Rich Murray at the 2008 Winter NAMM Show

by Rich Murray.

Earlier this month, music manufacturers and dealers migrated to the 2008 Winter NAMM Show to nail down musical instrument distribution deals. The event always captures the imagination of all of us interested in guitars and other gear. Rich Murray presents his impressions of NAMM where he walked the aisles and met with some of the exhibitors and guitar celebrities during the four-day guitar extravaganza.

My trip to the 2008 Winter NAMM show provided more highlights than I expected. Here's a day-by-day breakdown of my NAMM show experiences.

Wednesday, January 16

My not-so-horrible flight landed at Santa Ana's John Wayne International Airport on Wednesday afternoon. After leaving frigid Chicago, I marveled at the beautiful California weather before gathering up my rental car to reach the Anaheim Convention Center to pick up my NAMM badge. I wanted to get that out of the Wednesday since I figured it would be a madhouse trying to get this done on Thursday, the first day of the show.

After settling into my Anaheim motel, I headed up to Studio City and the Baked Potato jazz club. I had a reservation to blues-jazz guitarist Scott Henderson's 9:30 p.m. show. Since I had never been to the Baked Potato before, I wanted to get there early. For all I knew the place might fill up fast and I'd be stuck with a crummy seat. I walked in around 7:45 p.m. The scene that met my eyes was not at all what I expected.

Henderson and his band were on the stage rehearsing some tunes in front of the "crowd." There were three people there. I was floored by the size of the room. It felt like I had walked into someone's tiny, poorly finished basement. Despite it's small size, I could tell right away there was something magical about this place. I took a seat and watched as Henderson tried to remember and work out various parts of his tunes that he hadn't played in awhile.

At one point, he hilariously pulled out his iPhone to find the song he was working on, only to find he couldn't get it to fast forward. After bassist John Humphrey and drummer Allen Hertz were satisfied with their parts, Henderson chose to stay on stage by himself to get in some more practice. Henderson has moved in a more blues-based direction since his Tribal Tech days, but that wasn't the case with the set the group offered up this night. There were a few familiar tunes including "Meter Maid" and "Sultan's Swing," but they also played tunes that they haven't got around to recording. This new stuff was very fusion-centric and some of it was pretty heavy. What a great show. I sat next to a couple who were both enrolled at the Musician's Institute. It was fun talking about how much the school has changed since my days as a student there during the early '90s.

Day One, Thursday, January 17

The NAMM show officially started on Thursday and to say it was crowded would be a gross understatement. I had read in the local Anaheim paper that the International Music Products Association, the organization that presents the NAMM trade event, was considering taking the show elsewhere if the city didn't expand the convention center. Walking into that place Thursday I had to agree. It was packed to the gills with tight security. Throughout the event I had to show my photo ID to prove it matched the name on my badge. It was evident that this annoyed more than a few people.

Thursday was an eventful day for me at the show. I attended a Fender press conference where the company announced its new American Standard line, interviewed ESP endorser Prashant Aswani, and saw one of my favorite heavy fusion bands, Cosmosquad, play on the Fender Frontline stage.

This was also the day I met Jesse Stern, the photographer who would be shooting the NAMM show for Modern Guitars. Jesse was a great guy and real go-getter. His mantra for getting a great shot of a security-laden celebrity player was, "It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission." Jesse's a musician with a group called The Likes of You and a producer from the L.A. area.

Favorite Guitar of the Day

I played a lot of guitars that first day, but the one that impressed me the most was the Schecter Lady Luck model. I was drawn to this guitar even before I yanked it off the wall. With its distressed chrome hardware and matte finish, it was one of the coolest looking axes I'd seen all day. I liked the red model best, but it also comes in gray. The lone fretboard inlay depicts a dragstrip girl holding a pair of starter flags. Very cool. And it plays as great as it looks. The set-in neck allows for silky-smooth access to the upper frets. Conclusion - I want one. Now.

Every night during the NAMM show there were after-hours gigs around town. The Thursday night gigs that piqued my interest were the Suhr NAMM bash that featured Guthrie Govan (1993 Guitar Magazine's Guitarist of the Year) and other artists at Tone Merchants, the Guitar Players Ball that presented George Lynch at the Galaxy Theatre, and The Jazz Ministry featuring super session guitarist Michael Landau at the Baked Potato. This was the easiest gig decision of the trip for me. I braved the brutal north-bound traffic into Studio City to see the 9:30 p.m. Jazz Ministry show. A wise choice, as this may have been the best live gig I have ever witnessed.

Day Two, Friday, January 18

Friday provided many "brushes with greatness." After tooling around the show for awhile, playing various guitars, I attended a press conference where Joe Satriani announced a partnership with VOX to design a new line of effects pedal. Details were scant, but the first pedals should be available this summer. Exact pedal types were not mentioned, but Satch did make references to wah-wah and chorus pedals.

I met some of my personal favorite players on the show floor Friday as well including Steve Morse (Dixie Dregs, Steve Morse Band, Deep Purple), keyboardist Derek Sherinian, and fretless guitar master Ed DeGenaro. DeGenaro and I had a nice chat at the THD booth; great guy and a superb fusion master.

I also watched Yellowjackets bassist Jimmy Haslip and the band's founding member and keyboardist Russell Ferrante play for a bit on the main Marshall/VOX/Korg stage. Carlos Santana was at the show Friday for the introduction of the new Paul Reed Smith Santana MD model guitar. This caused quite a mob scene at the PRS booth.

The scene at the Ernie Ball/MusicMan booth on Friday deserves a mention as well. Their entire booth was setup like a scene out of The Godfather, with Ernie Ball reps dressed as priests, cops, and old time mobsters. They even had a vintage "get away" car parked in the booth. They played the theme to the hilt with a mock Italian restaurant setup that housed a lounge area and meeting room. At one point, I noticed a giant serpentine line had form leading up to an empty autograph signing table.

Turns out Velvet Revolver's guitarist Slash was going to be there soon signing posters. Then I noticed a mob of people taking pictures through the window of the fake restaurant. I made my way over to see what all the fuss was about. Inside the lounge, guitar giants Slash, Steve Morse, and Steve Lukather were hanging with some Ernie Ball folks having lunch.

Favorite Guitar of the Day

The bustling Ernie Ball booth also happened to provide my favorite guitar on Friday. They had a beautiful rosewood Axis Super Sport model that played like a dream. The low-profile bridge felt great for the right hand and neck was flawless. I loved the cream binding around the dark rosewood body too. Definitely a stand-out guitar.

Again, there were several gigs to choose from Friday night. Guitarists Brett Garsed and Alex Machacek would be appearing at the Bass Bash at JT Schimd's (Garsed with bassist Ric Fierabracci; Machacek with Adam Nitti), Allan Holdsworth was at the Baked Potato, the Diezel/Vigier NAMM bash was going on at Tone Merchants (which would include Ed DeGenaro), Gonzilla was at the Troubadour with bassist Jonas Hellborg sitting in, and Sabian Live! was happening at the Sheraton Hotel that included keyboardist Steve Weinert and guitarist Jeff Kollman [Cosmosquad].

What to see and what to skip? This was a tough call.

I decided to make a reservation to the 11:30 p.m. Holdsworth show and attend as much of the earlier scheduled JT Schmid's Bass Bash as possible. I had emailed Alex Machacek a couple of weeks before NAMM to see if he would be at any particular booth so I could stop by for a chat and that I would try to make his JT Schmid's gig as well. Machacek and I have corresponded several times in the past and I was eager to finally catch up with him in person.

He said he wouldn't be going to NAMM, but it would be better if we met at the Bass Bash. The two players I definitely wanted to see at JT Schmid's were Garsed and Machacek , but all I knew was the entire bash would run from 7:00 pm until midnight. I couldn't find a schedule about who was playing or when. Fortunately Garsed and Company went on first.

Funny story - when Garsed and Fierabracci were ready to start, drummer Joel Taylor was nowhere to be found. Before long, Taylor came walking into the performance area from the bar carrying a cheeseburger and fries in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. Everybody started cracking up. After their great 30 minute set, I spoke with Garsed briefly in the lobby before calling Machacek to see if he was around. Turns out he was standing right outside the front door.

After going out and meeting him, we ended up hanging out chatting for about an hour. This would prove to be one of the highlights of the trip. Alex had a great sense of humor and was a gracious and fun guy to hang out with - very cool.

Now came the toughest decision of the trip. Alex told me he wouldn't be playing with Adam Nitti until around 10:20. This meant I wouldn't be able to see both Alex and Allan Holdsworth, who's second show at The Baked Potato started at 11:30. The gigs were far apart with JT Schmid's near NAMM in Anaheim, but the Potato some distance away in Studio City. I decided to keep my Holdsworth reservation. Being a Holdsworth fanatic himself, Alex was completely cool with this.

As great as Holdsworth was that night, I still have mixed feelings about this decision. I'll definitely need to see Alex play the next chance I get. As for Holdsworth, he was incredible - no surprise. It was very special to see him play in such an intimate venue as the Baked Potato. He seemed to settle in and be more relaxed than when I'd seen him before. I guess because it was his second show that night and the crowd was small making for an intimate gig.

Day Three, Saturday, January 19

When I woke up Saturday morning, I thought I was done. I'd just had two full days of walking the show floor and I landed in bed around 2:00 a.m. the previous "night." My feet and head were aching something fierce. After much inner turmoil, I forcibly dragged myself out of bed to dive into what would be the most eventful day of my NAMM trip yet.

One of day's highlights for me was seeing Paul Gilbert (Racer X; Mr. Big) play at the Marshall amp booth. Gilbert performed songs from his upcoming album Silence Followed by a Deafening Roar using backing tracks. The new material sounds terrific and Gilbert, as always, was a formidable showman. I also had a nice conversation with Carl Verheyen (Supertramp, Carl Verheyen Band) at the Ernie Ball booth.

I didn't realize Allan Holdsworth would have a signing session at the Carvin booth until I happened to walk by and see the long line of autograph seekers. But, this is NAMM and surprises like this weren't uncommon.

Needless to say, I waited my turn and met the master, thanking him for a great show the night before. I also met Greg Howe as he was walking through the show and we met briefly at the Spectraflex booth later. Howe is currently doing post-production on a new album which he said he hoped would be out soon. At one point, Vinnie Moore (UFO, Alice Cooper) stopped by Spectraflex to meet with Greg. Shrapnel Records founder Mike Varney was there also, as was guitarist Chris Caffery (Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra), and keyboardist Derek Sherinian (Planet X, Dream Theater, Alice Cooper). Having all this shred royalty in once place caused quite a bottleneck of onlookers.

Favorite Gear of the Day

The gear that grabbed my attention Saturday was actually not a guitar. Pete Biltoft of Vintage Vibe Guitar Pickups showed off his new pickup design that uses replaceable magnets. He had a small metal case that contained every kind of pickup you could think of - single coils for Strats, and Teles; humbuckers of every variety. In each case, the "permanent" magnets were mechanically held in the pickup with screws and could be pretty easily replaced. Biltoft said various types of replacement magnets were available, including ceramics. This seemed like an innovative idea to me. You have a pickup you like, but you want to tweak your sound a bit - instead of replacing the whole pickup you could now swap out the magnet only and see where it gets you.

There were gigs-a-plenty happening Saturday night, and I again had some tough decisions to toss and turn over. My choices included another Suhr NAMM bash at Tone Merchants (giving me a second chance to see Guthrie Govan), Brett Garsed at Alva's in San Pedro for two sets (again with Ric Fierabracci on bass, and Joel Taylor on drums), Muriel Anderson's All Star Guitar Night featuring David Grissom and Gary Hoey among others, Joe Satriani's 20th Anniversary Ibanez concert with Paul Gilbert sitting in, and CAB at the Baked Potato.

I originally decided to see the first set of Garsed's show in San Pedro, then run up to the Baked Potato for CAB's second show. But after Garsed's first set, bassist Ric Fierabracci (Planet X, Yanni, Beach Boys) encouraged everyone to hang out between sets to chat and come back for the second set since the music would be completely different. The prospect of a whole new set of tunes helped keep me there for the second set, not to mention the fact that at Alva's one ticket gets you into both sets, whereas the Potato charges separately for both shows and clears the room in between.

This show turned out to be one of the most enjoyable gigs I saw on my trip. Like with the other artists I met during NAMM, I had a nice conversation with Garsed between sets.

Day Four, Sunday, January 20

I used Sunday as my sight seeing day. I lived in Hollywood about 15 years ago when I attended GIT and I hadn't been back to the area since. I went by the main Musician's Institute building, my old apartment, the news stand I used to go to, and other old haunts. It was a weird feeling visiting these places I hadn't been to in so long. I was shocked at how congested Hollywood Boulevard has become as a result of the shops around the Kodak Theater. The Kodak didn't exist when I was at GIT. I also visited the famous Los Angeles landmark Bradbury building, and Runyon Canyon park. I had an early flight out Monday so I got back early to pack and prepare for my trip home. Frank Gambale was at the Baked Potato Sunday night, but with my early flight the next day and the Potato being so far from Anaheim, I just couldn't do it.

Though I was exhausted by the end, my NAMM trip was loads of fun, and provided a huge jolt to the musician in me and returning to the freezing weather in Chicago was another major jolt when I made it back home. Not only did I see lots of cool gear at the show, but the live gigs I saw were amazing.

I think I'm still recovering.

Related Articles
Modern Guitars NAMM Coverage Day One
Modern Guitars NAMM Coverage Day Two
Modern Guitars NAMM Coverage Day Three
Modern Guitars NAMM Coverage Day Four

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[Editor's note: If you're a fan of jazz-rock-fusion guitar, we highly recommend a visit to Rich Murray's website - www.Guitar-Channel.com.]

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