MMR July 2010 ISSUU

w w w. m m r m a g a z i n e . c o m

Chicago

MI Kind Town

July 2010

Summer Buyer’s Guide to New Gear – Part II Report: Guitar Cabinet Speakers

Retailers Get Creative to Keep Music Making Alive and Well in the Windy City

20th Annual Proﬁle of the American Music Dealer NEW, DIGITAL VERSION www.mmrmagazine.com

Fe\ j`q\% =`kj Xcc%

>\k i\X[p% Fli jdXcc\jk# dfjk X]]fi[XYc\ i\Zfi[\i `j `e jkfi\j Alcp *'k_% )'(' Qffd s qffd]o%Zfd&?(

See us at NAMM Booth 510

Contents Cover design by Laurie Chesna

JULY 2010 VOL.169 NO. 7

Features 20

Chicago is MI Kind of Town MMR takes a look at the Chicago music retail market, where the 12 local businesses we spoke with report that creativity and a willingness to evolve remain keys to success during troubled economic times.

20th Annual Profile of the American Music Dealer For the third year, MMR’s dealer count remains stable, with a tally of 7,993 compared to last year’s 7,981. However, a closer look at the numbers within specific categories reveals some definite bright spots…

Report: Guitar Cabinet Speakers Mirroring the “guitar pickup revolution” of the 1970s, today’s guitarists are turning more and more to replacement guitar cabinet speakers as a means towards achieving their ideal tone. MMR speaks with some key players in this emerging (and profitable!) market…

48 56

Show Report: MIAC/PAL 2010 A summary of Canada’s annual MI trade show, held this year in a new venue in downtown Toronto.

Summer Buyer’s Guide to New Gear – Part 2 A review of product introductions coinciding with this summer’s NAMM Convention.

Webwise: When Too Much of a Good Thing Is Bad Kevin Mitchell explores some of the common pitfalls that lead Web site designers and operators to “overload” the most important page of all: the home page.

NAMM Exhibitor Listing

NAMM University Schedule

Fork’s Drum Closet MMR checks in with Nashville’s longtime go-to spot for drummers. As owner Gary Forkum notes, “if you can hit it, we have it!”

Departments www.MMRmagazine.com

4 6 16

Editorial Upfront People

103 111 120

Supplier Scene Classifieds Advertisers’ Index

MMR Musical Merchandise Review® (ISSN 0027-4615) founded in 1879, is published monthly by Symphony Publishing, LLC, 21 Highland Circle, Suite 1, Needham, MA 02494 (781)453-9310, publisher of School Band and Orchestra, Choral Director, Music Parents America and JazzEd. All titles are federally registered trademarks and/or trademarks of Symphony Publishing, LLC. Subscription Rates: U.S.A., US possessions, one year $32; two years $40. Canada one year $80; all other countries one year $159. Single issues $5 each. May Supplier Directory $35. Periodical-Rate Postage Paid at Boston, MA and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER/SUBSCRIBERS: Send address change to Musical Merchandise Review, P.O. Box 8548, Lowell, MA 01853. Periodicals circulation is directed to music dealers and retailers, wholesalers and distributors, importers and exporters and manufacturers of all types of musical instruments and their accessories, related electronic sound equipment, general musical accessories, musical publications and teaching aides. The publishers of this magazine do not accept responsibility for statements made by their advertisers in business competion. No portion of this issue may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. Copyright ©2010 by Symphony Publishing, LLC, all rights reserved. Printed in USA.

2 MMR

JULY 2010

Editorial

Volume 169, Number 7, July 2010 PUBLISHER Sidney L. Davis sdavis@symphonypublishing.com

Profitability Has Many Paths

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Rick Kessel rkessel@symphonypublishing.com

or a realistic profile of today’s music dealer, you need look no further than our report on a dozen randomly selected dealerships in the Chicago area. Similar to our California dealer survey (July 2009), we find the bills are being paid by a mixture of specialized product areas melded with expanded lesson and repair facilities, rentals, clinics and in-store events. It’s a back-to-the-basics approach that has served the retail body well during economic turbulence. While conventional wisdom tells us that few have the appetite to open a music store these days, five of the 12 dealerships profiled are less than 10 years old, with four of them opening within the past five years. Four of the stores are more than 50 years old, with Hix Brothers Music, the oldest, tracing its roots to 1946. The Quinlan and Fabish Music chain offers fee-based programs to schools in need of help sustaining their music departments and reports that a recent online rental program has provided parents with an alternative method to signing up their children for band participation. Gand Music spurs sales with Friday Night Band nights and an expanded lesson program. Band Source, the newest store in our line-up (2008) stresses repairs and accessories, while percussion-oriented Andy’s Music has evolved into a full line store with guitars, band equipment, and repairs. Flatts & Sharpe Music’s Chris Bell is a union welder by day and music dealer in the evening. The store has a recording/rehearsal studio and employs seven teachers serving 130 students. Jakes Music Service recently marked its 10th anniversary. Originally conceived as a repair shop, expansion includes an inventory of string and band instruments along with five teaching studios. Old Town Music is a non-profit school teaching 6,000 students per week that also features 3,500 square feet of retail space emphasizing acoustic instruments. Hix Brothers Music, the “oldest” store in the Chicago report, also stresses lessons (nine teaching studios), along with a repair service and special “Rock U” events featuring 35 bands of players, “young and old.” Three-year-old Fat tone Guitars has positioned itself as a specialist for pedals and fully embraces social networking to carry their message. Institutional sales have maintained Steinway of Chicago along with piano buying seminars and free recitals. Drum Pad is a “real believer in clinics” and generates store interest in sponsoring events and pay the rent with 150 weekly students. Family Piano Company has converted a section of their retail space into a coffee shop with Wi-Fi service and has become a destination site for schools, scout groups and local organizations. In essence there is no cookie-cutter approach to success in the music business, as evidenced by twelve dealers with an equal number of different approaches… a varied but accurate profi le of the American Music Dealer. And in a fi nal note, we look to some past issues of MMR to recall the “media” of the day. In a 1930 issue, we are reminded by Charles E. Root Music Store of Battle Creek, Michigan that successful window displays produce direct sales. Window trimming was one of the more effective methods of communication with the consumer, as most stores were located in areas of foot traffic. In another 1930 issue of MMR, the C. Peeples store in Pittsburgh, Kansas advised dealers to, “keep their windows alive and attractive…” Moving to present day and completing our profi le report on the Chicago market, a review of 50 dealers located within the city proper revealed 80 percent had working Web sites soliciting on line sales… the new window to profit.

EDITOR Christian Wissmuller cwissmuller@symphonypublishing.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Eliahu Sussman esussman@symphonypublishing.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Denyce Neilson dneilson@symphonypublishing.com ADVERTISING SALES Iris Fox ifox@symphonypublishing.com CLASSIFIED AD SALES Maureen Johan mjohan@symphonypublishing.com PRODUCTION MANAGER Laurie Guptill lguptill@symphonypublishing.com GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Andrew P. Ross aross@symphonypublishing.com Laurie Chesna lchesna@symphonypublishing.com CIRCULATION MANAGER Melanie A. Prescott mprescott@symphonypublishing.com ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Popi Galileos pgalileos@symphonypublishing.com SYMPHONY PUBLISHING, LLC Xen Zapis • Chairman Lee Zapis • President lzapis@symphonypublishing.com Rich Bongorno • Chief Financial Officer rbongorno@symphonypublishing.com Corporate Headquarters 26202 Detroit Road, Suite 300, Westlake, Ohio 44145 440-871-1300 www.symphonypublishing.com PUBLISHING, SALES & EDITORIAL OFFICE: 21 Highland Circle, Suite 1, Needham, MA 02494 (781) 453-9310 Fax: (781) 453-9389 www.mmrmagazine.com

sdavis@ symphonypublishing.com

4 MMR

JULY 2010

Upfront GC’s “Operation High Ground” In direct response to the devastation from the recent floods in Nashville, Tennessee, Guitar Center has launched a dedicated initiative titled “Operation High Ground” for Nashville Flood Relief, to help musicians, songwriters, recording studios and audio professionals re-build their lives.

The goal of the program is to help Nashville’s music community get back on its feet as quickly as possible. Guitar Center’s president, Greg Trojan, made the announcement. For more information or to make a donation, visit: gc.guitarcenter.com/nashville-flood-relief/

Guitar Center Nashville Guitar Technician Ron Matthews works on a Fender bass that was damaged at Soundcheck Nashville during the flood of May 1, 2010. The Nashville Guitar Center staff aided in the cataloging and disassembly of various musical instruments and Pro Audio gear in order to help assess damages.

Portland’s Sheet Music Service Closes After 93 Years Sheet Music Service, a fi xture in the Portland, Oregon market since 1917, has

First Annual JEN Conference The inaugural JEN (Jazz Education Network) Conference, held May 2022 at the University of Missouri – St. Louis, exceeded all expectations. The nearly-1,200 attendees, who traveled to the gathering from over 14 countries, enjoyed performances, workshops, and speeches from some of the biggest names in contemporary jazz. As keynote speaker David Baker noted, “The Phoenix has risen.” Next year’s JEN Conference will take place in New Orleans from January 6-8. For more information on upcoming events and to join JEN, visit: www.JazzEdNet.org.

closed its doors. According to a report in The Oregonian, the business was founded by Maud McCawley and subsequently had a number of owners until Michael Sagun, a store employee who had worked for the company for 38 years, purchased it. Mr. Sagun sold Sheet Music Service to Texas-

based Penders Music Company in 2005 and remained as manager. According to Pender president Richard Gore, budget cuts in school music programs resulted in the decision to close. At its peak, Sheet Music Service had more than $1 million in volume and employed a staff of 18.

NAMM Foundation 2010-11 Grants NAMM recently announced the 25 recipients of the NAMM Foundation’s 2010-2011 program grants, allocating $585,000 in funding to support innovative community-based music learning programs that allow more people the opportunity to experience the proven benefits of active music making. The new grants help worthy organizations operate programs designed to in-

crease interest and participation in making music among seniors, college students and school-aged children. Since 1994, NAMM has supported worthy music-making programs through its grant program, providing $12.5 million in support. The full list of programs chosen to receive approval at the recent NAMM Board of directors meeting can be viewed at www.namm.org

Theodore Presser to Distribute Sempre Music

JEN president Mary Jo Papich and president-elect Dr. Lou Fischer at Thurday night’s gathering for founding members of the Jazz Education Network. 6 MMR

Theodore Presser Company has announced the exclusive North American distribution of publications in the Sempre Music catalog. Offering a range of titles from the beginner instrumentalist through to the professional ensemble, Sempre Music publica-

tions are particularly suited to ensembles in schools. The ensemble arrangements are said to be, “flexible and can be re-arranged to suit various instrumentations.” Based in the United Kingdom, Sempre Music specializes in music for woodwind, trumpet and mixed ensembles. JULY 2010

Always to our own tune.

See us at NAMM Booth 105

Upfront Vater Awards Student in Employee’s Memory Vater Percussion presented the first annual Jeffrey Phillips Memorial Scholarship on April 13, 2010 to James Callahan. Callahan, a 2010 graduating senior of Weymouth High School in Massachusetts, was awarded the scholarship for his outstanding leadership, performance and dedication as student leader to the school’s band. James will be attend-

ing Northeastern University in Boston, Mass. in the fall. The annual Jeffrey Phillips Memorial Scholarship has been set up by Vater Percussion in memory of Phillips, a Vater Employee, who’s life was tragically taken in a senseless act of violence on July 24, 2009. The scholarship is awarded to a graduating Senior of Weymouth High School who

Jane Phillips, James Callahan, and Alan Vater.

will further pursue music in college. Phillips, who was a musician himself, graduated from the school in 1996.

Vic Firth Wins MIPA Vic Firth Inc. recently announced receiving the Musikmesse International Press Award (MIPA) for the drumstick category for the new Signature Series stick models released for 2010. The new product introductions for 2010 in more than 40 categories were voted on by more than 100 trade journals

8 MMR

and magazines from around the world. Vic Firth won the Drumsticks category for their new signature series of stick models. “I am deeply honored to be recognized for such a distinguished award. Thank you all very much” stated Vic Firth when

he was called to receive the award. Vic Firth’s 2010 new signature sticks included stick models designed with Cindy Blackman, Christoph Schneider, Marky Ramone, Aaron Spears, Tommy Igoe and Amir “Questlove” Thompson.

JULY 2010

COME VISIT US AT BOOTH 300 yorkville.com • traynoramps.com • apexelectronics.com • artproaudio.com v t c p r o a u d i o . c o m • h u g h e s - a n d - k e t t n e r. c o m

Upfront MENC and Music for All Form Strategic Partnership Music for All and MENC: The National Association for Music Education, two of the world’s largest arts education organizations, have formed an alliance for educational and professional development. As strategic partners, Music for All (MFA) and MENC will work together on programs of national significance to music education, including new and existing programs of both organizations. As part of the agreement, MENC is designated an official educational partner of Music for All, and MFA is designated an official strategic partner of MENC.

“Our nation, and music education, is in a time of change, and we must advocate for music education through imagination and creativity,” said Barbara Geer, president of MENC. “It is important to remember that education without music shortchanges our children and their futures, but education with music offers many exciting possibilities. As MENC and MFA work together, we will create an emphasis on achievement in our society as well as promote positive standards in music education. This joint effort will highlight what is essential for music education in the 21st century.”

American DJ Files Lawsuit for Copyright Infringement

Gibson Supply Drying Up Due to Floods

American DJ® has fi led suit in the United States District Court Central District of California against NSI Audio, Inc., a California company that sells and distributes products under several brand names, including American Vocal and Vertigo. American DJ’s legal action is centered on two trademarks recently adopted by NSI: Vertigo for lighting products and American Vocal for audio products. The suit alleges that aside from using product and brand names that were the same or very similar to those used by American DJ, NSI used copyrighted images belonging to American DJ in a deliberate effort to misrepresent its products and confuse customers. In its suit, which was fi led on May 13, 2010, American DJ seeks monetary rewards and statutory damages. The company is also demanding that NSI cease selling the products in question, remove them from distribution, and destroy all copyrighted images that have been used in the company’s marketing and advertising. 10 MMR

The Tennessean reported in mid-May that many MI retailers soon expect to run out of many models of Gibson guitars, following the flooding of a company plant: The nation’s largest musical instrument seller, Guitar Center, anticipates its 214 stores will exhaust their existing stock of Gibson-brand electric guitars “within weeks,” according to Phil Rich, vice president of guitar merchandise.”

Scott McCormick, president of Music for All, Michael Butera, MENC executive director, Tim Lautzenheiser, president of Attitude Concepts for Tomorrow, Larry Livingston, director of Educational Initiatives for Guitar Center, at a NAMM reception that was part of NAMM’s annual music education advocacy event in Washington D.C.

Smaller retailers such as the standalone 5,000-square-foot Centre City shop in San Diego have already felt the impact. A shipment of six Les Paul electric guitars due last week was canceled, owner Saul Frank said. “The only thing I sell are Gibsons,” Frank said. “I sell about two a day. I’m hoping they get back on track soon because, yeah, this is going to start affecting us if they don’t.”

Musicorp’s Effingham Office Relocates Musicorp has relocated the Effi ngham, Ill. Sales Call Office. For the past 28 years, Musicorp’s Effi ngham, Ill. Sales Call Office location

has been at 908 W Fayette Ave, but as May 7th, the new address is 1901 South Fourth Street, Suite 224, Effi ngham, IL 62401.

New Musicorp Effingham Office with employees from left to right: Dawn Colwell, Rebecca Butts, Chris Smith, Jane Barker, Donez McNeely and Mary Sandschafer

JULY 2010

Upfront SLM Launches New Site, Ships New Catalogs St. Louis Music recently made available a new dealer-friendly Web site and a 236 page full-color catalog that for the first time combines all the products previously under the U.S. Band & Orchestra Supplies and St. Louis Music banner. On the site, SLM dealers will have access to a password-protected dealer section where they can download catalogs, product images and marketing material, plus see all the latest promotions and learn about new product launches. The site also directs consumer enquires to their local store with an advanced dealer locator which even gives the consumer directions from their zip code to the store location. SLMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2010â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2011 Dealer Catalog and price list is the first to incorporate the product lines of U.S. Band and SLM since the acquisition and contains over 10,000 products from around 150 brands and manufactures. The catalog ships with additional Alvarez, Knilling, and Austin brochures and literature. For more information, please contact SLM at (800)727-4512 or info@usbandsupplies.com.

NAMM Young Professionals Group On Thursday, June 17, NAMM Young Professionals (under-40 music industry peers) will host its first annual Networking Reception from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the Renaissance Ballroom at the Renaissance Hotel. The first attendees will receive a free NAMM Young Professionals messenger bag while supplies last. For more information, contact Zach Frederick at zach@frederickexport.com or Melanie Ripley at melanier@namm.org. 12 MMR

See us at NAMM Booth 913

JULY 2010

See us at NAMM Booth 327

*OXKIZ 9U[TJ EXTREME ISOLATION .KGJVNUTKY

Upfront ÂŽ

314-845-7667

extremeheadphones.com

3UJKR +>

Perfect headphone for serious musicians and studio engineers. Ultra-ďŹ delity high input speakers integrated with 29 dB of passive isolation will not bleed sound into live microphones!

3UJKR +>

An excellent choice for project studios, personal audio, and travel. Using passive isolation technology, this headphone eliminates 25 dB of surrounding ambient sound.

3UJKR .6

Outstanding affordable hearing protection. Can be used for practicing, sport, or work to eliminate 25 dB of surrounding sound. Compact and lightweight with many benefits--even for kids.

Trade Regrets: Fritz Sennheiser Professor Fritz Sennheiser was the head of an engineering team of German scientists assembled right after World War II to improve the function of the electronic microphone. Fritz developed the first product line and formed a company called Sennheiser. Since its beginning in 1945, the company grew to develop a wide range of products in addition to the microphone, including speakers and headphones. Throughout the growth of the company, Professor Sennheiser continued to teach and lecture on electronics well past his retirement age. He passed away just a few days after his 98th birthday having made a valued contribution to the music industry.

See us at NAMM Booth 311

Jeff Lyon Jeffrey Lyon, Fenderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s district sales manager for the territory covering Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. was killed in a May 11 auto accident in Ridgeland, Miss. Lyon, 58, lived in Ridgeland and had worked for Fender since November 2007. Originally from Medford Lakes, N.J., Lyon was a respected working guitarist in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and Tennessee in the early 1990s. He arrived at Fender after a decade-long stint at Gibson in Nashville and mid2000s stints at Kaman and Loud Technologies Inc. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jeff was a kind, caring person who had exuberance for life and for Fender,â&#x20AC;? said Fender CEO Bill Mendello. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you ever came in contact with Jeff, you know that he always had a smile on his face. His enthusiasm, gentle spirit, willingness to help others and smile will be missed by all who knew him.â&#x20AC;? Memorial services in Nashville and in Medford, N.J., are planned. 14 MMR

JULY 2010

7KH 5HDO 0RVW ,QQRYDWLYH 3URGXFW RI WKH <HDU ³2QH RI WKH PRVW XVHIXO SURGXFWV ,¶YH VHHQ LQ D UHDOO\ ORQJ WLPH ´ VD\V FXVWRPHU $ODQ %LEH\ )/25,'$ħ7RQH5LWH ,QF KDV UHOHDVHG WKH WKLUG JHQHUDWLRQ RI WKH ZRUOG¶V SUHĥ PLHU DXWRPDWLF SOD\ĥLQ GHYLFH IRU JXLWDU 2QH RI WKH VHFUHWV RI JUHDW YLQWDJH LQĥ VWUXPHQWV LV WKH PRUH WKH\ DUH SOD\HG WKH EHWWHU WKH\ VRXQG 7KH 7RQH5LWH DFFHOĥ HUDWHV WKH RSHQLQJĥXS SURFHVV RI DFRXVWLF LQVWUXPHQWV E\ XVLQJ D VHW RI VXEĥVRQLF IUHTXHQFLHV WR VLPXODWH WKH VDPH SK\VLFV DV ORQJĥWHUP SOD\LQJ 6LPSO\ DWWDFK WKH 7RQH5LWH ZKHQHYHU \RX DUH QRW SOD\ĥ LQJ DQG H[SHFW WR KHDU PRGHUDWH WR GUDĥ PDWLF LQFUHDVHV LQ UHVRQDQFH EDODQFH DQG G\QDPLF UDQJH DIWHU RQO\ D VLQJOH ZHHN¶V ZRUWK RI XVH 7KH 7RQH5LWH LV DYDLODEOH IRU JXLWDU PDQGROLQ XNXOHOH YLROLQ YLROD FHOOR DQG GRXEOH EDVV $OUHDG\ FXVWRPĥ HUV DUH UDYLQJ DERXW LW (ULF 6KRHQEHUJ

RI 6FKRHQEHUJ *XLWDUV VD\V ³7KH 7RQHĦ 5LWH KDV PDGH D GUDPDWLF GLɲHUHQFH LQ WKH WRQH RI QHZ LQVWUXPHQWV DQG KDV KHOSHG WR ¶ZDNH XS· YLQWDJH LQĦ VWUXPHQWV WKDW KDYHQ·W EHHQ SOD\HG LQ \HDUV ´ $ODQ %LEH\ PHPEHU RI *UDVVĥ WRZQH DQG WZRĥWLPH 63%*0$ 0DQGRĥ OLQ 3OD\HU RI WKH <HDU KDG VLPLODU FRPSOLĥ PHQWV ³7KH 7RQH5LWH VXSHUFKDUJHG P\ LQVWUXPHQWV WR WKHLU PD[ LQ YROĦ XPH DQG WRQH 2QH RI WKH PRVW XVHĦ IXO QHZ SURGXFWV ,·YH VHHQ LQ D UHDOO\ ORQJ WLPH ´ *UDPP\ $ZDUG ZLQQHU -RKQ 6KHUED RI WKH .URQRV 4XDUWHW VDLG ³7KH PRUH , XVHG WKH 7RQH5LWH WKH EHWWHU P\ LQVWUXPHQWV JRW QRW MXVW D OLWWOH ELW EXW FUHDWHV D GHÀQLWH QRWLFHDEOH SRVLWLYH DXGLEOH GLɲHUHQFH ´ 7KH WKLUG JHQHUDWLRQ 7RQH5LWH LV QRZ DYDLODEOH IRU UHVDOH WR VHOHFW VWRUHV $FKLHYH YLQWDJH WRQH IRU \RXU VWULQJHG LQĥ VWUXPHQW QRZ RQO\ DW ZZZ WRQHULWH FRP RU FDOO WROOĥIUHH DW ĥĪ īĥ ĥ

See us at NAMM Booth 1336

People

Your business is different? Our Synth is too! From September, YOUR clients will ask for Acxel2 ! The ONLY synth to make re-synthesis in Real Time and to be controlled by any instrument !

With Acxel2, your customers will find : s s s s s s s s s s s s s s

REAL PLEASURE AND SATISFACTION TO PLAY UNLIMITED POTENTIAL FOR THEIR MUSICAL CREATION EASY TO USE EASY TO MODIFY ANY SOUND PARAMETERS WHILE PLAYING A TOUCH SCREEN AND INTUITIVE INTERFACE ALMOST EVERY SYNTHESIS MODE KNOWNED !CXELINK OUR UNIQUE MULTIMODE OF SYNTHESIS THE FASTEST EXISTING PROCESSOR 200 0#S FULL COMPATIBILITY WITH ALL THEIR EQUIPMENT EXCLUSIVE RE SYNTHESIS IN 2EAL 4IME AN EXCLUSIVE SOUNDS EFFECTS LIBRARY MORE THAN OSCILLATORS MORE THAN ENVELOPPE GENERATORS !$32 -)$) CONNECTIONS

s s s s

A LOT OF ANALOG INPUTS OUTPUTS LINES MIC 8,2 PHANTOM POWER FOR CONNECTING INSTRUMENTS A LOT OF DIGITAL INPUTS OUTPUTS COAXIAL WORD CLOCK DVI 53" FIREWIRE ETHERRNET SAMPLE RATES UP TO BITS +HZ OPTION x MANY JEALOUS MUSICIANS !

What YOU will find with Acxel2 ? s s s s s s

AN ADVANTAGEOUS WHOLESALE PRICE A HIGHER GROSS MARGIN FAST STOCK TURNOVER MORE INTEREST FROM YOUR FLOOR SALES PEOPLE MORE CAPTIVE CLIENTS COMING BACK x A LOT OF FUN DEALING WITH US ! www.acxel2.com

the F1 of Synthesizers ÂŤTECHNOLOGYÂť SERVING THE MUSICIAN

GCI Technologies has appointed M.I. industry veteran Ed Alstrom marketing manager. Alstrom will lead the effort in broadening the scope of both marketing efforts and product de- Alstrom velopment for GCIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s three product lines (Gemini, Cortex, and iKey), as well the development of new product lines and categories. Alstrom was most recently national sales manager for Fostex, responsible for Broadcast/AV dealers. Prior to that, he handled sales administration for Right Track Marketing, a Northeast rep firm; and had a long 15-year stint at Casio, where he was not only the product and marketing manager, but was an integral part of product development, working with Casioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s engineers in Japan extensively. He is also active as a professional musician, his most notable gig now being as weekend organist at Yankee Stadium. Vic Firth Inc. has announced the hiring of Joe Testa as director of artist relations. Testa is a 19-year veteran in the music industry who has handled artist relations for Yamaha Corp. of America and Warner Brothers Publications. As the director of artist relations at Vic Firth, Inc. Joe will continue to work closely with the Vic Firth artist roster to service their requirements, create new event/tour opportunities and implement joint promotional opportunities for the artists, Vic Firth partners and their drummer fans. KMC Music Inc. has announced that Mike Oken has been promoted to the position of merchandising / product manager. Oken joins the KMC/ MCP Merchandising Team, Oken which is responsible for developing product opportunities and promotions to help maintain KMC/MCPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s market leader position as a wholesale distributor. In this new position, Mike will report directly to Roger Hart, Director of Merchandising.

16 MMR

See us at NAMM Booth 330

JULY 2010

See us at NAMM Booth 710

What are you missing to get that hit? MEMORY TOY Palm-sized analog delay with modulation.

#1 ECHO 2 secs of spotless digital delay.

STEEL LEATHER Ultimate hammer edge for bass guitar.

BASS BLOGGER Finesse bass overdrive with definition.

IRON LUNG VOCODER Express yourself.

LITTLE BIG MUFF PI Little brother with original tone.

ENGLISH MUFF’N True Brit valve drive with half-stack tone.

METAL MUFF Complete tone shaping metal master.

POG 2 Ultimate programmable octave power.

MEMORY BOY Analog delay, chorus, and vibrato with pedal control.

DELUXE MEMORY BOY Tap tempo, too.

STEREO MEMORY MAN WITH HAZARAI Digital delay with all the extra good stuff.

BASS BIG MUFF PI Bass specific Big Muff.

BASS METAPHORS Professional toolbox for bass perfection.

BASS MICROSYNTH Classic vintage synthesis for bass.

HOLY GRAIL Miraculous spring reverb.

VOICE BOX Keep your vocals up to snuff.

USA BIG MUFF PI The distortion that started it all.

GERMANIUM OD Classic ‘60s overdrive design.

MICRO METAL MUFF Distortion with top boost. Metalized aggression.

MICROSYNTH Classic analog guitar synth.

DELUXE MEMORY MAN The original, classic analog/delay/vibrato. BASSBALLS Twin tuned filters sweep your tone.

ENIGMA: Q BALLS The secret code to bass expression.

CATHEDRAL Ultimate spatial reverb elegance.

HOLY GRAIL PLUS A mecca for more great reverb.

MUFF OVERDRIVE Analog overdrive with a past.

V256 VOCODER Vocal synthesis with Reflex Tune.

BIG MUFF PI WITH TONE WICKER Tonal possibilities with legendary heritage.

DOUBLE MUFF Dual cascading muff overdrives.

HOLY STAIN Multi-effect brilliance.

GRAPHIC FUZZ Shape your touch sensitive distortion.

POCKET METAL MUFF Distortion with mid scoop. Palm-sized metal mayhem.

MICRO POG Glitch free multi-octave perfection.

HOG GUITAR SYNTHESIZER Harmonic Octave Generator. Every time you play it, you’ll find something new.

OCTAVE MULTIPLEXER Analog sub-octave power.

RIDDLE: Q BALLS The ultimate envelope filter for guitar.

TUBE ZIPPER Over the top tube distortion, envelope and filter control.

STEREO CLONE THEORY Lush chorus/vibrato with liquid elegance.

SMALL STONE The legendary phase shifter.

BLACK FINGER The classic tube compressor pedal.

SIGNAL PAD Passive attenuator.

MICRO Q-TRON Envelope filter with funky wah wah tone.

DOCTOR Q Too funky for words.

STEREO PULSAR Tremolo on steroids.

WORM Modulation madness.

STEREO POLYPHASE Cascading sweeps in gorgeous stereo.

DELUXE ELECTRIC MISTRESS Legendary analog flanging.

SMALL CLONE Shimmering analog chorus.

STEREO POLYCHORUS Slithering analog modulatons.

SOUL PREACHER Silky sustain and compression.

WHITE FINGER Analog optical compressor.

22 CALIBER 22 watt power amp. Palm-sized guitar amp with attitude.

LPB-1 The original linear power booster.

LPB 2UBE Line level tube preamp.

HUM DEBUGGER The hum eliminator that works.

SWITCH BLADE Switch between two setups.

KNOCKOUT Attack Equalizer. Incredible tone shaping.

RING THING Programmable ring modulation and pitch shifting.

12AY7 TUBE MIC PRE Class A tube microphone preamp.

Q-TRON PLUS Envelope filter with effects loop.

NANO CLONE True analog chorus with heritage.

WIGGLER Total 1960s vacuum tube modulations.

STEREO ELECTRIC MISTRESS Sultry stereo flanging and chorus.

Q-TRON Auto-wah dripping with attitude.

SCREAMING BIRD Add the cutting edge bite.

And more...

See us at NAMM Booth 1518

2880 SUPER MULTI-TRACK LOOPER Multi-track looper with studio control.

SPOTLIGHT

Chicago

MI Kind Town

Retailers work to keep music making part of the Windy Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fabric

20 MMR

JULY 2010

They are playing the blues, but not necessarily singing the blues. For the MI industry, the Chicago area proves a microcosm of the good, bad, and the ugly aspects of making a living peddling musical instruments these days. Many make note of the city’s rich tradition of great music. Still, the Great Recession has hit Chicago harder than most cities, and the state it resides in has the dubious distinction of facing the worst projected state budget gap for 2011. Yet most – but not all – of the dozen retailers interviewed for an upclose-and-personal look at this music making Mecca seem to be cautiously optimistic, though all are hedging their bets with new strategies to reach out to what, by all means, appears to still be fertile grounds.

“Tourists Love the Blues” Tim Joyce of Old Town Music declares Chicago musically vibrant. “It’s amazing how many different people come through here, and how many local people are performing. I think live music is alive and well in Chicago for sure.” “The Chicago music scene is doing well, and we’re trying to be part of it,” says Fat Tone’s Phil Vickman. “There’s a lot of new bands, and the blues scene is good for tourism. Tourists love the blues.” Pete Biedron of Brand Source sums up the scene by pointing out its two operas, two orchestras, and a plethora of community bands in addition to nationally recognized jazz and blues scenes. “Live music has taken a dive at times, but the jobbing scene has picked up. With the Symphony, Lyric, and Civic [groups], all of which are still huge, it means we’re doing well.” Chicagoan Rob Fitzgerald, who has been involved in the local music scene for years as a manager and promoter, says, “We have lots of club that play original music all the time.” Like many cities, original music is heard in the city limits, while cover bands are mostly in the suburbs. And summertime is full of festivals: blues (of course), but also jazz, Celtic, and pretty much some neighborhood party featuring live music is going on every single weekend. Specific to our industry, the town has a history of innovation and “firsts.” Gary Gand of Gand Music & Sound is the source of much of it. Gand became the first Moog dealer in the country. In the 1982, when he heard the LinnDrum on a Paul McCartney tune, he immediately called up Roger Linn and got that cool, but pricey item in his store. “We used to have this running gag for about 20 years where we were also searching for the $5,000 box,” he laughs. “If it was a box and cost $5,000 – the Moog, the LinnDrum, the Prophet 5 – we had to have it. But those days are gone and now it’s all $500 boxes.” Gand was an early adaptor of Apple, and was the first music store in the country that was an Apple Dealer. He turned the company onto the music making possibilities of the computer, and was also on hand to put together a world MIDI band on the Internet – before the Internet was public and still in government hands.

“Kids still want to be in the school bands and orchestras and their parents want to see them there.” - George Quinlan Jr., Quinlan & Fabish

“We’ve Lost a Lot of Jobs” Yet the area is “rich” in challenges, too. Those seeking live music in the city have seen it become increasingly costly to do so. In addition to cover charges creeping up a few dollars, the cash-strapped city essentially quadrupled parking meter fees. A pending city ordinance requiring all promoters to be licensed and insured could seriously jeopardize the live music scene. The bill has good intentions and is in reacJULY 2010

MMR 21

tion to a 2003 incident at a club called E2 where 21 people were killed in a stampede. But the problem is that the definition of “promoter” is so vague that it would include someone who just wants to rent the VFW hall and hire a band for a high school reunion. “The music community is pretty united against it,” says Fitzgerald. Illinois is also plagued with high taxes. “It’s a big drawback,” says The Drum Pad’s Jim Streich. “Chicago sales tax is 10 percent, the highest in the country.” Consumers who drive to the next county can save themselves three or four percent. “That’s a deterrent.” “Chicago had a lot of high tech businesses that have moved away,” says Peter Hix of Hix Bros. Music. Caterpillar, Standard BP, and Lucent use to all have operations there, specifically in Aurora,

where his store is. “We’ve lost a lot of jobs, but somehow we’re maintaining.” “Home sales in Chicago are still really bad, with commercial real estate going south next,” reports Chris Syllaba of Steinway of Chicago. “The stock market is up, but really the wealthy could always afford a piano. More recovery in the area real estate market needs to happen before Chicago enjoys a broad recovery.” George Quinlan Jr. of Quinlan & Fabish notes that while his school-based business is tough, “kids still want to be in the school bands and orchestras and their parents want to see them there.” “Our biggest challenge are the program cuts – and these are really good programs with a lot of support,” he says. “Individual school districts are getting funds cut, and not even getting paid money that is owed to them in some

instances.” There have been plenty of schools trying to raise funds through referendums, making the plea for the sake of the arts, but they rarely pass, he adds. Then again, Jake Fields of Jake’s Music Services says, while some school programs are struggling a bit, “the ones I deal with seem like they are making it. I even have a couple of guys starting new programs.” When people in the area are interested in music, nothing really matters – they find a way to do it. Parents want their kids to do it. If a school program does get cut, they find them private lessons.” MMR finds Chicago full of innovative and exceptional retailers that offer a great variety of possibilities to those who call the town “sweet home.” Here are just a dozen of them.

Quinlan & Fabish, B&O Institution Founded on the south side in 1959 by music educators George Quinlan, Sr. and Tom Fabish, this operation has grown to seven locations reaching from Chicago into Indiana and Michigan. Repairs have always been a big part of their business and in 2007 they opened a new state-ofthe-art Repair Service Center in their Burr Ridge location. The new facility centralized their school rental program deliveries and logistics. Through the years they have frequently sponsored workshops, clinics, and educational events for area band

22 MMR

and orchestra directors, students, and student teachers. Artists, composers and educators like Doc Severinsen, the Canadian Brass, Jay Friedman, John O’Reilly, Sandra Dackow, John Paynter, James Kjelland, Sandra Mullins, among many others participated. The company has around a 100 employees. Today, George Jr. runs the operation, having previously worked in marketing at Selmer and Leblanc. He’s currently chairman of the Board of Trustees for the VanderCook

College of Music, and has previously served on the boards of NAMM, the South Shore Brass Band, and NASMD. He still plays trombone with a popular party band. “We kind of go into survival mode during times like these,” he says. That includes offering fee-based programs to some schools, which they have resorted to during previous lean times. “We’re doing one currently, and over the last 10 years we’ve done a few and it worked in sustaining a program. When we make a proposal like this to a school, we George stress that we want them to Quinlan, Jr. fire us as soon as possible!” Sometimes it takes a year or two for funds to return, though they are currently in their third year for one school. (The fee-based program has a 50-year history, when they would offer it for the many area Catholic schools.) There have been “plenty of warning signs” regarding the current situation, and it’s likely to get worse. “A lot of districts are looking to cut more.” Quilan & Fabish’s success has always been based on their service to music directors, and they have extended that with their online presence. “Renting online JULY 2010

has worked really well. Sometimes on band day, the parents can’t make it to the school, or they can’t make up their mind on the spot. The director can e-mail the parent reminding them with a link and then they can go do it on the spot from home.”

For print, they focus almost exclusively on method books for bands and orchestras, and he says their directors are always interested in new products. “They like to see the changes with technology. DVDs have really changed things over the years.”

Chicago is a jazz town, and Quinlan reports that there are jazz programs in almost every school. “I think it gets equal attention to the concert and marching band program in most instances,” he says. “We’re fortunate in that way, and it’s good for the kids, too.”

Gand Music & Sound: The Pro Shop Reaches Out Gary Gand has been a staple of the music scene in Chicago since the age of 10. In 1963, the height of the folk movement, his family formed a folk group with him on banjo. Eventually they hit the road performing on TV, Disneyland, and art/folk festivals everywhere. The family even opened for Peter, Paul, & Mary at a John Kennedy rally before 100,000 people. Meanwhile, his dad opened Village Music in Deerfield, north of Chicago. “I became a techno geek, fi xing and building guitars and amps, and even sound systems,” Gand says. “But my dad wasn’t interested in the rock and roll part of it, so I opened my own music store right next to his when I was 17 in 1971.” In the beginning he would hunt down hidden treasures at pawnshops, fi x them, and sell them. He soon got a Fender dealership. His partner in all his endeavors (including his band, as a keyboardist) is his wife Joan, who he’s been with since they were 17. By the mid 1970s, he created a pro audio sound division. Today are now three Gands: Gand’s Music & Sound (and Internet), Gand Concert Sound, and Gand Sound Installation. The retail store is Gary Gand 10,000 square feet with 25 employees. It’s a big full-line store with a rich assortment of products: Fender, Ibanez, Martin, Taylor, and Parker guitars; Fender, Ibanez, Line 6, Behringer, Gallien-Krueger, and Roland amps. There’s a big collection of keyboards including Yamaha, Ventura, M-Audio, Hammond, Kurzweil, Kawai, Roland, and Nord. There’s a huge selection of pro gear from Apple products to Digidesign mixing boards to Neumann mics. “Business is not very good, honestly,” Gand says. “All the rest who tell you they JULY 2010

are fine are lying! [laughs] I’m a realist. We’re doing things to combat it, but part of the overall problem is that equipment is now very inexpensive.” They’ve instituted a band night at the store on Friday nights, replicating the “teen clubs” Gand himself played in growing up. The kids who come in get to play with full PA, backline, and lighting. “Kids have got nowhere to play, nowhere to hang out besides the mall. Society is not providing any outlet whatsoever. My manager said, ‘Let’s let them play here.’” For 12 years they’ve been doing a Guitar Idol contest for shredders, putting out a CD of the top ten. Gand is proud that many have gone on to be professionals. “We try to promote things proactively, beyond just being a beer tent sponsor at the local festival.” More immediately they’ve stepped up their lesson program, and today are seeing a couple of hundred students a week. He admits that they’ve had to reposition themselves from the long-time pro dealer, high-end shop. “We weren’t culturing the younger

kids – just their dads building home studios.” In the process they’ve discovered that the majority of teachers aren’t as organized as they should be. Now their teachers have e-mail databases, good record keeping skills, and a merchandising scheme. Gand also has an opinion about the quality of the teaching out there. “We get a lot of kids who are taking lesson from us and they are on their third or fourth teacher. A teacher taught them that Green Day song, and they know the chords to it, but are not really learning how to make music.” Otherwise, they continue to try new things. “It’s very easy for guys our age to just sell the major lines, the stuff you’ve been selling for 40 years, but that can make you lethargic.” One of the new lines they’ve taken on that he’s personally excited about is the iTab, a 5-inch touch screen device that can hook on the guitar and scroll chord tabs, backing tracks, and video lessons. Another new product he’s trying is Jet City Amps, a company based in Woodinville, Wash. that is making highend boutique amps at affordable prices.

MMR 23

“We’re probably the biggest dealer in the Midwest for Hammond B3, built in Chicago in the 1930s,” he notes. An active player, he and Joan perform and record often with their blues band Blue Road. Gand also gets out and leads a lot of jam sessions at local clubs.

“The good news is blues is extremely popular now, and that’s put Chicago back on the map,” Gand declares. Hometown hero Buddy Guy is a fi xture on the national scene and is moving his club, giving Gand Installation the contract on all the video, audio, and lighting.

“We’re entering our 40th year of business, and it’s our turn now,” he laughs. “Through all these decades, we’ve been around, and now most of our competitors are gone. I’m the last of the independents. There are a handful of new guys coming up, but I’m the last guy standing!”

Band Source – the New Pro Shop In Town New to the Downers Grove neighborhood is a new band pro shop called Band Source. Founded by Pete Biedron, Jarod Bufe, and Matt Johnson, it strives to offer top line horns, top-notch repair service, and an extensive accessories selection. Biedron says all three have united their industry experience, and Bufe and Johnson have stellar reputations as repairmen to the professionals, with Johnson catering largely to the symphony players and Bufe to the top jazz players. Biedron admits that opening a shop like this in July of 2008 seems like a risk, but he maintains that the area’s pros were underserved. “We felt it would take off and it has,” he says. “Right now we’re succeed-

ing more than we had planned, and it feels fantastic.” Yes, Chicago has plenty of stores that carry band products, but Biedron maintains that so many cater to school business that they don’t carry the premium horns with extra features. “That they can come in and play the brass or woodwind has garnered a lot of attention. There’s a lot of ‘I’ve seen that online but never seen it in the music store.’” The store itself is a modest 2,500 square feet, half showroom, and half repair shop/storage.

The recent acquisitions and mergers have helped create this opening, too.

INTRODUCING – Your Customers Will See The Difference Instantly, You’ll See The Sales Fast! JELLYFISH • $129.99* NEW!

A revolutionary new “see through” LED light from American DJ, the music industry’s lighting leader, the Jellyfish sells itself, thanks to its unique appearance, excellent value and performance features. There is nothing else like the Jellyfish on the market.

• Two Effects in One • Unique Clear Plastic Case • Packed With Performance Features • Versatile: Use Sound Active or DMX • Compact & Durable • Earth Friendly - Low Power Draw

MORE EXCITING NEW TURNKEY PRODUCTS:

NEW!

NEW! XPRESS LED • $169.99*

NEW!

See video of the Jellyfish in action at www.americandj.com

AMERICAN DJ DEALER ADVANTAGES: • Great Profit Margins • Monthly Sales Promotions • Knowledgeable Sales & Customer Support Staff To Help Before & After The Sale! • End Users Can Contact ADJ For Tech Support & Repairs So You Can Focus On Sales • ADJ Advantage Customer Loyalty Program

TRIPLEFLEX • $199.99*

Charter Member 2005

000 0001

DJ SPARKY B

WITECH8 WIRELESS • $199.99*

www.americandj.com

Check out video footage of the effects in action, Get Product Details & User Manuals, Join the ADJ Forums & ADJ Advantage Program & Stay up-to-date with ADJ by signing up for the monthly E-News!

See us at NAMM Booth 518 Contact us today about becoming an authorized American DJ Dealer: 800.333.0644 / sales@americandj.com ©2010 American DJ® • www.americandj.com • Los Angeles, CA 90040 USA / Kerkrade, Netherlands Distributed in Canada by Sounds Distribution - Toll Free: 800-26-SOUND • Local: 905-428-9062 • www.soundsdist.com * Pricing in U.S. Dollars, Dealer price may vary.

Quality, Affordable & Reliable Products From A Company You Can Trust!

INTEGRITY–S E RV I C E – Q U A L I T Y

Mrs. Faye Chen

ver the last 20 years we have sought

to build the best pianos possible.

Today, Hailun Pianos are recognized among the finest sounding, best engineered, and best crafted instruments from the Far East. With the help of leading experts

and

piano

designers, Frank Emerson (U.S.A), Peter Veletzky (Austria), Ema Shigeru (Japan), Stephen Paulello (France), we are offering you pianos that are truly amazing.

Hailun USA P. O. Box 1130 Richland, WA 99352

Mr. Hailun Chen Hailun Piano Company is family run. Mrs. Hailun heads the Hailun

Piano operations and quality

control. Mr. Hailun leads

the company internation-

ally, ensures constant technological improvements

and close technological

cooperation with leading European manufactur-

ers. The Hailuns are both

graduates of the Piano Technology School in

Bejing. Hailun insists on the highest level of quality, integrity in product, and excellence in service.

877•946•8078 www.hailun-pianos.com Merchant Inquiries Welcome

When Woodwind & Brasswind became part of Guitar Center, their similar inventory was reduced. “Before we founded the company, we knew we needed Conn-Selmer, and they don’t just hand out dealerships to anybody,” he says. After that anchor, they developed an impressive collection of brands including Azumi, Courtois, Yangisawa, LaVoix, Bach Stradivarius, Shires, and Besson. This is along side of higher end Jupiter, Buffet Crampon, and LeBlanc. Because they are competitive on pricing, they are going into local schools with

the pitch of having a pro shop cater to the pros of tomorrow. “We are able to treat every student musician who comes in the same as we do the pros.” But the basis of the operation is clearly the expertise – and accessibility – of those in the back shop. “The great things with them being co-owners is they can give you a repair estimate right then, and even repair it while you wait. It’s a unique concept, extending an elite customer experience to Biedron, Johnson and Bufe. everybody.”

Andy’s Music/Chicago Drumworks Go for the “Wow” Factor If your musical instrument shopping list includes picking up a harmonium, a hocchiku, a harmonica, and a harpsichord, and you also wish to rent the world’s largest gong, there’s only one place in Chicago – nee, the world – for you. It’s Andy’s Music. Andy Cohn started the operation 20 years ago as a “low-pressure store lled with musical treasures from around the world,”

JULY 2010

but today it takes up a block in Chicago’s Roscoe Village and has grown into a 4,500 square foot shop that has a full service drum store, electric and acoustic guitars, band and orchestra equipment, and a repair shop. It’s actually four stores in one: Music Antica (old world instruments); Music Store (full line, with emphasis on the uncommon); Chicago Drumworks

(Chicago’s only pro drum shop); and a pro rental shop. They are also one of only two Paiste Gong Distributors, and they themselves have one of the largest collections of gongs and sell them to customers from all over the world. “We have this warehouse museum composers performance space that the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs is assisting

MMR 27

in going public a few blocks from the retail store and a block from Andy’s Pro Hire, our concert rental company,” says Cohen. “In there we have as the world’s largest Gong, 14-foot tubular bells, harpsichords, grand pianos, 1826 Musical Glasses, endless exotic percussion, strings, wind, and all kinds of other great instruments.” Matt Espy, a working drummer who now manages the drum shop, has been with the operation for ve years. He describes the interior as a series of rooms so it’s “a bit of a

28 MMR

labyrinth.” In front there are a mix of sitars, singing bowls, banjos, and guitars strings. The store has a “wow” factor and Espy, who was a touring drummer and visited music stores all over the country, attests that he’s never seen anything like Andy’s. In his department, there’s Gretsch and Ludwig kits, plus Spaun and C&C. They do well with Roland electronic drums. They have a wide variety of cymbals including Zildjian, Sabian, and “a huge collection of Paiste.” They also have Dream cymbals and

are currently working to sell Bosphorus. They have a large collection of hand drums including a lot of LP and Tycoon. Selection is key to their success – noting that you really can’t have too much cowbell. “We probably have 40 different styles of cowbell.” “We give drum lessons and occasional clinics, especially gong clinics,” he says. “There’s a good gong community because of the holistic application. There are a lot of yoga studios in town that cater to it.” Business for the drum store is good, though, because of the economy, they are currently expanding their offerings of sticks, cymbals, and snares. “Drum kits are like cars – they don’t sell everyday. People come in and buy more cymbals, though, and I know we beat everybody in town on price.” In addition to Matt, Ted Ceplina and Alex Devul manage the store too. Cohn strives to offer instruments not found in every store. “We have a small collection of Minarik guitars, for example,” Espy says. “Chicago is littered with guitar stores, and that’s not a bad thing, and I regularly refer people to them.” They also have a huge selection of print music. “The most common thing I hear people say when they walk in is, ‘Wow.’”

JULY 2010

SUMMIT DIGITAL CONSOLE POWERFUL AND VERSATILE An advanced digital mixer with the soul and usability of an analog console, the Summit Digital Mixer is the culmination of Phonic’s 35 year mixing and electronics heritage.

Delivers the maximum mixing and recording experience with built-in EQ’s, dynamics, delays, digital effects, signal generator, and meter bridge. Powerful enough to suit multiple applications whether in the studio, home or at a show.

SEE IT FIRST AT THE SUMMER NAMM SHOW

BOOTH #906

EXPANSION SLOT

BACK VIEW

3 YEAR WARRANTY

INCLUDES:

SUMMIT 16X16 EXPANSION CARD A $289 VALUE (INTRODUCTORY OFFER, WHILE SUPPLIES LAST)

Built in are 77 signal processors with a large array of adjustable effects, including: 5 dynamic processors, 25 4-band parametric equalizers, 25 delays, and 2 digital effects processors.

Optional FireWire and USB interface, for recording tracks directly to your computer with the ability of returning back into the channels. Interface is compatible with Windows® XP, Vista, and 7, Mac® OS X, and most popular digital audio workstation programs.

Digital AES/EBU inputs and outputs are included, allowing connection expansion to external digital consoles. A detailed color touch-screen offers concise visual depictions and control of all settings and functions with a high digital algorithm.

444 East Courtland Street • Mundelein, IL USA 60060 • Phone: 847.949.0444 • Fax: 847.949.8444

Flatts & Sharpe Music The Spanish-speaking Central American woman noticed the Haitian Frenchspeaking six-year-old girl struggling with a guitar, so she went over to try to show her a few notes. They had only a few phrases of broken English between them. The impromptu tutorial ended with more laughs then lesson. “It was just a beautiful exchange,” recalls Chris Bell, who witnessed it all while discussing buying Flatts & Sharpe with owner Ed Mooney. “That’s when I knew I wanted to buy the store.” Bell was – and is – a union welder who has kept her day job. (She works construction 6:30 a.m. to 3:00, then gets to the store by 5 Chris Bell and works until 9:00.) Located in Rogers Park, Bell knows well the opportunities and challenges that come with living in one of the most culturally – and musically – diverse neighborhoods in the country. “We’ve changed it pretty dramatically,” she says, noting that on April 1st she entered year four of her five-year plan. “There was 36 years worth of junk that had accumulated, and there was all kinds of dusting to be done.” Currently in the last phase of remodeling, the retail space has been cut in half, though the amount of inventory hasn’t; it’s all just better merchandised. Today there’s a recording/rehearsal studio in the back and teaching rooms. “When I started, there were 18 students a week coming here for lessons. Now we’re up to 130.” There are seven teachers and five coworkers working the floor. (Current “American Idol” contender Crystal Bowersox is a former employee.) The store has always been a good source for sheet music, and Bell has continued that. As she’s in no position to go after the big brand names, the neighborhood works in her favor. “People are all over from Latin America, Europe, Africa … they don’t necessarily know the brand names anyway!” She focuses on the beginner with the entry- and mid-entry level in mind. Bell stocks Oscar Schmidt/Washburn instruments. “I really like [wholesaler] The Music Link products. Their Recording King acoustic guitar is only $300, has a solid top, and is set up well. That’s the kind of the thing we do well with.” There’s Johnson JULY 2010

and VHT amps found in their store, as well as Tycoon Percussion and local Souldier Guitar Straps. But she’s always looking out for new products, saying she regular attends NAMMs always in “hot pursuit for a quality instrument for a decent price.” With limited success they’ve tried to reach out to young kids with a Music Toddler and Musical Zoo program. They also sell local musician’s CDs.

Ben Henke handles their repairs, and Bell says he’s a great draw. She also sells his Henke violins and cellos, as well as the amps and guitars he makes. They also carry Palatino violins. The heart of the operation is the teaching, which she’s passionate about. Bell also says it’s not just for kids: she tells a story of a 30-year-old dad who has been taking drum lessons for a year coming out from a lesson grinning ear to ear. “That’s really what it’s all about.”

See us at NAMM Booth 1420

MMR 31

Next up: the schools. Chris just got a vendor number from the Chicago Public School District, and hopes to branch off to serving them.

Bell says she’s gotten based the biggest hurdle – figuring out how to do business in this business. “As a newbie, I quite frankly had no idea how antiquated some of these

[suppliers] are. I’m baffled that I put in these huge orders, but I’m not allowed to know how much it’s going to cost me until the order ships. It seems crazy to me!”

Jake’s Music Services Celebrates 10th Anniversary Jake’s Music celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Located on the Southside in Alsip, Jake Fields, a working jazz and rock musician, opened the shop after having previously been a repair specialist at Quinlan & Fabish.

The operation started out as a repair shop only, but evolved and now the 2,000 square foot store sells accessories, stringed instruments, and brass and wind instruments. Today they see about 50 students

Jake Fields

a week, all coming to learn piano, woodwinds, bass, guitars, and some brass. “We carry Selmer saxes and trumpets, and a lot of Yamaha [brass],” he says, adding that they just took on L.A. Sax products as well. There’s Johnson and Reynolds guitars, and Martin, Earnie Ball, D’Addario, and Red Label strings. “We were renting instruments, but we stopped; now we’re going to start that back up again.” With the addition of five teaching studies, business has gotten better. Fields caters to the nearly a dozen schools in the neighborhood, providing music teachers with accessories and repair services. He also does well with print music, as the store carries a lot of Hal Leonard products, especially their band method, Essential Elements. Jake’s Music enjoys good relationship with a lot of the more famous local musicians, and sax player Jimmy Ellis and members of the band Chicago regularly stop by.

Rich Rajewski 32 MMR

JULY 2010

Our hybrid goes from homes to concert halls— and everywhere in between. The AvantGrand is a completely unique instrument that can drive piano sales to every market — including educational, professional and institutional — because it’s equally comfortable in a living room, teaching studio or concert hall. With features like the exclusive Tactile Response System, Spatial Acoustic Speaker System and Soundboard Resonator, the AvantGrand possesses, by far, the best sound system ever installed in a hybrid. This 4' piano has the ultimate combination of personal and professional qualities. To get a lift from AvantGrand, talk to your Yamaha Keyboard Division district manager today or call 888.926.2424 to inquire about representing it.

See us at NAMM Booth 618

NEW!

Capo Tuner The ﬁrst capo wth an integrated chromatic tuner

Headstock Tuner

Tru-Strobe™ Pedal Tuner

Ultra-compact and accurate

Strobe tuning accuracy with an easy-to-read display

tuned for proﬁts ﬁnely

Universal II Chromatic Tuner Low on price, high on features

Metronome Tuner Easy-to-read supersized display

Our new tuner line delivers targeted features for the musician AND strong margins for you.

S.O.S Tuner

Tru-Strobe™ Tuner

LED strobe-on-string tuning

Great for pros, setups, & studio

Deluxe Tuner & Metronome The ultimate practice workstation

Y[[]kkgja]k 5 hjgÕ lk Contact your D’Addario sales representative today! See us at NAMM Booth 1401

unparalleled customer service · orders in by 4:00pm out the same day · merchandising display options planetwaves.com I 1.800.323.2746 D’Addario & Company Inc. I Farmingdale NY 11735 I daddario.com D’Addario and Planet Waves are trademarks of D’Addario & Company, Inc. or its afﬁliates in the US and/or other countries. © 2010 D’Addario & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.

Old Town School Music: “Nonproﬁt” – No Joke Old Town School of Music is nonprofit. Tim Joyce, manager of the retail section, laughs when it’s pointed out a lot of independent retailers feel that way these days, before he notes that Old Town really is. Joyce, who has been with the organization a decade, says they haven’t been immune to the general retail slump. “Last year was pretty rough, but things are starting to open up a bit. Student’s tuition pays a huge chunk for the operational cost, but the store’s goal is to contribute as much as possible.” Old Town was founded in 1957. It boasts a 400-seat concert hall. About 200 teachers provide lessons to over 6,000 students a week. They are located in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, which Joyce says has the feel of a small college town. They do many programs with Chicago public schools.

The retail section is around 3,500 square feet. “We carry a lot of low- to mid-priced products, catering primarily from the beginner to the high intermediate student. It’s mostly acoustic instruments plus a handful of electric guitars. We pride ourselves on the weirder stuff – the hammer dulcimer, unusual flutes.” He says they do well with the less expensive Martin, Seagull, and Larrivee guitars, in addition to Oscar Schmidt. “We just took on Great Divide – we’re just figuring that out, but so far that response has been good.” They sell Fender Squire Acoustics for $99, Fender and Eastman guitars, and Aer, Fender and Fishman amps. Other acoustic instruments include brands like Deering, Gold Tone, and Kentucky. They also carry some Korg and Yamaha keyboards, and LP hand percussion. They do well with print, particularly Hal

Leonard, but also carry Alfred, Mel Bay, Jamey Aebersold, and other smaller publishers’ products. “We try to have something for all folks at all levels, folks at ground zero to those playing for years and wanting to do advanced fi nger style music.” They reach out to the community with a lot of direct email and during as many events as possible. Recently, Shure was in doing a recording and live micing workshop. “We’re writing grants for programs all the time,” he says. The grants are as diverse as the people they serve. For example, recently they received a grant funding for a Tyco drumming concert. Mostly their customers get it: “We have people come in and say all the time they know they can get something for a little less online, but they want to support the store.”

Fat Tone Guitars New Retailer Finds Success Phil Vickman is one of the new guys in town – he opened his Fat Tone Guitars in 2007. Located in Northbrook, the former computer tech and bass player took a chance on the MI business, and despite the not-so-great timing, he’s making it work. Fat Tone still looks to distinguish itself as the place that has guitars you don’t see everywhere else, but it’s more recently positioned itself as the pedal shop. “Our 2009 was up 25 percent from 2008, and it’s largely because of some of the changes we’ve made,” Vickman says. “Our big shift in inventory from guitars and amps to effect pedals has accounted for the sales. Overall dollar amount, pedal sales are equal to, if not passing, our guitar sales.” Considering it takes five pedal sales to equal the sales of one $750 guitar, that’s impressive. He realized that if players couldn’t get that next guitar, they could fi nd a cool pedal that changed their tone. Of course selection was important: “I bet we have 40 manufacturers,” he says. It’s as deep as it is wide, as he carries overdrives, wahwahs, delays, “you name and we have it.” Found among the well-known pedals like Boss, Dunlap, Digitech, and DanelecJULY 2010

tro, are products from small boutiquelike companies. He’s partnered with one, Ohio-based Earthquaker, to create an exclusive pedal only available at Fat Tone.

“When you come to the store, the pedals are all out of the box and featured in accessible display cases. We’re not in a high traffic location, but players know if

MMR 35

they come they can try a bunch of pedals and get personalized service.” Fat Tone makes good use of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. “We make coupon codes available and those who follow us take advantage of them.” They also have monthly in store events. “We call it After Hours at Fat Tone. We have a little stage and PA system and lights built in where local bands, even some customers, come and play.” Vickman drives all those via social networking sites, too. But he’s still selling guitars, and most recently high-end instruments from

Nash Guitars and Fano are doing well. He’s also carrying DBZ, whose HQ is located in his neighborhood, allowing him the advantage of driving over and picking out whatever he wants. Otherwise he’s doing well with Eastwood, Gretsch, and Ampeg Dan Armstrong. “We’ve added Lackland, and those are great bases.” Fat Tone has also gone the boutique route with amps: Port City and Egnater are doing well, as are Vox. Finally, Fat Tone is another local store supporting locally made Soulder Straps.

Hix Brothers Music Combo Shop Refocuses, Gets Employees More Involved Peter Hix has been making music since he was five and, by the time he was eight, playing uke in his father’s Hawaiian band and getting paid for it, he knew he wanted to be in the business. His father, John Hix, founded the store in 1946. In 1996, John and his wife retired and handed the keys off to three of their sons (they had ten children). Peter Hix runs the operation with his younger brothers Andrew and Carl. Sister Amy handles the books and event coordination (“a very difficult job which she does well”), and other family members work part time from time to time. Today Hix Brothers Music has nine teaching studios, offers guitar and amp repair services, has a dedicated audio/

tube amp room, and an acoustic guitar room. In 2003, they opened a second location in Batavia. They have four full time people and five part timers, and a variety of teachers who teach around 750 to 850 students a week. “We redefined what we were doing recently, and we’ve cut back on some lines, focused more on others,” Peter says. “We needed to be strong in what we do.” Before the advent of big box stores and the Internet, they were the biggest Fender dealer in the state; today they aren’t even a Fender dealer. They carry ESP, Ibanez, Parker, Samick, Stagg, Art & Luthier, Godin guitars. “Tanglewood guitars are doing well and we do a real nice business with Hohner,” he says. “Our accessory lines have been strong.”

Peter Hix 36 MMR See us at NAMM Booth 1300

JULY 2010

Where Do You Go for

The Best in Piano Education?

HAL LEONARD!

You only have to make one phone call to supply your store with the titles your piano instructors and students need to succeed. From our own Hal Leonard Student Piano Library to Faber Piano Adventures and Willis Music along with thousands of supplemental titles, we are your one-stop shop for everything needed to teach and learn piano! When youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re looking for the best in music print, look to Hal Leonard. Call by r July 31 fo ts n u o c is extra d es! tl ti e s e on th

The Hal Leonard E-Z Order Line

1-800-554-0626 www.halleonard.com See us at NAMM Booth 1018

Drum-wise they carry Mapex, Ludwig, Tama, Taye, and DDrum drums, and Stagg and Zildjian cymbals. Line 6, Mesa Boogie, Roland, and Stagg amps are usually on the floor, and Gold Tone and Johnson instruments are found on their walls. A key component to their success is their Rock U events, which bring out up to 600 people, and is held at a big local nightclub. “We do three recitals a year, featuring 35

bands of players young and old,” Hix says. Most recently, they did one with a “British Invasion” theme doing a lot of Who, with some Kinks and Rolling Stones. Meanwhile back at the shop, they aren’t being idle in these times. “We’ve instigated more staff meetings,” he tells. By April they already had 12 such meetings. These are spurring employees to get more involved: Committees are getting

formed, additional promotions tried, and ideas to build off of Rock U are coming out, including encouraging an all girl blues band. As for the economy, “nobody knows. State’s broke. There’s been a lot of wasteful spending and graft. The pension fund for state workers is in bad shape. I just have to stay focused on what we do well.”

Steinway of Chicago Strengthens Operation, Sets Sites on Institutional Business Steinway of Chicago is a division of Jordan Kitt’s Music, and the Windy City’s operation dates back to 1950. That was year it was awarded an Allen Organ franchise, and is today the oldest Allen Organ dealer in the world. The Steinway & Sons dealership was awarded in 1988, and 20 years later, Jordan Kitt’s Music bought it. Today they serve the Chicago area with two stores. Executive vice president Chris Syllaba has been with Jordan Kitt’s since 1984, and moved to the Chicago area in 2008.

JULY 2010

“The area was underserved,” he says. “The sales, operation, and service staff was phenomenal, and we added three additional people to strengthen the organization.” The continuing challenge though is Chicago’s geography – in theory they could have another eight storefronts to cover the area. Obviously, that’s not feasible, though Syllaba adds that they’d love to add a third store some day. The Chicago store’s doing well, in part because of institutional sales. “We were able

to increase it dramatically,” Syllaba says. Not that it happened overnight, and much of their work of the past couple of years is just now coming to fruition. Lee Maloney handles both institutional sales for pianos and Allen organs, and Ralph Cox was brought on to just focus on pianos. In addition to the Steinway products, they also carry Cristofori and Roland products. “I think one of the things we’ve done differently is we haven’t stopped the pro-

MMR 39

motion machine,” he says. “We’re still doing a lot of outside promotions, and still spending a lot of money on advertising.” They also do a lot of “personal things” like piano buying seminars and free recitals featuring regional and national artist. “Last year we brought the Five Browns

and that drove 500 people into the store. It was a phenomenal event.” Another event featured jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis and a visit by Steinway president Ron Losby. “Since the beginning of this year, the high end market has started perking up,” he says. “The low end has stayed pretty

good, with digital and vertical sales up. What has suffered is the middle price point, and that’s still challenging to a certain degree today.” He thinks that will return when home sales do. “But the luxury market is starting to break open again.”

The Drum Pad Celebrates 25th Anniversary “Business is getting better,” reports Jim Streich. “Hopefully it can’t get any worse. It’s been a struggle.” About 26 years ago, Streich was a “just a teacher” for another store in the area, and was inspired to open his own teaching studio. With a little extra money, he started buying a few sticks and heads and slowly kept putting money into his operation. A quarter of a century later, the 7,500 square foot operation resides in a strip mall in Palatine’s downtown. In addition to Streich, there are three full time people, two part timers, and six teachers. They tutor 150 drum students a week and are open seven days a week.

40 MMR

There’s a lot of selection found here: Ludwig, Sonar, Yamaha, Pearl, Zildjian, Paiste, Grestch, DW, Premier, Tama, ddrum, and Meinl products. “We also carry things from some boutique manufacturers, like GMS, Brady, Trick… Porkpie is really popular now.” Electronic drum kits include Roland and Yamaha. The hand drum products he carries include LP and Toca, but that market is “a little more than flat” right now. “We had a good run with that for a number of years, and now it’s different.” Despite the selection of high-end kits, he says like many drum sellers, currently

the action seems to be at the $1,000 price point. Streich chooses not to do a lot of school business as the public school bidding process usually tilts toward the well-established band and orchestra retailers. “It’s hard to go up against that, plus the directors are all looking for rebates, and I’m not in the mood to just give stuff away.” That said he’s earned the respect of some discriminating band directors who depend on the Drum Pad for quality help with their percussion needs. He says he benefits from Chicago’s good live music scene, and has built good

JULY 2010

WE CONNECT YOUR CUSTOMERS TO THEIR MUSIC No one is more in touch with today’s drummers than Zildjian. We tested our 13 new cymbal models with the drumming community at our “Zildjian on Tour”, Zildjian Artist Summits and PASIC events to be sure that we were introducing products that your customers would value the most. These models created the greatest buzz of all the potential NEW models we showed. If you want to connect with your customers, connect with Zildjian. PICTURED FROM TOP TO BOTTOM: 15” ORIENTAL CHINA “TRASH”, 20” A CUSTOM EFX, 22” K LIGHT FLAT RIDE, 22” ZHT RIDE, 22” K CONSTANTINOPLE “BOUNCE” RIDE. ALSO AVAILABLE (NOT PICTURED): 22” K CONSTANTINOPLE THIN RIDE OVERHAMMERED,. 14” A CUSTOM EFX, 18“ & 16” K EFX, 15” ZHT MASTERSOUND HIHAT, 13” ORIENTAL CHINA “TRASH”

See us at NAMM Booth 600

NOW WITH A 2 YEAR CYMBAL WARRANTY

See us at NAMM Booth 1226

relations with the drummers around town. This is helped by their sponsoring events featuring drummers like Simon Phillips (Jeff Beck, Toto, Pete Townshend, Stanley Clarke, et cetera). “Normally you can only see an artist like that in a

club, but when someone like Simon come through and want to do something with us, and that’s kinda cool. “I really believe in clinics, but we’ve been getting less support from the manufacturers so we’ve had to cut back a

little,” he says. “I have seen attendance drop a little for them over the last few years,” but they may have saturated the market with them. “Maybe people got lackadaisical about them. They are hard to keep up.”

Family Piano Company: “A Happy Place to Be” “We wanted to accomplish a couple of things,” says Alice Alviani of opening Family Piano with Mark MacLeod in 2006. “Our backbone has been in refurbishing, but we also wanted a recital area.” Add to that some used pianos they can finance, some new lines, teaching studios, a coffee house, and some “happy yellow” paint on the wall, and you’ve an uncommon operation. “We felt it was an underserved community,” she says of the North Chicago area. “It’s less affluent.” Alviani has been a technician/tuner for 16 years, and MacLeod for 27, with her experience being primarily individuals and his institutional (he was formerly with Steinway of Chicago). They stated off small, but after their fi rst NAMM

visit in 2007, they came home and expanded to 3,600 square feet. “We opened a coffee shop with free WiFi, an idea we got from NAMM where we saw [Beacock’s Music’s] Gayle Beacock speak. It’s brimming with activity all the time with people coming in for coffee and be with friends. It’s made the store a happy place to be.” MacLeod adds that the coffee house is a good marketing tool. “We’re the only coffee house on the planet

...

where you can sit with two concerts grand’s that cost a half a million dollars! And it’s

perfect f l aw l e s s

From $239.00 to $3399.00 List.

For further information please contact your St. Louis Music Sales Representative or call 1-800-727-4512 Email: Rich Dumstorff at rich@usbandsupplies.com www.alvarezgtr.com www.stlouismusic.com

JULY 2010

See us at NAMM Booth 436

MMR 43

America’s Premier Guitar & Bass Parts Supplier

Delta Series by GOTOH

The best capo for intonation for the past 30 years

is still the best today!

1:21 ratio

Like your ﬁngertip... Most capos use a material to press the strings that is too hard. It bends the string over the fret, stretching it sharp. The SHUBB capo’s special material acts just like your fingertip: the strings relax into the resilient rubber, so they are

NOT STRETCHED OUT OF TUNE! learn more at: www.shubb.com/bestcapo

AVAILABLE IN A VARIETY OF FINISHES & STYLES

Send $4 US for COLOR CATALOG 13027 Brittmoore Park Drive, Houston, Texas 77041

707-843-4068 info@shubb.com | www.shubb.com See us at NAMM Booth 1010

The Sound of Italy

18 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD BECOME AN ORLA DEALER 1. KX10 PORTABLE KEYBOARD 2. KX10 PIANO ACCORDION KEYBOARD 3. STAGE PLAYER 4. STAGE ENSEMBLE 5. STAGE PRO 6. STAGE PRO LITE 7. T3 TYROS STAND 8. CH176 CHURCH KEYBOARD 9. CLASSICAL 88 CHURCH KEYBOARD

10. CDP10 CONTEMPORARY 11. CDP20 CONTEMPORARY 12. CDP25 CONTEMPORARY 13. CDP31 CONTEMPORARY 14. CDP45 ENSEMBLE 15. GRAND 310 16. GRAND 450 ENSEMBLE 17. GRAND THEATRE ORGAN 18. COMPACT THEATRE ORGAN

E-mail: info@orlausa.com East coast office: 516.502.4001 West coast office: 513.543.0909 ©OrlaUSA 2010

Find Breaking News in the Hot News section of MMR’s Web site, www.MMRmagazine.com 44 MMR

the best way to close a sale. You show off a piano, you sit down for a cup of coffee, ‘St. Louis Blues’ is playing in the background, and you make sale.” “When we go to the NAMM show, we try to play everything, and we really like our Perzina and Hailun for the medium market, Sauter for high end, and then Falcone for entry level,” she says. “They aren’t the most well-known brand, but we find the ‘little’ guys have the most pride in their product and turn out a better product for the price.” “Aside from product, Chris Vance of Piano Empire [Perzina] is the most honest guy in pianos,” Macloed says. “He never gives a bad deal.” He adds that the people at Hailun and Sauter are also outstanding to deal with. “Casilias Strnek, marketing director of Sauter, has provided us with a nine-foot instrument for a local university,” he says. “Now the Sauter is their primary choice for performances.” Recently Family Piano started branching out into the band and orchestra rental business. Yet every move with these two seems personal: “When a kid from this neighborhood gets that shiny ‘new’ sax, it’s really special,” Alviani says. “We have a lot of two hanky moments going on around here.” They work with Veritas Instrument Rentals out of Florida, who are “really passionate musicians, and have top notch instruments.” The advantage is any additional instrument is just a day or two away. “You don’t have to tell a little girl who came in for a clarinet that you’re out and she has to play the flute.” Marketing-wise, they also reach out to schools, scout troupes, etc., to make their place available for field trips, which they get regularly. They also spend money on advertising – from $20 PTO newsletter ads, SEO companies that get their Web site ranked high, to humorous radio ads. “I think the unconventional is a successful business model today,” MacLeod says. “When the Sauter people were here, they took us out to dinner and said we’re the wave of the future: technicians selling pianos. Other sales people could be selling pianos one day, waterbeds the next.” JULY 2010

S T C U D O R MUSIC P SHOP FOR P O T S E N O D YOUR MAKE ALFRE

FIC BY STOCKING ❯ INCREASE STORE TRAF ING PRODUCTS IN-DEMAND, TOP-SELL MUSIC PRODUCTS ❯ COMBINE YOUR PRINT/NG AND SAVE ON SHIPPI RED ❯ TOP DISCOUNTS OFFE ❯ NO MINIMUM ORDER ❯ FREE DISPLAY OPTIONS FOR YOUR STORE, ❯ CUSTOMIZED FLYERS TO HELP YOU SELL!

Best selling, top-quality LED music lights.

92-51810 Duet 2

92-53510 Orchestra Light

#1 in music and instrument stands.

Reco

JSB

igital

The industry leader in recording products.

S50

Bar

iton

eld D andh

e Sa

x St

H R10

and

TEAC

V TEAC

VR10 W

Handh

eld Dig

ital Re

corde

r Whit

JSMS500 Music Stand

rder Black

NEW!

ALFRED EXCLUSIVE!

Booth #1118

Contact your sales rep today!

PHONE (800) 292-6122 FAX (800) 632-1928 WEB alfred.com/dealer E-MAIL sales@alfred.com

News

ADVERTORIAL â&#x20AC;˘ JULY 2010

visit us online at www.namm.org empowered them to make changes in their own businesses. The experience resembled a friend putting an arm around their shoulders and saying, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I know you can do it!â&#x20AC;?

Note from Joe NAMM U Grows While Nurturing New Ideas Over the past seven years, NAMM U has experienced phenomenal growthâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the attendance numbers are a powerful reminder of the value our Members place on the sessions and their information- and idea-ďŹ lled discussions. Attendance at both shows has increased by 147 percent since 2003. Personally, it has been an honor to welcome everyone to the NAMM Show during the opening morning â&#x20AC;&#x153;Breakfast of Championsâ&#x20AC;? session in Anaheim and the â&#x20AC;&#x153;State of the Industry Addressâ&#x20AC;? in Nashvilleâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; what a great way to start the show! So whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s different? Why such a big increase in attendance? I believe there were a couple of key factors. NAMM Members recognized the world was changing and that proactive businesspeople would be best prepared to thriveâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;we had a motivated group! Second, our Members told us that peerto-peer sharing was important to them. They wanted to hear from real business owners who had â&#x20AC;&#x153;walked in their shoesâ&#x20AC;? while feeling the pressure to pay the bills and make payroll. These conversations gave them solutions to big challenges and

â&#x20AC;&#x153;This deďŹ nitely expanded my knowledge of the business. It has opened my eyes and helped me improve in selling.â&#x20AC;? #(%29, 3-//4 "%242!.$ 3 -53)# s !33)34!.4 -!.!'%2

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a whole new world out there and time for us to get with it. Classes like this help us build our ďŹ rst web page and avoid old mistakes! Thank you.â&#x20AC;? %$ (),"%24 (),"%24 0)!./3 s 02%3)$%.4

I believe we also solved a major question as to why people didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t attendâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;lack of timeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and addressed this need by serving breakfast each morning! (Never underestimate the power of a free meal!) In doing so, we added an hour to everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s day, perfect for taking in a NAMM U session. We also placed the Idea Center right on the show ďŹ&#x201A;oor and scheduled shorter, more focused sessions, helping to make the most of our Membersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; time between meetings with exhibitors. In addition, NAMM U Online now complements the educational offerings with modules focusing on sales, ďŹ nance, management, lesson programs, technology and retail ideas. We also included video of many of the top Breakfast Sessions and Idea Center presentations, as well as posting dozens of quick tips from the most famous names in the business. In our annual survey, Members told us that NAMM U is a major reason they attend NAMM trade shows. Elsewhere, it would cost thousands of dollars to attend similar professional development sessions. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve assembled the best and brightest to share their proven strategies so you can return home ready to take on the world! Our promise to you is to continue offering sessions that provide value and will help increase your chance of success.

*OE ,AMOND s .!-- 0RESIDENT #%/

h'REAT TO SEE SUCCESS STORIES OF PEOPLE WHO CAME to NAMM, listened and then did.â&#x20AC;? *)- &!2%9 -53)# ,%!2.).' #526% s 4%!#(%2

h'OOD IDEAS FOR OUR REGIONAL STORES 4HE INSTRUCTOR WAS right that the market is there; we just need to work hard to tap into those new students.â&#x20AC;? *5$9 0).% 7%34 -53)# s 6)#% 02%3)$%.4

NAMM News

July

2010

-date on the . To keep up-to tter shed by NAMM bli gital e-newsle pu Di is ck ws ba r PLAY NAMM Ne , sign up for ou ws ne try us . g ind tal@namm.org latest breakin at playbackdigi

Get Connected with NAMM U Online

7HEN YOU LEAVE 3UMMER .!-- YOU LL BRING BACK NAMM U tips and tactics for improving your business… but what about the rest of the year? That’s where NAMM U Online comes in. Supplement your knowledge base by tuning in to a variety of videos, articles, interviews and training courses—from the comfort of your home or ofﬁce.

NAMM U Online is designed to provide you with the support and help you need year-round. From quick tips and NAMM U Breakfast Session videos to online courses—NAMM U Online provides the resources you need to advance your business in the areas of: s &INANCE s 3ALES s ,ESSON 0ROGRAMS s 2ETAIL )DEAS

Plug into this valuable Member resource at www.namm.org today!

s 4ECHNOLOGY

20th Annual

Prole American Music Dealer of the

Store Fronts Holding Steady at 7,993

Quoting Yogi Berra, “its Déjà vu all over again”

as for the third consecutive year, MMR’s dealer tally reveals little overall movement in the number of music dealer store fronts, showing a marginal net increase from 7,981 store fronts in 2009 to a present day count of 7,993. On a state-by-state count, 21 states registered a gain and 27 states recorded a loss of units, with three remaining the same as last year. The largest gains were in Texas, Utah, Louisiana, Michigan, Georgia, Florida, and Colorado. States experiencing the greatest unit loss were Alabama, Missouri, Minnesota, Ohio, Washington, and Rhode Island. Our chain report (December 2009) showed a loss of 17 units; 69 chains with a total of 774 branches. This is compared to 70 chains (three or more units) with a total of 791 for the previous year. As in past years, a handful of veteran retailers closed their doors: Wisconsin’s Henri’s Music (three units); White’s Music Center (four stores in California); Indiana’s Smith Holden; Chuck Day’s Music Center (Michigan); and Omaha’s Renier Pianos (50 years). In more recent days (see pg. 6) we reported the closing of Portland’s Sheet Music Service, a 93 year old print music firm that was acquired by Texas based Penders Music in 2005. On a more positive note, the McFayden Music name re-appeared in Hope Mills, North Carolina as two former employees of the longtime chain, Joe Chambers and Al Woodruff, revived the brand. The duo also operate a Musicenter store in the state. McFayden had previously been in business for nearly 100 years and had multiple locations when it was acquired by Brook Mays Music in 2000. The stores were closed in 2006 when Brook Mays filed for bankruptcy. While specialty piano dealers had an 88 unit drop (432 units in 2009 to 344 in 2010) there was a few bright spots as the Steinway Gallery of St. Louis opened a second unit in Virginia and Hollywood Piano, a fixture in the Los Angeles 48 MMR

JULY 2010

Prole of the American Music Dealer

8600 8400 8200 8000 7000

JULY 2010

-3.7%

2006 +1.4%

2007 -3.2%

2008

+.029%

2009

+/-.0%

2010

+1.3%

7993 Stores: What Do They Sell? % of Stores Selling Category

market (1928) opened a second unit, a 7,000 square foot facility in Pasadena. In what may be a prototype for future growth, Daddy’s Junky Music opened a seasonal store in a shopping mall outside the Boston area. “It was pretty much a holiday store and if somebody wanted something more we directed them to a nearby full line store. As a result our traffic numbers were up so clearly some good things came of it.” Internet sales continue to grow as dealers broaden their inventories to appeal to a cyber consumer and invest in more user friendly web-sites. Woodwind and Brasswind founder Dennis Bamber has also re-entered the Internet scene with a new online operation, Musicfactorydirect.com For the first time in several years every dealer product category showed an increase. While dealers continue to play it close to the vest with streamlined inventories there is some evidence that stores are stocking more accessory items with a broader appeal in an effort to increase traffic both in store and on their internet sites.

+0.1%

2005

% Change

-0.4%

2004

Change

+2.9%

2003

2010

2002

2009

2001

Keyboard/Piano/Organ

4277

4312

+35

+.81%

54%

Band & Orchestra

3362

3446

+84

+2.5%

43%

Drums/Percussion

3685

3772

+87

+2.4%

47%

Sound Reinf./Rec’g.

3403

3676

+273

+8%

46%

Fretted Inst.

4680

4785

+105

+2.2%

60%

Print Music

3651

3742

+91

+2.5%

47%

Fretted instrument dealers continue to be the largest segment of the dealer market place, however the largest gain in product categories were dealers adding sound reinforcement /pro audio equipment to their mix. While maintaining slimmer inventories, dealers are expanding their product mix in other categories, especially those dealerships increasing their Internet sales. This was the first year since 2004 when all product categories recorded an increase in number of store fronts.

MMR 49

Proď&#x192;&#x17E;le of the American Music Dealer

Percentage Shares by Product Type Sell Keyboard/Piano/Organ

Sell Sound Reinf./Recording Equipment

2007

52.9%

2007

43%

2008

53.22%

2008

43.82%

2009

53.6%

2009

42.6%

2010

54%

2010

46%

Sell Band & Orchestra Instruments

Sell Fretted Instruments

2007

42.3%

2007

58.9%

2008

41.63%

2008

60.79%

2009

42.2%

2009

58.6%

2010

43%

2010

60%

Sell Drums/Percussion

Sell Print Music

2007

48.72%

2007

46.5%

2008

47.94%

2008

44.79%

2009

46.2%

2009

45.7%

2010

47%

2010

47%

Within the total store count of 7,993 units, 2,152 are classified as specialty operations (as near as we can determine a store that has approximately 90 percent of their volume within in a single category: for example, an acoustic piano dealer who may also carry print music. While this is a decrease from 2,440 specialty units the previous year, a closer inspection of these stores indicate a broadening of their inventories moving them into multi product selling, again, as cited in previous examples, paced by accessory products and an increase in internet sales.

50 MMR

2010

2009

Specialty Stores 2010 Keyboard/Piano /Organ

432

344

Band & Orchestra

360

350

Drums/Percussion

193

175

Sound Reinforcement/Recâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;g.

431

367

String/Fretted Inst.

909

816

Print Music

115

100

JULY 2010

We get it. There are not enough hours in your days. Your customers need you. Your employees need you. Everyone is pulling at you and you just want to make your work load easier.

Dana B. Goods is the exclusive US distributors for:

Dana B. Goods is here to help! With one simple call you

Guitars, Bass and Accessories

can order a wide variety of instruments and accessories. Our sales team are known for their low-pressure, fun attitude which makes ordering a pleasant experience.

By working with Dana B. Goods you get:

Michael Tobias Design

A wide variety of profitable, quality products Excellent customer support A painless, low-stress ordering process Tons of product training materials Aggressive product marketing A heck of a good time!

Analog Effect Pedals

Switchers

Ukuleles, Gig Bags and Stands

Microphones

Guitars

Call Dana B. Goods at (800) 741-0109 today and start having a good time all of the time! Dana B. Goods 4054 Transport Street, Unit A, Ventura CA 93003

danabgoods.com

sales@danabgoods.com

Prole of the American Music Dealer

State

total Stores 2009

total Stores 2010

Unit Change

State

total Stores 2009

total Stores 2010

Unit Change

State-By-State Breakdown

ALABAMA

136

127

-9

MONTANA

-1

ALASKA

-4

NEBRASKA

ARIZONA

135

131

-4

NEVADA

ARKANSAS

-2

NEW HAMPSHIRE

-4

CALIFORNIA

1020

1022

NEW JERSEY

211

215

COLORADO

129

134

NEW MEXICO

CONNECTICUT

126

125

-1

NEW YORK

501

497

-4

DELAWARE

-1

NORTH CAROLINA

220

224

DIST OF COLUMBIA

NORTH DAKOTA

-2

FLORIDA

396

402

OHIO

334

327

-7

GEORGIA

224

237

OKLAHOMA

HAWAII

-4

OREGON

130

132

IDAHO

PENNSYLVANIA

376

372

-4

ILLINOIS

355

353

-2

RHODE ISLAND

-5

INDIANA

192

191

-1

SOUTH CAROLINA

108

110

IOWA

-4

SOUTH DAKOTA

KANSAS

-2

TENNESSEE

187

191

KENTUCKY

130

135

TEXAS

430

440

+10

LOUISIANA

100

UTAH

+10

MAINE

-1

VERMONT

-1

MARYLAND

115

112

-3

VIRGINIA

197

196

-1

MASSACHUSETTS

202

201

-1

WASHINGTON

204

199

-5

MICHIGAN

228

235

WEST VIRGINIA

MINNESOTA

164

157

-7

WISCONSIN

162

166

MISSISSIPPI

-1

WYOMING

MISSOURI

171

163

-8

TOTAL:

7981

7993

52 MMR

JULY 2010

Proď&#x192;&#x17E;le of the American Music Dealer

Q Increase Q Decrease No Change

State Gains 2010

Biggest gains by number of units were Texas, Utah, Michigan, Lousiana, Georgia, Florida, Colorado and Kentucky. Gainers (21) California Colorado Florida Georgia Kentucky Louisiana

State Losses 2010

Biggest losses by number of units were Alabama, Missouri, Minnesota, Ohio, Washington and Rhode Island.

Even

District of Columbia, Idaho, Wyoming

Michigan Nebraska Nevada New Jersey New Mexico North Carolina

Oklahoma Oregon South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas

Utah West Virginia Wisconsin

Illinois Iowa Kansas Maine Maryland Massachusetts Minnesota Mississippi

Missouri Montana New Hampshire New York North Dakota Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Island

Vermont Virginia Washington

Even (3) District of Columbia Idaho Wyoming

Decliners (27) Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas Connecticut Delaware Hawaii Indiana

54 MMR

JULY 2010

FENDER 速 STRINGS... GET THE FULL EXPERIENCE

Mike Stern Greenwich Village, NY February 2010 Photo: Adam Stockett

Made in USA www.fender.com

SHOW REPORT

2010 MIAC Takes It Downtown

ocation, location, location! Location matters when it comes to buying and selling real estate, but: how about a tradeshow? Well, the answer to that depends on who you talk to. This year, the Music Industries Association of Canada (MIAC), along with Pro Audio and Lighting (PAL), hosted its annual convention, which was moved from their longtime location at Toronto’s Pearson Airport to downtown Toronto’s Direct Energy Centre – Canada’s largest exhibition and convention center. In addition to the change in venue, the dates for the show were also moved. Instead of the traditional late August timeframe, this year’s show was held on May 18 and 19.

CN Tower 56 MMR

From the outside, the Direct Energy Centre appears ominous, covering what looks to be five city blocks. The show was held in one of the Centre’s seven exhibit halls, occupying 125,000 square feet of the Centre’s one million square feet in total. Unlike past years, MIAC and PAL shared the same exhibit hall, separated by the large main, center aisle. Attendance numbers, for both manufacturers and dealers, appeared to be down from last year. Was this due to the still-lagging economy, the time of year, or

the new venue? The Direct Energy Centre is certainly a well-staffed, full-service, state-of-the-art venue, but back to the original question of location. Manufactures’ opinions on this topic varied wildly. An hour after the show’s official opening was commemorated with a ribbon cutting, a jet-lagged, yet upbeat and animated Tim Elvy of Legere Reeds stood at the far end of the showroom floor, touting the new packing for Legere Reeds to a pair of MI dealers. Tim had just reJULY 2010

1. CF Martin’s Bruce Mariano 2. Taylor product specialist Mike Gladstone 3. Alfred’s Penny Eaton 4. Wesley Kruse on drums for Roland 5. Bill Filek & Andrew Swift of Stagg Music 6. Harvey Levy of Levy’s Leathers 7. Roland’s Fernand LaPierre 8. Kathleen Stokholm & Tim Elvy of Legere Reeds

turned from a world-wind, five-city tour, meeting with distributors for Legere in Europe. When asked how the show was going he replied, “Great! I just got off a plane and have had no sleep, but so far, so good. Moving this downtown was a great idea!” Down the aisle from the Legere Reeds was the CF Martin booth. Martin’s Bruce Mariano expressed a similar sentiment saying, “The downtown location is so much better than the airport and so is the time of year,” but he also cautioned, “It will take some time though. This is going to be a slow show this year. I know it’s early in the day, but I can just feel it in the air.” Doug Davies of Yorkville Sound expressed his own concerns about the move: “I have reservations about this show being downtown. The hotel, food, parking, it’s all much more expensive here. It’s difficult to get around in the city with all of the traffic.” He was not the only one who was a bit ruffled by the traffic. On Saturday, the day before the show opened, all JULY 2010

of the manufacturers headed to Toronto Ash were displaying the Reunion Blues to unload and set up their equipment and line of cases. This was the first MIAC merchandise at the Energy Centre. There show for Dave, Allan, and Reunion Blues, was a small glitch, one and they were happy to that made the journey be a part of it. As Allan into the city a drawn expressed, “This is our out nightmare of first time here, and we sorts: The Gardiner are just very excited to Expressway, an eightbe doing it. We’ve had lane thoroughfare some good feedback; that connects downit’s been great so far.” town Toronto to its Besides the move to suburbs and airport, the city’s center, there was closed for repairs. were new features added Walking around the this year. Notably, there showroom floor, one were more live perforsensed that there was mances and dining opnot a single person in tions at the show. Yamathe room who hadn’t ha made the most of been held up by the both by sponsoring and inconvenient closure, providing the PA and including MMR staff. stage gear for the CanaOf course there dian Musician Showcase -Linda Booth, Guitar Booth were those who weren’t Café. The Café and stage bothered by location, traffic, or the conwere in the main lobby of the Direct Energy cession food. Dave Andrus and Allan Centre. The Café featured a wide range of

“Moving the show downtown this year is fantastic. There is so much more to do. Come on, most of these people are musicians; they like parties and having a good time. Why do you think so many people go to NAMM?”

MMR 57

1. Lanikai Ukuleles 2. Rapco International’s Jim Samson, Dave Babyn, & Rick Janusz 3. Kosta Karabotsos of Guerilla Guitars 4. Dream Cymbal’s Craig Snowden & Andy Morris 5. Nasom’s Prosper Adjetey 6. Kim Prussky of Audio One 7. Hal Leonard’s Andrea Oppermann

8. Yorkville’s Tim Marshall, Jeremy Berger, & Doug Davies 9. Roy Harper of MXL 10. Yamaha’s latest DTX electronic drums series 11. Daisy Rock’s Debutante Heartbreaker guitar 58 MMR

performances by Canadian musicians. While being entertained, visitors were also able to have a drink from the bar and enjoy lunch or a snack. The Café was located under the expansive windows of the Direct Energy Centre’s grand lobby, which also affords a view of Lake Ontario. On both Sunday and Monday, the MIAC Learning Lunch Session was open and free for all to attend. The lunchtime seminar topic was focused around building a profitable music lesson program. As they have every year, MIAC offers these lunchtime seminars to give MI dealers the opportunity to attend educational seminars about areas and information that impact the industry and their business. In partnership with the Toronto Audio Engineering Society (AES), PAL hosted two morning and afternoon panel discussions on both days. Discussion topics covered budgeting and new technology for recording studios, marketing tools, and connecting with clients. Budgeting and marketing are important, but people also like to have some fun at the end of the day, and a music tradeshow wouldn’t be complete without late night parties. The first evening began with a cocktail reception at the Sheraton hotel, the official lodging of MIAC 2010. The early evening reception was followed by two parties, one was held at Grace O’Malley’s JULY 2010

12. Direct Music Supply’s Emilie Sinclair, Tim Anderson, Cathy Calato, Jim Cassells, Bob Yerby, Joe Cappello, Lyle Lascelle, & Paul Frederick 13. Evans drumheads 14. Efkay’s Dan Ellison 15. Roland’s Battery Band 16. Dave Andrus & Allan Ash of Reunion Blues

20 17. Jeremy Harper of Extron Electronics 18. Alwin Chin of Ace Creative Marketing 19. Showoff Gear’s Grant Ivens & Music Booth’s Linda Booth 20. B & J Music booth 60 MMR

Irish pub, located close to the hotel, in downtown Toronto’s entertainment district. The second gathering was hosted by Yamaha at the Rex jazz club. The entertainment included Yamaha Canada artist. On the following night PAL hosted the PAL Super Tech Party at the Direct Energy Centre, which was an exclusive PAL members only event. The get-together was free of charge for the first 200 technicians who entered the tradeshow. All of the evening events were well attended. As Linda Booth of the Guitar Booth put it, “Moving the show downtown this year is fantastic. There is so much more to do. Come on, most of these people are musicians; they like parties and having a good time. Why do you think so many people go to NAMM?” Whatever the extra perks of a tradeshow may be, whether they are location, entertainment, or parties, everyone attends with the same goal and bottom line in mind. If MMR were to hand out awards for best quote and best bowtie of the show, the honors would have to go to Harvey Levy of Levy’s Leathers. His bowtie: a discerning hue of asparagus-green silk. His take on the show: “I don’t care where they have this thing. If the dealers want to have MIAC at the top of the CN tower, that’s fine with me. Wherever they go, I’ll be there!” That’s the bottom line. JULY 2010

g! n i p ip h S Now

for CONCERT BAND

for STRING ORCHESTRA

A Revolutionary Method for Beginning Musicians

Bob PHILLIPS Robert SHELDON Peter BOONSHAFT Dave BLACK

Be Part of Something Big

Become an authorized retailer and take advantage of Alfredâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s marketing support for Sound Innovations! Major promotions to get directors excited about this ground-breaking method! r /BUJPOBM TBNQMF NBJMJOH UP UIPVTBOET PG UFBDIFST r 8PSMEXJEF DMJOJD UPVS CZ UIF BVUIPST r 1SPNJOFOU EJTQMBZT BU "MGSFE DPOWFOUJPO CPPUIT r 8FCJOBS DMJOJD CSPBEDBTUT r 1SJOU *OUFSOFU FNBJM BOE TPDJBM NFEJB QSPNPUJPO World-class marketing to help you sell the method! r %JHJUBM NBSLFUJOH NBUFSJBMT QSPWJEFE UP BMM BVUIPSJ[FE SFUBJMFST r -JTUJOH PG BVUIPSJ[FE SFUBJMFST PO BMGSFE DPN TPVOEJOOPWBUJPOT r 0QUJPOBM EFBMFS DP PQ DMJOJDT JO TUPSF PS POMJOF r '3&& DVTUPN EJTQMBZT r 3FWFOVF TIBSF PO $VTUPNJ[FE &EJUJPO TBMFT

alfred.com/soundinnovations See us at NAMM Booth 1118

Become an authorized retailer today! Contact your sales rep for details!

Booth #1118

USA/Canada Phone: (800) 292-6122 Fax: (800) 632-1928

International Phone: +1 (818) 891-5999 Fax: +1 (818) 893-5560

Online Web: alfred.com/dealer E-mail: sales@alfred.com

REPORT: GUITAR CABINET SPEAKERS

Speaking of

SPEAKE Speakers are changing the way that guitar players think about tone. In fact, many have compared the pickup revolution of the 1970s to today’s speaker revolution.

Twenty years ago, many players gave little (if, indeed, any) thought to the speaker inside their amp’s cabinet and most could probably only name two or three companies that even produced aftermarket speakers. Today, the speaker business is booming. Players worldwide have discovered, just as they did with pickups, the power of swapping speakers. The comparison between speakers and pickups can be downright eerie. Pickups are the fi rst piece of gear that starts to shape a players tone, while the speaker is the last. Oh yeah, both are transducers – one “picks up” your tone and one sends it back out into the world. With that in mind, we decided to sit down with some of the speaker world’s finest manufactures to talk about how they got their start, what they’re all about and why players, dealers and tone gurus alike should open up their ears to the possibilities that the speaker revolution has given us. Top Left: Celestion BN15 Bottom Left: Eminence Red Fang. 62 MMR

JULY 2010

RS... Eminence – Anthony Lucas “We’re primarily an OEM manufacturer,” says Anthony Lucas of Eminence. “Of course we started our own branded line in 1999 to gain some brand recognition, but we’ve been an OEM manufacturer since 1966. Now that we have our own branding line we’ve broadened our market to focus not only on major manufactures but also on the people down the street – the end user.” Lucas tells us that one of the most difficult things about the speaker industry is the fact that customers rarely have the opportunity to test drive a speaker with their own rig. “It’s really tough because most people are seeing specs that they don’t relate to or can’t understand,” he says. “We try to get as much information out there to the end user as we can and try to put it in layman’s terms. You can’t just put up technical data like frequency response curves. We have a tone chart where we’ve compared each speaker to the others and tried to break down the different characteristics, like low-end response and it’s shape, mid range response and it’s shape, et cetera. Then we compare how much output it has and try to describe the overall coloration and how it breaks up. We give recommendations for possible speaker configurations, what genres of music we think it is good for and of course the power handling.” To combat the lack of floor space that speakers get at a typical MI retailer, Eminence relies heavily on advertisements and trade shows. “Trade shows like NAMM are where we actually get to demonstrate our product,” says Lucas. “We have a room that you can walk into where there’s an abundance of amps and guitars and you can actually plug any amp or any guitar into a switching system which allows you to switch between all of our different guitar speakers. It’s fun to sit back and watch people’s faces – most people don’t realize how much of an impact different speakers can have on you guitar tone.”

“ Speaker building is kind of one of the last few black arts.” – David Young, WGS

Top Right: WGS 12 inch BlackHawk. Bottom Right: Peavey BWX SC18 Neo. JULY 2010

MMR 63

Eminence

“Trade shows like NAMM are where we actually get to demonstrate our product.” – Anthony Lucas, Eminence

64 MMR

When asked about the future, Lucas is optimistic. “I think the current [economic] crisis has affected the whole industry, but there will always be demand for the old standards – speakers that have become popular and are in high demand, I don’t think that will change,” he says. “Right now, there seems to be a lot of demand for old tones.” Even with the large demand for the “older tones” Eminence is still looking to innovate. “We’re always trying to meet the needs of players who have difficulty in certain situations,” says Lucas. “We’d like to address issues such as stage volume with guys having difficulty finding the sweet spot in their amp on stage and of course everyone’s always looking for that holy grail of tone.”

Peavey Fred Poole “We’ve been building speakers for probably over 30 years now,” says Fred Poole of Peavey. Although Peavey’s main customer is itself in building OEM speakers, Poole informed us that Peavey takes the replacement speaker business very seriously. “We have a pretty wide target audience,” he says. “Since we manufacture musical instrument speakers for guitar amplifiers and bass

amplifiers, we have replacement speakers for those markets. Plus, we OEM speakers for other manufactures so we’re probably the largest manufacture of speakers in the United States.” “One of the most challenging things is to not only identify tone but replicate what people consider to be ‘good tone,’” says Poole. “If you’ve ever tried to talk to somebody about taking a musical tone, putting that into words and then transferring that into engineering – that’s a big challenge. It takes hours and hours of research and development until you get the ‘secret sauce.’ Once we find secret sauce, we take that element and set it aside as the standard. Then we check everything that we make against the standard that we’ve created to begin with, so we are ensuring that our speakers meet that specification to begin with.” Too meet those specifications, Peavey prides itself in its QC standards. “We obviously QC the components for our speaker when they come through the door,” says Poole. “They all have to meet certain specs for tolerances and we reject them back to the vendor if they don’t.” Once a speaker makes it down the line, Peavey runs rigorous tests for tolerance. “We run them for eight hours at full blast in a chamber to see if there’s any sort of failure or fallout and if there is any failure or fallout we go back to the line, back to the batch and inspect everything. That way nothing leaves the factory without being 100 percent quality controlled and we take great pride in that.” One of the unique things about Peavey is POP marketing. “We provide standalone POP to our dealers,” says Poole. “It can be difficult but we try to convince the dealers that this is a very important part of their business for two reasons: not only to sell replacement baskets and speakers, but most importantly, to have the ability to show the customer the speaker that’s inside the equipment they’re selling. We take a great deal of time making sure that the speaker looks nice, as well as sounds nice and if you take apart any of our competitors cabinets the difference is completely obvious. The speakers

Peavey JULY 2010

that are inside the cabinets help to sell the enclosures. Plus, you can clearly explain the advantages and benefits of the speaker a lot easier by showing the customer what the dual voice coil is, what a field replaceable basket is, et cetera.” “Speaker sales have always been pretty steady for us,” says Poole. “It’s something that we’ve always done very well. People that are loyal and buy Peavey speakers and replacement baskets have done so continuously. I think that a lot of people are repairing and replacing their existing cabinets rather than buying new ones and I think if you maintain sales in a particular part of your company when times are tough, it’s and indication of success.” As a result of their success in the guitar speaker market, Poole notes that Peavey is looking to expand. “We own a lot of high profile MI brands. We own Budda, Trace Elliot, Crest Audio and, of course Peavey, so we have a lot of different products that use a lot of different speakers. We are always analyzing what everybody’s doing and trying to come up with the best solution per product. Occasionally we’ll look outside of our own JULY 2010

company but more often than not, we feel that we can do it here in a better way and probably are going to continue to do that and expand our speaker offerings.”

Weber Speakers – TA Weber “It was my father’s hobby initially,” explains TA Weber, now the CEO of Weber Speakers. “He was an engineer and inventor, but he was also in garage bands when he was a teenager and our market basically consists of guys like him. When they were teenagers they were jonesing for all this great gear out there but they didn’t have a dime in their pocket and later in life, when they got careers and become physicians or attorneys they now have all this money to spend on all of those great amps and guitars they wanted when they were younger.” About 14 years ago, the late Ted Weber joined a few online chat boards and found that there was a market for speakers. “At the time, most of the larger speaker companies were focused on OEM manufacturing,” says Weber. “We build one speaker at a time, per specs, which is unheard of. It’s just not economically feasi-

ble for a big company to survive that way. But it also created our niche. The way I look at it, we’re building Ferraris as opposed to Corvettes. I guess, going down the road they’re both great vehicles, but one is built by hand and one is built on an assembly line. There’s good performance in both of them, but there’s just that extra touch, in my personal opinion, in that it’s

Weber VST speaker assembly. MMR 65

Weber VST speakers

built by one person from start to finish, essentially, and we’ve been doing it for almost 14 years and along the way we’ve had the great success.” As a result of a grassroots-marketing scheme and extreme attention to detail and customer service, what started out as a hobby has turned into a viable business.

“We pride ourselves on our customer service and our goodwill value,” TA says. “The amazing thing that has happened is this ‘Friends of Weber’ – the FOW. There are guys out there who absolutely praise the way we answer our questions as quickly as we can. If I get up and go to the bathroom at two in the morning

I typically check my blackberry and if I have an e-mail, I’ll answer it. We’re constantly on the Internet, constantly answering questions and that goodwill and that level of customer service has really helped spread our name. Obviously, the product speaks for itself too. We get an amazing amount of feedback from guys

The Mini is coming

66 MMR

JULY 2010

saying they’ve never heard anything like our speakers and they’ve been playing guitar for 50 years, so really it’s almost good for us not to be in stores. It gives it a sense of exclusivity.” While some companies boast of running thousands of products, with very little margin of error, Weber Speakers pride itself in building custom one-offs and limited runs to exact spec. “We’re able to do that because we have, including myself, four speaker builders in our shop, so from start to finish we only have three people who have any interaction with the speaker and they treat each one as if it’s almost like their baby,” Weber says. TA told us not to envision a white-gloved, lab but rather a shop of custom craftsman. “We can pop in different cones, so if you mix and match everything that we have on a twelve inch frame, we have about ten different cones, a few different types of spiders and a few different wattage voice coils. If you extrapolate that out, we have probably 300-plus sounds of speakers that we can create, which is unheard of. You can’t call up one of the bigger manufactures and say, ‘I want a gold basket, I want 16 ohms, I want the cone to be a

HUNTER NEW YORK

pulp cone, with 12 ribs and light doping,’ and so on. We can pick every little detail of what they’re wanting provided and we can build that one speaker. That sets us apart from a lot of the bigger guys.”

WGS - David Young As president and CEO of one of the newer speaker companies to hit the market, David Young is excited about the future. “We’re targeting the do-it-yourself speaker replacer,” he says. “Guys that like to mod their own amps or guys that have vintage amps that they haven’t played in a while because the speaker’s gone out on them, so they’re looking for a replacement.” Like many of the smaller speaker companies, we spoke with, WGS speakers have made a big splash recently by hitting the chat boards. “The tricky part about speaker sales is that big box stores don’t typically have speaker displays,” says Young. “It’s really a word of mouth thing. Getting the product out there helps too but it’s a lot of message boards,” explains Young. “For

– Fred Poole, Peavey

QUALITY BAND INSTRUMENTS FROM HUNTER

Provide your customers with the highest quality instruments and the best possible price points. Hunter offers a full line of instruments that are made to the best standards. Call us today to find out how you can profit from Hunter Musical Instruments. Fast shipping available from our New York warehouse.

HUNTER MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 3300 Northern Blvd. Long Island City, NY 11101 (718)706-0828 Q FAX (718)706-0128 www.huntermusical.com JULY 2010

“It can be difficult but we try to convince the dealers that this is a very important part of their business.”

See us at NAMM Booth 828

and girlfriends will be blown away

MMR 67

us, the Internet has really been a good way to reach the consumer.” Young says that, “speaker building is kind of one of the last few black arts. There are so many variables that go into it from the make of the paper that goes into the cone, designing a motor to work with the voice-coil, the type of edge treatment and different adhesives you use, and even all the glue joints have an effect on the overall flexing of the speaker and the overall tone. Then there’s the whole aging process. As the adhesives dry, as material starts to acclimate to the environment

that it’s in, all these things go into your final sound. It’s very rare that you’re going have two speakers that sound exactly alike.” WGS is confident that their approach to quality control lies in the processes and sourcing of quality materials “We try to get our processes down the same,” explains Young. We order our materials from the same manufactures who in turn do the same thing by making sure they do the same processes every time. One of the big secrets to speaker manufacturing is the paper in the cones, dust caps, et

cetera. So we stick to the tried and true sources of those sorts of things and don’t change that around. Once we design a speaker and put it out there on the market place we stay with all of the same materials from all of the same sources.” While the recent economic crisis has hurt a lot of companies in the MI industry, Young admits that one man’s bust, is another’s golden ticket. “The recent economy has really affected us in a good way,” he says. “We’re providing a good way to upgrade your tone at a reasonable price, so for us it’s been a boost. My company is relatively new to the marketplace – we’ve only been around for about three or four years and right now, people are looking for cost effective alternatives that don’t sacrifice quality.”

Jensen – Orin Portnoy “We want everybody to use Jensen speakers,” says Orin Portnoy of Jensen. “You can easily change your speakers to improve that tone and you don’t need to have a lot of technical knowledge. It’s kind of like the evolution that happened with pickups. If I had a vision, or dream it would be a guitar player that has a wall of speakers that he could change out, depending upon the gig.” In making that vision happen, Portnoy has been on a quest to market the Jensen brand. “We market our products by more of a grass roots type of marketing,” he says. “CE Distributions is the exclusive importer for the Jensen musical instrument speakers for America and is also the largest distributor of amp parts, so through CE Distribution, we’re in touch with music stores and repair shops all across the country. In addition to that we do a lot of advertising in magazines and we count on word of mouth.” “Historically, Jensen was the original speaker in the original Fender amplifiers,” says Portnoy. “These Jensens are reissues. I think that one thing that people have to keep in mind is, when speakers

Jensen 68 MMR

JULY 2010

www.staggmusic.com

Best value. Best selection. Best Choice. Each Stagg Series cymbal represents years of skill and dedication passed down from one generation of artisans to the next. Each cymbal, a true individual instrument, handcrafted for the progressive drummer’s ultimate musical expression. Drawing upon ancient techniques and modern innovation, Stagg produces the right cymbal for any sound. Stagg series cymbals are made from the legendary B20 Bronze, a special alloy consisting of 80% copper and 20% tin. All our cymbals are hand-hammered to create the ﬁnal shape and hand lathed to perfect the sound. Whatever your drumming style, handcrafted Stagg cymbals offer you the best musical choice in the market today.

SH Series

DH Series

Affordability without compromise. Authentic hand-hammered, classically cast cymbals at a price within reach of all drummers.

The most extensive and comprehensive line in the market today. Stagg’s DH, or Dual-Hammered, Series is all about highly versatile professional cymbals for the most demanding players. Packed with dynamic overtones, calculated for projection and character. Includes 4 different weight categories for Crash cymbals and as many as 6 for Rides.

Vintage-Bronze Series The Vintage Bronze Series is designed for players seeking that oldschool sound and feel. The sound can be characterized as warm, with just the right blend of lows and midrange for Jazz to Rock.

Black Metal Series The Black Metal series represents a departure from the core Stagg cymbal sound to focus instead on a dry, mid-scooped response with a strong accent on the low end harmonics for a sound that’s as dark as the look!

Classic Series Reminiscent of older, Turkish models, these cymbals are noted for a fast response, generating low frequencies which complement the traditional sound of a Jazz or fusion-oriented band.

Furia Series

Myra Series

Furia Cymbals are inspired by the sounds of the ocean and the forces of nature. Their distinctive two-toned surface, obtained by a pin-point lathing process applied to the outer edge, allows for the natural sounds to resound.

Myra cymbals are the latest development in Stagg’s search to fashion a cymbal tailor-made for the musically and physically demanding modern rock player. Myra’s are created to make you sound and look your best, with a bright, cutting and loud response to slash through even the densest mix.

T Series The T for «Traditional» Series is an authentic range of Gongs and Chinese cymbals employing the centuries old tradition of Chinese craftsmanship. The sounds produced have been often imitated but never duplicated.

Cymbal Sets Stagg offer a a variety of cast handhammered cymbal sets, composed of 80% copper and 20% tin. All sets are value priced, allowing any drummer to add professional sounds to their kit without breaking the bank. Additionally, Stagg offer a complete range of mid-priced B8 cymbals and a budget range of brass starter sets.

See us at NAMM Booth 1236

“The speaker market is really intriguing from the standpoint that you can really make or ruin someone’s day by recommending the wrong speaker” – Jim Seavall, Scumback

Scumback Cabspeakers. 70 MMR

were originally made, they also sounded differently. If you take a bunch of vintage P10Rs, they’re all going to sound a little different. The tolerance back then when making any kind of equipment was different. What Jensen did when we decided to reissue the vintage speakers is we took a bunch of the old original vintage speakers and we listened to them and decided which ones were best representative of the classic tones and those are the ones we reissued. When you get a dozen reissued P10Rs they all sound pretty much the same. When you get a bunch of vintage P10Rs they all sound different.” Portnoy informed us that a company called CICA makes the current Jensens in Italy. “The Italian factory has been making speakers for about 30 years and they’re probably the last handmade factory making speakers at this point in the world,” he explains. “Not only do they actually make the speakers, but then they actually listen and tone test every speaker to make sure that it sounds like the way it’s supposed to sound before it leaves the factory.” While he admits that the recent economy has hurt sales, Portnoy is optimistic about the future. “One of the advantages

that Jensen has is that they are a legendary brand of speaker. We’ve definitely noticed that the boutique amplifier companies are not selling as many amplifiers and neither are the larger companies, so in turn, the components that are inside are not selling as much. We’re very confident in the sound of our products – we’ve never made a speaker that doesn’t sound good. The Jensen Jet Falcon speaker is our newest speaker, and it gives off an absolutely amazing tone regardless of who plays through it. We like to call it our magic speaker.”

Scumback - Jim Seavall “The speaker market is really intriguing from the standpoint that you can really make or ruin someone’s day by recommending the wrong speaker” says Jim “Scumback” Seavall. “You can make a whole bunch of guitar players really smile by getting the right speaker and having it interact with their amp, so that they’re not back there twiddling dials and adjusting stuff to get the tone they want. If they can forget about that and just play, then they can go on to creating music which will be better for the rest of us!” Seavall started his quest for the perfect speaker quite some time ago. “The old Marshall and Vox Celestion speakers from the ‘60s and early ‘70s had a particular tone which was very rich in the mid range with a clear treble response and a solid low end,” he says. “Back in the ‘90s I realized there was a market for that type of speaker, yet no one was doing it. So I approached Celestion in 1999 and I came back to them in 2003 and each time they said, ‘There’s no market – you’re on your own.’ So, I went on a pretty long expensive odyssey of buying 400 Pre-rola Celestion speakers and weeding them out until I got the best ones.” Five years, 400 speakers and 40,000 dollars later, Seavall managed to come out with Scumback speakers. To create his Holy Grail speaker, Seavall enlisted Ted Weber of Weber Speakers. “Ted was the only guy who even gave me a response,” says Seavall. Even though Weber was already producing a Pre-rola speaker, Seavall told Weber of his quest for the golden tone. “I told Ted that I’d weeded out the best eight or ten out of JULY 2010

See us at NAMM Booth 836

about 400 and then I’ve bought the exact same speaker within 3 weeks of the date code of my holy grail examples that had original cones that were dead or burnt out voice coils, et cetera,” says Seavall. Seavall sent Ted the Holy Grail speakers as a tone target and sent along the matching dead ones for Ted to autopsy. It was a rather unique concept for Ted. No one had ever done that for him. They’d all come to him and said ‘here’s what I don’t like and here’s what I do like and here’s what I want to you try and do’ but no one had ever sent him and said, “Just replicate this, and by the way here’s a dead one to autopsy so that you can figure out how to do it!’ So I sent him off all the speakers and he sent me back prototypes and different versions and I selected the ones that were the best choices and those became the models I sell now.” Seavall’s quest, left little cash for advertising, so he started to hit the online boards. “I’m a member of about seven of them and I have a quarter-page ad in Vintage Guitar and that’s basically all I do,” says Seavall. “I supply money per month to fund these forums and offer free giveaways once a year to help them stay afloat. I mostly just offer advice on how people can improve their guitar and amp tone via speakers, if that’s the right solution for them. I have a lot of experience in doing everything there is to do from where the speaker jack connects on to what reproduces your tone so from the back of the amp out. Sometimes a new speaker isn’t the solution. It was a part time job when Seavall started the company in 2004, but today that part time job has bloomed into a fulltime business. “2008 sales were up 190 percent over 2007 and I just passed the 2008 mark about a month and a half ago so around the end of September so while other people are having a tough time, I’m just getting busier and busier.”

Tone Tubby John Harrison John Harrison has taken the speaker world by storm with his hemp cones. Since he first invented the hemp cone, his speakers have been used by all kinds of guitarists from all over the world. “We have both bass and guitar in our replacement MI 72 MMR

Tone Tubby

speaker division so we’re going after every bass player and guitar player. in the world,” says Harrison. “From Santana, Clapton, and Gibbons – that’s mount Rushmore – all the way down to the people in the trenches that play five nights a week in clubs, and even the guys that just play in their living rooms,” says Harrison. “Two years ago when we came out with the hemp cone, nobody even talked about hemp,” says Harrison. “Now I hear the word hemp a hundred times a day!” Before Harrison was willing to roll out the new product he wanted to make sure it was road worthy. “I knew it sounded great, but I wanted to make sure it would be tourable,” says Harrison. Carlos Santana was one of Harrison’s first clients to play through the hemp cone. “He took it out on the road, two months after we got the first cone and he’s still playing cabinet number one,” says Harrison. “As far as I’m concerned the vintage thing is the Flintstones and we’re the Jetsons,” says Harrison. “The paper cone is just completely irrelevant compared to these hemp cones. I pretty much envision the whole industry going with hemp cones. It’s the most significant change that’s ever happened in transducers. Look at Eminence – right now they license all their hemp cones from me. A lot of my friends were saying ‘John don’t sell them those cones, those are yours’ and I said, ‘Well that’s sort of greedy, this is something that mankind should own.’ Now they’re licensing about eight different cones from me – that proves that it works! Eminence is great – they know that I invented the hemp cone, they’re not challenging my patent on it or anything and they’re cool enough to use it and go through my office for it,” says Harrison. “It’s really an honorable thing and I’m really proud that they use my stuff.” For now, Harrison isn’t really worried about competition. “It doesn’t matter to me because all the other speakers

out there are paper,” says Harrison. “We are simply unique enough to have a hemp cone so that puts us in our own category. Like I said, the Flintstones verse the Jetsons.” When asked about what makes the hemp cones so desirable, Harrison is quick to answer. “I’m not a pulp chemist, but hemp has longer fiber, than regular tree pulp, it’s lighter, and it’s stronger.” says Harrison. “For guitar, lighter is better – lighter is our friend. You don’t want some big thick cardboard cone for guitar! Because it’s stronger, you can get away with lighter and it does not collapse like a lot of paper cones – they call that cone cry. It’s thinner, stronger, lighter and the fibers are longer. Think about it the constitution of the United States was written on hemp paper and it’s still around some 200 odd years later. That’s where I actually got the idea. I thought “Wow that would make a really badass cone for guitar, and it sure did. It’s worked from minute one on. Had it been weird, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.”

Celestion – Andy Farrow “We’re the oldest loudspeaker manufacturer in the world,” says Andy Farrow of Celestion. “We’ve been in business since 1924 and I personally see Celestion as the granddaddy of the guitar speaker industry and I don’t think too many people would disagree with that,” says Farrow. In fact, Celestion prides itself in being the Kleenex or Xerox of the guitar speaker world. “A guitar aficionado will talk about vintage 30s or Greenbacks, without even talking about Celestion,” says Farrow. “Some of these are classic speakers, although Celestions are almost brands in themselves.” “Everybody spends a lot of money on pickups and strings – trying to get that extra wizardry of tone out of their setup. JULY 2010

But, the last thing you physically hear if you’re playing electric guitar is the tone that the speaker shapes out of the cabinet and as everybody knows in the guitar world, different speakers do sound different,” says Farrow. “In the search for that elusive golden tone, we believe that Celestion has a specially voiced speaker to suit virtually everybody’s application. “We’re an ISO 9000 certified company so we’ve a fully documented process control in all of our manufacturing and we have teams of QA guys that work with our suppliers and the vendors that we buy raw materials from,” continues Farrow. “We understand every single raw component that’s going to go into a speaker and we’ve had good documentation right back from the sixties onwards. So regardless of where or when the speaker is made, you know what you’re getting is a quality product.” Although Celestion’s OEM business is down from where it was a couple of years ago, the current economic climate has helped boost the need for aftermarket speakers. “People aren’t buying new amps, so our business with people who are just buying over the counter replacement speakers is actually up this year,”

Celestion

says Farrow who attributes the up tick in sales to two factors. “Number one, we’ve launched several new models and number two, rather than buying a new amp at the moment, people are buying new speakers to get their old amps back up to spec. That’s a trend we’ve been seeing very strongly over the last six months or so.” When asked about the vintage mojo factor, Farrow is quick to answer. “If I’m really honest with you, there is no mojo. Obviously a lot of the smaller speaker companies would hate to hear that there’s no mojo because they started off their whole businesses by keeping all that a little bit cloudy and unsettled,” says Farrow. “When you buy a brand new speaker out of the box, the cone edge and the spider material haven’t moved a whole lot. When you start putting an amplifier in front of it and start playing with some gigable volumes, you start to exercise it. As you start to break in the spider and the cone surround, the speaker will – after a certain amount of time – start to behave different and will certainly sound a lot different. It’s like a pair of shoes,” explains Farrow. “If you have a nice pair of comfortable shoes, and they’re used to your feet and you walk in them all the time, they feel great. Let’s say those shoes wear out and you go buy the same exact pair at the store. There’s no way that they’re going to feel the same. How much walking are you going to have to do before they feel the same as your old shoes? That’s the mojo for me.” For Celestion, the future looks bright. “The beautiful thing about the guitar speaker market is that the vintage thing is still the rage,” Farrow notes. “If we look at the guitar world, everybody comes out with new guitars and new pickups, but everybody still wants a Gibson, everybody still wants a Telecaster and everybody still wants a Strat! While that’s the case, I think we have many, many more years of doing what Celestion does best – making Vintage 30s, making Greenbacks, et cetera.”

NAMM Buyers Guide

NAMM Buyers Guide PART 2

FRETTED AND ACCESSORIES Fargen Amps’ Addition & Upgrades Fargen Amplification has enhanced its tube amplifier line with upgrades and improvements to three existing models, and it has introduced a new model, the AC Duo-Tone. Fargen’s AC Duo-Tone amp features two distinct channels that are said to cover a wide range of Brit-type tones. The three existing amplifiers in the Fargen line, the Blackbird, Mini Plex MKII, and Olde 800 MKII, have each received Fargen’s upgrades with improvements in circuitry and cosmetics. All amplifier models are available in a head and matching cabinet configuration, including either 1x12 or 2x12 cabinets. www.fargenamps.com NAMM Exhibit #1449

Benedetto’s 16-B Model The 16-B, designed by Bob Benedetto, features Birdseye maple back and sides and binding throughout. Other specifications include an EPS tailpiece, A-6 pickup, abalone side dot position markers, gold Gotoh tuners, and ebony fittings. The neck is made of ultra light Spanish cedar with a curly koa binding and heel cap. The guitar also features an X-braced top with a floating pickup, and a headstock motif using a band of Spanish cedar accented with a turquoise reconstituted stone inlay. The retail price is $20,000. www.benedettoguitars.com NAMM Exhibit #1546

74 MMR

Vintage Gordon Giltrap Signature Guitar from JHS John Hornby Skewes & Co., distributors of Vintage brand instruments, has launched the Vintage Gordon Giltrap Signature electro acoustic guitar. Designed in conjunction with luthier Rob Armstrong and Gordon himself, this crossover Grand Auditorium/000 style Vintage electroacoustic is based on a hand-crafted instrument that Rob made back in 1980 and Gordon plays today. The guitar features solid North American cedar top, with mahogany back and sides, and signature small waist body. The bridge is rosewood, with a gradually compensated natural bone saddle, whilst the mahogany neck features a rosewood fingerboard with genuine abalone inlays and side dot markers. Electrics are provided via a Fishman Presys Blend preamp and Sonicore pickup system, which features a built in-microphone with mic blend control, notch - anti feedback control, phase control button, three band EQ and volume control, as well as a built-in guitar tuner with flip-top battery access. Gordon’s signature guitar is also being made available as a twelve string instrument with the same specifications. www.jhs.co.uk

JULY 2010

Rocktron’s Black Rose Octaver Rocktron’s Black Rose is a new addition to the Boutique Series of stomp boxes. The Black Rose comes in a rugged metal chassis with retro custom designed laser etched artwork. Controls for the Black Rose Octaver include thorns, merge, and fragrance. Thorns determines the intensity and tracking of the octave below effect. Merge controls the mix between the original input and the octave effect. Fragrance controls the overall tonal color of the effect. The Black Rose has two outputs. Output wet contains the mixed octave effect. Output dry provides the feed through of the original input source with no effect. www.rocktron.com

SKB’s Jaguar/Jazzmaster Hardshell Case SKB’s 1SKB-62 for either the Fender Jaguar or Fender Jazzmaster guitar is molded with proprietary rubber-modified styrene to provide protection and durability. The EPS (expanded polystyrene) plush-lined interior is designed to securely hold either a Fender Jaguar or Fender Jazzmaster guitar. The case also features SKB’s patented fiberglass reinforced nylon trigger release latching system with the inclusion of a TSA recognized and accepted locking latch. A cushioned rubber over-molded handle with molded-in feet and stacking wells are part of the exterior contours. The retail price is $129.99. www.skbcases.com NAMM Exhibit #1145

Levy’s Art Nouveau Guitar Straps Levy’s has expanded its Urban Prints guitar strap line with six art nouveau original printing designs. This model uses a canvas of satin and a quick-release endpiece strap design. www.levysleathers.com NAMM Exhibit #1226

Gibson’s Semi-Hollow in Three Gloss Finishes Gibson Custom’s 50th Anniversary 1960 ES335TD was handcrafted by Gibson Custom’s Memphis division to celebrate the model’s “golden anniversary”. For this celebration, Gibson Custom is offering the later 1960 fast neck profi le version, available in antique vintage sunburst, antique faded cherry, or antique natural finish, all aged in Gibson’s VOS (Vintage Original Specs) process, and loaded with period-correct hardware including insert volume and tone knobs, double band tuners, and a pair of accurate PAF-style 57 Classic humbucking pickups. Additionally, the neck features a holly head veneer, tortoise shell side dot material, and has been completely re-tooled with accurate truss rod channel depth and profi le based on scans by the Gibson Custom Shop Engineering Team. www.gibson.com

JULY 2010

Recording King’s RK-Elite Banjo Recording King’s RK-Elite banjo is modeled after the original Mastertone banjos of the 1930s. RK-Elite features a Mastertone-style tone ring, true steam-bent three-ply maple rim, and nitrocellulose lacquer finish. Other design features include the vintage-style double-cut Recording King peghead, custom Flying Eagle-style peghead, fretboard inlay, one-piece mahogany resonator, and a one-piece slim profile mahogany neck. www.themusiclink.net NAMM Exhibit #1336

MMR 75

NAMM Buyers Guide

BAND & ORCHESTRA E. K. Blessingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Intermediate Trumpet The 1460 Blessing intermediate trumpet features the new #24 bell flare and heavier valve system, designed to help advancing students and players move into a more

professional style instrument. The 1460 features Monel pistons as well as handlapped first and third valve slides. Retail prices range from $900 to $1,068. www.powellflutes.com

76 MMR

RB Continental Triple Trumpet Case Reunion Blues is expanding their RB Continental line with the introduction of a new triple trumpet case that combines contemporary design with instrument protection. On the outside, a one inch thick shockabsorbing Flexoskeleton exterior is lined with reinforced impact panels, and a knurled abrasion grid covers the bottom to help resist scuffing. A large zippered accessory pocket is also provided, along with an adjustable shoulder strap. A padded, wide-mouth lid opens to a hidden accessory pocket and reveals a very roomy interior that features adjustable dividers providing custom space allocation for securing trumpets, mutes, and accessories. A Ballistic Quadraweave exterior features high-strength corded edges and all seams are double-stitched with high tensile thread and reinforced at tested stress points. This new case also includes a ZeroG palm-contoured handle with weight dis-

See us at NAMM Booth 1546

tributing foam core to help reduce hand fatigue when the case is carried over long distances. Like all Reunion Blues products, the RB Continental triple trumpet case comes with a Limited Lifetime Warranty. The retail price is $199.95. www.aceproducts.com NAMM Exhibit #1443

PERCUSSION

Gretsch USA Custom Drum Set Gretschâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Custom drum set features double gold sparkle inlays. Each shell includes a special edition, numbered internal shell label. Gold sparkle Nitron wrap is embedded into hand-cut shell grooves. Drums are finished in ultra smooth piano white nitrocellulose gloss lacquer and outfitted with polished gold hardware. www.gretsch.com NAMM Exhibit # 700

See us at NAMM Booth 729

JULY 2010

NAMM Buyers Guide Pearl’s Vision VSX

Dynamicx Drums’ Snare Line

Pearl’s Special Edition Vision VSX drumset features an Artisan II finish using Pearl’s exclusive Digital Grain Transfer technology. This particular kit is fin-

Drum Foundry and its parent company Black Swamp Percussion have launched Dynamicx Drums, a line of snare drums made from titanium, stainless steel, exotic veneered and wood segment shells. All Dynamicx drums feature our original Arch Lug, RCK throwoff and butt, and Dynamicx snare wires. The components are exclusive designs of Dynamicx, were designed to work together both visually and sonically, and are hand crafted in their Holland, Michigan factory. In addition to base models, Dynamicx Drums offers custom options such as graphic

ished in ebony feathered walnut. The VSX drumset features a birch ply shell composition, built using Pearl’s Superior Shell Technology process. The rack toms have a six ply shell thickness, and the floor toms and bass drums feature an eight ply shell thickness. www.pearldrum.com

JULY 2010

etching, wood hoops, mirror black stainless, and colored titanium shells. www.dynamicxdrums.com

Sabian 21 Vault 3-Point Ride Based on an idea from jazz giant Jack DeJohnette, the Sabian 21 Vault 3-Point Ride is said to offer dark, smoky tone with

varying sound nuances across three distinct playing surfaces. The medium-thin cymbal features an unlathed control ring around the center, is hand hammered, enhanced by jumbo-peen hammering on its underside, and topped by a mini bell. www.sabian.com NAMM Exhibit #3254

See us at NAMM Booth 428

MMR 77

NAMM Buyers Guide Zildjian Oriental China Trash 15â&#x20AC;? Zildjianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Oriental China Trash cymbal is now available in an odd size of 15â&#x20AC;? in addition to the 12â&#x20AC;? through 20â&#x20AC;?. Zildjianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;trashyâ&#x20AC;? Chinese sounding cymbals are said to be fast and explosive with a rapid decay. The cymbals feature proprietary hammering and come in a brilliant finish. www.zildjian.com

PRINT Jazz Guitar DVD from Rock House Rock Houseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jazz Guitar: Breaking the Traditional Barriers, a new three DVD set featuring guitarist Alex Skolnick who is world renowned for creating an unprecedented blend of metal and traditional jazz. On his first-ever instructional program, Alex shares his perspectives on playing

jazz guitar. Using basic blues progressions, the DVD covers jazz concepts and shows how to follow progressions by targeting chord tones, triads, embellishments, modes, and jazz patterns. Techniques such as upper chord extensions, chromaticism, and jazz licks, are also featured. Jazz Guitar: Breaking the Traditional Barriers also comes with lifetime membership to Rock Houseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lesson support site. www.rockhousemethod.com NAMM Exhibit #1018

Hal Leonardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s B.B. King Blues Play-Alongs Hal Leonardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s B.B. King Blues PlayAlongs, Vol. 5, is for all C, B-flat, E-flat,

and Bass Clef instruments, the Hal Leonard Blues Play-Along book/CD packs featuring lead sheets and two tracks for each tune on the accompanying CD: a full-stereo mix, and a split-track mix with removable guitar, bass, piano, and horn parts. The CD is playable on any CD player, and also enhanced so Mac and PC users can adjust the recording to any tempo without changing the pitch. www.halleonard.com NAMM Exhibit #1018

Soul House Soundâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Guitar Player Wanted: Vocals a Plus DVD Soul House Soundâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s instructional DVD package, Guitar Player Wanted: Vocals a Plus, from Karan Andrea, contains a 110minute instructional DVD, a 79-minute

We Can Help You!!! Increase Store TrafďŹ c & Increase Your ProďŹ ts C Add a band and orchestra instrument rental program. Or C Expand your existing rental program.

Find out how you can: s %ND THE COSTS RESPONSIBILITIES AND RISKS OF RUNNING YOUR OWN RENTAL PROGRAM s !DD A FULL SERVICE RENTAL PROGRAM WITH NO START UP OR LICENSE FEES s 'ENERATE A RELIABLE MONTHLY COMMISSION ON RENTAL RATES YOU SET s 'ET RELIEF FROM BILLING COLLECTIONS AND LEGAL REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS s 0ROVIDE CUSTOMERS WITH NEW AND LIKE NEW BRAND NAME INSTRUMENTS /UR LIKE NEW QUALITY IS UNMATCHED IN THE INDUSTRY s &REE UP TIME AND CAPITAL TO FOCUS ON SALES LESSONS AND SERVICE 4HE .%-# !FlLIATE 0ROGRAM IS A TURNKEY INSTRUMENT RENTAL OPERATION FOR DISCERNING DEALERS 7E TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING

.%-# National Educational Music Company PO Box 1130, Mountainside, NJ 07092 800-526-4593, Ext. 240 www.nemc.com

NEMC Over

50 Years

SIN

Q U A L I T Y

S E R V I C E

1957

All you need to do is call Gene at Ext. 240. #OME VISIT US AT BOOTH

Put our 50+ years of experience and success to work for you! 78 MMR

JULY 2010

NAMM Buyers Guide vocal training CD, and a booklet summary of the materials. The DVD is designed to link a guitar player’s musical skills with his or her undeveloped singing voice. The instruction is a straightforward, step-by-step method. The included CD contains three sets of vocal exercises designed for muscle memory and tone, intonation, and range. Also included in the package is a booklet containing a quick reference summary of the information presented in the DVD. NAMM Exhibit #1426 www.soulhousesound.com

Everything We Needed to Know About Business, We Learned Playing Music Everything We Needed to Know About Business, We Learned Playing Music, by Craig M. Cortello of La Dolce Vita Enterprises, is a compilation of interviews with 32 CEO’s and business leaders who played music as a child or adolescent and view that experience as a definitive one in preparing them for success. The nine common lessons learned, attributes developed, and insights gained are identified, discussed, and illustrated through the experiences and personal accounts of the research participants. www.ldv-enterprises.com

most computers and laptops, MP3 players, and game stations. The connecting cable on 9000A is Y-shaped. Past one meter from the control knob, the single cable splits into two one-meter cables, one for audio input, one for audio output. A converter cable converting two x RCA to 3.5-mm stereo is necessary for audio equipment with RCA

Meeting the Needs of Students for More Than 30 Years ... Our Best-Selling SV-175 Cremona Violin! Cremona bowed instruments have set the pace for the vibrant student and rental markets for over 30 years. Strict adherence to international sizing requirements, domestic educational set-up standards and continuous quality improvement have made Cremona Violins, Violas, Basses and Cellos proven sales leaders. Our best-selling, ebony fitted SV-175 Cremona Premier Violin Outfit has recently been upgraded to include the J.LaSalle LB-13 Octagonal Bow and the TL-33 deluxe rectangular Travelite case.

Cremona SV-175 Violin Outfit:

LIGHT & SOUND

•All-solid carved, graduated construction •Seven sizes from 4⁄4 to 1⁄16 •Long lasting ebony fittings •Finetuner tailpiece for precise, easy tuning •Rugged TL-33 Travelite case •Well-balanced J.LaSalle LB-13 bow with ebony frog

Genelec’s Stereo Volume Control Genelec’s 9000A Stereo Volume Control was visually designed to appear as a miniature version of Genelec’s 5040A Active Subwoofer, the 9000A provides convenient volume control for all Genelec monitors/loudspeakers. The volume control input and output have 3.5mm stereo male and female connectors, providing immediate connectivity with JULY 2010

outputs. A converter cable converting 3.5-mm stereo to two x XLR is necessary to use the 9000A with Genelec monitors having XLR output. These cables can be easily obtained from any authorized Genelec dealer. The 9000A is available in black, silver, and white.The retail price is $99. www.genelecusa.com

249

Suggested Retail

SV-175

See us at NAMM Booth 1100

[800] BUY-SAGA www.sagamusic.com Dealer inquiries invited.

MMR 79

NAMM Buyers Guide Denon Pro’s Solid State Audio System The DN-F400 Solid State Audio Playback System from Denon was designed to deliver dependability in critical applications where the audio runs continuously or must be triggered at a moment’s notice. From schools, theme parks, and shopping malls, to hospitals, hotels, airports, and train stations, the DN-F400 is suited for use in public facilities requiring continuous-playback,

repeated-programmed audio messaging, or quickly triggered announcements. The optional RC-F400S Remote Controller features a large LCD display and ergonomically designed control panel, including 20 hot buttons for instant playback of audio or sound effects. When used together, the DNF400/RC-F400S solid-state audio combo is an alternative to sound FX playback systems and CART players, CD, or MiniDisc units for radio, television, sporting events, theater, and

LOCK DOWN MORE PROFIT

Now you can prot from your customer’s demand for Floyd Rose Become a Floyd Rose parts dealer and benet from: • A complete selection of authentic Floyd replacement parts Original, Lefty, 7-STG and Pro’s • New point of sale packaged high performance parts • Increase store trafc and prots • Original Floyd Rose tremolos now available in 2 new nishes: Black Nickel & Antique Vintage Bronze

Call and become a Floyd dealer today:

732-918-7001

NOW AVAILABLE IN ATTRACTIVE POINT OF SALE PACKAGING

info@FloydRose.com Floyd Rose Marketing P.O. Box 601, Oakhurst, NJ 07755 USA 80 MMR

other real-time performance applications. With the DNF400’s use of the SD and SDHC card formats, users can store up to 999 files per 32GB card, and each department can have its own school system contentapproved cards that keep their particular audio files ready to play at the touch of a button. And the large LCD display on the RC-400S remote control allows users to clearly name up to 20 files and assign them to hot buttons that will instantly start each audio file from the beginning, every time. www.d-mpro.com

Native Instruments’ DEEP FREQ Native Instruments’ Deep Freq is an effects processing suite for use with Kore 2 and the free Kore Player. Complementing the Deep Reconstructions and Deep Transformations packages, Deep Freq focuses on intense and intricate frequency manipulation to transform audio material. Deep Freq provides 150 multi-effect combinations based on the sound processing engines of Absynth, Guitar Rig, and Reaktor integrated in Kore. Through complex combinations of filters, resonators, frequency shifting, resynthesis, granular synthesis, and other advanced algorithms, Deep Freq can alter and reshape the tonality of beats, melody lines, vocals and any other audio material. Despite the complexity of the underlying effect configurations, the operation of Deep Freq was designed to be straightforward with the use of the Kore interface. www.native-instruments.com

American DJ Revo Rave The lastest from American DJ’s Revo Series of RGBW LED moonflower effects, the Rave is compact and weighs only nine pounds. The Revo Rave features 162 highpowered LEDs (48 red, 36 green, 42 blue and 36 white). Its longlife LEDs are rated at 100,000 hours and rarely need replacing. The Revo Rave’s LEDs generate little heat allowing the unit to run all night without shutting down. The unit includes a hanging bracket with a built-in safety hook. www.adjaudio.com NAMM Exhibit # 518 JULY 2010

WEBWISE

When Too Much of a Good Thing Is Bad

Lamenting the Poor, Overloaded Home Page

By Kevin M. Mitchell 82 MMR

JULY 2010

“I

t seems to me that a home page is the most important page on a site, but sometimes it’s the worst page,” observes Tim Ash.

How can this be? It’s natural to appreciate its importance when putting a site together, especially one for a musical instrument retail store. But alas, the problem is that far too often it’s a “too much of a good thing” situation – with the pressure on to try to entice visitors, there’s a tendency to throw everything including the kitchen sink at them, hoping something sticks. As Ash points out, if too many things are emphasized, then nothing is important. If nothing is important, then that reflects badly on the operation. Also, aesthetically, it’s like a messy store. Successful stores are well merchandised with a clean, organized look, excellent signage, and a layout that encourages good traffic flow. That is exactly the kind of approach that needs to be taken with the first page of the website. Ash is the CEO of SiteTuners.com, a landing page optimization firm. He’s worked with many leading companies and is a speaker at Internet marketing conferences. He is a contributing columnist to several industry publications and is the author of the bestselling book Landing Page Optimization and founder of the Conversion Conference. Most recently he wrote on this topic for Web Marketing Today.

A Zen-like Reprieve Sure, there are those who think the home page should mimic the Internet itself: loud, fast, with a shock-and-awe approach at disseminating information. But Ash has a different philosophy. “You often have to interrupt somebody to get them on your site,” either through an email campaign or some other means, so “once you get them to your page, there should be an almost Zen-like stillness. Calls to action need to rise out of this, but it shouldn’t be to the extreme of a Turkish bizarre. Be clear on what your priorities are, but there should be almost

JULY 2010

a sparseness – you shouldn’t continue an assault on their senses.” He says when the home page is under a staggering load of content, it groans from the weight of it all not fulfilling its purpose. “It can become a confused, jumbled mess.” How we use the Web and what we expect from it is constantly evolving, and becoming increasingly sophisticated. So there may have been a time when a home page that overloaded the senses may have been effective, but it’s certainly no longer the case today. Yet it’s not an easy puzzle to solve for most MI stores who cater to a variety of music makers and want the most effective site possible. The first part of solving a problem is identifying its cause. For Ash, he sees overcrowded home pages happening often because there are simply too many opinions – department heads and other employees and perhaps even some suppliers chiming in about what “absolutely has to” be seen first. It can be a case of “too many cooks.” “Unfortunately, this often leads to a phenomenon known as the ‘tragedy of the commons,’” he writes in his article. “If too many shepherds have unrestricted access to the unregulated common grazing lands, the sheep will overwhelm the grass’s ability to regenerate itself – destroying it for everyone. The individual self-interest of shepherds undercuts the common good.” He adds that by removing non-mission-critical content, or demoting it to much less prominent status, you focus visitors on what is important. So first, a single vision needs to be asserted. But for the full-line store that has several locations, one that is catering to everyone from the austere grand piano shopper to multi-pierced rocker looking for a new distortion pedal to the fickle high school band director, it can be a challenge coming up with a page to serve all those interests. Ash says, don’t even try. “One of the most important things is to have a page that allows people to identify themselves – find out who they are and what they are interested in, and then direct them to another page that caters specifically to their needs,” he says. “Is it an indi-

vidual looking for an instrument, or a parent inquiring about band rentals? You want people to use their head and self-select: I’m a kid, I’m a parent, I’m a bandleader – then people can figure out where to go. “The main purpose of the home page is to get people off it and put them where they need to go. You do this by letting them identify themselves to you. Who are they? That’s the first question.” The home page should be a conduit for the person who has landed there for a very specific reason; perhaps he is looking for a Music Man StingRay bass. “You

Tim Ash

“The purpose of the home page is to get people off of the home page.” really want to have a very targeted conversation with that person,” he says. “The more quickly you can start that conversation, the better.”

The Path to Success For many retailers, wanting bandleaders to know about special financing programs is critical, but having something about that on the home page may confuse or even mislead the more casual customer. Ash says it’s all about putting visitors on a path spe-

MMR 83

See us at NAMM Booth 1006

84 MMR

See us at NAMM Booth 1201

cifically designed for them and supplying them with answers and opportunities to buy products they are most interested in. “The structure you want to think about is getting the right people to do the right activities in the right order,” Ash explains. Citing the acronym AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action), he says that anyone who is going to do a transaction with you is going to go through those four steps, so constructing your site, and your home page, must include a plan on how to get them through to the “Action” part. “The purpose of the home page is to get people off of the home page.” Ash also makes the case to not busy up a home page with specific product. For the few who might find that Taylor guitar or Mapex kit attractive, there are many more who won’t be interested in it, no matter what the price is. Meanwhile, it’s cluttering up the page. Ash believes the best alternative is to create simple, but bold sections on that first page that will direct people to exactly what they are interested in. Have confidence in your site and the intelligence of those who land on it that they are willing and able to click through. “People are willing to take any number of steps they need to as long as they are getting closer to their goal, so the key is to create a clear set of choices so they can reach that goal.” The vision for the home page should have a look that does the store justice. He notes the general lack of professionalism he sees on so many sites. “It doesn’t matter what is on the page, if the site is perceived as cheesy, it’s not going to pass the basic test,” he says. “The first impression is formed in 1/50th of a millisecond. It’s a lasting impression that carries over to the likelihood of buying.” And you can overdo it by getting a toohip-for-the-room graphic designer, too. “Graphic designers are rarely trained in maximizing conversion. The best ones pride themselves on their ability to be nonconformists, and their ability to ‘think outside the box.’ They are bored with doing regular production-oriented graphic design work and like to keep themselves entertained by doing something new and interesting on every project. “Common over-the-top visual elements include wild background colors, giant graphical billboards taking up prime page real estate, garish text treatments in headlines and buttons, visual embellishments and flourishes on unimportant parts of the page, and unnecessary animation or video.” JULY 2010

SKB Global Transport Authority

InnovationS G u i t a r

P l a y e r

The First ever molded case for the Fender® Jaguar or Fender® Jazzmaster guitar 1SKB-62 case features include: UÊ,Õ}}i`Ê ì`ÊÃ i ÊÜ Ì ÊÀÕLLiÀ ÊÊÊÊÊ ` v i`Ê-ÌÞÀi i ÊÊUÊ* ÕÃ i`Ê *-Ê ÌiÀ ÀÊÌ >ÌÊv ÌÃ ÊÊÊÊÊi Ì iÀÊ}Õ Ì>ÀÊL `ÞÊÃÌÞ i ÊÊUÊ*>Ìi Ìi`ÊÌÀ }}iÀÊ >ÌV iÃÊ ÊÊÊÊÊ iÊÜ Ì Ê Ìi}À>Ìi`Ê/- Ê V ® ÊÊUÊ"ÛiÀ ì`Ê«>`ì`Ê > ` i

The First ever Injection molded electric guitar flight case Î {Ó£{ ÈÈÊ-ÌÀ>ÌÉ/i iÊ >ÃiÊ> `ÊÌ iÊ Î {Ó£{ xÈÊ iÃÊ*>Õ Ê >Ãi ÊÊUÊ ÃÌÀÕVÌ Ê vÊÕ ÌÀ>Ê } ÃÌÀi }Ì Ê ÊÊÊÊÊ« Þ«À «Þ i iÊV « Þ iÀÊÀiÃ ÊÊUÊ >Ã iÌi`]ÊÜ>ÌiÀ «À vÊ> `Ê> ÀÌ } ÌÊ`iÃ } ÊÊUÊ iÊÃ >ÌiÊÜ ii ÃÊ ÊÊUÊ ÕÌ >Ì VÊ> L i ÌÊ«ÀiÃÃÕÀiÊiµÕ> â>Ì ÊÛ> Ûi

Powered Pedalboard for under $100! £- *- n

See us at NAMM Booth 1145

ÊÊUÊ* ÜiÀÃÊÕ«ÊÌ ÊnÊ«i`> Ã

6JG 7NVKOCVG KP )WKVCT 2TQVGEVKQP

ÊÊUÊ >À}iÊ Ê> `Ê «Ê Õ Ì }ÊÃÕÀv>Vi ÊÊUÊ V Õ`iÃÊ> Ê« ÜiÀÊV>L iÃÊ> `Ê Þ ÊV>ÀÀÞÊL>}

800.410.2024

Visit www.skbcases.com for the latest product news and updates The new 1SKB-62 is covered by SKB’s unsurpassed no-fault Million Mile Guaranty™ (Lifetime Warranty)

Exhibitor’s List

NAMM Exhibitor List Exhibitor 3RD POWER Amplification LLC Aboveground FX Absara Audio LLC Access Bags and Cases Acorn Pianos Advanced Plating Akai Professional Alesis LLC Alfred Music Publishing Co. Inc. Allen & Heath Alliance Rubber Company Amedia Cymbals USA American Audio American DJ Supply, Inc. American Guild of Organists American Music & Sound American String Teachers Association American Way Marketing LLC AMV Sales & Consultation LLC Analysis Plus Ansir Music AQUARIAN ART - Applied Research And Technology Art Strings Publishing Asterope, LLC Audio Media Avedis Zildjian Company Awesome Musical Instruments, LLC B & S USA B-Band, Inc. Bass Player Magazine Bazhou Basix Musical Inst. Co. Ltd Beamz Interactive Beard Guitars LLC BEiiMEiiUP Stuff, LLC Belcat Co, Ltd Benedetto Guitars Better Audio Technologies, Inc. Beyerdynamic Pro Big Island Ukulele Co. BigHeart Slide Company Bigsby® Blackstar Amplification BlueBook OnLine

86 MMR

Booth# 1627 1635 1327 721 646 911 400 400 1118 900 223 505 518 518 150 900 150 230 1638 547 1705 713 300 1018 548 926 600 246 232 1123 926 1309 405 1422 212 1123 1546 1636 900 1610 1537 700 1524 838

Exhibitor BML, Inc. Bolt Boulder Creek Guitars Bourgeois Guitars Bourns, Inc. Brace Audio Corporation Breedlove Guitar Company Breezy Ridge Insts. Ltd. Bridgecraft USA, Inc BSX Burriss Amps & Effects Pedals C.F. Martin & Co., Inc. CADAUDIO Cakewalk Cascade Microphones Casio America, Inc. CE Distribution, LLC Cedar Creek Custom Case Shoppe Charles Dumont & Son Inc. Charles Navasky & Company Inc Cherry Lane Music Chesbro Music Co Christian Musician Magazine Cloud Microphones LLC Club World Cole Clark Guitars Collings Guitars Inc. Commercial Credit Reports, Inc. ConventionTV@NAMM Coopercopia LLC Cordoba Guitars Cort USA Curt Mangan D’Addario & Company, Inc D’Andrea Inc. D’Angelico Guitars Daisy Rock Girl Guitars DBZ Guitars LLC Dean B. Zelinsky Guitars Deering Banjo Company Diamond Amplification Inc Digitech Direct Sound Headphones LLC DJ Times

Booth# 1347 437 1408 1405 1245 331 1210 1006 428 1309 1629 1200 322 318 312 736 1227 1205 918 443 1018 536 1138 308 838 1507 1201 CLUB 838 1702 1208 1309 1418 1401 1425 1248 1118 1119 1119 903 1119 1218 311 838

Exhibitor

Booth#

DownBeat DR Handmade Strings Drake Ceramic Instruments LLC Dream Cymbals and Gongs Eden Electronics Egnater Amplification Electro-Harmonix Elixir® Strings EMD Music Inc Emery & Webb, Inc. EMG Inc. Empirical Labs Inc Epilog Laser EQ Magazine Ernie Ball, Inc. Ernie Ball, Inc. Essential Sound Products, Inc. Evans Drumheads Extreme Isolation Headphones EZ Key Publishing Fargen Amplification Flavoreeds Flaxwood USA Inc. Fleabass Folkcraft Instruments Forge Fostex G-Wiz Electronics G7th Ltd Gall Tech LLC Gallien Technology Inc. Gallien-Krueger GAMA Teaching Guitar Workshops Gatchell Violins Co., Inc. Gator Cases, Inc. George L’s Musical Products GlassTones LLC Gold Tone, Inc. Goldfi sh Guitars LLC Grassroots Musical Distributor Gretsch Co. GretschGear.com Grip Studios Guangzhou Lang Qing Development Corp. Ltd.

1029 1310 239 704 906 1429 1518 728 1236 1045 1319 308 429 926 1600 1603 406 1401 311 1027 1449 744 1106 1336 907 437 900 343 1106 219 1513 1513 150 822 819 913 1224 1422 1110 214 700 700 1701 1344

JULY 2010

Exhibitor Guitar Edge Guitar Hands Guitar Player Magazine Guitars in the Classroom GWW Group Inc. H & F Technologies, Inc. H.E.A.R. - Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers, Inc H.G. Leach Guitars Hagstrom Guitars Hal Leonard Corporation Hall Crystal Flutes Hamilton Stands Hand Guitars Hanser Music Group Hanson Musical Instruments, Ltd. Harmony Harris Musical Products, Inc. Headway Music Audio Ltd Heil Sound Ltd. High Spirits Inc Holloway Holloway Harp Guitars Homespun Tapes, Ltd. Hosa Technology, Inc. Hoshino USA Inc. House Band LLC Howard Core Company HOYER HQ Percussion Hudson Music Hughes & Kettner Humes & Berg Mfg. Co., Inc. Hunter Music Instrument Inc. IBC Trading Ltd IBMA Indie Guitar Co. Innovation Strings International DJ Expo ION Audio LLC Jack Deville Electronics LLC JamHub, LLC JangleBox Jarrell Guitars LTD. Jay Turser Jean Larrivee Guitars USA Inc Jeff Earl Design Jensen Musical Instrument Speakers John Pearse® Strings K and S Music Kala Brand Music Co. KAM Instruments Corporation Kelly Concepts, LLC Keyboard Magazine KEYS Program KHS America Kiwaya USA Koozee Armor Products, LLC Korg USA, Inc. Kurzweil USA Kush Audio Kyser Musical Products Inc. Lakland Guitars, LLC Lakota Leathers Lazy River Guitars Legacy Learning Systems, Inc. Les Basses Erizias Levy’s Leathers Limited Line 6 Line 6

JULY 2010

Booth# 922 1007 926 150 1109 810 166 1501 906 1018 743 808 1244 718 1626 1309 1136 1444 319 1711 1502 1502 1018 528 1318 645 737 526 1401 1018 300 901 828 1106 150 1536 1505 838 400 237 410 1442 1528 906 1000 1449 1227 1006 426 1328 345 607 926 150 506 1308 1716 CLUB 900 308 1304 1624 1708 1712 1128 248 1226 1323 RM213

Exhibitor Listen Hear Lloyd Prins Guitar Company LM Products, Inc Long Hollow Leather Lou Capece Music Low End Luanyu International Inc Ludwig Drum Co. Luminous Espial M Music & Musicians Magazine Mad Professor Amplification Ltd

Booth# 427 1621 725 1548 542 1437 825 601 446 240 1231

Exhibitor MADAROZZO Major Music Supply Mano Percussion Mapex USA Marshall Electronics Martin Ritter™ Meinl USA L.C. Mel Bay Publications, Inc. Merano Musical Instruments Miami Audio Music Corp. Mighty Mite

Booth# 526 1209 906 500 401 526 610 928 719 1628 1309

MMR 87

Exhibitor’s List Exhibitor Miktek, LLC Miller Guitar Strap Ministar MJS Music & Entertainment, LLC Mobineko Mogami Cable Molten Voltage Moog Music Inc Morgan Hill Music Morpheus Motion Sound MP Audio Corp MTD

Booth# 209 224 906 924 336 401 206 CLUB 1408 437 437 347 CLUB

Exhibitor

Booth#

Muse Inc Museum of Making Music Music Dealers Resource Group LLC Music Distributors Association Music for All, Inc Music Furniture Music Inc. Music Player Network Music Sales Corporation Music Teachers National Association Musical Distributors Group Musical Merchandise Review Musiquip Inc.

VIC FIRTH DEALER NEWS 7th Edition

Vic Firth’s Sales Support Helps You Earn More Money WEB FEATURES

NEW PRODUCTS

STAY CONNECTED—How do you keep up to date with the new Vic Firth customer promotions, Hard & Heavy artist features and gift packs, etc.? Vic Firth’s facebook announces all the new web features, pod casts, customer interactive promotions, etc. Know what our mutual customers know, join today: www.facebook.com/vicrth.inc

LIVE WIRES BRUSHES—Vic Firth is pleased to announce the release of our new Live Wires wire brush and pink 5A and KID stick models. Review these new products at: www.vicrth.com/products/ newproducts.php All are available to ship immediately!

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT—Endorsed artist Florian Alexandru-Zorn specializes in brush playing, world music and jazz. Watch his video demonstration of Vic’s NEW LIVE WIRES brushes and learn how the unique, innovative round bead on the tip of each wire changes the sound colors for brush players: www.vicrth.com/ artists/orian_alexandru-zorn.php HARD & HEAVY CD PRIZE PACKS— Vic has enhanced the Hard & Heavy play along CD offer by asking our artists to participate in interactive prize packages and great free gear offers for the participants and lucky prize winners. Which artist is being featured this week, what is the current prize package? www.vicrth.com/features/hard-heavy2/ contest.php

VALUE PACKS—Vic is giving away the wildly popular VICKEY. Drummers simply purchase 4 pairs of the world’s top selling stick model and receive a FREE VICKEY with this package offer! www.vicrth.com/promo.php

VICKEY VALUE PACK www.vicﬁrth.com/promo.php

NEW LIVE WIRES BRUSHES www.vicﬁrth.com/products/newproducts.php

88 MMR

1326 150 334 150 150 1447 1029 926 1018 150 1436 1031 1618

Exhibitor

Booth#

MXL Microphones 401 NAMM Foundation Pavilion 150 National Association of School Music Dealers 150 National Piano Foundation 150 Native Music Rocks 150 Nektar Technology, Inc 646 NEMC 836 New Horizons International Music 150 NewBay Media LLC 926 Nord USA 900 Nova Strings Inc. 1446 Numark Industries 400 Old Jersey Music Lab 221 On-Stage Stands 800 Opus Enterprise 338 Orange Music Electronic Company, Inc. 1508 Oriolo Guitar Company 1400 Oscar Schmidt, Division of Washburn International 906 Osiamo LLC 332 Overture Guitars 1439 Pacer Concepts 1710 Paige Musical Products 1406 Pantheon Guitars, LLC 1405 Panyard, Inc. 604 Papa’s Boxes LLC 1606 Parker Guitars 906 Peak Music Stands 729 Pearl Corporation CLUB Peavey Electronics CLUB Pedaltrain 1511 Percussion Marketing Council 150 Performer Media 234 Perri’s Leathers Ltd 1531 Perry’s Music LLC 1611 Peterson Electro Musical Products Inc. 418 Phonic 906 Pick Guy, Inc. 1617 Pickboy 332 Pigtronix 1327 PJLA Music Sales & Marketing 330 Planet Waves 1401 Players Music Accessories 831 POWER Wrist Builders 709 Prat Basses LLC 1529 Premier Builders Guild 1428 Premier Guitar 922 Pro Audio Review 926 Pro Sound News 926 Pro Stage Gear LLC 1511 Pro-Active Websites 918 ProFile 906 PureSound 1401 PZTRONICS 200 Q Lighting 1629 Quik Lok 906 Rack Writer Inc. 204 Raising The Blues, LTD. 150 Randall Amplification 906 Rees Harps Inc. 827 Remo, Inc. 605 Retail Print Music Dealers Association 150 Retail Up! 842 Reunion Blues 1443 Reverend Guitars 1250 Rico Reeds 1401 Riptide Ukuleles By Boulder Creek 1408 Ritter Europe Ltd. 526 Rock House 1018 Rock It 422 Rock On Audio 202 Roland Corporation U.S. CLUB Rowdy Pickers Musical Products 226

JULY 2010

Exhibitorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s List Exhibitor

Booth#

ROX-XY G U I T A R S GmbH 1500 S.I.T. Strings Co. 1300 Sabian Ltd 710 Saga Musical Instruments 1100 Salebug.com, LLC 320 Samick Music Corp. 636 Samson Technologies Corp 510 Santa Cruz Guitar 1211 Schneider Guitars 444 School of Rock 1144 SCORE 162 Score Mktg. 323 Sensaphonics Hearing Conservation 307 Shanghai Max Precision Instrument 729 Shenzhen Fzone Technology Co., Ltd 1544 Shoreview Distribution 207 SHS International 327 Shubb Capos 1010 SICA Speakers 1227 Sixth Street Ocarina 244 SKB Corporation 1145 Sonic Edge 1449 Sonoma Wire Works 408 Sony Electronics Inc. 207 Soul House Sound, LLC 1426 Souldier 1706 Sound & Communications 838 Source Audio LLC 442 St. Louis Music 436 Strings & Things Ltd. 1505 Strings by Aurora 1110 Studio-Blue 309 Studiologic 900 Supro 1327 Taixing Shenyun Stringed Instruments Co. Ltd. 829 Taylor Guitars 105 TC Electronic 229 TELEFUNKEN USA LLC 213 Telescript, Inc. 228 Testa Communications 838 The Case Brace Company 1527 The Club CLUB The Lampifi er Company 208 The Music & Sound Retailer 838 The Music Link 1336 The Music Link 1343 The Music People! Inc. 800 The Musician Network 1142 The Paige Capo 1406 The RapcoHorizon Company 411 TKL Products Corp. 1205 TMP Pro Distribution 800 ToneRite 1336 ToneRite, Inc. 1336 Tornavoz Music 1208 Traveler Guitar 1613 Tri-Technical Systems, Inc. 1037 Tropical Music 1307 Tunerguard 1704 TV Jones, Inc 1427 Two Old Hippies 1009 Tyler Retail Systems, Inc. 1043 U.S. Band & Orchestra Supplies Inc. 436 Ultimate Ears 306 UltraSound Amplifi ers 1525 UpBeat Daily 1029 US Music Corp 906 V-Picks 1538 V.J. Rendano Wholesale Music 328 Vee Strap 1542 Veritas Instrument Rental Inc 818 Vintage Guitar magazine 238 VNewsletter 838

JULY 2010

Exhibitor Voyage-Air Guitar, Inc. W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. Waldron Instruments, Inc. Warwick Washburn International Wave Distribution Wavelength Audio, Ltd. WD Music Products Wechter Guitars Wedgie Products Wells Company Wild Ass Suits Williamson Works

Booth# 1501 728 1612 718 906 308 444 1420 1329 1408 1542 443 1445

Exhibitor Willis Music Company Wilmington Fibre World Liberty Thailand Co., Ltd. Worldwide Music Services, LLC Wristies Xcel Drumsticks, LLC XP Audio, Inc Yamaha Corporation of America Yorkville Sound Inc. Zaolla Silverline Zuni Custom Guitars & Amplifiers ZZGuitarWorks

Booth# 1018 1229 236 1126 1707 210 437 618 300 528 1539 1703

MMR 89

NAMM University

NAMM University FRIDAY, JUNE 18 BREAKFAST SESSION

Breakfast 8–8:30 a.m. (first come, first served); Session 8:30–9:30 a.m. Grand Ballrooms, Renaissance Nashville State of the Industry Address Joe Lamond, President/CEO, NAMM, and Guests NAMM President/CEO Joe Lamond will lead the State of the Industry Address, discussing the changing economy, its impact on the industry and the upcoming challenges and opportunities as the music products community prepares for third- and fourth-quarter business.

IDEA CENTER SESSIONS

Booth #837 New sessions start every 30 minutes, unless otherwise noted.

10:30 a.m. What’s Working for My Store—Now! Presented by Danny Rocks, The Company Rocks, with Panel No theory, no fluff, just actual tales from the front line of music retailers. Danny Rocks has assembled a panel of music retailers who will share the ideas that are actually working for them, now! Five ideas in twenty minutes! These are ideas you can quickly adapt—no matter the size of your store, the size of your trading area, or the range of your product lines! 11 a.m. How to Get a Crowd in Your Store Every Day! Presented by Bob Popyk, Founder of Bentley-Hall, Inc., and Columnist for Music Trades Magazine It takes some creativity and planning to generate business on those off days. Listen in for a dozen ways to keep the cash register ringing in the slowest of times. 11:30 a.m. 5 Ways to Get More Business out of Every Customer Presented by Bob Popyk, Founder of Bentley-Hall, Inc., and Columnist for Music Trades Magazine It takes a little effort to create that extra sale, otherwise you could replace your salespeople with vending machines. There’s more business than you might think coming in your store with every customer who

90 MMR

walks through the door. Bob will present some easy ways to maximize every sale to substantially increase your overall sale.

Noon (Double Session) Back to Basics: DNA of a Successful Music Store Presented by Alan Friedman and Daniel Jobe, Friedman, Kannenberg & Company, PC Even though most music retailers are selling similar products and offering similar services, the way each retailer goes about their business is as unique as our DNA. However, in the final analysis, there are a few similarities found among financially successful retailers. From financial management to customer service, routinely performing some basic but important tasks separates the profitable from the bankrupt. Join music industry consultants Alan Friedman and Daniel Jobe as they take the time in this double session to highlight these essential tasks and give you some insight that could change your music retailing DNA. 1 p.m. Basic Marketing for Smart Music Store Owners Presented by Scott Robertson, APR, Director of Marketing & Communications, NAMM Marketing is part science, part art, and just filled to the brim with a ton of jargon, acronyms and theory. And some of that stuff can be very useful in running your JULY 2010

business. Learn the difference between goals, strategies, tacticsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and why you should know and care about these terms. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a marketing plan for your store? No problem! Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll walk through one together as you ask questions, learn from your peersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and have some fun.

1:30 p.m. Finding More Customers and Capital in a Continually Changing Economy Presented by Mark Dobosz, Executive Director of the SCORE Foundation and VP of Development for SCORE Whether in good times or bad, businesses need access to two important things: more customers and accessible funding. This session will give you practical tools and tips that can help you access FREE resources to boost your business marketing and identify new capital opportunities.

3 p.m. (Double Session) How to Manage Your Inventory for Maximum Profit Presented by George Hines, President, Georgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Music Is it possible to manage your inventory profitably while continuing to offer your customers a good selection of products? The answer is â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yes!â&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;&#x201D;as long as you fol-

low an integrated strategy for purchasing, budgeting and measuring the performance of your inventory. Join George Hines, of Georgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Music, as he provides answers to these questions: What is the proper amount of inventory for you to stock? What are the best strategies to follow when purchasing inventory? How can you maximize inventory turns and gross

Three Brands, One Focus... 7R VXSSRUW DVSLULQJ PXVLFLDQV ZLWK ZHOO FUDIWHG UHOLDEOH UHVSRQVLYH LQVWUXPHQWV DW DIIRUGDEOH SULFLQJ

2 p.m. Give Your Lesson Program a Profit Makeover! Presented by Robin Walenta, West Music Co. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve heard it all before: lessons bring traffic, not profits. But donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop there. Make your lesson center one of your biggest profit centers. Join Robin Walenta of West Music and learn different strategies on how to run a successful (and profitable!) lesson studio operation. 2:30 p.m. 5 Things to Consider When Placing a Purchase Order Presented by Peter Dods, Owner, Easy Music Center Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one thing to know all about music productsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s another to be a savvy music products buyer for your business. If you want to feel confident about your storeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s purchasing decisions, then this session will help you avoid the school of hard knocks! Learn the right questions to ask and the factors to consider before ordering, regardless of the economy. Join fellow retailer Peter Dods as he shares practical advice and real-life experience to avoid some of the buying mistakes and pitfalls, in order to manage a positive and consistent business climate for your staff and store. JULY 2010

7UXVWHG EUDQG QDPHV IURP D WUXVWHG VXSSOLHU

ZZZ %HFNHU,QVWUXPHQWV FRP ZZZ VWHQWRU PXVLF FRP

MMR 91

NAMM University margins? What “key indicators” should be in place to help you maximize your profits and customer satisfaction?

4 p.m. (Double Session) Improving Your Business Cash Flow through Your Music Lesson Program Presented by Pete Gamber, Owner, Alta Loma Music, and “The Lesson Room” Columnist, Music Inc. Magazine During ever-changing economic times, every retail business has the same two immediate challenges: 1) How to get more consumers into your store; and 2) How to get more cash into your business from these customers. Pete Gamber will show you how your lesson program can meet both of these retail challenges by increasing your store traffic AND increasing sales and revenues! Join Pete as he walks you through practical ideas and tips to increase your rentals, print music, repairs, small goods, and yes, even your large-tag items—all because of your lesson program—starting tomorrow!

92 MMR

SATURDAY, JUNE 19 BREAKFAST SESSION

Breakfast 8–8:30 a.m. (first come, first served); Session 8:30–9:30 a.m. Grand Ballrooms, Renaissance Nashville Driving Customer Traffic and Sales in This Economy with Destination Principles Jon Schallert, The Schallert Group, Small Business Consultant and Destination Business Expert This session takes Jon Schallert’s proprietary 14-step strategy to turn a business into a Consumer Destination and focuses on the most important tools that business owners must use in today’s economy to thrive and survive. Retailers will leave with concrete “to-do’s” they can immediately implement in their business to drive more customer traffic—despite today’s challenging economy. Jon promises to engage audience members in a compelling session that reveals their current business challenges and shows them how his Destination principles can be applied with amazing results.

IDEA CENTER SESSIONS

Booth #837 New sessions start every 30 minutes, unless otherwise noted. 10:30 a.m. Top 5 Marketing Ideas Using Social Media: If You Do Nothing Else, Do These! Presented by Jen Lowe, BoomBoom Percussion Join Jen Lowe for this special session as she shares real results from using social media from rock star retailers! These are simple and real-life marketing techniques that were applied by music industry retailers—each with unique success. Come away with the Top 5 ideas to use in your own business, and get inspired to start putting at least one of the suggestions into action right away! 11 a.m. Do I Have to…Be on Facebook and Twitter? Presented by Jim Hodgson, hodgsonco.com In this session, Internet specialist Jim Hodgson answers the questions he’s heard most from NAMM Members “Do I have

JULY 2010

NAMM University to use Twitter?” “What does it mean for my business if I don’t have a Facebook page?” “Is it always necessary to do the latest thing?” These questions and more will be addressed. Plus, Jim’s sessions always promise a lot of fun, so come join us!

11:30 a.m. Start Driving Customer Traffic Today with Facebook Presented by Mike Nessen, CEO, Rinforza Social Media Marketing With hundreds of millions of people visiting Facebook daily, you don’t want to miss out on learning how to use this vehicle as a way of driving traffic to your store. Join music products marketing and technology professional Mike Nessen as he shows you how it can be done by anyone, with littleto-no experience. This session will focus on easy steps to make an instant impact on Facebook, connect with new customers online, and build your business today!

Alan Friedman and Daniel Jobe as they walk you through a simple but effective budgeting tool for today’s music retailer.

1 p.m. A Creative Approach to Merchandising without Spending a Fortune Presented by Jen Tabor, Souldier Guitar Straps, USA Did you know that your store already houses many tools needed to revamp

it? Get a fresh look with a few simple ideas and tips that will cost you little, if anything. Your employees are part of this strategy too. With this in mind, now is the time to make some changes! Join Jen Tabor for creative tips for a shop makeover. No more business as usual. Topics include maximizing the potential of the “youth” in your store, and making the most of your store setup so you can spend less while increasing your cash flow.

Noon How to Start Selling Your Products Online: A Checklist for Success Presented by Danny Rocks, The Company Rocks Setting up an e-commerce Website to sell your products is not “rocket science.” However, there are certain key steps you do not want to overlook—you need a checklist to make sure you’re ready to sell and fulfill orders on day one. But what if no one shows up to buy on opening day? How do you attract paying customers to your e-commerce site? Danny Rocks of The Company Rocks will give you a checklist for this as well. 12:30 p.m. Your Business Budget: Plan to Make a Profit! Presented by Alan Friedman and Daniel Jobe, Friedman, Kannenberg & Company, PC You’ve planned your instrument purchases for the rental season; you’ve planned your accessory buys for the holiday season; maybe you’ve even planned for a rainy day. But have you planned to make a profit? You would never build a house without a blueprint, so why would you run your business without a budget? By creating and diligently using a budget, you can practically assure profitability for your store instead of just “hoping for the best.” Join music industry consultants JULY 2010

Introducing permanently lubricated TUSQ XL precision engineered nuts. The look is vintage; the performance is anything but. (available in blank and pre-slotted) graphtech.com

MMR 93

NAMM University 1:30 p.m. Build Your Customer Base and Increase Your Sales for Free Presented by Josh Vittek, Joshua Paul Vittek and Associates Generate the media press coverage you deserve. This discussion will cover how you can benefit from a public relations effort; what is public relations and how it differs from marketing; how to utilize your local print, television and digital me-

dia to generate ‘earned media coverage’; and how to integrate social media—all to build your store brand, your reputation, your sales and even your relationships with customers, neighbors and vendors.

2 p.m. (Double Session) Sales Strategies from the Top: Ten Secrets to Success for Selling More! Presented by Bill Hinely, Bill Hinely & Company

With the right sales strategies, you can be among the best when it comes to moving products! Learn the amazingly simple techniques and tactics that separate the super sellers (the top 1 percent) from rest of the pack. Join Bill Hinely for this dynamic session, based on studies of outstanding salespeople in various industries—including music products. Don’t settle for average sales when you’re just a few great ideas away from multiplying your results. This is a great session for salespeople and sales managers alike.

3 p.m. YouTube or Your Lesson Program: How to Sell Music Lessons to Your Customers Presented by Pete Gamber, Alta Loma Music, and “The Lesson Room” Columnist, Music Inc. Magazine In the world of YouTube, Craigslist, the local Parks and Rec department, and the dude at church, the basic question, “Why should I take lessons at your store?” will undoubtedly arise. Join Pete Gamber as he shows you how to train your staff to handle your store’s lesson program selling points versus other music lesson competitors. Together you’ll come up with a list of benefits to market to new students and to help staff and new trainees. You’ll leave focused on why your store’s lessons can help students and increase future sign ups! 3:30 p.m. Increase Your Store Traffic by Hosting In-Store Events Presented by George Hines, President, George’s Music Are you still waiting for customers to come into your store to shop? If so, you may be in for a long, lonely wait. Why not give your customers a reason to visit your store, so that you can help them buy your products? Why not invite your customers to attend an in-store event? Events will entertain and excite your customers while giving you the chance to showcase your staff and products. George Hines of George’s Music will show you how to pick the right in-store events; choose the right people to manage the events; and measure the effectiveness of your in-store events. 94 MMR

JULY 2010

4 p.m. (60-Minute Session) How to Make a Quick Buck—or Two! Presented by Danny Rocks, The Company Rocks, & Panel Every store needs to find quick ways to generate revenue. How can you grab a fast sale without cheapening your store’s reputation? How can you create some retail excitement in your store to get customers spending? How can you make a buck by saving a buck? It’s the little things that count. Join Danny Rocks and his panel of retailers as they share details about ways to jump-start sales—when they are most needed! You will come away with ideas that you can put into action Monday morning!

SUNDAY, JUNE 20 BREAKFAST SESSION

Breakfast 8–8:30 a.m. (first come, first served); Session 8:30–9:30 a.m. Grand Ballrooms, Renaissance Nashville Best in Show: This Year’s Hottest Products Frank Alkyer, Publisher, Music Inc., with Panel With many exciting new products at the show, it’s sometimes difficult to make sure you’ve seen all the important new items. Join Music Inc. publisher Frank Alkyer and a panel of retail buyers, media and gear heads as they scour the aisles and dig into the merchandise to find the best products, ideas and trends. You know as soon as you get home, someone always says, “Did you see the new … ?” and you feel like you’re the only person who missed it. Here’s the chance to change that in this rapid-fire, 60-minute snapshot of what to see before leaving Nashville.

IDEA CENTER SESSIONS

Booth #837 New sessions start every 30 minutes, unless otherwise noted. 10:30 a.m. (Double Session) Social Media Update: People Who Won’t Say “Tweet” Support Group Presented by Scott Robertson, APR, Director of Marketing & Communications, NAMM Check in on the latest in social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) and how these tools are being used in the music products industry. Bring your tough questions about control, risk, privacy and your general discomfort about this JULY 2010

technology; by the time we fi nish, you’ll be drinking the social media Kool-Aid. We might even get you to start using the word “tweet” in your daily conversation.

11:30 a.m. Streetwise Blogging Presented by Kenny Smith, Music Inc. Magazine Columnist Today everyone wants more store and Website traffic! “Streetwise blogging” can make a difference in turning that desire into reality. Join Kenny Smith, sales training guru and columnist for Music Inc. Magazine, as he reveals how blogging can rev up your store and your employees to blast your way into the blogosphere. He’ll share powerful blogging techniques you can use to generate more sales leads and local traffic, all for FREE! Attending this session could make a big difference in your bottom line.

OOO&KMH=JK=FKALAN=&;GE

F=O HJ=EAME Hjgna\]k H]j^gjeYf[]

9\nYf[]\ hgdak`af_ l][`fgdg_q hj][ak]dq lmf]k l`] [`jgeame oaf\af_k [geZaf]\ oal` l`] `a_` [YjZgf kl]]d jgmf\ [gj]$ hjg\m[af_ l`] oYjel` Yf\ h]j^gjeYf[] g^ Y kqfl`]la[ kljaf_ oal`gml l`] [gkl

Noon Big-Time Social Media Results from Small-Store Resources Presented by Danny Rocks, The Company Rocks Sure, you want to be on Twitter, and Facebook and YouTube. But you also need to run your store. So how do you find the time and the technical know-how to take advantage of social media opportunities? Is it possible to get “big-time” social medial results without spending tons of time? Yes. Danny Rocks will share actual music dealer social media success stories with you in this session. Dealers of all size are welcome! 12:30 p.m. (Double Session) 2010 Best Tools for Schools Awards Presented by Symphony Publishing Symphony Publishing editors and guests host the announcement of winning products in the annual Best Tools for Schools Awards. Come see what students and leaders in music education and business have chosen as the most relevant and innovative quality products being showcased at 2010 Summer NAMM.

9nYadYZd] ^gj Nagdaf$ NagdY$ ;]ddg Yf\ :Ykk

1:30 p.m.–4 p.m. Wanna Play Sunday Workshops and Clinics Please check www.namm.org/wannaplaysunday for more details and updates. MMR 95

RETAIL

Fork’s Drum Closet Nashville’s Premiere “Mom & Pop” Store Stays Aggressive

“I

used to think the whole ‘Mom and Pop’ set up was a bad thing,” says Gary Forkum. “But I don’t any more.”

Fork’s Drum Closet is nestled in funky downtown neighborhood of Music City U.S.A. (that’s Nashville to you). On the one hand, it is made up of what has made the MI industry great: Mom and dad, bro and sis, working in (mostly) harmony. On the other hand, an early embrace of the Internet, including selling on it, coupled with an aggressive marketing and promotion and a willingness to try new things sets it apart from the cliché. There’s also a willingness to go against the tide: Economy down? Time to cut back on inventory? Not Fork’s. Seeing that others would do that, they increased their offerings to stand out among competitors 96 MMR

even more than before. If there are fewer buyers out there, fine, but they will want to come to Forks, where there is more to offer. And it’s worked. Proudly, they take a “if you can hit, we have it” approach. At a modest 5,600 square feet, the store is such that ... well, as Forkum will tell you, nothing else can be crammed into it.

History Forkum, born in Nashville, was like so many of his generation, inspired by the Beatles. “I had to be like Ringo,” he smiles. He got a snare drum when he was in the fourth grade, was playing in the school band in fifth, and was in a rock band two years later. Forkum grew up to become a working professional. He played in Top 40 bands, country, “whatever I needed to do to make a living.” To supplement his income, he worked for the Corner Music Store, a respected

full-line operation serving Nashville since 1976. Fork became frustrated that he couldn’t get the budget for gear he wanted out of the guitar-centric store, and approached owner Larry Garris, to whom he pitched the idea of buying the drum department. Garris was amendable, so Fork borrowed money from his father and grandfather, and thus that little “closet” of the Corner Music Store became his. Fork still enjoys a good relationship with Corner; in fact when he grew to the point he could move out of the store, he took a spot across the street, and then a bigger building right next to Corner, where they reside today. “It’s great because the whole band can still come to one location – drummers coming here, all the others going to Corner.” He bought the building in 1997. Owning a drum shop was never easy, and there was the steep learning curve in the JULY 2010

early days. “The good part is, I love doing it,” he says. “I love drums, I love being around them, I love the challenge of deciding what to buy, how to display it, how to market it. The downside is that in the beginning I had no funding, and was scraping by.” He credits luring his wife, Melissa, an accountant, into the operation as an important breakthrough in the history of the Fork’s Drum Closet. “My talent is knowing product and knowing what the customer wants – I wasn’t so good at the bookkeeping part.” With her experience, she started eyeing ever bill, every invoice, pointing out when terms weren’t good, and weighing in on how big an order could be placed. “She’s invaluable because she helps me reach my goal of depth of material. That crucial.” But she’s not just working the calculator and examining spreadsheets, though. She’s embraced the drum lifestyle, understands it, and makes ordering decisions. “Customers ask for her – Harry McCarthy, drum tech for Max Weinberg, won’t deal with anybody but her,” Forkum says proudly. Speaking of proud, their children Matt, 26, and Jaime, 24, also work for the store. Matt is usually found working

the floor while Jaime handles the website duties, runs their eBay shop, and helps with special events. Paul Synder has been manager for 24 years, and Forkum says he’s always been a crucial part of the operation. “Paul is great and knows product. He handles the electronic business, the repair department, and runs the work shops.” There are eight other employees. Two years ago Fork’s expanded and opened another store two and half hours east, in Knoxville. “We felt people were traveling from the east, and that there was a need.” The fi rst year they beat their projected sales goal by 12 percent, and today the 2,500 square foot store features two teaching rooms. “It’s funny because it’s similar to what we started with at Corner Music. It’s a store within a store, inside Rick’s Music, which is a guitar and amp place.” Forkum is still a professional drummer himself, playing a few times a month at parties, college events, and festivals in the popular The Midnight Riders, an Allman Brothers tribute band. (Forkum is more than just a long-time fan of the band; he’s done business with their drummers for years.)

A Family Affair MMR: Fork’s Drum Closet is truly a family operation. GF: It is. MMR: But it’s not always smooth sailing working with family... GF: About 95 percent of the time it’s great. They all really care about the place. Occasionally we bump heads. But I hope we continue like this for a long time. My son

NEW CREDIT CARD REGULATIONS..... ALL Payment Applications MUST BE PA-DSS Certified by July 1st.

ARE YOU READY? WE ARE Fully compliant and certified to the PA-DSS standards.

GET READY with Tri-Tech

STOP BY NAMM BOOTH # 1037

Or contact sales@technology4retailers.com · 800.670.1736

Tri-Technical Systems, Inc. 3162 Crest Ridge Dubuque, Iowa 52003 · 800.670.1736 W W W . T E C H N O L O G Y 4 R E T A I L E R S . C O M

JULY 2010

MMR 97

Meinl, we didn’t take away from the other brands. We just found new business.

MMR: Is it mostly the lower end that’s doing well? GF: The Gon Bops have done really well for us. They make some of the best high-end congas, and we’ve had good success with those. MMR: And electronic kits? GF: Most of it is Roland and Yamaha. Also a little Alexis.

[Matt] is definitely locked in. My daughter [Jaime] enjoys what she does here, but she’s also designing purses. She makes them out of coffee bean bags and sells them at a coffee shop. [Laughs] That’s the hippie side to her. But I hope she wants to stay. She’s learning more about the Internet and how to sell on it, which is crucial because that’s where growth is going to be with our business … or with any business.

MMR: What are your main lines? GF: We carry most everything out there. Pearl and dw are our biggest sup-

pliers. Gretsch is big. Yamaha, Tama, and Mapex do real good for us, as does Kaman. MMR: Hand percussion? GF: Obviously Latin Percussion, but Meinl has become real strong for us in the last few years. They are located right here in town, which makes it easier.

MMR: Has hand percussion been growing for you? GF: We’ve experimented with it and have increased our business in that area. The interesting thing is that when we added

MMR: You have a large offering of sticks. GF: Vic Firth is number one. After that, we do well with Pro Mark and Vater. Because we’re in the country music capital, plus with the schools and universities, we sell a ton of brushes and utility sticks. The hot rods and multi-rods – we’ve refocused on all of that and have a full wall of it. We also sell a ton of metronomes, like Tama Rhythm Watches. All the studio musicians here need them. MMR: You have a great cymbal room. What is working for you there?

Hmj[`Yk] Y Lq[ggf <b]eZ] gj ;Ybgf" Yf\ _]l Y >J== BYeHY[c ;gflY[l Lq[ggf H]j[mkkagf lg\Yq2 1(1%+1+%---"ImYda^qaf_ hmj[`Yk] af[dm\]k Y k]d][lagf g^ Lq[ggf H]j[mkkagf <b]eZk Yf\ ;Ybgfk oal` Y eafaeme j]lYad nYdm] g^ *01 ]Y[`& L`] Lq[ggf H]j[mkkagf BYeHY[c af[dm\]k eYjY[Yk$ [dYn]k$ Y [goZ]dd Yf\ Y lYeZgmjaf]& G^^]j nYda\ Yl hYjla[ahYlaf_ \]Yd]jk Bmf] ) lg 9m_mkl +)$ *()( gj o`ad] kmhhda]k dYkl& ;gflY[l qgmj Lq[ggf H]j[mkkagf KYd]k J]hj]k]flYlan] ^gj [gehd]l] \]lYadk&

ooo&Lq[ggfH]j[mkkagf&[ge

GF: Zildjian is number one. Then Sabian, Paiste, and Meinl. Knowing it was going to be a rough year, we wanted to focus on the big four because of the support they provide us in terms of artist and advertising. There are some other great cymbal combines out there. Too many really, and that makes it’s hard to pick which ones to carry. I may take on the products of smaller cymbal company soon, but you can spread yourself too thin sometimes. I know we can do a good job with the big four.

Serving the Pros MMR: Do you consider Fork’s a pro shop? GF: I do. But we also focus on entry-level kits. We have a strong teaching program that has seven to eight great teachers, bringing in a couple of hundred students a month. MMR: Pros can be fickle. GF: We have done a good job serving them. A lot of pros have endorsement deals on certain things, of course, but they still need repairs, still need things quickly. We make it a point to know what heads and sticks they like. When you make a pro a good, loyal customer, they send others to you.

That’s really why I started the store. I wanted to keep local professionals from going to mail order. The local stores at the time weren’t discounting heavily, and were losing customers because of it. One of my goals was keeping that business in Nashville. I think we’ve done a good job at that.

MMR: Your store is busting at the seams with drums. Snare drums are stacked far on the ceiling, and one weaves through the many rooms discovering loads of gear… GF: We try to use every inch of space. Even the small hallway to the bathroom is covered with mallets. We literally use every inch imaginable. It’s just because we have so much inventory and so many lines … I want a drummer to see we have everything he could want. I would rather have someone come to a store like this than a huge building with no vibe and character carrying the same amount of gear but looking empty. We would love to have a bigger store – don’t get me wrong! But we’re in a hip part of town, and that’s equally impor-

tant. We also rent a 6,000 square foot warehouse space where we ship from and handle our eBay sales. I almost look at that as another store because it generates income.

MMR: Do you do a good rental business? GF: We have about nine or ten backline kits we rent, all higher end drums for the artist who come to town. One might have an endorsement deal with Gretsch or dw, and we supply that. We do all right with that. We do a couple of recording sessions here and there, and this past weekend we did the Franklin Jazz Festival. MMR: You have a lot of school percussion products as well. GF: Over 25 percent of our business is school percussion products. We have a dedicated sales rep for that market. We want to grow that part. When we get through this recession, I want to hire a second sales rep for it. MMR: Tell us more about your school sales.

Win a FREE iPod No Purchase Required – Booth # 323

SCORE Mktg. Marketing popular, unique products to the music industry. Batt-O-Meter Musicians Battery Tester

Rick Rock Guitar Picks and Accessories

Rhythm Ring Finger Percussion Shaker

The “Snake” Fast Guitar Stringwinder

CORRICIADAN Medicine Bottle Guitar Slides

Wrap-N-Strap Cable Organizers

SHUBB Capos

MOLLARD Conducting Batons

Dolsey Rotating 3-Guitar display stand Facelift Guitar Overlays Lizard Spit Polishes and cleaners Lute Hole Decorative wood feedback reducers

Chromatic Watch Company GigLight Portable Music Stand Lights

Mighty Moe AmpStraps

O-Tray Mic stand accessory holder

Redland AxeMats and Guitar Workstations

Peterson BodyBeat Metronome

SCORE Mktg. Phone: 301-765-7788 Web: www.scoremktg.com

JULY 2010

ChopSaver Natural Lip Balm

P.O.B. 34431 Bethesda, MD 20827 Fax: 301-765-7790 Em: sales@scoremktg.com

MMR 99

See us at NAMM Booth 1638

Reach 10,000 music dealers, suppliers and wholesalers

with a click of the mouse! Check out the classiﬁed advertisement link on the MMR web site (www.mmrmagazine. com) and place your on-line and/or print advertisement . Within minutes your message will reach more than 8,000 music dealers, 1,000 plus suppliers and hundreds of wholesalers, distributors and sales representatives throughout North America and with our expanded international e-mail list major markets in Europe, Asia and South America. Whether you are selling a product or service MMR’s classiﬁed pages are the largest, most well-read of all music publications.

You are a click away from promoting your instrument rental program; buying vintage products, hiring a keyboard specialist, obtaining a sales representative in the Mid West or purchasing that one-of-a-kind part. Send your message today, sell your product or service tomorrow!

www.mmrmagazine.com or call Maureen at 800-964-5150 ext 34 mjohan@symphonypublishing.com 100 MMR

JULY 2010

GF: We don’t have a lot of school percussion on display because of the size of the store – a marimba takes up the space of three kits. We keep those things in the warehouse. In the early 1990s we dedicated a sales person to it to go to the drum contest market, and development relationships with band directors. We’ve become known for carrying products for them and that’s good. A big part of that business is selling to corps. MMR: It’s been notated that you were quick to embrace the Internet, both in terms of your website and selling. GF: I don’t think we got it right away, but we saw enough soon enough to realize it was going that way. I knew it was at least going to be an important source of information, a place where people could find out about the shop. MMR: You sell online. GF: People are comfortable shopping on line, and yes, we ship things every day. eBay is the great equalizer against big companies with big space. We use eBay to get rid of a lot of used, obsolete, and discontinued products. With the

JULY 2010

new products it’s trickier. If it’s legal to do so, we put something up with a MAP price. And we’ve gained a lot of customers from it, too. We offer something at the right price, handle it well, ship it quickly, and we gain business. Customers return.

Giving Back MMR: Let’s talk marketing and promotions. GF: I probably do four clinics a year, and we try to have fairly big named artist come in. We’ll have a sale to go along with it. Maybe we break even … honestly, we do it because it’s a way for us to give back to the drum community. We thank them for their business by bringing in their favorite artist. For years we advertised in the drum magazines, and while we’re not there right now, we plan on getting back in there. The website is an important part of our advertising strategy. MMR: Do you have luck with special sales? GF: We’ll do a couple of tent sales in the parking lot, like in the spring and fall. We also do a sale on “Black Friday,” the day af-

See us at NAMM Booth 150

ter Thanksgiving. If we don’t, we notice it. If we do and advertise it, it’s a good day. MMR: Your competition? GF: We have a Guitar Center five minutes away, a Sam Ash 30 minutes away. In 1997, both a Thoroughbred Music and a MARS came to town. And even in that year we still didn’t go backwards. It stopped our growth, sure; but next year growth returned. Then the Guitar Center came … I wouldn’t say they don’t affect us, but we’ve never gone backwards.

MMR: So you’re getting by during our “Great Recession?” GF: I think we were prepared for it. We saw the downturn coming last year. We’re down a bit, probably single digits, which is pretty good as friends are down 20 or 30 percent. We’ve been as aggressive as possible. We brought a lot of inventory in. MMR: Really? Most MI stores have cut back …. GF: I felt that most of our competition would cut inventory, and I thought that most people still had jobs and were buying, so we’d gain an advantage there.

MMR 101

DIPLOMATTE

PROFESSIONAL AND STUDENT WOODWINDS AND BRASS THAT ARE TRULY WORLD CLASS.

Dr. Paul Shelden, world-renowned performer and educator, is the leading force behind these exceptional hand-crafted saxophones and other woodwinds and brass instruments. Each instrument is uniquely engineered for exquisite tonal beauty and mechanical perfection. Also among our most celebrated products are meticulously-crafted trumpets, silver utes, clarinets, ugel horns, and low brass; but we carry much more -- just ask.

Gorgeous-sounding instruments at an affordable price, DIPLOMATTE is increasingly celebrated by professionals and students alike.

DEALER INQUIRIES WELCOME

CONTACT: Diplomatte Musical Instruments 516-967-0005 psgpi@aol.com http://www.diplomattemusic.com (website under construction) 1405 Sturl Avenue Hewlett, NY 11557

That’s why we’ve remained successful. We’ve seen some drop in the high end, but we still sell a lot of dw kits, Brady snares, and high-end Gretsch. There’s still a market for that.

MMR: You were one of the founding members of the Five Star Drum Store organization. GF: I was the third or fourth guy who was approached. It’s definitely a good thing, but it’s a challenge because you have 36 independent drum shop owners. What keeps us from being more successful is not thinking as a unit. We’re not buying together as much as we could. But within any group, AIMM or anybody else, there’s a participation problem. Usually a third of the group participates. There’s a bunch of good people, but we all have different sized stores … we’re striving for everyone to participate in whatever manner they can. MMR: Are you satisfied with the relationship you have with your manufacturers? GF: I do have really good relationship with most of the suppliers. All of them want the independents to survive. We want to keep the playing field even … and if I was a supplier? Would I be selling to Guitar Center, etc.? Absolutely. But we as independents can take advantage of how the big stores advertise. I want everything they have and a bunch of stuff they don’t. I don’t shy away from a line because they have it. I don’t because they will promote what they buy, and then I am also carrying it and I can compete. These guys that refuse to carry a line because the big stores are carrying have the wrong attitude.

Breaking News Find it in the Hot News section of MMR’s Web site,

MMR: So what’s your crystal ball say about the future? GF: I’m always the eternal optimist. I think things are on the upswing. I think we got spoiled when things were good. Going forward, we’ll appreciate what we had. I think we were living too high on the hog, and this [recession] gives us perspective. I’m looking forward to going, “Oh – 2009? 2010? Yeah, we survived it.”

www.MMRmagazine.com 102 MMR

JULY 2010

Supplierscene Fred Gretsch at the Chicago Drum Show Fred W. Gretsch, president of the Gretsch Company, appeared at the 20th annual Chicago Drum Show. The show was

cial Audio Division, created specifically to more efficiently manage and support the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s established, internationally renowned brands: Media Matrix, Crest Audio, and Architectural Acoustics. By restructuring the sales and support teams in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)

for this new division, Peavey intends to create an identifiable and integrated group of pro audio brands with its own dedicated support staff and a clear development roadmap for the future. Highlighting the importance of these changes, Peavey has implemented a new

Fred Gretsch giving his master class presentation.

held this past May 15 and 16 at the Kane County Fairgrounds in St Charles, Illinois. Fred gave a presentation that went out live on the DrummerCafe Web site. He also conducted a master class. Joining Fred for his presentations was John Palmer, Gretsch drum manager for KMC Music, which distributes Gretsch drums world-wide. Also appearing for Gretsch was artist-endorser Hannah Ford. A native of the Chicago area, Hannah has made a name for herself as both a performing artist and a clinician. The Chicago Drum Show also featured a display of Gretsch drums, which included three USA Custom Special Edition kits and several Special Edition snare drums. For more information, visit www.gretsch.com.

Peaveyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Focus on Music Gaming & Commercial Audio Peavey is entering the gaming world through a partnership with software developer Zivix. The two are introducing the Peavey HeroMaker Guitar/Controller, a full-sized six-string electric guitar and software controller and the newly developed Jam Party: Be the Music software. Peavey has announced the new focus of their CommerJULY 2010

See us at NAMM Booth 1304

MMR 103

Supplierscene management structure to run the organization which is headed up by Peavey Commercial Audio general manager, Kevin Ivey, based out of Peavey headquarters in Meridian, Miss. and Clive Roberts, managing director of Peavey Europe in Corby, UK. As an example of how these changes will translate into real benefits for Peavey distributors and customers, Ivey cited that the MediaMatrix brand now offers an entire range of control products that allow any designer or contractor with nWare experience to build complex control systems, all without the additional cost or need for outside consultants or contractors. The new organization was presented to EMEA distributors at a two-day distributor meeting that was recently held in Italy. Attendees met the new team and participated in a number of workshops focused specifically on the Commercial Audio Division and its pipeline of new and highly anticipated products. The workshop structure gave distributors ample opportunity to spend time with key Peavey team members who will be assets to the continued success of their business. For more information, visit www.peavey.com.

Gibson’s Arlen Roth Degree Program Gibson Guitar has announced the creation of the Arlen Roth Degree Program. Every month, Arlen will give an assignment. The subjects will vary from month to month, hitting every genre. Fans of all experience levels choosing to participate will post a YouTube video in which they incorporate that lesson into a short performance piece. They will submit a link to the video, along with a few related pieces of information, to Gibson’s Web site. Arlen will view the performance, grade it, and offer a few notes of advice or commentary. A printable report card (or “diploma”) will then be e-mailed to the fan. The top performance of each month will be christened “Arlen Roth’s Student of the Month” and have his/her video posted on the Arlen Roth page on Gibson’s site. The “Student of the Month” will also win a gift pack from the Gibson Store. At the end of the year, a class valedictorian will be chosen. This top student will receive a one-of-a-kind certificate of achievement and a brand new Gibson guitar. For more information, go to www.gibson.com.

Become a Dealer

Television Debut for Bedell Guitar Two Old Hippies’ Bedell guitar line had its national television debut when American Idol contestants Crystal Bowersox and Mike Lynche opted to use Bedell performance series acoustic guitars in their weekly performance. The TBCE-28-G model played by Bowersox during the competition features an Alaskan Sitka spruce straight grained top, Indian rosewood back and sides, and an African ebony fretboard and bridge. The JBCE-52-G model played by Lynche features Canadian flame maple back and sides and an Alaskan Sitka spruce top. Two Old Hippies is headquartered in Spirit Lake, Iowa, and consists of two divisions: premium acoustic guitar brands Bedell and Great Divide and lifestyle apparel. The company was founded by Tom and Molly Bedell, the two hippies behind Two Old Hippies. For more information, visit www.twooldhippies.com.

Yamaha at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival For 25 years, Yamaha Drums has been the official drum sponsor of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. This year, the company provided Rock Tour, Stage Custom Birch, Oak Custom, Recording Custom, and Absolute Birch kits. When the festival is over, Yamaha sends the drums to Ray Fransen’s Drum

800.558.3877 www.shoreviewdistribution.com

distributor Shoreview Distribution, Inc. 69 Elm Street Foxboro, MA 02035 104 MMR

See us at NAMM Booth 207

Ed Clift of Paiste giving a demo. JULY 2010

Center in Kenner, Louisiana, the state’s oldest and largest establishment dedicated solely to drumming. Fransen then sells the drums to the public at his store. www.yamahadrums.com

complete line of electric guitars and basses, acoustic guitars, classical guitars, wireless systems, digital tuners, metronomes, string sets, straps, ABS cases, and

Crowded House Tours with Earthworks’ Mics The rock band Crowded House kicked off a European tour in Newcastle, England on May 18th. This tour relies heavily on its 28 microphone arsenal, all of which are drawn from the catalog of Milford, N.H.- based Earthworks. Angus Davidson is the FOH Engineer for Crowded House. For the tour, Davidson is using Earthworks’ DK25/L drum kit microphones (a three-microphone package optimized for drum set miking) in conjunction with two DP25/C High Definition snare microphones, four DP30/C High Definition tom microphones, SR30 High Definition microphone for the hi-hats, as well as two SR40 High Definition mics for drum overheads.

Miami Audio Now Distributing Strinberg Guitars Strinberg guitars and basses are now available for distribution in the U.S. through Miami Audio Music Corp. Located in Miami, Florida, since 2001, M.A.M. took over distribution of Strinberg for Latin America and the Caribbean in 2004 and is now expanding its business to the whole U.S.A. Strinberg has a

nylon bags. For more information, www.strinberg.com.

visit

Buddy Blaze Generates New Guitar Model Buddy Blaze Fine Stringed Instruments has teamed up with Sugarland’s lead guitarist, Scott Patton, to unveil its new signature model, the Generator. On May 28, the guitar was unveiled to a national audience on ABC’s Good Morning America as part of their Summer Concert Series. The new Buddy Blaze Generator features a custom graphic designed by graphic designer, Stephen Jensen. The Steam Punk Generator artwork was created to specifically compliment Sugarland’s The Incredible Machine tour. For more information, visit www.buddyblaze.com.

Tired of Paper? Allow your customers to sign up and pay online!

Worried about switching systems? Free import of your current customer data. View Online Training Videos & User Guide

Over 900 organizations switched to Jackrabbit

Super Easy web-based Music School Management Software “Jackrabbit web-based software is the most comprehensive, user-friendly program available; it's completed by constant enhancements, tireless support, and cutting edge technology.” - Matt Coker – www.CokerMusic.com Request a FREE trial at:

JULY 2010

JackrabbitMusic.com

MMR 105

Classifieds

Accessories

RATES: Classified Display: $30 per column inch for text only. $40 per column inch, 1 color, logo, graphics. $50 per column inch 4 color.

PAYMENTS: ALL ADS ARE PREPAID. Charge on Mastercard, Visa or American Express.

SEND YOUR ADVERTISEMENT TO: 21 Highland Circle, Suite 1, Needham, MA 02494/mjohan@ symphonypublishing.com.

CLASSIFIEDS on the MOVE!

QUESTIONS? Call Maureen Johan at 800-964-5150 x 34/ mjohan@symphonypublishing.com.

check www.mmrmagazine.com for daily updates!

Business Opportunities

Contact Roger at 877-727-2798 Ext. 5

For Classified Sales Call Maureen â&#x20AC;˘ 800-964-5150 ext. 34 mjohan@symphonypublishing.com 106 MMR

JULY 2010

Visit the Classifieds on the Web: www.MMRmagazine.com

Business Opportunities

• Band and Orchestra Rentals • New and Like New Educator-Approved Brand Name Instruments • Personalized Rent-To-Own Program • No Franchise Fee or Inventory Investment • No Shipping Costs • High Commissions Paid the 1st of Every Month • Exceptional Service

For Classified Sales Call Maureen

Help Wanted

800-964-5150 ext. 34 mjohan@symphonypublishing.com

For Sale 40 year old Music business for sale with or without Commercial Building. In Beautiful Central Oregon! call for details: 541 383 8863 or email: phally54@hotmail.com

Breaking News Find it in the Hot News section of MMR’s Web site, www.MMRmagazine.com JULY 2010

MMR 107

Visit the Classifieds on the Web: www.MMRmagazine.com

Help Wanted

Manufacturing

For Classified Sales Call Maureen 800-964-5150 ext. 34 mjohan@symphonypublishing.com

Merchandise PORCHBOARD BASS The UCL-S PorchBoard Bass offers analog, clean bass rhythm with the tap of a foot. Durable passive magnetic sensor system and 3-way frequency response switch eliminates low-end feedback and delay. Features both 1/4 inch and XLR outputs. No batteries, wall worts or external power supply required. Includes carry bag. $299.95. www.porchboard.com (608) 752-2229

Oboes & Bassoons

We create the finest hand-crafted Oboes & Bassoons. Also replacement 5K Bassoon Bocals.

Linton Woodwinds Corporation, Jack Linton 1013 Alma St. Elkhart, IN 46514 U.S.A. PH: 1-866-220-2909 Fax: 574-266-7658 E-Mail: info@lintonwoodwinds.com www.LintonWoodwinds.com

Lines Wanted Lines Wanted In Pacific Northwest 17 years successful experience. MI and Pro Audio. All inquiries held in confidence Ray at Creative Enterprises baragary@peoplepc.com

1,000,000+ And Counting! Over one million posts on our world famous Piano Forums, and growing. More than 11,000 unique visitors stop by Piano World every day. Be smart, advertise your piano related business on the most popular piano web site in the world.

PianoWorld.com Home of the world famous Piano Forums.

www.mmrmagazine.com 108 MMR

Ready to Advertise, or Still Need Convincing?

Visit www.PianoWorld.com/advertising ... Today! JULY 2010

Visit the Classifieds on the Web: www.MMRmagazine.com

Merchandise

ACCORDIONS, CONCERTINAS, & BUTTON BOXES new, used, buy, sell, trade, repair, tune, CASTIGLIONE DISTRIBUTING CO. 13300 E 11 MILE WARREN, MI 48089 PH # 1-586-755-6050 WWW.CASTIGLIONEACCORDIONS.COM

equatone@earthlink.net

For Classified Sales Call Maureen 800-964-5150 ext. 34 • mjohan@symphonypublishing.com JULY 2010

MMR 109

Visit the Classifieds on the Web: www.MMRmagazine.com

Merchandise

Repair Tools BOW REHAIRING Expert Bow Service

Order forms,Pricing and Shipping label at:

www.bowrehairing.com USED PIANOS at WHOLESALE PRICES consoles, studios, uprights,grands. DISCOUNT PIANO WHOLESALERS (323) 377-3644

Violin bows as low as $10.00 per bow in quantity incl. shipping (see website for details.) Large inventory of replacement parts both new and vintage. IRA B. KRAEMER & Co. Wholesale Services Division

“An industry leader since 1967” 467 Grant Avenue, Scotch Plains, N.J. 07076 Tel: 908-322-4469 Fax: 908 322-8613 e mail: info@bowrehairing.com

FAST TURN-AROUND ON STOCK REPAIRS NATIONWIDE NAPBIRT member, 26 Years Experience Contact: Dan Rieck, 801-733-4243 dan@utahwoodwindrepair.com

Hunter Music Instrument Inc adds in an accordion line. From button accordion to Piano accordion, from Kid’s to adult, from entry level to professional, from solid color to combo, we have a wide selection for the accordion player.

718-706-0828 www.huntermusical.com

YAMAHA–KAWAI & MORE

CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED PIANOS

Asian High Quality No other supplier offers superior service before, during and after the sale. You get what you pay for!

GUARANTEED LANDED QUALITY

1-800-782-2694 North American Music 11 Kay Fries Drive Stony Point, NY 10980 Fax: (845) 429-6920

FINANCING AVAILABLE

www.mmrmagazine.com 110 MMR

For Classified Sales Call Maureen 800-964-5150 ext. 34 mjohan@symphonypublishing.com

Miscellaneous BAND INSTRUMENT REPAIR VIDEO Save $$$ on repair expense. Earn extra income. Journeyman repairman offers “How To” videos on the repair of brass and woodwind instruments. For information write to: B.I.R.V. Co. 880 Slater Rd. Bellingham, WA. 98226 (360) 384-6707

Reps Wanted • NEEDED • Independent Reps calling on Music Stores, Pro Audio Shops, Contractors All Territories Open • High Commissions MIC-EZE® • RUBBER-NECK® • LUMIN-EZE™ Microphone holders & Placement Systems No-Creak Black Goosenecks Clamp-On DJ Work Lights BNC & XLR Mixer Lights Contact: Ac-cetera info@ac-cetera.com • 800-537-3491 JULY 2010

Visit the Classifieds on the Web: www.MMRmagazine.com

Services

Vintage Instruments

Wanted To Buy WE, BUY, SELL, TRADE and ship worldwide. Written APPRAISALS available. GRUHN GUITARS, 400 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203

SHIPPING YOUR PIANO

(615) 256-2033

with Lone Wolf Trucking

fax (615) 255-2021

is a “grand” idea!

An independent, long-distance Mover specializing in coast-to-coast residential Relocation.

www.gruhn.com

Wanted USED TUBAS ANY CONDITION-CASH PAID

1-800-982-9505

THE TUBA EXCHANGE 1825 CHAPEL HILL RD. DURHAM, NC 27707 1-800-869-8822 WWW.TUBAEXCHANGE.COM

www.lonewolftrucking.com Alamogordo, New Mexico. 88310

ICC MC-256289

Store For Sale FOR SALE Beautiful central Florida Well-known music store, Located 24 years on East Coast! All inventory/xtures, turnkey! Major brands, full-line. No real property. 8 + studios Owners have aging parents. Call PM only. Partner/investor okay. 321-725-3047

Classified Advertising To Advertise Call Toll Free 1-800-964-5150 x34 Deadline: Fourth Friday of every month

PLACE YOUR AD BY MAIL OR FAX: PAYMENT MUST BE RECEIVED IN ADVANCE MasterCard, Visa, American Express accepted

Attention: Classified Ads MMR 21 Highland Circle Ste. 1 Needham, MA 02494 FAX your ad copy to (781) 453-9389

AD RATES $30.00 per inch (1 inch minimum). $40.00 per inch if one color, logo or graphic added. Add $1.00 per bold face line. Display classified: $50 per inch. PAYMENT MUST BE RECEIVED IN ADVANCE.

Please charge my:

Mastercard

Visa

AMEX

Credit Card #: _________________________________________________________ Expires_____/_____ Authorized Signature: _____________________________________________________________________ Name: ___________________________________________________________________________________

Breaking News

Find it in the Hot News section of MMR’s Web site, www.MMRmagazine.com JULY 2010

Company: _______________________________________________________________________________ Street: ___________________________________________________________________________________ City:_____________________________________________State:__________ Zip Code: _______________ Telephone #:________________________________Fax # _______________________________________ Email Address: ___________________________________________________________________________ MMR 111

Adindex COMPANY NAME

A.I.M. Gifts/Albert Elovitz In Access Bags and Cases Al Cass Alfred Music Publishing Alfred Music Publishing Alliance Rubber Company Allparts Music Corp Alvarez Amati’s Fine Instruments America Longxing Inc. American DJ Supply Inc. American Way Marketing LLC AMV Sales & Consultation LLC

Benedetto Guitars Big Bends LLC Breezy Ridge Instruments Ltd. Bridgecraft

Chesbro Music Co. Collings Guitars Connolly & Co. D’Addario & Co. Dana B. Goods The Dava Co. Diplomatte Musical Instruments Direct Sound Dunlop Manufacturing Inc.

E/F

EMD Music Inc. EMD Music Inc. Fishman Transducers, Inc. Fishman Transducers, Inc. Flea Bass Floyd Rose Marketing

GCI Technologies George L’s Graph Tech Guitar Labs Grover

H/I

Hailun USA Hal Leonard Corp. Idarca-Audio Inc

J/K

Jack Rabbit Technologies Kawai America Corp. KMC Music, Inc KMC Music, Inc Koozee Armor Products Kyser Musical Products Inc.

L/M

Levy’s Leathers Ltd. Major Music Supply 112 MMR

E-MAIL/WEB ADDRESS www.aimgifts.com www.accessbagsandcases.com www.alfred.com/dealer www.alfred.com/dealer www.alliance-rubber.com www.allparts.com www.usbandsupplies.com www.Amatis.us www.huntermusical.com www.americandj.com info@americanwaymktg.com www.AMVsales.com

www.BenedettoGuitars.com www.bigbends.com www.jpstrings.com www.xmusicpro.com

www.chesbromusic.com www.collingsguitars.com www.thomastik-infeld.com www.daddario.com www.danabgoods.com www.davapick.com psgpi@aol.com www.extremeheadphones.com www.jimdunlop.com

PAGE 24 28 102 61 45 40 44 43 59 67 25 39 100

76 35 84 77

87 84 89 34 51 84 102 14 12

www.staggmusic.com www.staggmusic.com www.fishman.com www.fishman.com www.fleabass.com www.floydrose.com

38 69 66 67 92 80

www.gci-technologies.com www.georgels.com www.graphtech.com www.grotro.com

94 12 93 14

www.hailun-pianos.com www.halleonard.com www.acxel12.com

26 37 16

www.jackrabbittech.com www.kawiausl.com www.kmcmusic.com; www.kmconline.com www.kmcmusic.com; www.kmconline.com www.koozeearmor.com www.kysermusical.com

www.levysleathers.com www.majormusicsupply.com

105 cov 3 91 55 100 103

42 77

COMPANY NAME

E-MAIL/WEB ADDRESS

Miami Audio Music Corp. Musical Distributors Group Musiquip

www.miamiaudiomusic.com www.musicaldistributors.com www.musiquip.com

N/O

NAMM National Educational Music Co. National Educational Music Co. New Sensor Corp. NS Design Oriolo Guitar Company

Paul Shelden Global Productions Peak Music Stands Peavey Electronics Peterson Strobe Tuners PJLA Music Products Players Music Accessories

R/S

Roland Corp. U.S. Sabian Ltd. Saga Musical Instruments Samson Technologies Corp. Score Marketing Shelden, Paul-Global Productions Shoreview Distribution SHS International Shubb Capos S.I.T. Strings Corp. SKB Corp. Soul House Sound LLC String Swing Mfg. Inc. Super-Sensitive Musical String Co.

Taylor Guitars TKL Products Corp. ToneGear ToneRite Co. Tri-Technical Systems, Inc. Tycoon Percussion

U/V

U.S. Music Corp. Vic Firth, Inc. Vic Firth, Inc.

W.D. Music Products Inc. Walking Bird Repair Forms Warehouse Guitar Speakers West Music Wittner GmbH & Co. KG Wyman Piano Company

Y/Z

Yamaha Corp. of America Yorkville Sound Inc. Avedis Zildjian Co.

www.namm.com www.nemc.com www.nemc.com www.newsensor.com www.thinkNS.com www.oriologuitars.com

psgpi@aol.com www.peakmusicstands.com www.peavey.com www.petersontuners.com www.pjlamusc.com www.players-music.com

www.rolandUS.com www.sabian.com www.sagamusic.com www.samsontech.com www.scoremktg.com psgpi@aol.com www.shoreviewdistribution.com www.shsint.net www.shubb.com www.sitstrings.com www.skbcases.com www.soulhousesound.com www.stringswing.com www.cavanaughcompany.com

PAGE 27 101 11

46-47 71 78 18-19 32 81

102 76 29 53 16 105

cov 4 17 79 cov 2-1 99 102 104 13 44 36 85 100 5 95

www.taylorguitars.com www.tkl.com www.theStringCleaner.com www.ToneRite.com www.technology4retailers.com www.tycoonpercussion.com

7 3 40 15 97 98

www.washburn.com www.VicFirth.com www.VicFirth.com

30 88 73

www.wdmusic.com www.walkingbirdmusic.com www.WarehouseSpeakers.com www.tjflutes.com www.wittner-gmbh.de www.wymanpiano.com

31 99 8 68 65 44

www.yamaha.com www.yorkville.com www.zildjian.com

33 9 41

JULY 2009

The Premier Piano of Japan

t h e

e d u c a t e d

s h i g e r u aichi prefectural university of fine arts and music american academy of dramatic arts beijing conservatory brigham young university bunkyo university (japan) the carrollwood cultural center catholic fu jen university chapman university chinese cultural university clarence valley conservatorium (australia) clayton state university the colburn school conservatory of music columbia college chicago conservatoire cuillera (spain) conservatoire de chalon sur saône (france) conservatoire de musique de québec conservatoire of liria (spain) conservatoire profesional de valencia (spain) conservatoire st. brieuc (france) conservatoire superior alicante (spain) conservatoire superior castellon (spain)

p i a n o s

conservatorio superior de musica de palma (spain) ecole de musique (france) egå gymnasium (denmark) etta and joseph miller performing arts center ikast gymnasium (denmark) interlochen center for the arts kungsholm gymnasium (sweden) kyoto city university of arts laugalækjarskóli (iceland)

c h o i c e.

s e l e c t e d

listaháskóli islands (iceland) musashino academia musicae (japan) music academy mlinaric vladimir (slovenia) music school nova gorica (slovenia) music school slovenske konjice (slovenia) music school trebnje (slovenia) musikhochschule nürnberg-augsburg (germany) national center for the performing arts (china) national taipei university of education national taichung university of education national university of ireland maynooth newington college nordiska musikgymnasiet (sweden) norges musikkhøgskole (norway) pacific union college reinhardt college scots college (australia)

b y :

seitoku university (japan) shanghai conservatory of music shorter college showa academia musicae (japan) staatliche hochschule für musik freiburg (germany) taipei municipal university of education tallinna muusikakeskkoolile (estonia) terni conservatory (italy) tokyo college of music tokyo gakugei university university of houston university of nevada - las vegas university of western australia waseda university (japan) westminster school atlanta wheaton college xi’an conservatory of music (china)

Shigeru Kawai Piano Company 2055 E. University Drive Rancho Dominguez, CA 90220 www.shigerukawai.com 310-223-0900

Beautiful Music Starts with a Beautiful Planet

Roland continues its quest for a rich natural environment where people can enjoy music long into the future. At Roland, we’re dedicated to protecting our environment for future generations. Among our many efforts, we’ve designated 250 acres in Indonesia for forestation, which is expected to oﬀset 10,000 tons of CO2 over the next 20 years. We’re also embracing solar power generation, and we rigidly adhere to strict international environmental standards for our manufacturing practices and the components that go into our products. As a company, we are uniﬁed in our commitment to ensure a safe, beautiful environment where everyone can enjoy music long into the future.