London International Music Show 09

[Jaden]

indeed, they were originally on the list, then they were not on the list, then they were

[NeglectedField]

Well, they're on there right now. Though there'll be plenty of other great brands to try and kill numerous birds with one stone (in terms of making an informed decision for next purchase), it'd be good if they were there.

I love that show simply because I can feel marginally less guilty about trying my hand at stuff.

[NeglectedField]

So who went in the end, and what did you try out?

[DJR]

Decided to skip the trade day and went up Saturday. All in all it was an ok show, but the cracks of the failing industry are definitely starting to show, even at an event like this. No Gibson, No Fender (so nice of these major corporations to support the UK industry...), a third of the hall was, well.... boring, unless you're into music in print, educational etc. The "Retail" area was a welcome addition on last year, but still, only a small hand-full of retailers. If I were a drummer, I'd be certainly disappointed.. very poor show on this front. Ibanez/Headstock were there after all, but in smaller presence compared to last year. They did, however, manage to get Vai on the stand for a signing session, much to the glee of an abundance of thuggish security just waiting to flex their powers.

Stand out exhibiters: as always, Strings & Things (Ernie Ball/Music Man, etc) had a fabulous set up, and I guess Marshall did the business as per usual.

Event highlights for me: meeting Marco Mendoza (been a fan since he took over from Tony Franklin in Blue Murder), TM Stevens, Vai, Doug Wimbish, Guthrie Govan. Plus catching Marco & TM Stevens on stage with the bizarre concept of the band Swans In Flight, er... anyway! Nicko McBrian/Hilborne/Vai at the end of the day was a bit of an Anti climax, although it was great seeing my pal Jamie Humphries up there with them jamming out. 'Going Down' & 'Little Wing' again? ugh, yawn, although seeing Vai doing Iron Maiden's The Trooper was amusing! (and wouldn't you know it... someone has uploaded the soundcheck to youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFH9_NGRqMs ). A shame Vai didn't throw any of his stuff into the set, ahwell. The public attendance was pretty low, but then, same weekend as download? good move! and in all honesty, if I was going to exhibit, I would pay for Download over LIMS any day of the week.

Apologies. I wish I could be more positive, but I'm so glad I didn't pay to get in... the UK has a VERY LONG WAY to go to get anywhere near a NAMM, that's for sure.

[NeglectedField]

Good points. I think Fender and Gibson don't come cos they'd be flooded with people and be unable to manage them.

I met the Soilwork drummer, the Breed 77 vocalist through a friend and maybe a few others, saw Steve Vai and Albert Lee.

I found my disappointment was from that realisation that some guitars are just guitars. So many just didn't feel like the money they were asking. A few did, though, namely the Warwicks and the Music Mans. It was totally unlike the first time I went to LGS where I was like a hyperactive wee child.

Being that nerd I am I made a list of the stuff I remember trying out:

Blackstar Series One 200
Crafter open-pore electro-acoustic
Ernie Ball Steve Lukather model Blackstar Series One 200 head
ESP M-II bolt-on
Flaxwood Äijä
Framus Diablo model
Ibanez BTB300FM
Ibanez EW20WNE
Ibanez JEM7V
Ibanez RG2228
Ibanez S5470
Ibanez SR300
Kala ukulele
Korg Kaoss Pad
LAG Arkane model
Lakland 4-string
Lakland 5-string
Mayones Regius custom model
MTD KZ 4-string bass into Mark Bass amp
Musicman Sterling 4-string bass
Musicman Stingray 4-string
Musicman Stingray 5-string
Ozark 4-string acoustic bass
Randall KH120 halfstack
Randall combo
Roland Fantom G6
Roland HPD-10 Handsonic
Taylor 12-string
Taylor nylon string
Warwick Vampyre 4-string into Jonas Hellborg signature Warwick amp
Washburn X-series into Randall Kirk Hammett halfstack
Yamaha Billy Sheehan model
Yamaha Silent guitar (nylon)
Yamaha electric kit

I have a few criticisms to level at many exhibitors though. The first is, have something half decent to plug into. If I'm going to try a pricey metal guitar I expect not to play it through some piece of junk that I can't get a good full metal tone out of. That's no way to sell your stuff. Neither is only allowing punters to try certain models whilst having others on display, and have that model be all naff. Mayones I'm looking in your direction (also guilty of the former). I was only allowed to play this Regius model even though I was specifically interested in the Setius or one of the tremolo models, which looked more like their asking price.