Mike's Message

Wow, to my surprise it was a very busy first day at the Summer NAMM show in Nashville, TN. We've heard the worst predictions, we've seen the list of companies that opted not to show up, but the floor traffic on day one was quite impressive. It was a bit odd at Summer NAMM to see how many fewer spaces in the building were used, with no exhibits crowding the hallways on the 2nd floor by the escalators, none of the other many rooms being used for exhibits, etc. So to that end, it forced all of the traffic into the main hall. But that said, there was a lot of traffic.

Its yet to be seen how big the show will be overall, its the beginning of day two in a few hours. But I thought I'd report its not nearly as doom and gloom as I was expecting, and I think that many of these companies that chose not to come actually made the wrong choice this year. There seemed to be a pretty steady flow of "blue tag" music store buyers. Its a big guitar show, and it always has been. The biggest name there, Martin, followed by Washburn and Ibanez, then all of the various import companies and awesome little boutique builders like Santa Cruz.

I saw an amazing bit of furniture that was about a 4' high wardrobe cabinet or more, that has what appeared to be the faceplate of a Peavey Tube amp built into it, which was powering what I guess is a 12" speaker. A guitar hung inside this cabinet and the doors opened and slide into the sides of the cabinet much like you'd see in a hotel room with their TV armoire. In fact, its clearly inspired by a high-end hotel armoire, with its fine cherry wood look, stylish drawers, and functionality. Conspicuously missing from the one-sheet I saw on it, which said they'd be available in September, was the price. I'm guess its a lot of money, $2000 or so, but I could be wrong. Bottom line, if I was a rich guy I'd have one in every room.

I'll chime in later. Thanks for reading. ml

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