NAMM, July 1999
Summer Session in Nashville
Here's a little photo album of the show. . .
It's been nearly thirty years since I attended my first NAMM show. (NAMM is the national association of music retailers, manufacturers and distributors.) At that show, band instruments and pianos dominated the scene.
The Nashville Convention Center is a big place, and this weekend it was filled with musical instrument displays:
Basically, guitars were everywhere:
Well, almost:
The west coast Martin sales representative is Joe McNamara, left:
He showed us (Richard Johnston and me) the latest Martin models - 23 new ones this year alone! That makes a total of 106 Martin models in the catalog right now, by the way.
Here's Richard checking in with our pal, Chris Martin (right) the seventh generation head of the Martin Guitar Co.:
Just down the isle, Santa Cruz Guitar Company introduced their special commemorative Y2K model:
It's a fingerstyle guitar with fancy koa back and sides, and, as you can see, a classy year 2000 inlay.
Way back in 1969, Rick Shubb designed the first Gryphon logo, which we used as an inlay on our custom instruments. Today, he's best known for the Shubb Capo, the favorite of musicians everywhere. He tells me they've sold a million capos so far! Rick's also one of the best banjo players around:
Over at the Taylor booth, there was a great video tour of the factory, featuring Bob Taylor describing their new neck joint in detail:
I snapped this picture as I walked by:
It's the amazing inflatable guitar, which is now available as a production instrument. If you'd like to know more about the Chrysalis Guitar, drop by their website at ChrysalisGuitars.com
A cool inlay on a cutaway guitar by James Goodall:
Stylin' with a yellow case, it's Al Williams:
Al makes the famous Calton case, our favorite defense to the destructive urges of baggage handlers.
Richard looks over the new Tippin guitars:
Bruce Weber manufactures the mandolins that carry his name:
His small company, Sound to Earth, in Montana, makes some of the best mandolins around.
He tells us he's "big in Japan." Developer and marketer of the "Fluke," Jumpin' Jim Beloff is always ready to show off:
Bill Collings has a surprise for us:
The Collings mandolin.
Barry Hunn of Deering Banjos is holding their latest:
It's a resonator version of their "Goodtime Banjo," the best starter banjo made in the U.S.
My last stop was with Ray and Sue Moores, the founders of Dusty Strings:
They started out as manufacturers of hammered dulcimers, but now are best known for their fine Celtic harps. Dusty Strings is very much the center of folklife in Seattle, and also operates a fine retail shop.