Anyone going to NAMM?

[Pete Burak]

If anyone going to NAMM has a chance, please check out the new Fender Volume/Tone Pedal.
There is an article in the Feb Guitar Player about it, but it is not available in stores yet (i don't see anything online either).
I'm curious if it is sturdy, if it has a nice sweep from off to full on (or does all the volume or tone change in one short portion of the sweep).
If it works good in general, etc.
Does running directly from guitar to amp sound better than running through the pedal (any notable tone and/or volume lossage?).
I've tried a few Fender and Bigsby Volume/Tone pedals in the past, and there was always something lacking, like the pedal worked better for one thing or the other, the mechanics of the thing were not smooth, etc.
Thx,
Pete B.

[Michael Lee Allen]

DELETED

[Dean Parks]

I will try to check it out.

I've been told the new Bassman re-issue with the Jensens is really good also.

[Andy Sandoval]

So how does an ordinary everyday "Joe" get to attend a NAMM show? Isn't it closed to the general public?

[Billy Woo]

Well it's like anything else, it's "Who" you know. Namm is directed at folks in the music business that have music stores whether they are mom n pop or huge like Guitar Center, Sam Ash etc. They used to allow the general public to buy their badges for 20 bucks or so and that may still be the case but the lines are really long to get in. If you have a friend who works at a music store that would be one way also if you happen to know a music 'Rep' (someone that represents certain brand names of microphones, guitars, processors whatever then they too can get you a badge for entry. I hear the worst day in terms of attendance will be this Saturday. Hope this helps.

Billy Woo aka
Bronco Billy

[Jody Carver]

Moved to Electronics....

[chris ivey]

and it's good to know you'll be helping out the true craftsmen in korea.

[Jody Carver]

Moved to Electronics..

[chris ivey]

i know..nothing personal, jody. the older i get the more disappointed i get that small scale american craftsmen can't compete with corporate outsourcing!

[Jody Carver]

Moved to Electronics..

[Fred Bova]

Hi Fred Bova here, I am going to NAMM. I will be there most of Sat. Who else is going on Sat? Anyone going to DEEK's Guitar Geek Fest? I went last year, It was a blast, got to meet Herb R., etc. Fred

[Mike Perlowin RIP]

I will be there tomorrow and Sunday for certain. I may also be there Friday and Saturday, but I haven't decided yet.

My cell phone number is (323) 271-2308. Anybody who is down there and wants to meet can call me and we'll figure out a time and place. Maybe grab a cup of coffee or something.

[Darrell Urbien]

Due to a last minute change of plans, I can't go to the Geek Fest.

If you go, please post pix of the All-Bigsby Band! And if you can stand it, I'd appreciate a review of "The Maestro" Alex Gregory's set. I'm just wondering if he walks the walk.

[Mike Perlowin RIP]

I'd appreciate a review of "The Maestro" Alex Gregory's set. I'm just wondering if he walks the walk.

I've heard Alex. He does.

[Darrell Urbien]

Now I really wish I was going!

[Ben Elder]

I saw some NAMM badges for sale on LA Craigslist, which I report here strictly as a news item. This is like selling Academy Award screener DVDs--very verboten. (Caveat emptor--I've already reported them to a NAMM staffer.) I'm working with NAMM's Museum of Making Music on a Hawaiian/lap steel guitar exhibit that will open in September at NAMM HQ/MoMM in Carlsbad CA. For the NAMM Show this weekend, I've loaned several instruments* and a lot of photos and paper that will advance-promote the exhibit. These will be at NAMM's big display in the lobby of Hall B.

*--Fender Deluxe 6, Dual Professional and Custom (Trapezoid-o-rama); Dobro 55; National Style 2 Tricone; National New Yorker & companion green tweed amp; National cast aluminum lap, Weissenborn Styles 3 & 4; Kona Style 4; Greenfield lap (the "log" not the more common "hambone"). Maybe some others; glad we made a list...
UPDATE: Some items didn't get in, probably for space reasons behind the glass. But some of these thangs and others' stuff is on the back side of the "Stage wall" of the NAMM Idea Center in Hall B.

[Jim Sliff]

hey used to allow the general public to buy their badges for 20 bucks or so and that may still be the case but the lines are really long to get in.

They NEVER allowed the general public in - you could buy a ticket for $50 but had to have a W-2, business license or other proof of employment in the industry if you were not a NAMM member. They DO NOT want musicians there - they want store buyers. That's what the show is for, and most of the "booths" are interested in the chain purchasing agents, not players. The smaller companies LOVE players, since they often sell direct....but it is not an open show. That $50 is now $250, by the way! They have tried checking ID's against badges to ensure no "badge trading" or selling was happening, but it was a fiasco and they seem to have stopped the practice. I've had "name" musicians get a badge from me and be my "son" for the show in the past- the whole badge thing is really a source of humor, with names like "Sal Estion" (Celestion?), "Dee Esser" (a recording tool) in attendance almost every year...

Oh - I'll be there Sunday. Used to go and/or work it all days, but after a few years it's a burnout.

[Michael Johnstone]

I'll be there today (Thursday) and Sat. I always go.There's folks there that I never see anywhere else and along with everything else it is,it's evolved into a sort of yearly social hang where you can schmooze,hustle up work and useful connections - not to mention free stuff. I used to go under my studio business name and pay the $50 but since that went up to $250 I've been getting in based on demonstrating various products or as guests of companies whose products I used and/or endorsed like Fender,Peavey,Rigel Mandolins,Eastwood guitars,Sharkfin thumbpicks,Sierra steels,etc,etc.This year I'll be there shilling for Flaxwood guitars out of Finland down in Hall E. They're great guitars - they really are.
I've also been invited to the Luthier's Consortium tonight after the show which I'll attempt to videotape.On Sat I'm also going down to Deke's Geekfest with Nokie and Judy Edwards.Those are always a gas.The theme this year is the Ventures.

[Jim Sliff]

What a mess.

This was the first year in Anaheim (they did it at the summer show one year) where they checked picture ID's to ensure they matched badges.

This, according to the NAMM "powers that be", keeps the "riff raff" out - i.e. non-members who don't buy products for stores.

They completely miss the point that p[layers who attend the show are the ones who actually USE the products....and also discuss them on internet boards.

So this time, (the first time I've had a badge given to me without my name on it) I couldn't get in. I watched about 25-30% of the people trying to go in get turned away.

NAMM needs to get it's collective head pulled out of its backside and open a day for the public - even if they sold tickets for $25 they'd get a good crowd of REAL buyers.

I know smaller companies who show there (or who USED to) that don't sell to dealers...they only sell direct. Rest assured most of those guys won't be lining up for booth space for next year.

Next year I'll plan ahead and have an alternate source (my usual, Fender, was in total chaos with Bill Schultz passing, Ritchie Fliegler leaving and a bunch of management moves and I found out too late that they'd chopped the list to nobody outside the company who wasn't playing there) so I don't go through this mess again, but it's silly that NAMM officials just don't get the value of the "player" attending the show.

[LJ Eiffert]

Hey Jim Sliff,you didn't go to the right door.Remember they have a circle of 6 by Joe Lamond & Chip Averwatwer.It goes like this! Increased Demand,Industry Growth,Trade Show Growth,NAMM Trades Show Income,Funding Industry Charities,Programs And Initiatives,Increased Public Awareness.So all you needed was a show badge of red ,Yellow,blue,Green,Clear or Black and you would have gain entry into the trade show floor.And A parking lot fee $11.00 each day. If you don't want tp pay then you need to know somebody otherwise they think you're a no body. Leo J.Eiffert,Jr. & Pigeons

[Mike Perlowin RIP]

They did not check IDs Thursday and Friday. They started checking them for people with visitor's passes on Saturday, and today They checked every single person with no exceptions, not only to get in the building, but to get on the escalators as well.

As I entered, exited and re-entered, I saw several people who, like Jim, had badges given to them that did not match their names, who were not allowed in.

[Michael Lee Allen]

DELETED

[Jim Sliff]

Mine was an exhibitor's badge, which was no problem (from what I understand) at the previous "badge check" show in Nashville. They were only checking visitors. This time, they checked everyone - even watched them stop kids and ask their names so no friends-of-kids (children get in without badges) were getting in.

I'm not sure what the previous post about the "right door" or badge color had to do with anything.

One sidebar - this system really fouls up the exhibitors, who often have players or sales agency people man the booths. In the past, if someone could not make it the badge would just go to someone else. Now, once your allotment is used up you're done - and if it's not, you can't cancel one and add someone unless you can turn in the unused badge.

It's like getting onto a military base. The NAMM folks have really gone nuts IMO, and just don't get how much product sales is done via "user marketing".

I'd bet many smaller companies - the ones who mainly show in Hall E downstairs - will bail out altogether. Take someone like Bad Cat Amps (just one of many examples) - they WANT players in their booth, sell direct, and couldn't supply tons of dealers if they had to; that's not their market. James Trussart has a deal with Sam Ash but sure as heck doesn't need Bob's Music and Off Road Accessories from Topeka - he needs players, who spread the word.

If, as Mike said, they were only checking on the weekend then things will never change...those were the days always suggested as "public" days, since the bulk of the big orders were done on Thursday and Friday.

[Mike Perlowin RIP]

Even worse than the check ID policy is that this is supposed to prevent theft, but while the security guards are busy checking people going in, they did not properly check people coming out. I bought a 60 cycle hum eliminator pedal, and when I left the building with it, nobody stopped me to ask me for my exit pass for it.

Even worse, a few years ago I bought 2 guitars, and none of the security guards asked me for the exit passes for them.

If I had stolen these items instead of buying them, I would have gotten away with no problems.

[Dan Tyack]

We cancelled Friday. Too many other things going on. I think of the money and hearing I saved. Then I don't feel so bad about missing it.
MLA

But Michael, think of all the Van Halen licks you could have learned while walking through the exibition halls.