A Look at the 2008 London Guitar Show, June 12-15

by Scott Morrow.

For years we Brits have been peering across the pond at California, jealous of the fact that Americans have the NAMM show to play with and we have – well, nothing. There’s always the Musikmesse in Frankfurt, of course, but what we’ve always hankered after is our own major guitar event. It was a revelation for most of us, then, when the London Guitar Show was announced last year, as a part of the London International Music Show (LIMS) at the Excel mega-venue in the east of the city.

As you walk into the venue, it’s apparent right from the start that the UK needed its own event. The place is packed, from the central boulevard (selling food and beverages at prices which would make Americans laugh in disbelief) through to the huge hall of the Guitar Show itself. You’ll recognise the format if you’ve ever been to NAMM: the venue is divided into hundreds of stands for each manufacturer, some the size of a phone booth and others larger, hall-sized setups. There are guitar fans everywhere, covering the entire spectrum of player – from the metal kids in black Slayer T-shirts to grizzled old blues guys carrying pedal steels.

“I think it’s so cool that there’s a show in London!” smiles one of the LGS’s major stars, Joe Satriani, when Modern Guitars Magazine caught up with him before his show-stopping live set on Sunday 15 June. “I’m very excited about this. We’ve been on tour for seven weeks now, so we’re well-seasoned, as we like to say! I’m going to stop by the Peavey booth and sign there, and then the Vox guys will have me over because we’re promoting the Satchurator distortion pedal.”

Over at the Ibanez stand, a crowd of people are jamming on several dozen axes. A particularly popular model is the Prestige RG2228GK eight-string model, whose lowest F# string is audibly blowing people’s minds with its huge tone, but taking pride of place is Satriani’s incredible JS20TH, limited editions of which include a 3-D inlay of the Silver Surfer on the guitar’s body.

“Man, you wouldn’t believe the trials and tribulations that went on with that guitar,” sighs Satriani, shaking his head. “Trying to get permission from Marvel and the movie company to have any association with the Silver Surfer was a classic case of lawyers just arguing for the sake of arguing! Poor Ibanez, they spent a fortune in legal fees. You know, it could be argued that my Surfing With The Alien record resurrected that character for the comic-book company, and they repaid us by charging us for every time that he showed up. Then, after the Silver Surfer film didn’t do too well last year, they finally allowed us to do the guitar – four days before the last [Winter] NAMM show!”

Asked if he misses the simple pleasure of ambling around the show and trying out instruments without people bothering him, Joe laughs and says: “I spent many years wandering around these shows, wishing I knew somebody or could afford one of these guitars, so it’s a trade-off! Shows can be taxing: you meet 1000 people in five hours and you have to shake their hand, ask their name and talk for 30 seconds. It’s enjoyable at the same time, though: quite often these shows are a way to come out of hibernation, if you’ve been recording or writing at home. You go to the show, and suddenly it’s – bam! All these people come and talk to you, and you think, ‘Oh, that’s right – I’m a public figure!’, ha ha!”

Bidding Joe farewell and leaving him to the tender mercies of the hundreds of people who want to talk to him, we head away from the Ibanez stand and drop in at Marshall’s huge exhibition, where they’re selling T-shirts and giving away bags as well as offering us the chance to plug into the new JVM2 amp series. The gear is priced at mid-market – you’ll pay up to £1199 ($2365) for a 100W 2x12” combo – but judging from the sounds emanating from the stand, they’re worth the investment.

The Orange and Vox stands are similarly impressive, both featuring gigantic walls of amplifiers, with employees demoing their products – although the regular ‘silent periods’ imposed by the venue owners mean that the opportunity to use the amps to their fullest is impossible at times.

This slightly weird policy of imposing silence every couple of hours means that most manufacturers are obliged to provide headphones for the visitors to their stands – actually a good idea, which larger shows like NAMM might do well to adopt. For example, over at the Boss area (which took up a whole corner of the venue), the demonstrators are surrounded by headphones-wearing listeners as they put the various effects rackmounts, pedalboards and individual pedals through their paces. One employee is clearly feeling a little tense, however: as we listen to him finish up a demo of an impressive-looking pedalboard, we conclude ‘Tempting!’ – only for him to shout, “Whaddya mean, ‘Tempting’? This is the best effects unit on the market!”, causing us to walk rapidly in the direction of ‘away’…

Elsewhere, guitar lovers are drooling with envy at the Patrick James Eggle stand and its array of top-level acoustic instruments. Eggle himself is on hand to answer questions about his guitars: when we ask him if he’d ever consider making an acoustic bass, he laughs and says “I’ve been doing this long enough to know that an acoustic bass isn’t just an acoustic guitar with bass strings on it. It’s a completely different instrument, and I’ll stick to what I know!” On the same stand is the brand-new Brit Picks company, whose founder Ross Jordan has come up with the first ever range of picks made from recycled plastic. It’s a stroke of genius, if you ask us.

While Paul Gilbert and Yngwie Malmsteen are shredding away in the live arena, we visit the Dean stand. As metallers in particular will know, the Florida company is rapidly becoming the headbanger’s axe of choice, along with the perennial BC Rich and ESP (neither of which companies are here today, strangely), and today’s stand reflects this, with signature models from Dave Mustaine and of course the late ‘Dimebag’ Darrell Abbott on display. The new Razorback with ‘Cemetery Gates’ artwork is especially striking.

The LGS isn’t just about large guitar companies, however – there are plenty of opportunities to check out smaller and more exclusive manufacturers, too. Vigier, for example, are showcasing their super-cool, metal-necked fretless guitar to the public, and the Ashton stand is popular thanks to its wide range of affordable instruments for the beginners’ market. A tiny area devoted to Minarik, who make beautiful, flame-shaped guitars for Motörhead and other acts, is hard to spot – but worth seeking out.

Some of the stands are as much about making a humorous impression on the public as they’re about promoting guitars. For example, Musicman are holding a live jamming event at which showgoers are invited to attempt to out-shred a guy in a devil mask – a reference to Steve Vai’s Crossroads movie, of course. You can also check out Audio Kitchen’s line of guitar amps made exclusively from polished wood (and featuring handwritten lettering above the knobs, apparently written by someone under the influence of too much Jägermeister), Vox’s custom Vespa scooter with built-in amps and Carlsbro’s gorgeous vintage amp range in pastel colors. And yes, people do try and step on the eight-foot-long Boss pedal replicas and strum the 20-foot-high Les Pauls.

So which is the outstanding exhibit of the day? In the bizarre absence of Gibson, whose stands are always impressive, we’ll give that honor to Fender, whose massive collection of stock, custom and signature guitars is the talk of the show. Rack upon rack of instruments are available for inspection and (in most cases) for a quick test-drive – if you can get to them through the crowds. The Jackson stand is a part of the Fender zone, of course, with some eyecatching instruments on display, such the V bearing the name of Machine Head’s Phil Demmel. Oh, and the very first prototype of Yngwie’s new Strat – a replica of his cream 1967 model – is lying around. “Don’t even think about touching it!” says a Fender guy… so we don’t.

In terms of sheer scale, the London Guitar Show’s debut event can’t hope to match NAMM, which remains the world’s state-of-the-art guitar show. But with a few more manufacturers on board, wider publicity and positive reviews such as this one, we Brits may be able to develop it into a respectable equivalent to the Anaheim event. Come on over – our weather may be unpredictable and our food inedible, but the guitars still sound great.

Related Link
The London Guitar Show 2008

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