NAMM Report
by Richard Johnston
Both exhibitors and retailers were nervous about the January 2009 NAMM show (National Assoc. of Music Merchants trade show), held as usual in Anaheim. Everybody knew the economic climate was radically different than in previous years, but just how severely it would effect retailers’ collective willingness to stock their stores with new gear was anybody’s guess. As it turned out, most manufacturers wrote more orders than they had expected to, and although this can partly be attributed to lowered expectations, the mood on Saturday was almost bullish in comparison to the tight-lipped “we’ll see…” attitude that prevailed on Thursday when the show opened. Most exhibitors, like Taylor and Martin (the Taylor booth is shown here) .jpg) had lots of traffic despite the new restrictions in place this year for attendees, which included a ban on kids under 16 and strict monitoring of photo IDs to make sure the name on our badges matched a driver’s license. This change resulted in a much more quiet Sunday, as those who had attended the show earlier in the week couldn’t sell or loan their badge to someone else.
Thanks to a recent increase in students wishing to learn guitar, the Gryphon guys were looking to fill some obvious holes in our inventory. While we’ve long championed small size acoustic guitars for young players, we haven’t put the same amount of energy into stocking smaller electric guitars for kids. Derek and Brian solved that problem when they found a nice series of small electrics from Luna. Parents might be surprised to learn that one reason for allowing their kids to play an electric guitar is that the lower string tension means that a small electric guitar is easier to play than a steel-string acoustic. And the electric pickups deliver more realistic sound that what you get from a small-size acoustic guitar. Don’t worry about high volume from Junior’s room; the amps have a headphone jack!
Gryphon has also had a significant gap between our inexpensive electric guitars, and the more pricey brands like Nash, Vinetto, and of course, Collings. Brian and Derek were impressed with Schecter, a company that offers a wide range of well-made electric models in several styles that will sell for between $400 and $1000. Unfortunately, the lighting in the Schecter booth made it impossible to get decent photos, but you can see the new Schecters here at Gryphon in the very near future.
Gryphon customers love new gear, and we went to Anaheim prepared to buy. We think the guitars we brought back, or which were displayed at the show but will be shipped to us later, will not disappoint.
We brought back a number of Collings guitars, including two examples of their new electric model, called the 360 (Collings electrics have highway-themed names, such as City Limits, I-35, etc.)
.jpg) Alex Rueb, who handles a majority of the sales tasks at Collings, is shown here holding one of these new models, and another 360 model that I brought home can be seen on the wall above his right shoulder. The guitar above Alex’s left shoulder also came home with me. For other photos of guitars that Collings chose to display at NAMM, and which came home to Gryphon, check the home page of our website. If Alex looks familiar to some of you, we wouldn’t be surprised, as he took mandolin lessons from Jack years ago while he was attending the University of Santa Clara.
We always spend a lot of time in the Martin booth, and of course since the rewrite of Mike Longworth’s “Martin Guitars, A History” was first shown at this year’s NAMM, I had even more reason to hang around the Martin display than usual. (The book was presented to everyone who attended Martin’s dealer dinner, so co-author Dick Boak and I got a workout signing over 250 copies). While there I couldn’t resist a special 000 model from Martin’s Custom Shop which was one of only two produced. With an Adirondack top, quilted Sapele back and sides, and Style 42 appointments but with wood binding and an OM-45 Deluxe inlaid pickguard, this guitar just kept calling me back to look at it. We haven’t received it yet, but it will be here soon.  The sunburst Martin shown here is an artist edition for country-rock pioneer Chris Hillman (The Byrds, Desert Rose, and many other bands). Hillman, who grew up with horses and cattle instead of adopting cowboy ways for his media kit, understandably chose a Western theme for the headstock inlay on the OM model shown here. Cowboys and OM Martins have gone together since the beginning, as both Roy Rogers and Haywire Mac McClintock played original OM models. The Chris Hillman OM has the subtle sunburst top that Martin used only briefly in the early 1930s, and yes, the guitar shown here, chosen for display in Martin’s booth, is the very guitar Gryphon will be offering for sale. We’ll see if some photos of Chris with this guitar are available from Martin, for he played it briefly while visiting the booth.
For more news about what we did at NAMM, check out the articles in this eGazette titled “Old Friends, New Instruments” and “It’s all about wood, even at NAMM”.
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