Winter NAMM 2018 (ultra Pic-heavy)

[wintremute]

is it?????

Wise

No, it's not. I was thinking of Strandberg. I don't think I hit the Sandberg booth. I can't picture it. I know on the map it was right next to Walrus, and right across from Jennings. It may be that they didn't have any basses on display, and so I just glossed over them.

 

[Mr.Ben]

On to Rickenbacker:

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I go hunting for someone to ask about the 5-string, and I find this guy! Instead of kicking me out this year, he accepted my offering of carrots. This 5-string is wider at the nut than their previous version. It comes in natural and a very sexy matte black. Check out those crazy new pickups, too.

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These look great! How did it sound through that Orange amp?

 

[JIO]

No offense, @JIO... it may depend a lot on who's driving said Astro van... .

now that is funny!

 

[wintremute]

These look great! How did it sound through that Orange amp?

It sounded pretty good. The combination of good bass + good amp, what could go wrong?

 

[bebass]

thanks a bunch for this post! It took me three days but I got through it all.

I gotta echo what others are saying: who is buying all these basses? It seems like there are enough basses pictured in this thread to supply every person who is going to buy one this year.

At least we all have excellent choices. But it is a buyer's market because we DO have all those choices. Some of the basses will get a lot of play and others will sit around lonely. Some companies will excel and others will go out of business. But agreed, there are certainly FAR more basses than players; we each could have a couple of hundred or more and there would still be basses left. Unfortunately, some of the higher quality, better built and better playing basses will be unsold while the more hyped basses will sell.

 

[Solarmist]

I wonder how many times this thread has been liked ...

 

[Fat Freddy]

I wonder how many times this thread has been liked ...

At least 7....

 

[MarkoYYZ]

Another big shout out. I was there for 3 days and didn't see half of what you captured in your pics. Major props to Wintremute.

I was there all 4 days - including one where we had no booth and all I could do was walk around - and I still didn't see half of what was in this thread either. Continued props to wintremute for doing these threads, it's a great peek into the show for those who aren't attending and it's a TON of work taking these pics (many on request) and uploading. You guys should all chip in $1 each and cover a night in a hotel or something

Don't get me started on hotels, though. Having one of our crates delayed in customs was bad enough, but hotel issues nearly destroyed me. By the time we were set up for Day 2, all my NAMM energy was spent and I was running on fumes for the rest of the show - unfortunately it shows in the pictures :/
.

 

[Mr.Ben]

It sounded pretty good. The combination of good bass + good amp, what could go wrong?

It seems like I've been waiting for Rickenbacker to make these basses for a long time...owned a few Rics and my current 1992 4003s is by far the best...I really hope these retain the tone and feel of a good 4003/4001 without the shortcomings of the older designs. Thanks for posting the pics and inspiring a gas flareup.

 

[Passinwind]

Don't get me started on hotels, though. Having one of our crates delayed in customs was bad enough, but hotel issues nearly destroyed me. By the time we were set up for Day 2, all my NAMM energy was spent and I was running on fumes for the rest of the show - unfortunately it shows in the pictures :/
.

Same here, my hotel this year was seriously lame. That's a large part of why I look so narcoleptic in the group pic Charles took in your booth. I can only imagine the stress level that shipping snafu must have caused. One of our amp/cab suppliers went through something similar as well. It wasn't the greatest feeling only having my homemade amp in the booth for most of the first day, but at least our booth was open.

 

[Mastermold]

I was there all 4 days - including one where we had no booth and all I could do was walk around - and I still didn't see half of what was in this thread either. Continued props to wintremute for doing these threads, it's a great peek into the show for those who aren't attending and it's a TON of work taking these pics (many on request) and uploading. You guys should all chip in $1 each and cover a night in a hotel or something

Don't get me started on hotels, though. Having one of our crates delayed in customs was bad enough, but hotel issues nearly destroyed me. By the time we were set up for Day 2, all my NAMM energy was spent and I was running on fumes for the rest of the show - unfortunately it shows in the pictures :/
.

Marko glad you made the trip, it was great meeting you and getting to goof around with your basses! Going to have to get me one now!

 

[MarkoYYZ]

Same here, my hotel this year was seriously lame. That's a large part of why I look so narcoleptic in the group pic Charles took in your booth. I can only imagine the stress level that shipping snafu must have caused. One of our amp/cab suppliers went through something similar as well. It wasn't the greatest feeling only having my homemade amp in the booth for most of the first day, but at least our booth was open.

It's a crazy story, really.

** snipped - decided it's probably not worth sidetracking the thread with itt **

But we met some great people and the show itself - the 3 days we had anyways - was totally worthwhile, as well as an afternoon spent at Nordstrand on Tuesday before flying home. I always learn so much by visiting them out in Redlands. I just wish I had more steam to enjoy it all in the way I should have.
.

 

[Passinwind]

It's a crazy story, really. I may as well tell it...
<snip>
But we met some great people and the show itself - the 3 days we had anyways - was totally worthwhile. I just wish I had more steam to enjoy it in the way I should have.
.

Holy carp, my petty hassles were nothing compared to that. But if I go again next year I'm sure going to be extra careful about how and when I book. I also went through the NAMM reservations site, about when you did. All my preferred options were booked and I reluctantly went with a 1-2 star choice with a ton of very negative reviews. I just hoped that they would maybe step up their game a little for the show, and in fact the staff was absolutely great about trying to make us all forget about what a divey rathole the place is. I ran into some very uptown luthiers who were stuck in the same place who just gave me a wry smile and carried on in showtime mode. I enjoyed meeting and chatting with you BTW. Hopefully things will go better for both of us next time around.

 

[MarkoYYZ]

Holy carp, my petty hassles were nothing compared to that. But if I go again next year I'm sure going to be extra careful about how and when I book. I also went through the NAMM reservations site, about when you did. All my preferred options were booked and I reluctantly went with a 1-2 star choice with a ton of very negative reviews. I just hoped that they would maybe step up their game a little for the show, and in fact the staff was absolutely great about trying to make us all forget about what a divey rathole the place is. I ran into some very uptown luthiers who were stuck in the same place who just gave me a wry smile and carried on in showtime mode. I enjoyed meeting and chatting with you BTW. Hopefully things will go better for both of us next time around.

Yes, it was great to finally meet in person,and thank you for the introduction to Marco Basses as well - we had a good chat and exchange of ideas. Lots of that this year with many contacts. That's what you can't do over the internet, and the networking with players has to be done in person as well. They have to get hands on with your stuff, so while the internet can and does tale over some of the news release part of what the show used to do, the glad handing and networking will always need to happen in person. Dealers don't come kick our tires very much, though we did spend time with a handful that we had some discussions with beforehand and it was a way to cement plans a little.
.

 

[rtslinger]

NAMM officially starts tomorrow, but I got in early to get ready and hang out and meet people. My thanks once again to Mike Lull and @TonyP- for getting me in this year.

So, there was a little get together at the UVA Bar in Downtown Disney. Among the suspects:

Tony & Ben Jones News - Bass Musician Mag
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Tony & Derrick Ogden Derrick Ogden Bio - Zon Guitars
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And I met Nalani.
Nalani Music — Bass and Vocals
Nalani Music

She was totally down to earth, and ready to talk music, bass, and life.

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Guess who just happened to be playing at Downtown Disney tonight? Our very own @BassCliff !
Who? ha ha ha Sorry BC couldn't pass it up

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It was great to see Cliff, and I'm going to see him again in a couple of weeks because he'll be playing in Vegas.

So that's it for tonight. I need to get some sleep so I can get ready for tomorrow. LET THE MADNESS BEGIN!

 

[Plake]

Another stellar job @wintremute. Thanks for the info.

 

[Wisebass]

I don't think I hit the Sandberg booth. I can't picture it

Hi wintremute

You can' t cover the whole show man.

I hope you enjoyed being there and had a good time

greetings

Wise

 

[tombowlus]

I can't speak for a decade ago, but I think it's about the same as the last couple of years. This year it seemed that NAMM was much more organized, which helped a lot. Almost all of the bass manufacturing companies were in Hall D or Hall E. The convention center added some new buildings/space, and I think that helped a lot in both booth allocation, and space to walk around. It's so much easier to see all the basses when you just walk from booth to booth to booth, rather than trying to hunt them down in various Halls.

+1 In fact, I definitely recall NAMM Shows with more smaller builders present.

 

[wintremute]

Wintremute - what is that beautiful 8 string bass on page 16 post #302?

I'm sorry, I forgot to go back and ask them about it. You could try contacting Kalium through their website or through FB.

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Kalium Strings

 

[TolerancEJ]

+1 In fact, I definitely recall NAMM Shows with more smaller builders present.

I have no knowledge of NAMM itself, having never attended one, but have their space/booth rental rates skyrocketed each year? Gibson chose to debut their new instruments at CES instead of NAMM this year.