ROCK MUSIC GREATS WIN IN A WALK

“At first I thought this was some kind of joke,” said Englishman Jim Marshall, 62, when he heard about the Guitar Center’s Rock Walk to honor musical innovators.

But the creator of the Marshall amplifier saw that Guitar Center President Ray Scherr wasn’t kidding, as the inventor joined 1,500 other invited guests Wednesday night for the unveiling of the Chinese Theatre-style forecourt at the Sunset Boulevard entrance to the new Guitar Center complex.

The first handprints enshrined in the center’s Rock Walk were those of inventors/manufacturers Les Paul, Remo Belli, William Ludwig II, C. F. Martin III, Robert Moog and musicians Eddie Van Halen and Stevie Wonder.

The ceremony drew a contingent from the heavy-metal crowd, including members of Van Halen, Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot and Krokus, along with comedians Martin Mull and Robin Williams and assorted other music industry folk. (Wonder, Martin and Moog did not attend.)

“When I went to the Chinese Theatre many years ago, I thought, ‘Gee, these people have really made it,’ ” Marshall said. “I never thought the same would happen to me. I’m very grateful.”

Some of the 100 or so fans lining Sunset Boulevard to watch the hoopla climbed street signs to catch a glimpse of their guitar heroes in front of the newly relocated 20,000-square-foot store.

Men in tuxedos mingled with others in tight jeans, zebra-skin jackets and dangling earrings and women in sequinned dresses.

William Ludwig II, manufacturer of Ludwig drums, hugged Twisted Sister drummer A. J. Pero as he talked about his drum company. Guitarist/inventor Les Paul and Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen whispered to each other as the previously cast handprints went on display.

Paul, 70, who built the prototype for the solid-body electric guitar, said in an interview before the ceremony, “The last time I put my hands in cement was 60 years ago in my father’s garage, and I got a spanking for it.”

In the 1940s, Paul lived two blocks from where the complex now stands (previously the site of the Oriental Theater and a union hall). “Bing Crosby wanted us to buy the Oriental and turn it into a recording studio,” Paul said. “But I backed away from the idea, turning the garage at my house into a studio instead.”

Remo Belli, 58, best known for perfecting the synthetic drumhead, marveled at the expansiveness of the store at 7425 Sunset, where guitars hang on the walls from floor to ceiling and one room is choked with synthesizers.

“We never thought musical technology would get to where it is now,” Belli said. “We responded to what was occurring, but the kids made it happen. We were just going by intuition, and unbeknown to us, we did something right.”