufstedler said. "He's mixed for countless, countless bands - the Phone Cops in the '80s and the Boneshakers in the mid-'80s."

To help Sisk financially, Alpha Music is auctioning off a new Fender guitar. The guitar was donated by Fender Musical Instruments and all proceeds from the auction will be used to help Sisk pay mounting bills.

Sisk, who has no medical insurance, is still undergoing physical therapy since suffering a stroke March 12. He stayed in the hospital for two weeks recovering from the seizure that initially left him paralyzed on the left side. Currently, Sisk isn't able to work and has no income.

These days, his efforts are concentrated on walking short distances and learning to manipulate his fingers. He'll have to be able to move his fingers again, before he can start turning knobs and adjusting levels, to create that perfect sound local bands have come to expect.

"It's getting better," said Sisk, 52. "I'm getting to where I can walk around without my cane a little bit, and I can lift my arm over my head. I'm just working on grabbing things and using my fingers and thumbs."

Eric Burgess, general manger at Alpha Music, said the store also plans on holding a benefit for Sisk in the coming months.

"We've had a lot of people come in and offer to just give personally, so we're trying to set that up too," Burgess said. "We want to try to keep the man in his home."

The guitar being auctioned off is a Fender 60th anniversary Tele. It's a limited edition guitar and one of only 1,000 that were made. The guitar retails for $2,000, but Burgess will be happy if it raises even half that amount.

Sisk's doctors expect him to make a complete recovery and he's hopeful he'll be back at work soon. In addition to working as a sound engineer on weekends, he also works as an electrician during the week.

"The doctors said it might take a little while, but I shouldn't even know I had it six months from now," Sisk said. "But I'll know I had it because I'm watching what I eat now and I get a little exercise. It was an abrupt wakeup call."

Rita Frankenberry, 222-5102, rita.frankenberry@pilotonline.com