Winter NAMM 2019

mystixboi1

mystixboi1

Kick Henry Jackassowski
Is anyone going? I won’t be able to make it this time around but Joe and the rest of the crew from Balaguer Guitars will be there at booth 3446.

Make sure to swing by to say hello. We have been cooking up some killer stuff!!!!!

What booths are you planning to visit and what gear are you planning to check out?
 
Not going this year and just want to take a break from it. When I go to NAMM, I always like to go with a purpose. Love to visit the smaller booths. FWIW, I will be going to the Amigo Guitar Show in Costa Mesa. Irony is I usually go to that on the years that I don't go to NAMM. I don't buy anything but just love to Gawk.

Maybe next year I will be more enthusiastic about attending NAMM.
 
I'll be there.

Probably Thursday, Saturday and maybe Sunday.

Friday is out because I have an eye appointment which will leave me blind as a bat all day (dilated).

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OGG said:
I'll be there.

Probably Thursday, Saturday and maybe Sunday.

Friday is out because I have an eye appointment which will leave me blind as a bat all day (dilated).

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Are you driving up everyday or staying around there?
 
Modern Saint said:
Are you driving up everyday or staying around there?
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On Thursday I'll be driving up alone and heading back home.

For the weekend days, my buddy/friend/Kiesel employee Joe and I are going to ride up there with his wife who will drop us off and spend the day doing Uber/Lyft rides in the area. We did the same thing last year and she totally banked it.

I'll PM you about the Matrix Module.

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Didn't see this posting until now, went up on Saturday and as usual it was a crowded zoo!
Of course the people watching was the best part as usual, quite the freak show. :cool:
Apologies to any forumites who went who were wearing KISS armored boots... (yes there were folks wearing those...) :howie:

I hadn't been there in quite a few years and it seemed like it wasn't as "happening" as in previous years. Ibanez had no artist signings which I thought was strange. Usually you can meet Vai, Satriani, Gilbert etc... at the Ibby booth, but they didn't do any at all. I didn't see a lot of the booths I usually visit, vendors seem to be joining together in their booths. Ibanez was teamed with Tama and some others. Korg teamed with Blackstar. I didn't see Digitech, Zoom etc...

I did see Vai in a demo booth at a "boutique guitar" area, behind glass, maybe he's moving away from Ibanez? :messedup:

Being as crowded as it was I didn't get to try out much gear really... it seemed there was much less opportunity to do so, yes there were guitars you could pull off the rack and play acoustically but very few amps to plug them into and the ones they did have had the usual guitar center types going meedly meedly over and over. They do have a "new" policy (hadn't seen it before) about volume and duation of trying out products. They actually had a decibel max that you could play at! (85 I think)

Anyway, a few cool things I saw, Gibson's room was open to everyone, the last few times I've gone you couldn't get in unless you were invited. Fender's room was always packed, think I saw Duff McKagen giving a talk on his sig bass.

Michael Anthony was at the Peavey booth, he's got a new bass amp he's promoting. Was going to get an autograph but the line was insane.

I missed out on Phil Collen's meet and greet at the Charvel/Jackson room, that would have been cool.

Marshall's room was dead, couldn't try anything out.

Had a good time but it does seem to have changed, cost cutting maybe? Who knows.
 
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cvogue said:
Didn't see this posting until now, went up on Saturday and as usual it was a crowded zoo!
Of course the people watching was the best part as usual, quite the freak show. :cool:
Apologies to any forumites who went who were wearing KISS armored boots... (yes there were folks wearing those...) :howie:

I hadn't been there in quite a few years and it seemed like it wasn't as "happening" as in previous years. Ibanez had no artist signings which I thought was strange. Usually you can meet Vai, Satriani, Gilbert etc... at the Ibby booth, but they didn't do any at all. I didn't see a lot of the booths I usually visit, vendors seem to be joining together in their booths. Ibanez was teamed with Tama and some others. Korg teamed with Blackstar. I didn't see Digitech, Zoom etc...

I did see Vai in a demo booth at a "boutique guitar" area, behind glass, maybe he's moving away from Ibanez? :messedup:

Being as crowded as it was I didn't get to try out much gear really... it seemed there was much less opportunity to do so, yes there were guitars you could pull off the rack and play acoustically but very few amps to plug them into and the ones they did have had the usual guitar center types going meedly meedly over and over. They do have a "new" policy (hadn't seen it before) about volume and duation of trying out products. They actually had a decibel max that you could play at! (85 I think)

Anyway, a few cool things I saw, Gibson's room was open to everyone, the last few times I've gone you couldn't get in unless you were invited. Fender's room was always packed, think I saw Duff McKagen giving a talk on his sig bass.

Michael Anthony was at the Peavey booth, he's got a new bass amp he's promoting. Was going to get an autograph but the line was insane.

I missed out on Phil Collen's meet and greet at the Charvel/Jackson room, that would have been cool.

Marshall's room was dead, couldn't try anything out.

Had a good time but it does seem to have changed, cost cutting maybe? Who knows.
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It’s getting harder and harder for manufacturers to justify the cost. Especially since modern technology makes it possible to connect with people very easily. YouTube is the new marketing platform.

The cost of the booth, carpets, electrical, tables and chairs that are rented are insane. Not to mention flying staff out, meals, hotels etc. A lot of companies are sharing booths to cut cost.

NAMM is no longer a place for dealers to see and order new products as it was originally intended. In the case of Reverend the new product was at dealers before NAMM ready for immediate release as soon as the doors opened.

NAMM itself is aware that they are an outdated dinosaur, and has gotten very aggressive in trying to keep vendors. To the point of seeming desperate.

Changes are coming.

People like Vai and Mayer were there but only available in private areas to dealers. The show was not originally intended as a fan meet and greet. And the artists get swamped. They are there to interact with a brands dealer network. An effort was made by a few companies to keep the artists away from the general public and devote thier time to interacting with the brand’s dealers. Which is what they are being paid for at the end of the day. Remember in addition to the cost of the booth and the staff, if you have an artist appear, you are paying to fly them out, thier room, and expenses as well. It get very expensive very quickly.
 
reverend1 said:
It’s getting harder and harder for manufacturers to justify the cost. Especially since modern technology makes it possible to connect with people very easily. YouTube is the new marketing platform.

The cost of the booth, carpets, electrical, tables and chairs that are rented are insane. Not to mention flying staff out, meals, hotels etc. A lot of companies are sharing booths to cut cost.

NAMM is no longer a place for dealers to see and order new products as it was originally intended. In the case of Reverend the new product was at dealers before NAMM ready for immediate release as soon as the doors opened.

NAMM itself is aware that they are an outdated dinosaur, and has gotten very aggressive in trying to keep vendors. To the point of seeming desperate.

Changes are coming.

People like Vai and Mayer were there but only available in private areas to dealers. The show was not originally intended as a fan meet and greet. And the artists get swamped. They are there to interact with a brands dealer network. An effort was made by a few companies to keep the artists away from the general public and devote thier time to interacting with the brand’s dealers. Which is what they are being paid for at the end of the day. Remember in addition to the cost of the booth and the staff, if you have an artist appear, you are paying to fly them out, thier room, and expenses as well. It get very expensive very quickly.
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Makes perfect sense and definitely reflects what I saw.

Guess if you want something geared more to an artist meet/greet you'll have to spend big $$$ on Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp!
 
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Yup.

It was never about being a place for regular Joes to walk around pestering artists all day. It's an event for artists and industry people to network with manufacturers and check out what's new. Too many people get badges that really have no business being there. I get really aggravated at the fanboi types that glom all over every artist they recognize among the sea of legit legends. I had a moment on Saturday where I was just trying to exit one of the halls, and had to say "excuse me" to Jeff "Skunk" Baxter so I could squeeze past. Meanwhile, there's a throng of nobodies standing all around the poor guy in full on fanboi mode. That was just a few minutes before I narrowly avoided getting run down by Sinbad on an EZ-GO... dude almost took me out! He stopped just long enough to say "so sorry my man, my bad" before rocketing into the crowd ahead.

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Yeah it e(de)volved into that kind of thing when I was attending several years ago. I must admit I liked the idea of seeing big name artists checking out the new gear just like us regular shmos. But it did get a little out of control.

I'll bet they actually like it if you talk to them like a normal person instead of a doting fanboi. I was at an after NAMM party one night and spent quite a while talking to Doug Wimbish (Living Colour bassist). I had no idea who he was and was just chatting with him about the show, gear etc... It was really cool, he's a really nice genuine guy. I wonder if he would have been so nice if I were going full-fanboi on him!
 
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