Jenny B.Goode

The president of Daisy Rock Girl Guitars founded the company three years ago in the dining room of her Burbank ranch house. And Tish Ciravolo had the chops to design a female-friendly ax: She has also been playing bass guitar in rock bands since the mid-’80s. The former comedy writer with a business degree and two daughters scaled down the man-sized electric guitar and didn’t stint on aesthetics: Models such as the Pixie, the Rock Candy and the Stardust come in sparkles, pastels and candy colors and the occasional time-honored black or red. She also designed the Heartbreaker, the Daisy and the Butterfly, so-named for their shapes. The Van Nuys-based company began as a division of Schecter Guitar Research, whose president is Ciravolo’s husband Michael, and reports sales of more than $1 million for 2003 and about 200,000 hits per month on the company website, www.daisyrock.com. We asked for a sound check

What exactly is a girl-friendly electric guitar?

Traditional guitars can be bulky, heavy and awkward. What separates a Daisy Rock is the slim-neck profile. A slim neck is easier to hold and push down on the strings. And the body of the guitar is a lighter weight than most guitars you will see in guitar stores. The deterrent for a lot of girls, especially younger girls, is that it is heavy. We want to level out the playing field.

A lighter weight electric guitar would seem to have all-ages appeal.

We must be doing something right, because women my age and older are seeing our guitars and saying, “I can play guitar! I can play guitar!” I got an e-mail the other day from a 57-year-old grandmother who just picked up a Heartbreaker because she always wanted to play bass. I would love to see a Daisy Rock band at a senior citizens home. I hope when I am 60, I’m doing the same thing.

The stray rocker guy might secretly long to carry a little less weight.

Ask Robert Smith from the Cure or Paul Leary from the Butthole Surfers. A lot of guys play our guitars. Guys pick up a Daisy Rock next to an Ibanez or a Fender and it’s easier to play, it’s easier to hold. Then there’s that whole “fun factor.”

A new meaning for the term “girl magnet.”

Maybe that’s it. It’s that thing for guys, “Why did you want to get in a band?” Because they wanted to get chicks!

What is your biggest seller?

The short scale, pink Daisy Rock guitar and the pink metallic Retro-H in the Stardust Series. We are the pink guitar company! No matter how many different colors we do in a style, we still sell the most pink. We’ll do purple and add one pink color and the pink will outsell everything else.

As a guitarist since age 15, how different was it for a “chick with licks”?

I’ve always gotten “the attitude.” No matter what town, even from the sound guy, we would go in to set up and they would be like, “We don’t sound check the girl bands.” It was such a shock. When I had to go to the guitar store to buy strings or pick up an amp, it was always, “So, what are you here to pick up for the band?” or “What are you getting for your boyfriend?”

Was there any female guitarist who inspired you?

Probably my earliest influence would be Suzi Quatro. She was Leather Tuscadero on “Happy Days.” She got onstage and played a bass, and I remember being 10 [and] going, “That is the coolest thing ever!” She is, of course, a phenomenal bass player. I loved the Runaways in the ‘70’s. Lita Ford, Joan Jett and Cherie Currie were doing it in a time when there were no girl bands doing it. I watched the Go-Go’s on “Saturday Night Live.” “Oh, my God! They’re girls! They are onstage!”

Should parents hesitate to see their daughters in the “sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll” lifestyle?

The sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll part of being in a band is so over. When I pick up Rolling Stone magazine or Alternative Press or I watch MTV, I don’t see any idea that that is the cool thing to do. I wouldn’t think the person that plays guitar is more apt to be in a drug culture than a cheerleader is, in today’s society.

When you were in your 20s, your life’s ambition was to “live by the beach and roller skate every day.”

My ambition now is to have every girl know how to play guitar and conquer the world. I [want] to make sure that in the next 20 years, every time you see a band, you’ll see a girl playing a guitar.