Musical Instrument Professional (MiPro) Issue 102, November 2008

INCORPORATING

1833and all that

Martin: 175 years at the top and stillgiving people what they want

SECTOR SPOTLIGHTSTARTER PACKS

DGC WESTSIDE SABIAN MIA PIANO WAREHOUSE MARINER HERGA FRESHMAN

� TRADITIONAL � HI-TECH � ROCK � CLASSICAL � EDUCATION � PRINTED MUSIC ISSUE 102 � NOVEMBER 2008

For more information about the JVM2 Series and other Marshall products contact:Marshall Amplification plc Denbigh Road, Bletchley, Milton Keynes MK1 1DQ www.marshallamps.com

The new album A Sense of Purposeis out now!www.inflames.com

Not only has Martin Guitars been around for 175 years, it hasremained at the top of the acoustic guitar business and is still a familyconcern. MI Pro examines an MI phenomenon

Portable PA is enjoying something of a rush as the live music scenegoes from strength to strength. What’s in it for you?

10 Years soundly insuring

the UK Music Industry

t: 0121-327-1977 f: 0121-327-5139 [email protected] / www.covernotes.co.uk Authorised & Regulated by the Financial Services Authority

NEWS 6DGC closes, Westside makes splash withSabian, JHS with Fishman

DISTRIBUTION 10Mel Bay’s down under, Aer’s Trust, DMGuitars, Sound Tech goes Nord

MIA AWARDS 12The great and the good applauding withplaudits – it’s all good news

PRS EXPERIENCE 16Our man in Stevensville gets a front rowseat for all that’s new in high-end guitars

RADIO FREQUENCIES 18Channel 69 could be on the way out.How you can cause some disturbance

MARINER GUITARS 37Ken Achard is back – again – with a newhigh-end acoustic

PIANO WAREHOUSE 38Although pianos are booming, theKentish Town team is taking no chances

FRESHMAN 44A new line aimed at taking a successfulbrand through the stratosphere

HERGA MUSIC 46How to get started in the gift businessand move beyond MI

CODA 80The paparazzi’s unique point of view ofthe MIA awards in London

HOW TO STAY ON TOP 20

MAKING A NOISE 25

NEWS 53X-Music opens in Dublin, Rotosound drives web interest,Champ shop front

ON LOCATION 57Walking in the wild west

INDIE PROFILE 59Tiki Drums makes something of a hit

ACCESSORIES 60 RECORDING 63 DRUMS 65TRADITIONAL 66 PRINT 68

PRODUCTS

RETAIL

SIGN UP FOR THE MI PRO NEWSFLASH SERVICE AT WWW.MI-PRO.CO.UK miPRO NOVEMBER 2008 3

57 54

6

12

38

COVER STORY

SECTOR SPOTLIGHT • STARTER PACKS 31Christmas is just around the corner and despite the economy, the entry-level stapleslook set to remain the impulse-buy best sellers in retail’s busiest season

ISSUE 102 NOVEMBER 2008 IN THIS ISSUE

59

MEMBER

The ‘R’ word

Is it irony that a few months ago we were concernedover food and petrol prices and our domestic budgets,while the credit crunch crisis murmured on in the

background, yet now prices are falling as the globaleconomy stumbles closer and closer to the precipice?Probably not – it’s more a reversal of fortune, really.

Here’s another one: for the past three years, UKmanufacturing has been constrained by the strength ofthe pound, which has made exports expensive for buyersabroad, but now, following a dramatic fall in the value ofSterling, nobody is much in the mood for buying stock infear of over extending those now ignominious lines ofcredit… Or is that irony? It probably is, especially whenwe consider that excessive importing has been blamed fora lot of the UK’s difficulties at the moment.

Whatever. The thing is, the world is entering a period ofunprecedented uncertainty as regards the economy andthe truth that few economists and politicians areprepared to admit to is that no-one really knows whatwill happen next, nor where it will all end.

As MI Pro goes to press, the Governor of the Bank ofEngland has finally admitted that recession is upon us,with the Prime Minister following suit a few hours later inParliament, but all this has done is inspire ‘experts’ toargue on the TV and radio as to exactly how ‘deep’ therecession will be and for how long it will continue.

In the ongoing blame game, I have found it veryinteresting to note that while the banks still stand out asthe biggest baddies, there has been something of acampaign in the media (inspired by the banks?) to turnthat finger on the general public. Apparently, we haveborrowed too much, we have lived beyond our means andwe have relied too much on credit. The words ‘pot’, ‘kettle’and ‘black’ spring immediately to mind.

Meanwhile, retail chugs on, with some High Streetoutlets still asking ‘Crisis? What crisis?’ An interview withthe retail magnate, Peter Green, in early October had himfollowing the ‘we talk ourselves into recession’ line andcertain that the financial leaders would sort things out.

Late October saw the same man, somewhatincredulously it must be said, confirming that theseleaders had done no such thing and that recession wasnow unavoidable.

And the bottom line? While the supply chain has beenaccused of importing too much and the general public ofborrowing too much, the result is bound to be thatretailers will have less to sell and less money being spent.

We have often used these pages to say thatimaginative retailing is a good path to successful retailing.Dealers are going to have to be even more imaginativeover the next year or so, it would seem.

Andy [email protected]

Apparently thegeneral public

has borrowed toomuch. The words‘pot’, ‘kettle’ and

‘black’ springimmediately to

mind.


EDITORIAL

LATEST NEWSSTRAIGHT TO YOUR MOBILE

Bookmark us in your phone:MOBILE.MI-PRO.CO.UK

MANAGING EDITORANDY BARRETT [email protected]

EDITOR AT LARGEGARY [email protected]

ASSOCIATE EDITOR ROB POWER [email protected]

STAFF WRITERROB [email protected]

ADVERTISING MANAGERDARRELL CARTER [email protected]

PRODUCTION MANAGER HELEN [email protected]

PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE ROSIE MCKEOWN [email protected]

DESIGNERREBECCA [email protected]

DESIGN ASSISTANTCLAIRE [email protected]

CIRCULATION PAUL LITTLE [email protected]

CONSULTANT GRAHAM [email protected]

PUBLISHER DAVE ROBERTS [email protected]

MANAGING DIRECTOR STUART [email protected]

MI PRO CONTACTS

Sabian gets strategicwith WestsideSABIAN HAS announced that itis to share the distribution of itscymbal products between theestablished UK distributor,Arbiter Group and WestsideDistribution, in an agreementdesigned to ensure a muchgreater UK market coverage andto facilitate a wider range ofdealer-focused benefits.

This means Sabian cymbalsand accessories will now also beavailable to UK dealers fromWestside, which has establishedaward-winning success with aselect roster of high-end brandnames including CF Martin & Coguitars, Mesa Boogie amps, Levy’sstraps and Aer acousticamplification. Though distributingthe same catalogue of products,Westside and Arbiter willcontinue to operate independentof each other.

Westside’s director, Phil Hay(pictured right with Sabian’s UK-based senior vice-president,Jackie Houlden) expressed hissatisfaction. “As a drummer andsomeone who has wanted to addpercussion to our portfolio, I amdelighted Sabian has chosenWestside for this partnership,” hesaid. “Sabian is a world-classbrand with tremendous

consumer awareness andconsistently high demand. I haveevery confidence Westside willfurther enhance the UK marketstatus Sabian has achieved withits existing business model.”

Houlden added: “Westside hasa stellar reputation, and we atSabian are extremely confidentthat the strong business acumen,astute brand portfoliomanagement, and strategicapproach to businessdemonstrated by its staff andmanagement will ensure the UK

trade and consumer market willbenefit greatly from this newarrangement.”

Westside is now in the processof recruiting for its new ‘drumdepartment’ with a call for adrum specialist to work as arepresentative for the midlands,East Anglia, London, the southeast and the south west regionsof England, with the initial aim ofpromoting the Sabian brand inthe country.WESTSIDE: 0141 248 4812ARBITER: 020 8207 7860

NEWS

Glasgow supplier takes on first percussion line for ‘greater coverage’

6 miPRO NOVEMBER 2008 SIGN UP FOR THE MI PRO NEWSFLASH SERVICE AT WWW.MI-PRO.CO.UK

JHS scoops top acoustic brand

JOHN HORNBY Skewes & Cohas been appointed as theexclusive UK and NorthernIreland trade distributor for theAmerican manufacturer,Fishman transducers andacoustic amplification. The newdeal is effective immediately.

“It’s not every day that aclass-leading brand such asFishman, with a 25-year historyof technical innovation,becomes available,” commentedJHS’ managing director, DennisDrumm. “We are truly delightedto have been selected to offerthe world’s number one brandof pickups, preamps, toneshaping products and amplifiers

to our customers.“Beyond the focus we can

bring to the distribution ofFishman in our market, thereare synergies between JHS andFishman which will lead tosome very interesting andexciting developments withJHS’s guitar brands.”

Larry Fishman (pictured), thefounder and president ofFishman Transducers added: “Wehave similar roots, businesshistories, and place a high valueon the importance of aseamless transition of productsfrom the manufacturer and onto the musician.

“Both companies enjoy

reputations for excellentproduct, customer service andare, therefore, equally fastidiousregarding the quality of ourbusiness alliances.

“As the largest independentdistributor of musicalinstrument products in the UKwith a 43 year history, JHSbrings a depth andunderstanding of the UK marketthat is unparalleled.

"We are extremely excitedabout this new partnership andwe are looking forward toworking very closely withDennis and the entire JHSteam," he concluded. JHS: 0113 286 6411

Fishman switches to Garforth for UK and Northern Ireland distribution

Cohen closes DGC

DURHAM BASED MIdistributor DGC Distributionceased trading on October10th, initially leaving theindustry in someconsternation as to what hadhappened with the company.The company’s owner SimonCohen, however, released thefollowing statement onOctober 20th:

“It is with deep regret toconfirm that DGC Distributionceased trading last week aftermore than 20 years inbusiness. I would like to takethis opportunity to thank allour customers, suppliers andstaff for their continuingsupport over so many years.

“The decision to close wasbased on several factors, notleast our continuedinvolvement in technology andretailing solutions. I would liketo re-assure all customers thatTerms Ltd, trading as MI-Storeand Guvnor Ltd are bothtrading strongly. For anyfurther enquiries pleasecontact me at [email protected], [email protected] call me directly on 07971810045.”

DGC began as a guitarschool in Durham City, whichlater became a music shop inthe mid-80s, before branching

into distribution. It specialisedin accessories and guitars, withthe primary lines being Guvnorand Ritter.

DGC won the DTI NationalMillennium Awards for E-commerce in 2000 for itsmusic store portal,guvnor.com. Inclusion in theUK’s Vision 100 list followed.

Cohen and his colleaguescontinue to trade under TermsLtd, supplying MI specific epossystems and e-commercesolutions. The manufacturingand worldwide distribution ofGuvnor Guitars also continues.

While the DGC website hasbeen closed down, the ‘closure’of the Guvnor site wastemporary and based oncontent. The MI Store website(mi-store.com) has continueduninterrupted and the Guvnorsite was due for re-launch asMI Pro went to press.

Larry Fishman with his new Solo portable array PA

Supplier moves away from MI toconcentrate on technology businesses

Jackie Houlden(seated) and

Phil Haypenning the

dealSIMON COHEN:closed

DGC after over 20 years

NEWS

Schaller reveals ‘full Monty’ concept




STENTOR MUSIC and Schaller Electronicare starting a new business concept fortheir customers in the UK, which will seethe full range of the Germanmanufacturer’s products available at alltimes. In the past, it has been reported,the availability of Schaller products hasbeen inconsistent.

The two companies have stated that allof this is about to change, as a newconcept is introduced, initiated bySchaller, which will see sufficientquantities of all products available fromstock to allow delivery to retailers, guitar-builders and consumers within a few days.

After successfully piloting the schemein Germany and Canada, Schaller will nowlaunch the project in the United Kingdomwith its exclusive business partner, StentorMusic. From December 1st, the entireSchaller product range will be continuallyavailable to UK dealers.

“Stentor has been a Schaller distributorfor more than 40 years and we believethat this new arrangement will ensure thatall Schaller products are readily andconsistently available to retailers andconsumers, and through our specialistTouchstone Tonewoods division to buildersand repairers.

“The partnership between Schaller andStentor will ensure that, for the first time,the level of service will match the qualityof the products,” commented RobertBogin, director of Stentor.

“This new sales concept, by which weare now, for the first time in all the yearswe've been around, able to make allSchaller products immediately available toevery customer, means a lastingenhancement to our service – the thirdbranch of our ‘Quality, Innovation andService’ strategy”, stated Dr Lars Bünning,Schaller Electronic’s managing director, inthe company's official press release.

“Schaller’s mission is to make availableto its customers, the entire productrange,” he continued. “The only way to beconfident that this can be achieved isthrough single distribution partners inevery country.

“August 2008 was the start of the firstmodel in Germany with the distributioncompany GEWA. We are now proud toadd Stentor to represent Schaller in theUK, a company that has tremendous reachacross the whole country with a strongprofessional sales force and immensebusiness integrity.” STENTOR MUSIC:01737-240226

German guitar component manufacturer guarantees full range of products at all times through UK distributor

Yamaha opens newartists centre in LondonCompany’s latest piano facility to serve as hub toclassical community in London

Bob Thomas1938 – 2008

YAMAHA HAS opened a new artistservices facility in London, based atChappell’s in Wardour Street and joiningan expanding global network that beganin 1987 in Paris.

The new London centre has beenstaffed with a qualified artist supportteam, headed by Kumi Liley, a Tokyoborn pianist and arts manager.

Initially the facility will focus onpianos and will host a wide range ofevents and activities including lunchtimeconcerts in association with the majorconservatoires for up-coming artists, aswell as master classes from visitinginternational artists. The centre will bethe home of some of Yamaha's premiumpianos, the S4, S6 and CF.

The centre will also work closely withYamaha Music UK in Milton Keyneskeeping the two operations co-ordinatedin areas such as marketing, artistrelations and educational policies.

Yamaha's senior director in the UK,Mike Ketley, said: "The key word here issupport; technical, instrumental andmost important of all, artist support. Thenew facility will be fundamental indeveloping this support and expandingour relationships with the classicalmusic community, here in Londonparticularly and throughout the UKmore generally. We are committed tobuilding on the already excellentreputation of Yamaha pianos throughoutthe world's major cities and developingfurther our relationships with

established international artists andemerging pianists."

Professor Voskressensky of theTchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscowwas equally enthusiastic. "I havecollaborated with Yamaha Piano ArtistServices Europe for more than fiveyears,” he said. “They provide youngpianists with excellent opportunities todevelop their skills and receiveprofessional advice from some of theworld's best musicians."

Other Yamaha Artist Service centresinclude New York, Tokyo and Seoul, andfunction as hubs, providing musicians,teachers, promoters and students access to concert instruments andtechnical service. PIANO ARTIST CENTRE:020 7432 4439

BOB THOMAS, one of the co-foundersand driving forces of the LaneyAmplification Company, died on October3rd, following a long illness.

Bob Thomas joined the MI industry in1967, when he helped the young LyndonLaney, then still a schoolboy, form LaneyAmplification to manufacture and sellthe valve amplifiers, at the time beingmade in Laney’s father’s garden shed.Thomas, at the time a well-known localband manager in the West Midlands, hadgot to know Laney as he was managinghis band at the time.

With Lyndon Laney concentrating onamplification design and manufacture,Thomas successfully steered the salesand marketing of business for the next30 years. A colourful character, widelyknown throughout the MI world,particularly due to the worldwide exportlinks he forged, Thomas finally retired

from the company in 1996. In a brief statement, Lyndon Laney

said: “Bob was a founder member of theLaney Amplification company from itsinception in 1967, developing its salesand marketing strategy. Bob retiredfrom Laney Amplification in 1996, after30 continuous years as a vibrant andrespected member of the musicindustry. My family would like to offerits deepest sympathy to his wife Elaineand children Mark, Tracy and Richard.”

Kumi Liley, (seated) with director ofartist services, Stanislaw Zielinski

THE MUSIC IndustriesAssociation has announced theacquisition of a stake in theownership of the LondonInternational Music Show.

Launched this year, and heldduring four days in June, theshow attracted over 20,000visitors and was widely hailed asa success by exhibitors andvisitors alike. Since June,however, it has become clearthat despite its critical success ithad failed to make a profit forthe organiser, MB Events.

MI Pro has learned that theMIA now has ambitious plans tocapitalise on the 2008 event andto expand it for 2009 andbeyond. The MIA will be lookingat various retail opportunities asthese would certainly add to therelevance in today’s market, saidChief Executive, Paul McManus.

Asked what form retail

involvement will take, McManussaid that the MIA intended toconsult widely with the trade tofind the most suitable means ofincorporating retail and he asked

retailers with views to get intouch with the MIA direct, withtheir suggestions and opinions.

This exciting developmentanswers one of the questionsabout LIMS 2008, where a lack ofretail participation was

commented on by many visitorswho had been expecting to beable to purchase products.

With a thriving retail sidedrawing even greater numbers,LIMS now seems primed tobecome a major event.

Clive Morton, who willcontinue to organise the show asevent director, said: “I am excited

about the prospect of workingside by side with the MIA tomake LIMS the best music eventin the UK”

Jon Gold, the MIA’s presidentadded, “LIMS is a fantasticshowcase for the UK musicindustry and we will work withour partners to make the showthe best it can be in encouraging

everyone to take up playing amusical instrument. The MIA willbe working hard for the suppliersand retailers to unite theindustry around this key event”

The 2009 show will be held onJune 11th to 14th. Details of theevent can be obtained [email protected]. MIA: 01372 750600

WITH OASIS back riding high inthe charts with their Dig OutYour Soul album and followingmassive international exposureon the band’s recent tour, Hiwattis basking in the glow of its ampsbeing featured – if not actuallyendorsed – by Noel Gallagher.Now a new addition to theHiwatt range is on the way – aHiwatt combo with the two 12”speakers stacked vertically.

“We were contacted by Oasisjust before the tour,” saidHiwatt’s Mark Lodge. “Apparently,Gallagher had been trying to findthe perfect amp for the tour and

had been going through the oneshe owned before deciding whathe wanted. He decided on a rare,old Hiwatt with this unusualspeaker configuration. There werenever many of them made andthey asked us to produce two forhim, which we did. We’re nowgoing to get it back intoproduction and on the marketagain, as soon as possible.”

Sadly for Hiwatt, Gallagherhas a policy of not endorsingproducts, but the association islikely to be obvious enough,Lodge hoped. HIWATT: 01302 330429

MIA takes the reins at LIMS

Hiwatt sees Oasis‘double decker’

DAN MACPHERSON of DMGuitars has announced that hehas added a third project to hislist of businesses, with theopening of The British GuitarCentre (TBGC) at the newpremises in Southend-on-Seawhere the DM Guitars andTonetech businesses operate. Theidea behind TBGC is to be adedicated store purely topromote and push high-endBritish made products.

“We have some of thegreatest guitar and amp makersin the world based in the UK,”said MacPherson. “It puzzles mewhy there is no one pushingproducts from the UK, so I intendto fill that void. I think Britishindustry deserves a boost.”

MacPherson said that hethought the UK public would befar more inclined to buy Britishgear with effort to make themmore aware of what is available.

Lines currently earmarked forthe showroom include JJ Guitars,Toon Guitars, Burns London,Guyton Guitars and DM’s ownbrand MacPherson Guitars.

The showroom is due to openearly in the new year andMacPherson and his partner andsales manager, Dave Wallings, arekeen to hear from any UK MImanufacturers interested inadding to TBGC stock range. DM GUITARS: 01702 465930.

NEWS

Southend company backs Britain

No endorsement, but still good publicity


Trade association acquires share in the London International Music Show after revelations of big money losses

It became clearthat despite itscritical success,

the show hadfailed to make a

profit

Four more from Carl MartinTHE IMPRESSIVE range fromUS pedal specialist Carl Martinhas gained four newcomers,available in the UK from FirstLine Distribution.

Leading the additions is theCarl Martin Vintage Opto-Compressor, possibly the firstopto-compressor for guitarists.Carl Martin says: “An opticalcompressor performs gainreduction control via a lightsource into a photo sensitivecell – as the light source getsbrighter, the photo sensitivecell sends a signal to reducedynamic range, or whatbecomes a compressed signal.

Welcome to the Vintage Opto-Compressor, an old-schoolcompressor from the dayswhere colouring was animportant factor to thesound.” It will sell for asuggested £79.99.

With high currentconsumption, FirstLine said, thoughthe Opto-Compressor willrun on 9 Voltbatteries, a regulatedpower supply (£34.99)is recommended.

Carl Martin also hasthe new Vintage DC Drive.

Prices of the Vintage SeriesFlanger, and the Vintage DCdrive will start at £89.99,climbing to £109.99 for certainnew models. FIRST LINE: 01626 830336

Thanks forvoting!

Throughout 2008, Yamaha UK has beenworking tirelessly to promote our business and

those of our dealers.We gratefully acknowledge your support in

giving us four MIA awards.

• Best Large Supplier

• Best Acoustic Piano - GB1 Grand

• Best Supplier Initiative - MusicQuest

• Best Brass - YTR-8335 Xeno Series Trumpet

MEL BAY MUSIC has become theexclusive UK and Europeandistributor of two of Australia’s leading print music catalogues, SashaMusic Publishing and All Music Publishing.

As with Mel Bay, Sasha Musicand All Music are regarded asinnovative and progressiveplayers in the Australian marketand are significant independentplayers in their specific region.

Sasha Music, with its strikingred elephant logo, is the label forrock and pop titles. Artistspublished under this brandinclude Missy Higgins, Silverchairand The Waifs.

All Music concentrates onclassical and educational titles.Best selling publications includeBruce Rowland’s Time HonouredHits From The Man From SnowyRiver, Sonny Chua’s ProgressivelyGraded series in four volumesand Gordon Spearritt’s theorybooks: Essential Music Theory

Grades 1 to 6 and Fun With TheMusic Mouse 1 to 3. Recentadditions are Larry Sitsky’sCentury Piano Collection andSongs That Shaped Australia.

“We are delighted that MelBay Music is taking on these twocatalogues and that they willnow be available throughoutEurope,” commented CatherineGerrard, All Music’s executivedirector of publishing andcopyright. “We recognise thatthese two brands fit very wellwith an iconic internationallyknown brand such as Mel Bayand we look forward to a longand fruitful partnership”.

“We see this exclusivedistribution deal as a veryexciting addition. Not only doesit complement our currentcatalogue perfectly, itconsiderably strengthens ourexisting lines,” added ChrisStatham, managing director ofMel Bay Music. He went on tosay: “I know that we are able to

represent, promote and marketthese catalogues efficiently andeffectively within our territoryand I am certainly lookingforward to the challenge.”

Any interested dealers shouldcontact the company directly.MEL BAY: 020 8323 8010.

Sound Tech: goNord, young man

SOUND TECHNOLOGY has beenappointed as the exclusivedistributor of Nord keyboards inthe UK and Ireland.

The Nord range, whichincludes the Nord Stage, NordElectro 2, Nord Wave, Nord Lead2, Nord Modular G2 and Nord C1Combo Organ, is hand built inStockholm, Sweden.

Nord has over 25 years ofexperience in software andhardware design and thecompany’s instruments arehighly regarded worldwide.

David Marshall, managingdirector of Sound Technology,commented: "We are extremelyproud to add Nord to ourportfolio. The quality andreputation of the brand isexceptional and we look forwardto working in partnership withNord to develop the brand in themarket even further."

"We'd like to thank everyonewho has been loyally supportingthe Nord brand,” added Tomas

Enochsson, Nord's internationalsales manager.

“We value all of the businessfrom the UK very highly andwish retailers well with futureNord business. We are more thanconvinced that in our newdistributor, Sound Technology,your needs will be served well."

Sound Technology's firstshipment of Nord is ready fordelivery now. SOUND TECHNOLOGY: 01462 480000

FOLLOWING THE patternestablished in North America,where the brand has rapidlybecome a bestseller, SparrowGuitars looks like proving to bean equally big hit in the UK,according to Ashton Music’sJon Gold.

Founded just three yearsago, Sparrow Guitars areimported ‘bare’ from factoriesin Asia but dismantled, re-assembled with new hardware,fretting and electronics and,most importantly, hand-painted in 1950’s hot rod style,using designs by Sparrow’spresident, Billy Bones.

“There was immediateinterest from the trade when weannounced that we were to bedistributing Sparrow over hereand as soon as we had our firstconsignment, the reaction wasincredible. Every one of thatshipment was sold within days,”Gold told MI Pro. “The goal is tomake a guitar that a kid canafford to play, that looks greatand that’s going to sound great.”

Ashton Music has also wonthe UK and Ireland distributionrights for the new Marineracoustic guitar range, recentlyannounced by former PeaveyEurope MD and founder ofAshton UK, Ken Achard.

The agreement wasconcluded at Ashtonheadquarters on October 7th:

Commenting on the dealAchard said: “There is a lot ofsynergy between Mariner andAshton, where Jon has driventhe company forward sincemy initial involvement.Arthur Achard will becentrally involved fromboth sides. With Ashtonmanaging distribution, Iwill be able to focus onproduct development andour international plans.”

Gold welcomed Mariner intothe Ashton portfolio saying:“This is a perfect fit for us aswe develop our catalogue. WithMariner and Sparrow we havetwo premium brands to sitcomfortably above our

benchmark entry-level Ashtonproducts. Both new brands willbe marketed individuallythrough specialist dealerships.” ASHTON: 01780 781630

Guitar lines take off

DISTRIBUTION • NEWS

Mel Bay grabs Aussie pairCompany takes on Sasha Music and All Music for the UK and Europe

UK supplier announces exclusive distributiondeal for Nord synths in the UK and Ireland


Two new guitar brands for Ashton as Sparrownests and Mariner also docks with UK supplier

STATHAM: “Looking forwardto the challenge”

A hand-paintedSparrow:aspirational,butaffordable

Japanese AerGerman acoustic specialist has dealbrokered by TTN in far east

BRENDAN MURRAY’S The TrustNetwork (TTN) has brokeredanother deal for the Germanmanufacturer, Aer, for anexclusive distribution deal inJapan through the KikutaniMusic Co of Nagoya (Aer isdistributed in the UK throughWestside Distribution).

The project required TTN toresearch Japan for suitableimporters and bring discussionsto a point where both partiescould make mutual decisionsabout committing to eachother for the long-term.

“The beauty of our industryis that it still deals with people,their desires and dreams,whether musician or listener,”commented Udo Roesner, Aer’sMD. “As manufacturers, wehave the pleasure to supportmusicians around the worldwith equipment that enablesthem to express themselves

and their emotions in a veryreal way. The beauty about co-operating with TTN is that itknows about all this from thebeginning. They work as acatalyst between product,market and people. TTN is alsoa most critical partner inidentifying product value andpotential. Last but not least,they take the role of devil’sadvocate in order to assist indecision-making.”

“Outside of America, Japanis still the world’s biggestexport market for musicproducts with around $3 billionin sales, so we are delighted tohave been able to perform thisservice for such a greatproduct as Aer and have such agreat company as Kikutanicommit to them for the longterm,” added Murray. TTN: 01633 441361WESTSIDE: 0141 248 4813

The highly regarded (andhighly attractive) Nord Stage

The complete range of Ultimate Support standsis now available from stock at Yamaha.

From the affordable JamStand range to the newCustom Series, you can now get every stand

you’ll ever need from a single supplier.

Check out the complete range atwww.ultimatesupport.com and call the YamahaMusic UK sales desks on 0870 444 5595 to get

your free dealer pack and discount vouchers.

Yamaha Music UK Ltd. is the UK distributor for Ultimate Support

Sta

nd&

Del

iver

Established: 1952

Number of employees: 22, all in onebuilding.

Is business up or down on this timelast year? Any particular reasons?Business is up on last year by a large, butsustainable percentage, as we haveexpanded our portfolio with strongerproducts and a committed sales team.

What are your best selling lines?Our core products continue to be the PA,audio and Kamcase lines and after ourrecent growing success with lasers andLED lighting (particularly the uniquestarcluster lasers and the LED parbar), wehave seen a massive growth this year.

Apart from your products, what areyour strengths as a distributor?We pride ourselves on customer service,support and maintaining a profitableproduct range for our customers. Wehave a committed and dedicatedworkforce and a brand awarenesscampaign that is second to none.

Do you think it has been a particularlytough year for retailers? Why?2008 has not been an easy year for anyretailer – and not just in the MI or proaudio markets – but most of our

customers have seen that there isbusiness out there if they are willing towork hard and smart to achieve it.

Is the internet the biggest challengefacing the industry today?The internet is a challenge that should beviewed as one of the biggest opportunitieswe have ever been offered. Yes, there aremany negatives, due to the breakdown ofany sales borders and pricing and marginproblems, but the internet is here to stayand we must embrace it and use it as atool to create sales.

In a perfect world, what product lineswould you add to your portfolio?Lamba currently focuses on our ownproduct ranges and we will be expandingthe lighting, audio and Kamcase rangesthroughout 2009. That said, we are aprofessional distribution company andare always looking at other productbrands for our portfolio. They need to bethe right products, however, and notsimply growing the catalogue for thesake of it.

What are your aims for the next year?To continue our current rate of growth,to achieve our company targets and tomeet the objectives laid out in ourbusiness plans – and importantly toenjoy doing business in the process.


PROFILE • DISTRIBUTION

Address: Lamba PLC, Unit 1, Southfields Road, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, LU6 3EJPhone: 01582 690600Email: [email protected]: Gerry Frost, managing director, or Dennis Phoenix, sales director

CONTACT DETAILS

Lamba has seen significant growth over the past year,with new directions and markets making a more stablebase for the company. Gerry Frost gives the lowdown...

Gerry Frost (MD)and Denis Phoenix(sales director)

12 miPRO NOVEMBER 2008 WWW.MI-PRO.CO.UK

REPORT • MIA AWARDS

Celebration serves two importantfunctions: it simultaneously looksback on achievement and slaps the

back of all those who helped, and it servesas a springboard for whatever is to follow.The MIA Awards 2008 fits perfectly intothis duality.

The presentation of trophies for workdone or products appreciated is anobvious outreach to what has been, butthe message reminding us of what can stillbe done or needs to be done in the futurefinds a perfect platform when an industrygets together to celebrate.

This was underlined perfectly this yearby the recent appointment of Jon Gold(MD of Ashton Music UK) as theassociation’s president, whose openingaddress at the event spent a considerableamount of time talking about the bottom

line for the MI trade (and the MIA’sslogan): making more music makers.

“Although many of us, me included, arejust failed pop stars with no discernabletalent, it doesn’t matter. We enjoy whatwe do and we all know and believe in thepower of music to transform and enrichpeople’s lives. There are still far too manypeople out there who want to play or whowant to return to playing, but don’t havethe means to play – about 15 million ofthem. Our job is to engage with thesepeople and find ways to bring music intotheir lives.”

Gold went on to both welcome specialguests and to explain what theseindividuals and their associations aredoing to engage with the nation’s aspiringmusicians. Howard Goodall was there,representing a £40-million government

campaign to restore singing as a coreculture in primary schools.

Feargal Sharkey was another specialguest, at the event in the name of UKMusic, which is rolling out a nationwidescheme (following a successful pilot inWrexham) for new rehearsal rooms. MIAmembers are supplying all the equipmentfor these facilities, which are targetingareas of the country with poor musicprovision, although UK Music is hoping togo a lot further than that. The aim is tocreate a cohesive and powerful lobbyingvoice for the creative industries, bringingtogether associations that cover the entireof the music industry, from the BPI andMCPS to the MIA.

Other VIPs present – all of whom areactive in some way in schemes supportedor driven by the MIA – included KimBayley of the Entertainment RetailersAssociation, Dick Hallum, the NationalMusic Participation director, whose jobinvolves strengthening and supporting theprovision for school children to learn amusical instrument, Richard Mollett fromthe British Phonographic Industry, Mary-Alice Stack of the Arts Council of England,

and Lincoln Abbotts and Chloe Faulkenerfrom Music for Youth.

Talking to MI Pro about his appointment as president, Gold wasclearly thrilled by the honour. “Theassociation approached me saying theyfelt I was someone who wasn’t afraid toput his head over the parapets – and Ithink they’re right,” he says. “I’m not sonaïve to think that I can change the world,but I know that I can do something. Withthe MIA, I can do a lot more. We havegreat new blood on board now, with DaveMarshall [the new vice-president], TonyWhite from Bonners and Clive Roberts atPeavey. We are all people who do not likesitting in dusty rooms making vaguedecisions, so I want us to be active and Iwant all of us to contribute. We are tryingto make a difference.”

Gold went on to praise the awardsevent itself, pointing out that, despite thedoom and gloom of the economy now all-pervasive, the positive attitude on thenight was an inspiration.

The winners of the 30 awards handedout on the night was a lot more disparatethan on many previous occasions, which

“Although many of us, me included, are just failedpop stars with no discernable talent, it doesn’t

matter. We believe in the power of music totransform and enrich people’s lives.”

Jon Gold

The MIA’s annual awards ceremony was bigger and better than ever, whichbodes well as the trade association moves on to a new level in its efforts todeliver benefits to its members, whether that is financial, promotional,educational or, at the bottom line, getting more Britons making music.Andy Barrett dusts off his tux…

Makingmore

Andrew Kemble (right)receives the Best Supplier

(Large) award forYamaha for the second

consecutive year

Roland’s MartynHopkins (centre)collecting the BestPercussion award forthe TD-9K

The MIA’s newpresident, JonGold, making

the openingaddress

seems to illustrate the diversity now inherent in themusical instrument business, although the big winner onthe night was Yamaha, scooping four awards: Best Brassfor the YTR-8335 Xeno series trumpet, Best AcousticPiano for the GB1, Best Supplier Initiative alongsideClassic FM Music Makers for Music Quest, and Best LargeSupplier for the second year running. A clearly delightedAndrew Kemble spoke of his delight in winning this lastaward. “This is an enormous accolade for the quality ofservice, products and marketing initiatives achieved bythe Yamaha UK team and we would like to thank the UKmusic retailers for their support," he said.

Best medium supplier was awarded to The Sound Post,while Faber once again won the music publisher of theyear award.

Other items of note were the NAMM sponsored‘miscellaneous’ categories, which saw Surrey Strings winthe environmental sustainability award for its Re-Playinstrument recycling scheme, Drumwright winning thebest partnership initiative for its Rock of Ages scheme,and Ted Brewer Violins winning the best export initiativeprize (see box).

On the retail side of things, the best independentretailer award was given to Anderton’s of Guildford andfor the third year in succession, Best Multiple was handedto Terry Hope and Simon Gilson and the PMT chain.

Other retailer prizes were the best retailer initiative,which went to Digital Village for the DV Expo in Clapham and a new award this year, the Take It Awayretailer of the year – an award for exceptional businessgenerated through the Arts Council’s Take It Away creditscheme – was presented to the Nottingham Drum andGuitar Centre.

A raft of companies came in for two awards, includingthe publishers, ABRSM and Oxford University Press,Focusrite, for Best Music Software product (the NovationNocturn) and Best Live Sound for the ISA One, andRoland UK. Roland’s awards for Best Digital Piano (theHP-207) and Best Percussion product for the TD-9K drum kit.

“The best percussion award can be won by an acousticor electronic product, so we're especially pleased that theV-Drums TD-9K took the top spot,” comments RolandUK’s Tim Walter, who went on to praise the achievementof winning the digital piano award in an even tightercompetitive market. “The digital piano market is crowdedwith competition from major manufacturers and ownbrand imports,” he says. “We're delighted therefore thatour flagship model, the HP-207, has been voted as thebest digital piano as this validates our constant focus onthe three core elements of piano design: sound, touchand appearance – all areas in which the HP-207 excels.”

WWW.MI-PRO.CO.UK miPRO NOVEMBER 2008 13

MIA AWARDS • REPORT

Ted BrewerOF THE music industries awards virgins this year, TedBrewer Violins stands out as a tribute to Britishengineering and dedication to a niche market, wherequality and service to a very specific customer basetakes huge priority over diversification purely for the(profitable) sake of it.

Not to say that Ted Brewer and his company isn’tinterested in profits, of course, but the quality mustalways come first.

The Export Initiative Award, sponsored by theFrankfurt Musikmesse, comes as a result of Ted Brewerviolins exhibiting at this year’s trade event andattracting a lot of attention with the show organiser.

The initiative award goes not purely to exportinitiatives, but also recognises achievemnt ininnovation – and it is here that Ted Brewer has wonthrough with the Vivo 2 electric violin.

The Vivo 2 uses a monococque frame composed ofadvanced polymers and an ebony fingerboard and chinrest, with a carbon fibre bridge and aluminiumtailpiece. Grover tuners work with Brewer’s proprietarymicroprocessor controlled piezo pickup for a verydistinctive sound.

Violinists find lots of advantages in the Vivo 2. Theonboard microprocessor memorises settings applied tothe four volume and tone touch buttons, even whenthe PP3 battery is removed. As well as a quarter-inchjack socket, a headphone socket makes practice more

flexible and with its amplifier, gives an onstagemonitoring source.

Ted Brewer has been designing and making violinssince 1993, constantly developing designs andexperimenting with new technologies and features. Heproduces around 25 handmade instruments each year,and the Vivo 2 marks a departure into more readily,widely available violins.

“We are thrilled to have won this award whichrecognises what we believe to be an exceptionalinstrument,” commented Brewer on the night. “It hasjust confirmed what we already knew, that our Vivo2Electric Violin is extremely innovative and we intend togo on producing more and more cutting edge products.”01522 525161

Just about every director andmanager currently working for PMT

made it to the stage to receive theBest Retailer (Multiple) award

REPORT • MIA AWARDS


CLASSICAL(sponsored by Classic FM)Best Brass: YTR-8335 Xeno series trumpetYamaha Music UK

Best Bowed: Student II violinStentor Music

Best Woodwind:Trevor James HornRevolution II Alto SaxophoneWorldwind Music

Best Classical Publication: Beethoven: 35 Piano Sonatas edited byProfessor Barry Cooper ABRSM (Publishing)

Best Acoustic Piano: GB1Yamaha Music UK

Best Digital Piano: HP-207Roland UK

MUSIC PUBLISHING Innovation in Printed MusicPublishing (sponsored by Sibelius):Musidoku – The Musical Sudoku byAntony KearnsStainer & Bell

Best Educational Publication(sponsored by Sibelius): String Time Joggers by David & Kathy BlackwellOxford University Press

Best Pop Publication(sponsored by GFK):Popular Voiceworks by Charles Beale & Steve MilloyOxford University Press

Retailers’ Award for Distinction inPrinted Music Publishing (sponsored by GFK): Roger GaleABRSM (Publishing)

MISCELANEOUSBest Environmental/Sustainability(sponsored by NAMM): Re-PlaySurrey Strings

Best Partnership Initiative (sponsored by NAMM): Rock of AgesDrumwright

Best Export Innovation(sponsored by Messe Frankfurt): Ted Brewer Violins

CONTEMPORARY

Innovation Award (sponsored by MusicRadar): Celemony Melodyne DirectNote AccessArbiter Group

Best Music Software (sponsored byComputer Music):Novation NocturnFocusrite Audio Engineering

Best Live Sound (sponsored by FutureMusic): ISA OneFocusrite Audio Engineering

Best Percussion Product (sponsored byRhythm): TD-9Roland UK

Best Guitar Effect/Accessories(sponsored by Total Guitar): POD X3 LiveLine 6 UK

Best Amplifier (sponsored by GuitarTechniques): Artisan 30Blackstar Amplification

Best Electric Guitar (sponsored byGuitarist): Fender Classic Player BajaTelecasterFender GBI

SUPPLIERS Printed Music Publisher of the Year(sponsored by Allianz): Faber Music

Best Supplier Initiative (sponsored byAllianz): MusicQuest by Classic FMMusic Makers and Yamaha Music UK

Best Supplier (medium)(sponsored by HSBC):The Sound Post

Best Supplier (large)(sponsored by HSBC): Yamaha Music UK

RETAILERS Printed Music Retailer of the Year(sponsored by Music PublishersAssociation): Lynne AckermanAckerman Music

Take it Away Retailer of the Year(sponsored by Arts Council of England):Nottingham Drum and Guitar Centre

Best Retailer Initiative (sponsored by Arts Council of England):DV Expo (Clapham)Digital Village

Best Specialist Retailer(sponsored by SGM-FX):Wembley Drum Centre

Best Retailer (independent)(sponsored by Musicguard):Anderton’s Music Company

Best Retailer (multiple)(sponsored by Musicguard): Professional Music Technology

The Winners

Anderton’s collected the

Best Retailer (Independent)

Graeme Mathieson

(Fender, right) and

Mick Taylor (Guitarist)

Richard King (left) accepted the BestMusic Publisher award for Faber

Brooke (centre) and Chris Wright(right) won Best Partnership

Initiative for the Rock of Ages project

� EBP-E99

� EBP-E6

� EBP-E2

� EBP-E4

Loads

of Colours

to choose

from!

IN STOCK NOW - RING FOR BEST PRICE!

FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION AND OTHER JHS OFFERSCONTACT YOUR JHS ASM OR OUR SALES OFFICE ON:

0113 2866 411 www.jhs.co.uk

GUITARS DESIGNED IN CONJUNCTION WITH ‘GUITAR GURU’ TREV WILKINSON!

GUITARS DESIGNED IN CONJUNCTION WITH ‘GUITAR GURU’ TREV WILKINSON!

. .Designed in association with

Trev Wilkinson Design Associate

s

Pro performance!Cool sounds!High-quality finishes!Wilkinson-designed pickups & hardware!All you need in one pack!Learn to play - Fast!

� Pro performance!� Cool sounds!� High-quality finishes!� Wilkinson-designed

pickups & hardware!� All you need in one pack!� Learn to play - Fast!


“We’ve created a monster,”says Paul Reed Smith whenI finally get to pull him

away from his busy interview/seminar/clinic schedule that occupies two full daysof his time at the Experience PRS event. Infact the event, for invited guests only,started at his house on the Thursdayevening when he threw a lavish party withentertainment from none other than RickySkaggs, his guitarist Cody Kilby, and TonyMcManus (who if you don’t know youshould definitely check out). Not for thefirst time in the next coming days,Guitarist’s editor, Mick Taylor, and I wouldbe humbled by displays of virtuoso pickin’.

It’s the second year PRS has staged itsExperience – this year there were moreattendees, more seminars and clinics toattend, two evening shows and even aperformance by up-and-coming Britrockers Caimbo who, if nothing else,proved that PRS guitars aren’t just playedby doctors and dentists. It’s a trade-onlyevent (with invited artists, press andfriends, of course); PRS’ worldwidedistributors invite their key dealers(dealers can also invite some of their bestcustomers). We’re fed, watered andentertained.

What’s in it for PRS? On day one of theExperience dealers were invited to purchasenon-ordered stock and place orders on thenew models launched at the event.

“We wrote approximately $4 millionworth of business at the open house,”explains PRS’ Peter Wolf a few days afterthe event. “This includes stock sales (wecould have sold way more had we hadmore stock guitars), new product launchesand Private Stock orders. I'm very happywith these numbers, especially in thecurrent economical context.” Very happyseems like an understatement, as Wolfreckoned: “The whole thing cost us $250k– around the figure of our usual NAMMparty,” which has been binned in the lasttwo years in favour of the Experience. Youcan see why.

And then there’s the goodwill factor.No one I spoke to had anything else butpraise for the informal atmosphere thatpervaded the event. Certainly the Guitaristreaders we took with us in a Guitarist/

Headline Music promotion we ran earlierthis year were walking around in a daze. “Ithought it was going to be good, but Ididn’t realise it’d be this good,” said one –a feeling echoed by everyone.

But even for the more experienced PRSacolytes (myself included) there wasplenty to discuss, primarily PRS’s entryinto the acoustic and amplifier markets.We can leave the fine details until NAMM

2009 when both ranges will be properlylaunched, but both lines will be made in-house on the production line (thoughdon’t expect either to be cheap in price or quality).

More controversially, PRS has launcheda brand within a brand: Chesapeake,designed – both electric and acoustic – byPRS’ head of Private Stock & R&D JoeKnaggs. While Joe’s acoustic design goesfor a more traditionally braced ‘pre-war’tonality (as opposed to the PRS acoustic,designed by Paul and up-and-comingluthier Steve Fisher, which offers a ‘new’tonality), his Severn and Chop Tankelectrics clearly hint at the desire by PRSto break into the six-a-sideheadstock/single-coil market. “He’s donean outrageous job,” says Paul Reed Smithof Joe Knaggs. “People are liking theChesapeake acoustics and the electrics.He’s a guitar maker. He’s either going todo it here or somewhere else. We might aswell let him do it here, right?”

But over-shadowing the Experience wasPRS’ new factory that’ll provide four timesmore floor space. When you consider thatthe current space is approx 20,000 sq ftand PRS builds 70-75 guitars a day, itillustrates the vast potential not only formore electric guitars, but also the acousticsand amps that the monolithic new factorywill bring. Chesapeake might only beavailable through the custom-order PrivateStock programme at the moment, but whoknows what the future holds.

2010 will be PRS’ 25th year as aproduction company. By then these newlines will be properly up and running andtheir true impact will be much clearer –let’s hope it’s a time for celebration.

EVENT REVIEW • PRS EXPERIENCE

Preachin’ to theconverted?Dave Burrluck heads out to PRS Guitars’ second annual Experience at the Stevensville HQ to soak up the atmosphere…

Event: Experience PRSVenue: PRS Factory, Stevensville, USADate: September 19th-20th 2008Visitor numbers: 1,600 approx.Verdict: PRS’ own trade show mixed hard businesswith plenty of fun in terms of artist concerts andmeet-and-greets, plus factory tours that really gotbehind the product. Over-shadowed by PRS’ nearlyfinished new factory, the event launched plenty ofnew products that strongly hinted at thecompany’s future intentions.

This year there weremore attendees, moreseminars and clinics to

attend, two eveningshows and a

performance by Caimbo.

SHOW PREVIEW • MUSIC LIVE

As MI Pro goes to press, the final tweaks are beingput to this year’s Music Live show by Jason Hunt(the show manager) and his team at Clarion NEC

and this year – although not, it has to be said, throughany particular choice – has been a very different affair forthe organiser.

In the past, the Sound Control sponsorship of the retailaspect of the show has meant that negotiations havetaken place between the two parties concerned, but thisyear, with PMT, Reverb and the collective that is The Firmbuying consortium all coming in as retail sponsors, theimportant retail section of the show has becomesomething of an experiment.

“It has been a bit bumpy at times, but now everythingis in place, I think it has gone a lot better than I hadexpected,” said a relieved Hunt. “Obviously, dealing withSound Control alone was easier and while there is someexperience of dealing with the show among the partners,particularly PMT, this has been a pretty steep learningcurve for all of us. In the end, the retailers’ desire to makeit work has paid off.”

Among the benefits of having such a wide variety ofretailers is the increase in brands available to the visitors.Hunt estimates that something like 25 to 30 more nameswill be on the retail stands this year.

Rumours have abounded concerning the appearance (ornot) of some major manufacturers and suppliers, all ofwhich had calmed considerably by the end of October,with pretty much every name one would expect to be atthe show confirmed in some form or another.

Of the big names, the major news is that Gibson will beon board under its own banner for the first time this year,creating the mouth-watering situation of having Gibsonand Fender exhibiting ‘against’ each other for the firsttime in the UK for many years. Fender, of course, is now aregular at the show, but Gibson, having released itself

from Rosetti earlier this year, is intending to makesomething of a splash.

The Gibson ‘tour bus’, which appears at events aroundthe world, will be at the UK show and open for visitors atset times throughout, as well as a focus for artists torelax and speak to the media.

Joe Bonamasa is big news for the show, too, as hiscommitment to not only perform, but to run a UK pilot ofhis ‘Blues in Schools’ scheme, which in the US sees theguitarist taking blues clinics and appreciation to secondaryschools throughout the country. Bonamasa will be holdingthis seminar on the Education Day (Friday) and blues CDswill be handed out to kids at the show.

Interestingly, Bonamasa is attending through his ownagents at the show (although as an official Gibsonendorser, his presence in and around the tour bus ties himin there) and this gives increased credence to the showwhen such a current artist is willing to get involved tosuch a degree under his own steam.

“I’m really pleased with the way things have turned outthis year,” concluded Hunt. “Everything considered,including the cross-promotion with the Gigbeth festivalfor the third year, it has gone really well. The show isslightly bigger again this year and ticket sales are up – forme, this is the most important thing, of course – but withthe economic climate as it is, there are going to be morepeople than ever looking for a bargain at the show. This isgoing to make everybody happy.” www.musiclive.co.uk

Livefor the music


The NEC’s Music Liveshow is upon us onceagain, and despite allmanner of shake upsand show downs, theevent is appealing towider audiences thanever – including theartists…

Event: Music Live 2008 Venue: NEC, BirminghamDate: 7th to 9th NovemberExhibitors: 146Visitors (pre-registration): 9,000 (projected totalover 16,000)Prediction: A completely new retail partnership withno fewer than three retailers (including theindependent buying consortium, The Firm) meansmore will be on offer than ever before for the endusers attending. With more artrist involvement thanever, too, this one looks set to break all records.

Hank Marvin signing forfans at last year’s show


NEWS ANALYSIS • CHANNEL 69

Many MI retailers have timebombsticking away on their shelves –timebombs that could cost them

lost sales and angry customers – and themoment the devices are set to go off israpidly approaching. According to some, itcould happen in just three years’ time. Thecause of the problem is compleximacatedand boringly convoluted – which isprobably why not many have bothered totake it seriously. But according to thosewho have, the threat is real and it mayalready be too late to avert it.

Recent years have seen a sharp rise insales of affordable wireless microphone andinstrument systems operating on channel69. It has been good business, but it isthreatened by serious disruption – and thatthreat isn’t confined to cheap Chineseknocks-offs. It is every bit as real toproducts sourced from the most reputableinternational manufacturers. At its baldest,it means a wireless microphone system yousell a customer today, might prove to beunusable in three years time. And if thatsounds like a recipe for customersdemanding their money back, then that’sbecause it very possibly could happen.

The cause of the problem is thegovernment’s decision to hand to Ofcomthe responsibility of raising as much moneyas possible by licensing access to theairwaves. Ofcom might not like seeing itput that way, but that is the essence ofwhat has been going on behind the scenesfor the past few years. Formed in 2003, oneof Ofcom’s major tasks is to manage theUK’s switch from analog to digital and tosell-off any frequencies released to thehighest bidder. So far so good, but due tothe proliferation of high-tech deviceswanting to use slices of the very limitedbandwidth available, the small, relativelypowerless music industry looks like beingsqueezed out by the demands ofinternational behemoths like mobile phoneand computing companies. They can affordto pay much more for the bandwidth.

And, of course, it isn’t just retailers andmusicians who are likely to suffer.Manufacturers are deeply concerned, as are

broadcasters who use channel 69for programme making,entertainment companies, audiohirers – the effects of being forcedout of channel 69 could beprofound. One expert even predictsit could mean major changes willhave to be made to the Edinburghfestival as we know it today.

In the background, largelyunseen, a small band of companieslikely to be affected by thisdevelopment has formed anorganisation to fight theentertainment industry’s corner.Called BEIRG, it stands for the BritishEntertainment Industry Radio Group and itsmembers include several of the largemicrophone companies (notable amongthem, Shure, Sennhesier, Audio Technicaand AKG) plus an assortment ofprofessional hire businesses such as BetterSound, Hand Held Audio and Terry TewSound and Light, along with majorentertainment and broadcasting industrybodies, including English National Operaand Cameron MacIntosh. It should, on theface of it, be a formidable body to arguethe case for the continued use of channel

69. But the opposition includes companiesthat could buy and sell the music industrywith the spare change it finds down theback of the corporate sofa.

Negotiations between Ofcom and theinterested parties have been under way forover two years, with BEIRG having formeda steering committee of specialists to arguethe industry’s case, which includes AlanMarch (Sennheiser), Duncan Bell(Autograph), Ron Bonner (PLASA) and John Steven, now running his own PRcompany, but until recently the director ofmarketing for Sennheiser UK.

It is an argument the committee fearsthey are in danger of losing.

“People need to understand that despiteprevious assurances to the contrary, as aresult of recent developments in Europe,Ofcom now want to move us out ofchannel 69,” states John Steven. “This isgoing to affect a lot of people around theindustry, from the guys who play in pubbands, to broadcasters. For example, SkyNews make a lot of use of channel 69 fornews gathering, and it is also widely usedby location sound recordists – this is a bigarea, it’s not just the MI industry.

The small, relativelypowerless music

industry looks likebeing squeezed out by

the demands ofbehemoths like phone

and computingcompanies.

Crossing the

channelThe latest round of negotiations with Ofcom seem to be falling heavily in favour of the mobile and broadcast companies, tothe extent that the largely radio mic friendly channel 69 is now earmarked for sale. Those buying (and selling) radiomicrophone and IEM systems could well find an unwanted built-in obsolescence. Gary Cooper tunes in to the latest news...

Left – Paul McManus; right –John Steven; far right – eventhe Edinburgh Fringe is at risk

But the big problem is that until a firmdecision is taken by Ofcom, the industryremains in limbo. Manufacturers can’tdesign and build new equipment to takeaccount of whatever it is they decide onand nobody can actually say definitively:‘Well, if you are using equipment that workson channel 69, come such and such a dayyou won’t be allowed to use it any longer.’”

Meanwhile, if the word ‘compensation’comes to mind, currently the short answeris ‘forget it’, although this is just one of themany issues that BEIRG are activelydiscussing with Ofcom. No compensationwas offered to the thousands of earlyFreeview box owners earlier this year, whena largely unannounced ‘update’ renderedtheir devices obsolete overnight and,Steven says, anyone using a licence-freeunlicenced wireless mic system is similarlyunlikely to squeeze a brass farthing out ofOfcom. Indeed, even those systems soldwhich require licences have for some yearscome with a health warning from JFMGthat the frequencies on which they operatemay not be available indefinitely.

“The important thing for MI Pro readersis that they need to be aware that this iscoming,” Steven says. “If they have

anything to say, they really need to get intouch with Ofcom and tell them what thisis going to do to their business.”

The MIA has been in contact with whathas been going on over the past few years,and chief executive Paul McManus says:‘We’re obviously concerned that Ofcomwant to move us out of channel 69 –

particularly as this seems to be a change inposition from what Ofcom had previouslystated was going to happen with channel69. We have said to PLASA and ourmembers like Shure and Sennheiser that westand ready to help in any way possible.”

Does McManus think there is a dangerthat MI retailers selling systems with a

finite lifespan could actually be liable to claims from customers when the cut-off happens?

“That is my worry. Nobody can buy ananalog television in Comet or Dixonswithout knowing that it will be obsoletebefore long and I think the televisionindustry has communicated that very well.My worry is that MI retailers, through nofault of their own, are selling products thatwill have just a few years of life left inthem. Because Ofcom hasn’t made up itsmind about this, we haven’t been able topromote this information to thecustomers.”

Both McManus and Steven pinpoint thereal problem here - that Ofcom, with itsendless committees and ‘consultations’ thatseem to have become the hallmark ofgovernment, while claiming no decision hasyet been made, is actually on a chartedcourse. And the ship is due to docksometime in 2012. What happens then is,at present, anyone’s guess.BEIRG: 07951 050367WWW.BEIRG.ORG.UK MIA: 01372 750600, WWW.MIA.ORG.UK OFCOM: 020 7981 3000WWW.OFCOM.ORG.UK


CHANNEL 69 • NEWS ANALYSIS

Sir George Martin andAndrew Mackinleypresented to theHouse of Commonson behalf of BEIRG

20 miPRO NOVEMBER 2008

COVER FEATURE • MARTIN

You don’t need to be a historian toappreciate the role CF Martin hasplayed, not just in the history of the

musical instrument business, but inshaping popular music itself. As thecompany, still headed by a familymember, Chris Martin IV, celebrates its175th anniversary this year, it’s worthpausing to reflect on not just the role itplayed in the development of the acousticguitar – but what that instrument did tohelp create contemporary music.

In 1833, the year the first CF Martinarrived from Germany, the United Stateswas still a young, frontier country. Poorpeople arrived in the east and spreadwestwards, taking whatever possessionsthey had with them – including theirmusical instruments. This is how thosetwo icons from the campfire scene ofevery cowboy movie – the harmonica andthe acoustic guitar – came to permeatealmost every facet of Americancontemporary music and formed theshape of western popular music.

Jazz, blues, country, rock n roll – wherewould they be without the guitar andwhere would the guitar be without theinfluence of Martin?

This matters because when Martincelebrates 175 years of making fineinstruments, it is also celebrating its rolein helping shape modern music. Which setthe minds in Nazareth, Pennsylvania apuzzle when they saw the dateapproaching. How do you celebrate anevent as significant as this?

“It dawned on us in 2007 that we’dbetter start making preparations for theanniversary,” says Chris Martin.“Particularly with the anniversary guitarmodels, we had to design them, get theprototypes made, get them to theAnaheim show, take the orders and startto fulfil them. One of the most interestingthings was coming up with the illustrationwe’ve used. My cousin Robert is acommercial artist and he came in to seeme with the picture of CF senior we’vebeen using. I liked it okay, but everyonehere was ‘Oh, my gosh – that’s really welldone’ and were really enthusiastic about

using it, which is why it has been on theDreadnoughts we sold to the dealers, onan LXM we sell in the gift shop to peoplewho take the tour, and why we’ve put iton posters, mugs, buttons, the website -finding that was serendipitous.”

Products aside, for a moment (andsome of this year’s celebratory modelshave been stunning), 175 years deservescelebrating in style.

“We always have a dealer dinner at theAnaheim show and his year we did itaround the 175th anniversary, but with anElvis impersonator, because we’rereintroducing the Elvis model – that was ariot,” he laughs. “It’s gone on from there as

we’ve done a lot of things here at thefactory. Our international dealers havevisited, our wholesalers, all the dealerseast of the Mississippi, then all the dealerswest of the Mississippi, then a celebrationfor the staff at a local restored movietheatre – it’s been such a constantcelebration that I’m almost tired of it.”

A final touch is that Martin’s Dick Bokemanaged to find the exact day that CFMartin senior landed in Manhattan (itwas November 6th) and this monthChris Martin and otherrepresentatives will be unveiling aplaque on the modern buildingthat today stands on the site of

96 Hudson St, where the story began.For Chris Martin, the fact that his

business is here at all is a relief – and headmits it came far closer to not being sothan some may realise.

“I was here for the 150th and that wasa pretty grim time. It was 1983, theacoustic guitar business was in the tankand no-one knew where the bottom wasor even if it would recover. I rememberdistinctly going to a trade showwith the gentlemanthat was helpingrun the

Jazz, blues, country, rock n roll – where wouldthey be without the guitar and where would the

guitar be without the influence of Martin?

As the Martin GuitarCompany celebrates anastonishing 175 yearsin the MI trade, ChrisMartin IV tells GaryCooper that it boilsdown to keepingthings simple…

What peoplewant

company then, Hugh Bloom, who hadtaken over after my father retired – I wasvice-president then. We had a little partyat the show and we had a cake tocelebrate the 150th anniversary. Well,there’s a picture that was taken of Hughand I with the cake and if you could haveput little bubbles above our heads, one ofthe bubbles would have said ‘Thank Godnobody in this room knows we’re on theverge of bankruptcy.’”

That Martin didn’t go under but, in fact,stormed ahead to great success is amatter of record, but having weatheredsuch awful times gave Chris Martin an oldhead on very young shoulders when heassumed leadership of the family firm, notlong after. Experience that is relevant inthe current financial maelstrom.

“The economic situation right now isnot adversely affecting us yet, but we’recertainly aware of it. Every year we gothrough a very extensive process ofplanning for the following year and I makean hour long Powerpoint presentationabout what I think the state of ourbusiness will be. This year I looked back25 years and then forward 25 years. It’snot that we can plan what will be in 25years, but the chances are that we arestill going to be in business. Despitethe daily ups and downs of the stockmarket, if we just remind ourselvesthat as long as the guitar is still aninstrument that human beingswant to play and we do what weare best at, we should be able tosurvive and hopefully prosper.”

And such optimism has anapplication for retailers.

“What we’ve found in theStates, is that the dealerswe’re working with thatmade the decision toconcentrate on certainproducts, not everyproduct, are doing fine.They’ve said, ‘I’m goingto be known as the guywho specialises in high-end Martin

products’ and they stock them, servicethem and treat the customers with therespect they deserve – they’re doing well.

“We have several categories of dealer –starting with the Marquis, high-endindependent dealers who are thriving.Then we’ve got the Super Dealers – SamAsh, Guitar Center and we’re starting todo business with Best Buy. But it’s theStandard dealers who are struggling,because they’re trying to be everything toeverybody. If you’ve got a Guitar Centernearby, they are going to be a biggerversion of that, so how can you compete?The independent who says he isn’t goingto carry everything, who goes into aGuitar Center, sees where he can’tcompete and stays away from that, aswell as seeing where he can do better -he’s the one who will do well.”

Whatever he does, no retailer can beunaware that the acoustic guitar market isclearly over-saturated. While this mightnot affect a brand like Martin, does heever look at the proliferation of brandsand wonder how long it can be sustained?

“That is a factor that even the Marquisdealers have to make a decision about.How many high-end brands do theycarry? We've got some who try toconcentrate on all of them and some who

focus on a few and we do better with thelatter. But I have to tell you that I’mwondering is who the next Bob Taylor is.Who’s the next Jean L’arrivee? Who’s thenext Bill Collings? That’s what we need(and I hate to say this) younger peoplewho want to come in. Competition hasbeen tremendously healthy for themarket. The consumer is getting a betterguitar as a result of it, but we’re all gettingolder. Jean has kids in his business, but Boband Kurt don’t, Bill doesn’t, RichardHoover (Santa Cruz) doesn’t. I’ve gotClaire, but she’s only just turned four. I’mhoping to see some of the ‘GenerationXers’ get into the business.”

It isn’t immediately obvious what ChrisMartin feels he would gain from havinghungry youngsters snapping at hiscompany’s heels, because Martin is a farsharper operation today than it was, say,30 years ago. Back then, the traditionalchunky Martin necks, beloved of theBluegrass boys, were an open goal for BobTaylor, whose instruments immediatelyfound favour with players more used toStrats and Les Pauls. But today Martin isinnovating again and paying closeattention to the market.

His opinions of new companies and hiscompetitors makes for interesting reading.

miPRO NOVEMBER 2008 21

MARTIN • COVER FEATURE

“I hate to say this, butwhat we need is

younger people whowant to come into the

acoustic guitarbusiness.”

The Anniversarymodels, launchedat NAMM this year:immediatelyunique –immediatelyMartin

COVER FEATURE • MARTIN

“Bob Taylor’s business used to bug me –not Bob, but his business. They had theadvantage of not having felt the downturnin the late 70s and early 80s and Bobcapitalised on being a very efficientmanufacturer. He moved away from drawknives very quickly. Then I was in anairport one day and picked up this bookThe 26 Immutable Laws of Marketing andI’m on the plane, reading the book and Iget to the chapter titled ‘If there’s a Cokethere’s a Pepsi’ and it was one of those ‘a-ha’ moments. As the book said, in adynamic market there are generally twovery formidable competitors, battling itout trying to be king of the hill and that’sthe relationship.’

It should be said at this point that oneof the particularly nice things about theacoustic guitar business is the personalrespect that appears to exist between theindividuals involved. Talk to Jean L’arrivee,Bill Collings, Chris Martin, Bob Taylor andthe other big names and, however hardthey fight for sales, there is a clear, almostquaint, personal regard for one another. Itmust be a wood thing.

But while competition may, as the MGslogan used to insist ‘improve the breed’,one curious facet of the acoustic world isthe way the past 12 months have seen somuch of it flow into the hands on onecompany: Fender. When it swallowedKaman, it resulted in brand F distributing(and in some cases actually owning)brands including Guild, Tacoma, Ovation,Takamine, Taylor and Fender itself.

“It’s big business. I get at least one calla week from someone who wants to dofor me what they did for Fender. They’dcome in with a lot of cash, create liquidityfor the owner, they’d allow me to stay on,and they would then sit on the board anddrive this business to be much moreaggressive in terms of growth. But onceyou do that, you have to keep thebehemoth ever more ‘behemothy’,because if the merry-go-round ever stops,and if the market looks at you one dayand says ‘Hey guys, you aren’t a growthcompany any more?’ you’ve got problems.”

Clearly, Martin isn’t tempted by thecallers and he has good reason. Hisfather’s experience with expanding Martinin the past was unhappy to say the least.But he is rarely tempted, despite havingsaid in the past that he is often called bysmaller companies looking for a protectivewing under Martin ownership.

“I get advised to consider it but I thinkto myself, without being arrogant, that wehave the best brand in the world, soanything else I bought would besecondary to that and distract us frommanaging that brand. That’s why wedropped Sigma – it was a distraction.”

Word on the UK street is that in a timeof recession, customers becomeincreasingly conservative and are lesslikely to risk their money on an unknownor even lesser known brand.

This is reflected in the USA and is whereMartin really comes into its strength.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if there is ashake-out. There could be somecompanies that aren’t well capitalised,that are hanging on by the skin of theirteeth and we could well hear that so andso was sold, or closed down, before long.”

Manufacturers? Distributors? Retailers?“Who knows? You never know until you

know. You know how it is, someone tellsyou everything is wonderful and the nextyou get a fax that tells you you are now acreditor. I’m not trying to be arrogant but,so far, we have outlived every one of ourcompetitors – there are some that are stillliving, but we’ll see when Claire takes over,whether they are still around.”

Asked if there was anything inparticular on his mind at the moment,Martin returned to the theme thathas occupied him for many years:the shortage of the materials theguitar business depends on.

“It is a problem and it comesand goes. Right now we can getsome types of mahogany, but notothers. One of our colleagues justgot back from Madagascar and thegovernment there is extremelyconcerned about the value of theexotic timber and how it should beharvested. He went to one of ourfingerboard and bridge suppliers and theguy said he had a very significant supplyof blanks, but he couldn’t ship thembecause the government had put a holdon them. This was wood they’d already

processed, it was ready to go, but theyweren’t being allowed to ship it. That’swhat it’s like – once they become awarethere are problems, their reaction can beto put a stop to everything.”

The problem is by no means confinedto exotic woods. Rumour has it that sitkaspruce is under threat. Martin reveals thatit is an old problem.

“This goes back to World War II, whenthe US government gave the NativeAlaskans large amounts of land. Then theysaid ‘Oh, and by the way, have we got adeal for you. The Japanese are rebuildingtheir houses and they want to use sitkaspruce, so not only will we give you thewood, we’ll give you a business’. So theygave every Alaskan their share, but notnewly-born Alaskans, so only thatgeneration gets its cheques each year.

“Greenpeace went up there, took a lookaround and said ‘what about the nextgeneration?’ and the answer was theydidn’t care, because they weren’t getting a

share. The rule has finally been changedand now they know if they keep clear-cutting, they could run out. Greenpeace istrying to talk them into slowing down tosave that wood.”

Vital though this may be for the next25 years, nothing should detract fromwhat is a genuinely impressive celebration– 175 years, not just spent making thefinest acoustic guitars. It’s a journalisticcliché to ask someone how it feels, but weasked anyway.

“People have come up to me and said‘Chris, this is very special in this day andage, that your family business has beenaround this long and has kept itsreputation and is making a product thatyour ancestors would be proud of. Thatreminds me how important it is tomaintain that and it’s kind of all we have– but it seems to be enough. If we try tomake great guitars, people say that’sexactly what we want from you.’

And who could argue with that?

“In a dynamic market there are generally two very formidable competitors, battling it

out, trying to be king of the hill and that’s the relationship with Taylor.”


The

Mar

tin

DX

175

thA

nniv

ersa

ry m

odel

wit

h th

e C

FM

arti

n Se

nior

por

trai

t

TM

Do One Thing And Do It Very Well Bowed String Instruments from The Sound Post Ltd: Home of Primavera Music Industries Association Awards 2008

Ltd

Sound Post

The

mia Music Industries Association

Best Medium Supplier

2007

mia Music Industries Association

Best Medium Supplier

2008

www.thesoundpost.co.uk T: +44 (0) 1985 851122 F: +44 (0) 1985 851188 E: [email protected] Primavera is a registered trademark

Our congratulations to all other award winners but especially to: Ted Brewer Violins: Best Export Initiative Exclusively distributed by The Sound Post Ltd in the UK Surrey Strings: Best Environmental Sustainability The Sound Post Ltd is pleased to support and supply the Re-Play initiative

A sincere thank you to all members of the MIA for choosing us as Best Medium Supplier for two years in succession.

Five years on from the introduction ofthe licensing laws in England andWales, and despite all of the hollering

of ‘foul’ from many parts of the musicindustry, it is now pretty clear that there aremore small venues that cater for live musicthan ever in the UK. And it isn’t simply theyouth culture, hungry to attain the bubblethat is fame, however remote that might be,nor even the mid-life crises of cash-richprofessionals turning their rusty hands totheir newly purchased PRSs, Fenders andGibsons. There are also the burgeoningnumbers of folk and country players, as wellas mobile DJs and karaoke outfits.

While all of this has an obvious effect oninstrument sales, it also means that therehas never been a better time to make sureyou have what these people hanker after:the need to be heard. No wonder theportable PA market is veritably bursting atthe seams with kit for any budget.

The drawbacks for retail are many, but arummage among some pretty small, generalstores will reveal that there are a lot ofdealers out there willing to make theinvestment of money, time and spaceneeded to stock a worthwhile selection ofsystems. It’s a retail heaven for punter and dealer alike.

The first problem for the PA salesman isthe sheer range of kit available. There shouldbe someone on the shop floor familiar withwhat’s on sale – possibly even a gigger thatuses it – but ideally a specialist soundengineering type, who can bring knowledgeand experience to the shop floor.

Mixing and matching (for example) aMackie or an Allen & Heath mixer withWharfedale or EV speakers, a good sub andsome suitable outboard processing, is wherethe serious gigging band should be directedand PA specialists will have a lot ofvariations for punters to A/B test.

In the round up that follows, there will bea lot of these individual ‘component’products, but the muso just starting out on agigging career may prefer the whole packagein a box, in which case the range of kitavailable is pretty wide, from the simplestFender Passport 80, through thesophisticated new Fishman Solo Ampperformance system or the Bose L1 to onestop ‘packages’ such as the HK Lucas or LDSystems’ curiously monikered Dave systems.

Space and time, therefore, are crucial tothe PA dealer, but the expense is also anissue, and PA systems do not tend to fallinto the impulse buy categories. Stocking abrand will invariably mean more than one

item,but an initialinvestment, and a goodworking relationship withyour supplier should keeptopping up stocks at amanageable level.

More people are lookingto get their music playing infront of an audience thanever before, which meansthat PA sales are betterthan ever – and that meansyet another revenue sourceis there to be tapped.

Taking astandMore giggers than ever before, more performing licencesthan ever before: there has never been a better time tostock performance public address systems. And thequality has never been so good, says Andy Barrett...

www.voxamps.com

www.korg.co.uk

- CALL THE SALES HOTLINE ON 01908 857101

THE HOTTEST NEW PRODUCTS

NOW SHIPPING!

PORTABLE PA • SECTOR SPOTLIGHT

PEAVEY“EVERY MUSICIAN I talked to said, ‘I wishsomeone would build good guitars, ampsand PA systems at a fair and reasonableprice.’” The words are Hartley Peavey’s,explaining the philosophy that led him tofound his company in 1965. In 1968 his firstPA system, the PA-3, broke new ground forquality at an affordable price, and firmlyestablished Peavey as a major name inportable PA. Forty years later, Peavey stilltrumpets ‘fair and reasonable price’ as itsguiding principle, but can also lay fair claimto being an innovator – typically of realworld benefits that translate into sellingpoints for MI stores.

Punters, sadly, can’t always be relied uponto read the manual before applying a load toa speaker, and need to be protected fromthemselves. So the Messenger UL series,Peavey’s top-of-the-range MI line, comeswith the proprietary Sound Guardprotection, to prevent unthinking users fromblowing the delicate HF driver. (This is alsoavailable separately as a retrofit option forsome other ranges.) The UL series runs from

single 12-inch and 15-inch tops through thetwin 15-inch full range cab to a choice of15-inch and 18-inch subs, using Peavey’sUS-made Black Widow woofers and offersthe MI customer equivalent quality toPeavey’s large format pro systems.

The PR series – powered and unpowered12s and 15s, plus a 15-inch sub – is apopular choice. Clarity and reliability comein a lightweight package, with neodymiummagnets and polypropylene enclosures.

The PV series is popular with bands andoffers trapezoidal full range speakers, a suband wedges start from £109. For smallergigs, the £435 Escort provides an all-in-onesolution: it folds down into a 67lbhatchback-friendly package (with wheels), aswell as storage space for the included PVimic, cables and stands.

JHS“WHERE DID you hide theother speakers?” Owners of HKAudio’s 400 Watt RMS LucasSmart are accustomed to suchquestions. Never before has suchpower come in such a petitepackage. Customers looking for acompact, high-performance systemthat one person can carry and set up,look no further. Powered by a 250-Wattdigital amp, Smart’s ten-inch subwooferdriver has proved its merits in high-endtouring systems, engineered as it is to throwa wide, uniform pattern. When the companysays the two 80-Watt satellites offer studio-quality audio, they aren’t over-egging.

The Kustom Profile System Two is thefollow-up to the original Profile System One(logically), with more power, larger speakersand a bevy of flexible new features. It packs300-Watts of total output power with astereo signal path running through twospeaker cabinets, each containing twoKustom special design eight-inch speakersand a neodymium compression driver.

The Profile Two powered mixer has fivechannels, each with balanced XLR and 1/4-inch combination inputs. The fifth channelreproduces stereo signals and also has abuilt-in instrument-ready preamp thateliminates the need for direct boxes orexternal preamps. All channels also havetheir own monitor volume controls andstereo panning controls.

16 digital effects are courtesy of a new24-bit digital processor. New to the Profile isthe Double Take vocal effect, whicheffectively doubles the sound of a singlevocalist, allowing for a much more definedand stronger vocal line. Unlike many otherattempts to do this, Kustom has nailed thiseffect with startling realism. The ProfileSystem Two fits into the supplied Roller Bagand retails at £799.00.

ADAM HALLONE OF THE successstories of the past year hasundoubtedly been LD Systems, a brandlaunched by Adam Hall that continues tomake strong inroads into both the pro andthe MI markets. Of note in this section arethe exceptionally smooth sounding (as far asaudio is concerned) Dave systems – with therecent launch of the Dave 15, the range nowhas three systems, with the 12 and 10having forged the path.

The Dave 15+ is the ideal active soundsystem for performers looking for a step upto larger pubs and clubs. This set has beenoptimised for small bands in need of apowerful but small and mobile plug and playsound system. It consists of an active 15-inch subwoofer and two, two-way (eight-inch/one-inch) satellites. Combined with asimple LD mixer – for example, the LD LAX12D 12-channel model, which has a greatprice (under £250) – the system has an easy,warm sound, it’s easy to use and is equallyeasy on the eye. The fact that Dave comeswith a trolley and ties means that theportability factor is covered, as well.

The Dave 10 and 12 systems areessentially the same, but with a little less‘oomph’, although one loss is another gain,as the more compact systems are lighterand pack together more tightly, but thesound quality remains among the best youcan find at such prices. Really worth seriousconsideration next time you stock up.

ALLEN &HEATHMOVING AWAYfrom the ‘one-stop-shop’ solutions,Cornwall’s very own mixer maker is always agreat place to look for those mix n matchpackages and the flavour of the month formany reasons is the ZED FX series. Inaddition to the DuoPre mic pre-amps andMusiQ eq section which are common to thewhole ZED range, the ZED FX has 16 uniqueeffects, designed by A&H’s DSP team.

Quickly enter the delay time or dial-inthe amount of reverb on the lead vocal andthe user is pretty much ready to go. The FXshave ‘one-stop’ navigation and editing andtake away the fear factor that manytechnophobe musos have, making themixers about as easy as any effects pedalswith features arranged to be logical andinstantly recognisable at a dark gig.

The Zed FX range currently comprises ofthe ZED-12FX and the 22FX. Between themthey offer a solution for any small group orsinger songwriter needing up to 16 monoinputs and three stereo inputs. Each monochannel has an insert point, allowing in-lineeffects such as compressors to be added tothe signal chain, just like A&H’s largeformat mixers.

Another excellent, multi-purpose mixer isthe PA12 mixer, which has been designedwith all the tools needed to run a standardstereo PA system. These entry level consolesmake an ideal live mixer for club performers,school systems, conference rooms andtravelling musicians. With quality in mind, itis worth noting that the PA12 has the sameindividual vertical circuit boards, nutted potsand solid copper buss interconnection as thepro level ML series consoles.

YAMAHAOVER THE LAST two years the YamahaStagepas family of portable PA systems hasevolved into a full line-up of four differentmodels which now cover almost all aspectsof mobile audio mixing, amplification andreproduction.

The original, award-winning YamahaStagepas-300 has become a top-seller formusic retailers and has been the backbone

SECTOR SPOTLIGHT • PORTABLE PA


Fender’s PD-250 is thePassport line’s flagship model

and has a powerful sound

“Where did you hide the other speakers?” Ownersof HK Audio’s 400 Watt RMS Lucas Smart are used

to questions like this. Never before has such apowerful sound come in such a petite package.

of thousands of mobile performances. Theconcept of Stagepas-300 was to create asimple, one-stop solution for the type ofuser who does not want to know about suchtechnical things as ‘impedance’ and ‘polarity’.This ‘keep it simple dna’ is still apparent inthe latest evolutions of Stagepas.

The new Stagepas-150M and Stagepas-250M are still incredibly fast to setup andeasily transported but are now even simplermono units. This makes them extremelyversatile whether as a drummer side-fill to aSilent violin setup or from a keyboardcombo amp to a school theatre.

The current line-up of Stagepas consistsof the following models with the numbersrepresenting the system’s Wattage.

The Stagepas-500 has a removable ten-channel mixer and amp section with fourphantom powered mic inputs and a pair of10”, 2-way passive speakers. The 300 has aneight channel mixer and eight-inch speakers.

FENDERSAY ‘FENDER’ and one doesn’t tend to thinkof PA systems, but the Arizona guitar gianthas obviously thought things through. TheFender badge on a product will always raiseinterest with electric axemen, so thePassport is well worth some consideration.

The Passport PD-250 is the flagshipmodel of the Passport product line, featuringas it does a six-channel mixer, 250 Watts ofstereo power and specialised DSA speakerdesign. The PD-250 provides powerful andfull sound in a portable and easy-to-usedesign. If it’s a coffee shop performance orfor a company event, the PD-250 is great inany situation where quality sound is needed.The company touts this system as ‘perfect’for rooms that can hold from 300 to 500people in size.

SHURE DISTRIBUTION UKTO COINCIDE with its 40th anniversaryyear, QSC Audio Products introduced the GXseries amplifiers at this year’sProLight+Sound show in Frankfurt, takingaim at the needs of musicians, DJs and

performers of all description. Consisting oftwo models outfitted with feature sets andpower ratings designed to meet therequirements of popular passiveloudspeakers, the GX Series is not onlyaffordable but also highly reliable.

At eight Ohms, the GX3 and GX5 arerated at 300 and 500 Watts respectively,offering the continuous power capacityneeded for a majority of common passiveloudspeakers in use today. With roughlytwice the continuous power capacityrequired by the top-selling non-poweredloudspeakers on the market, the GX Series isthe best answer to the question ‘what poweramp do I need?’

Both GX amplifiers are equipped with allthe input and output connectors needed forcompatibility with virtually any source,loudspeaker or wiring scheme. The ampsfeature QSC’s own linear toroidal powersupplies, which provide thermal stability andefficiency, and a Class B output topologythat, we are assured, squeezes every Wattavailable from electrical circuits.

The designers at QSC figured that veryfew potential GX users needed bridgedoperation or an extremely high outputcapacity at two Ohms. By eliminating thesecapabilities and building the amps primarilyfor use with four- and eight-Ohm power, theGX Series ultimately emerged withsignificant cost and size reductions, whilestill remaining fully-protected into all loads.

SOUND TECHNOLOGYWITH ITS NEW Letchworth hat on, theHarman Pro ranges have unprecedentedaccess to the UK’s MI market and will soonbe making a hefty impact. The EON 500series has three models: the EON 515 and510 full-range speakers and the 518Ssubwoofer. The 515 and 510 are two-waypowered systems with mic/line inputs, aswell as selectable system eq, giving users aloudness-type control and the ability to rolloff the LF for maximum performance with asubwoofer or, usefully for those bigger gigs,when used as a floor monitor.

The JRX system is a more affordablecollection with two mid/high speakers andtwo subwoofers, offering a dizzying 1,000Watts from the JRX115 trapezoidal, 15-inchtwo-way speaker.

Of course, the JBLs are not much usewithout a mixer, so Soundcraft, too, is happyto cater to the small time gigger with thehugely successful Gigrac systems. Launchedto some acclaim in January 2006, the Gigracfamily of powered mixers for gigging bandsand presentation systems, dubbed ‘The Boxthat Rocks’, ranges from a 300-Watt systemto 1,000 Watts. The 1000 has three-band eq,two seven-band graphic eqs and ten presetdigital effects. Although the largest of thethree, the 1000 is still just 8.75 inches (or5U) and is an incredibly easy system to use.

DB TECHNOLOGIESDB HAS LONG been established assomething of an A to Z of speaker systems(with a good helping of wireless mics andIEMs thrown in for good measure) but it isstill at the budget end that the brand reallycomes into its own. The popular Opera seriesof active speakers consists of the Opera 100,200 and 400 – all of them two-way,polypropylene enclosed set-ups, rangingfrom 90 Watts to 450 Watts. The sturdinessof these speakers makes them ideal for therough and tumble of regular small pub gigsand the sound is worthy of the best up andcomers available on the market today.

DB’s Basic line is another budgetcollection worthy of a good long look andfollowing the same design and power outputas the Opera line, but at an even moreaffordable price.

SR TECHNOLOGYMAINTAINING a significant hold on theportable PA market is SR Technology’s BigCat range – and more particularly thePocket 750 and 1500 systems. SR toutsthe Pocket 1500 as the ‘perfect solutionfor high quality high output PA’, with lowweight and all cabling for an ultra-fastsetup. The basic 1500 system isexpandable through a second passivesubwoofer to create the Pocket 2100.

The smaller brother, the 750 has anonboard mixer which can be used bothinside the sub or remotely if required. Atwo-piece, padded case set is alsoavailable for the 750.

Three excellent models, the Jam 90, 150and 400, are the first choice for manyperformers looking for great audio.Designed to reproduce every dynamic andnuance of the acoustic guitar, the Jamseries is equally adept when used withpretty much any acoustic instrument orelectronic sound source that requires atotally balanced full range response. Allmodels have digital effects and studioquality eq, together with XLR, Jack andPhono inputs for flexibility.

CONTACTSPEAVEY ..................................................................................01536 461234

JHS ..........................................................................................0113 286 5381

ADAM HALL ............................................................................01702 613922

ALLEN & HEATH ....................................................................01326 372070

YAMAHA ................................................................................01908 366700

FENDER ...................................................................................01342 331700

SHURE DISTRIBUTION UK ..................................................01992 703058

SOUND TECHNOLOGY .........................................................01462 480000

DB TECHNOLOGIES ....................................................+49 220 3925 3740

SR TECHNOLOGY ..................................................................01406 365291

SPOTLIGHT • PORTABLE PA


Stock a careful selection ofPA systems and bring insome juicy extra revenue

How Indie dealerships work…

1. You choose any 8 guitars from the range, any price point.2. 4 of the 8 are supplied as free issue guitars and 4 are invoiced, you choose.3. We only invoice free issue guitars after they are sold by you. Pay 30 days later.4. You choose free issue replacement guitars and we send them free of charge.5. You replace your purchased guitars only after you sell them.6. We will exchange any guitars that do not sell, no need to discount as nothing sticks!

You can share in the success of the fastest growing guitar brand in Europe…

…with the confidence that all indie guitars are unique and non competitive to any other brand.

There is no catch… We simply believe in working with you to help sell great guitars.

You can visit the showroom to view our guitars or we will bring them to you…

CONTACT US NOW on 01635 579300 or visit www.indieguitars.comps. If we sell a guitar online you will get the sale!

DEALERSHIPSAVAILABLE

‘’HAND PAINTED PURE ROCK AND ROLL”

NOW AVAILABLE IN THE UK

www.sparrow-guitars.co.uk � www.myspace.com/sparrowguitarsuk CONTACT OUR SALES TEAM NOW FOR MORE INFORMATIONSparrow Guitars, Unit 19, Kings Cliffe Industrial Estate, Peterborough, PE6 7DB

Tel: 01780 781631 Email: [email protected]

Contact your area sales managerArthur Achard (South, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland) Tel - 07734 816799 Email - [email protected]

Craig Wolverton (Midland, North) Tel - 07733 320288 Email - [email protected]

STARTER PACKS • SECTOR SPOTLIGHT

Any musician can remember the firsttrembling steps taken into theirlocal music emporium, and the

nervous purchase of that all-importantfirst instrument.

Apart from the sheer terror of theoccasion, there’s also the completeconfusion that often accompanies anyinitial purchase. For those sweaty-palmedyounglings wishing to take the long roadto musical acceptability, it can be prettytough knowing what else you’ll needalongside the instrument itself –accessories are many and bewildering,cases are required, amplification, all sorts of straps and trussed stands andcleaning cloths – and it can be a prettydaunting task.

Which is where the starter pack comesin. Kits designed to get those newbiesgoing with minimal fuss and expenditure,they can also earn a pretty penny for thecanny retailer. Here’s a selection of what’scurrently on offer…

FENDER THE CHAPS at Fender have got plenty tooffer here, primarily thanks to the ever-popular Squier range.

The Affinity Strat Special features theSquier guitar, the 15-Watt, two-channelFender Frontman 15G amplifier (whichincludes a handy auxiliary input andheadphone jack), stereo headphones,instructional DVD, chromatic tuner, strap,gig bag, lead and a few picks for goodmeasure. The full package in terms ofwhat every aspiring Hendrix willbe looking for in his stocking,and certainly a cost-effective way of ticking allthe boxes without leavingout any of the vitals.

Similar spec bass andacoustic packs are alsoavailable (featuring aSquier Precision and CD60respectively), while anotherStrat pack, which includesthe highly versatile G-DecJunior and its built-in backingtracks and effects, is anotherexcellent option.

MEL BAYTHE PRINT specialist has, as you mightimagine, a pretty good grasp on the needsand wants of players just starting out, andhas start-up solutions to encompass arange of instruments.

Its Children’s Guitar Starter Packincludes a chord chart, Easiest Guitar SongBook, a pack of light gauge strings, somepicks and a Children’s Guitar MethodVolume 1 book and CD. Similar packs forthe electric guitar and bass confirm whata lot of us already knew about Mel Bay –that where it counts, it knows exactlywhat the consumer is after, and canconsistently deliver.

JHSAS YOU might expect, JHS is another onewith bundles to offer in the starter packmarket, and the ever-popular Encorebrand, a stable of thebeginners sector, hasupdated the popular EGBlaster Packs to nowinclude a graffiti-styledFacelift re-usable guitarbody overlay worth £19.99,which has been custom-designed for Encore. Asidefrom the guitar itself, theEncore E6, and the Facelift

extras, the pack has also got productscherry-picked from across JHS’ extensiveranges, including the BB Blaster ten-Wattcombo amp, GYC guitar lead, Kinsmanguitar stand, Quik Tune tuner, Guitar Techstrap, Encore strings, plectrum, tutorialDVD and a listing of tutors. All in all, apretty exhaustive package.

Other options include the 7/8 bodiedE5 and 3/4 bodied E375 electrics, alongwith a range of Encore Acoustic and Semi-Acoustic Starter Packs, plus Encore'sClassical Guitar Starter Packs.

ADAM HALLBRINGING something perhaps slightly outof the ordinary to this part of the market,Adam Hall has a pair of small PA packs for

Under starter’s orders…Making the life of the confused first time buyer that bit more palatable, starter packs also make a big impression atChristmas time. Rob Power takes a look at what to keep an eye out for this year…


Starter packs can bring ina few extra pounds for

clever retailers

For those sweaty-palmed younglingswishing to take the

long road to musicalacceptability, it can bepretty tough knowing

what you’ll needalongside the main

instrument.

those starting out in the wonderful worldthat is small venue sound. Both packs, byEast Midlands Karaoke, have alreadyproved successful and could be well wortha look in.

The first pack features a LDP102Amoulded ten-inch with tweeter, six-channel mixer, speaker stand and mikestand, while pack number two boasts anextra two tracks on the mixer, making itideal for karaoke in small venues.

EMDEMD HAS a huge amount to contribute tothis area of the market, covering as it doessuch a wide range of product. To start offwith, its Stagg S300 electric guitarpackage includes guitar, strap, pitch pipe,guitar bag, spare strings and a tutorial CD-ROM featuring 20 lessons, a guitar tunerand a whole lot more besides. A similarpack is also around for the bass, whichincludes the BC300 Fusion bass guitar,strap, pitch pip, gig bag and string set.

Perhaps the best thing about EMD’spackages are their value for money,offering excellent instruments forbeginners at an easily affordable price for Christmas.

MARSHALLTWO KITS are currently on shelves fromthis UK amp manufacturer, with theemphasis obviously placed on qualityamplification rather than instrumentation.The Rockbox, designed for anyone frombeginners to intermediate players,contains the MG15DFX, a cracking littletwin channel amplifier with built-in digitaleffects. Also containing the now-obligatory tutorial DVD, MT-1 tuner, guitarcable, Marshall strings and a Marshallstrap, it’s all here, with the reassuringMarshall logo all over the place makingbeginners feel like they’re in the club.

The second pack on offer from Marshallis the Rockkit, which is designed as acomplete starter kit and includes a guitaras well as an MG15 CDR, gigbag, cable,stings, strap, picks and tuner. Again,everything required to make more noisethan most parents thought waspossible.

WARWICKPURVEYORS of all thingsbassy and rock-oriented,Warwick has a good choicein starter packs for the first-time bassist looking forsomething that is going to look,feel and sound good while beingsufficiently different from the pack to be interesting.

The Rockbass Black Hawk packageincludes the bass itself, a powerful and eyecatching brute of a bass, a Blue Cab 30combo bass amplifier, gig bag, 6m cable,

RockStrap strap, stand, and a Warwick25th anniversary baseball cap thrown infor good measure. Although perhaps atouch pricier than most other starterpacks, this is a quality option that will lasta long time and basically (excuse the pun)sound excellent straight out of the box,notwithstanding the player, obviously.

ASHTONTHERE ARE a good number of well-branded, eye-catching kits from Ashtonthat contain everything needed in asimple format that is welcoming to the

newcomer. A huge part of Ashton’sbusiness, and steady sellers all year round,

the variety of its starter packs isimpressive and this is definitely

something that Ashton does well. Take for example the FG48 pack:

a slimline guitar, more suited togirls thanks to its size, it

includes strap, bag, picks,DVD and strings,

and is

available in suitably feminine colours suchas pink and lilac sparkle. Classical packs,available in ¼, ½, ¾ and full size versionsin six different colours are a huge seller,very popular thanks to the quality of theinstruments and huge array of colours – abig factor with any first instrument.

SELECTRONFOR THOSE about to rock, preferably all inblack, perhaps with a bit of intimidatingmake up on, ESP has the perfect starterpack, all in dark tones and with all theright metal heroes on the box.

A choice of SG, Strat and, well, whatcan only be described as ‘angular’ shapesis available, with an ESP ten-Watt amp,padded gig-bag, tuner, cable, strap andpicks thrown in for good measure. Asimilarly dark and dangerous bass pack isavailable, and both of these are sure toappeal to the kids who simply can’t have their kit in anything other thanregulation black.

EPIPHONEGIBSON’S budget brand is a popularchoice amongst both beginners and thosewhose pockets don’t run deep enough forthe real thing. The DR-90 acoustic packfeatures the tidy DR-90 dreadnaught,alongside all the peripherals needed to getstuck in straight away. An electro-acousticoption is available with the PR4E, which


SECTOR SPOTLIGHT • STARTER PACKS

Christmas is theperfect time to sellstarter packs, asparents andrelatives of newmusicians look toget them a relevantall-in-one gift

For those about to rock,preferably all in black,

perhaps with a bit ofintimidating make up

on, ESP has the perfectstarter pack, in dark

tones, with all the rightmetal heroes on the box.


SECTOR SPOTLIGHT • STARTER PACKS

features the guitar itself alongside aStudio Acoustic 15c amplifier, as well as astrap, cord, DVD and gig bag.

INTERMUSIC FOCUSING on the brass and woodwindside of things, Intermusic has recentlyupdated its popular Bentley starterpackages for alto sax, flute, clarinet,trumpet, cornet and trombone.

With the packs including a four colourouter carton, heavy instrument stand,music stand, tutor book and cleaning kit,they are hugely popular and very solidsellers. Additionally, all instruments arechecked and blown in, giving their newowners one less thing to worry about.

YAMAHAENTRY-LEVEL packs remain a huge part ofYamaha’s guitar business, and thecompany has kept focused on providingcustomers with a certain level of quality –starter guitars which aren’t necessarilysimply the cheapest instruments on offerin a box, in other words. This means thatYamaha’s packs are kept stocked with thesame quality of instrument, built inYamaha’s own factories and not by thirdparties, that the rest of their guitar linesconsist of.

All Yamaha guitar packs ship with fullcolour printed retail boxes, Yamahapractise amps (for electric and bassmodels), Yamaha YT100 automatic tuners,strap, strings, picks and Yamaha’s ownInstant Guitar tuition DVD – speciallyproduced by Yamaha and Music Sales –which is designed to get people playingquickly, taking players from the first stagesof picking up the guitar to some advancedsongs featuring contemporary artists likeU2, Travis, Coldplay and The Stereophonics.Backing up the tuition are PDF

tab/notation sheets to print out and MP3backing tracks of all the songs.

Acoustically, check out the F310 pack,featuring the long-time staple of theentry-level acoustic market, or theclassical C40. Electric options are alsoavailable in the form of the ERG121 guitaror ERB070 bass packs.

EMCAS YOU might expect from one of thebest selling brands out there, Tanglewoodhas plenty to offer with its starter packselection. The FST32 electric guitar packincludes the FST32 itself (in a choice ofcolours ranging from antique sunburstthrough to pink), alongside a gig bag,

Tanglewood branded start, lead, plectrums,set of headphones, DVD tutorial,accessories pouch and, the cream on thecake, a Hiwatt Spitfire amplifier.

A similar bass pack comes completewith Tanglewood Rebel bass and HiwattHurricane amplifier.

Without a doubt, the starter packs marketis chock full of excellent options for firsttimers looking for the whole kit andcaboodle in one go. It’s a pretty bigmarket as well. According to analysts GfK,and taking the electric guitar starter packsector alone for the year ending August2008, there were 92,000 electric starterpacks sold in the UK across both MIspecialists and the dreaded massmerchandisers, representing a whopping36 per cent of total electric guitar salesfor the period.

It’s a bigger chunk of the market thanmany may recognise – value sales of£10.5 million represent a 15 per centshare of total value sales in the electricmarket. With the average price falling at

around £113, it’s easy to see why they areso popular – clearly a cheaper route thanbuying all the bits and pieces requiredindividually, and all handily wrapped up ina clean and easy box, this is a much saferoption for customers unused to the insand outs of the musical world.

But there is still a lot of work to bedone in this area by MI retailers, who itwould seem are missing the punch – massmerchandisers, the Argos and Tescos ofthis world, seem to dominate the cheaperend of the market, and so are snapping uparound half the sales. Whilst with themore expensive side of things, thebusiness is being done in MI stores, there

is lots of room for manoeuvre here andmoney waiting to be made. Starter packsmay not look as good on the shop floor,and can take up a lot of space, but ifthey’re not out there, then a trick isdefinitely being missed. They are astraightforward sell, getting everythingthat is required to the customer in thesimplest way possible, with nocomplicated explanations or drawn outadd-on sales pitches required. AsChristmas gets closer, you can bet thatthere will be plenty of anxious parentslooking to quickly pick up the works forsome musically minded offspring – makesure you don’t miss out.

CONTACTSFender ...........................................................................................................01342 331700Mel Bay ........................................................................................................020 8323 8010JHS ................................................................................................................0113 286 5381Adam Hall ....................................................................................................01702 613922EMD ...............................................................................................................01293 862612Marshall .........................................................................................................01908 375411Warwick ......................................................................................................0161 839 0666Ashton ..........................................................................................................01780 781630Selectron ......................................................................................................01795 419460Epiphone.......................................................................................................0116 275 2954Intermusic ....................................................................................................01202 696963Yamaha .........................................................................................................01908 366700EMC ................................................................................................................01937 841122

Starter packs are a straightforward sell, gettingeverything that is required to the customer in the

simplest way possible, with no complicatedexplanations or add-on sales pitches required.

They say you can’t keep a good mandown. Well, you certainly can’t keephim in retirement, as veteran MI figure

Ken Achard proves this month by making hissecond return from retirement, this time tolaunch his Mariner range of acoustic guitars.

Achard has played a major role in BritishMI history. In the 1970s he brought bothPeavey and Ernie Ball to these shores andwent on to turn Peavey into a major forceacross Europe. When he retired, in 2002,there was general surprise that someonewho still seemed so in touch could actuallygive it all up and indeed he didn’t, becausehe was later persuaded out of retirement ona short-term agreement, to launch AshtonUK. That duly done and handed over to JonGold and Roger Seekings, Achard promptlyretired again. Then, restless and with a sensethat he had built business and brands forother people, yet not left a mark of his own,his thoughts turned to his great passion –the guitar. Achard isn’t just an MIbusinessman – he is also a noted historianand collector of vintage guitars and he hasbrought that love and knowledge together

to found Mariner - whichpromises to be anything but ‘yet another acoustic

guitar range’.“This is an industry whereyou’re either in it for five

minutes or forever – andI’ve been in it forever,”Achard laughs, when askedwhy he seems unable to

make the break. “I was luckyafter I retired from Peavey to havethe chance to write Hartley’sbiography and then Peter Haywardcollared me to help him establish

Ashton in Europe. After a couple of yearsdoing that, I thought that was it, but I foundit very hard to retire. Then, as I watched Jonand Roger building Ashton and with my son,Arthur, working for them, I found myselfalmost more connected than ever.”

But isn’t the acoustic guitar marketalready hugely overcrowded? “Well, I agree,but only in certain parts of the market.Obviously, the entry-level is crowded, butthat didn’t interest me as a guitar fanatic.What did occur to me, though, was that as aguitar historian and having been deeplyinvolved in the vintage thing in the sixtiesand seventies, I realised there were lots ofreally interesting people designing guitars in

the past whose ideas would be nice toincorporate, along with some of my own.That inevitably leads you to a premiumbrand and I think we identified an area ofthe market that perhaps isn't as well-served– the upper-mid premium range.”

The key to making Mariner work wasfinding a specialist luthier in Korea, a manwith a small hand-crafting facility, who had48 years of experience in making guitars,Achard says. But however good Marinerguitars are, Achard still has to establish thebrand – which could be difficult in such abusy market. What is his plan? “Reviews,endorsements and more. I guess mydiscipline all through my career has been asa marketer. It’s a challenge to build a brand,but I find that really exciting.”

For Mariner to succeed, Achard has toestablish a clear difference between it andrival brands and it’s clear from exploring thethree ranges that he has taken leaves out ofthe books of some of the people he met andworked with in the past, like Al Dronge, thefounder of Guild, and Sam Koontz ofHarptone and Standell. While the range willhave the inevitable Dreadnoughts, expectreal differences in some of the models,which should give them a genuine USP.While these names and design hat tipsmight not mean much to those more athome when number-crunching thediscounts, Achard feels there are sufficientretailers who will get the point to giveMariner a good chance.

“My absolute history was as a retailer –and a small, independent retailer at that.Everything I’ve ever done, whether sellingover the counter, or managing Peavey’sEuropean operations, I’ve always tried to seethings through retailers’ eyes. Theindependent retailer is stronger than peoplesay. Independents survive – the specialistmusic store is alive and well and I thinkMariner will have a lot of appeal to them.”

And the appointment of Ashton todistribute the new brand? The synergy withthe Sparrow electric guitars explains itself, asdoes the fact that Achard’s son will be onthe team selling Mariner - so was it aninevitable choice? ‘Well, maybe, but seeingthe way Jon and Roger have built thebusiness, I can’t think of anybody else in theindustry who could do better justice to whatI’m trying to achieve.’MARINER: 01780 411201 ASHTON MUSIC: 01780 781630 WWW.MARINERGUITARS.COM

Smooth seas?No-one knows better than Ken Achard how to set up an MI operation – since the 1970s he has brought more varieties toEurope than Heinz. Now with the high-end Mariner guitar brand, he is going back to his roots and relishing the chance tosteer it towards success, however rough the forecast might be. Gary Cooper takes a view from the crow’s nest…

MARINER • COMPANY PROFILE

Ken Achard believeshis Mariner guitars

are different enoughto succeed

“Everything I’ve done,whether selling over the

counter or managingPeavey’s European

operations, I’ve seenthrough retailers’ eyes.”

miPRO NOVEMBER 2008 37

In the bustle of Kentish Town, where theorganic bistros make way for the art decowarehouses and office space, sits the

central operation of the Piano Warehouse.It’s an impressive set up: 6,000 square

feet of warehousing and showroom, which issupplemented by the 4,000 square footshowroom in Surbiton, with the whole showrun by the long-standing triumvirate ofHoward Martyn (who heads up distribution),Martin Weedon (retail boss) and Mike Neill(finance director). The three of them sportbig smiles and a relaxed demeanour and thereason becomes clear immediately.

“Business is really good at the moment,”beams Martyn. “We had a slow spring, butthings have been doing well andSeptember’s figures are up 15 per cent onthe year.” A fact confirmed by Weedon:“Retail is up by the same figure.”

The team at Piano Warehouse is nothing,however, if not realistic. With the doom-mongers in the media making the most ofthe ineptitudes of the world’s banks, onewould think that the collapse of civilisationis just around the corner. The bosses of thePiano Warehouse are not counting anychickens just at the moment.

“We have survived two big recessionssince we started, so we have an idea of whatto expect,” explains Weedon. “Despite thesuccess this year, we are braced for a

downturn, but we have our fingers crossed,too. If things dip, it will be a case of orderingless from suppliers and making sure theoverheads are appropriate to the climate.”

“There are 13 of us working here inKentish Town,” adds Martyn. “When the lastrecession happened in the early 90s, we had25 people working here. We had to trim thatdown to eight or nine – that was dire. I thinkwe are better prepared to cope with any badnews now.”

Piano Warehouse has existed since 1976,when Neill inherited half a dozen second-

hand pianos. He and Martyn were sharing ahouse at the time, so five went into thebasement, one into the hall, and an ad wentinto the paper. Each time a piano sold,another was pulled up into the hall and on itwent. “By the time we sold the last one, werealised we could be on to something,”recalls Martyn. Learning the technical side ofthe business on the hoof, the two youngentrepreneurs enlisted the help of Weedon,who was running his own export business,and by the 80s, the team was importing.

“We moved quickly from second hand tonew, and then distribution and import,”describes Weedon. “The first pianos weimported were Tokai and it was quite alearning curve. They were great pianos andwe made some significant inroads, but thebrand never really took off.”

The next venture was far more successfulas a chance meeting at a NAMM show ledto a relationship with Young Chang thatcontinues today. Riding the boom that SouthKorea enjoyed in the 1980s, PianoWarehouse was able to establish itself as amajor supplier of entry level pianos. Then in1994, it was the turn of the Chinese and there-emergence of the Steinmeyer brand. “Infact, the price hasn’t changed in the last tenyears,” points out Martyn – although thatmay be about to change as the creditcrunch continues to bite. Since then, it hasbeen a sober tale of steady growth.

One of the most remarkable facets of thecompany is how it has kept a successfulretail business running, together with one ofthe country’s best piano distributionoperations. “We keep the two completelyseparate,” explains Martyn. “I sell to Martin[Weedon] on the same terms as I sell toanyone else.”

“We wouldn’t still be here as a distributorif Howard gave me preferential treatment,”adds Weedon. “Obviously my retail businesshas a good relationship with the distributionarm, but I don’t get any discounts thatothers don’t get. We couldn’t do that andexpect the dealers to stay on board.”

Piano Warehouse claims around 85dealers in its network, and while it is open toany size of operation, whether a small shopwith two pianos on the floor or a megastore,the company protects its dealers’geographical zone jealously.

Although the golden era of the piano (inthe UK about 100 years ago) is long gone,

Martyn and Weedon still see the piano as aprestige purchase. These days it is not aninstrument that will sit in the ‘best room’ inthe house for use once a week. Now it is aninstrument for playing and learning. “Thegovernment has got involved, makingmoney available for purchases and teaching,and better teaching methods mean thatmore kids are playing now than ever before,”says Weedon.

“The piano is still the third mostexpensive purchase a family will makeduring their life, after the house and the car,so it does maintain a lot of prestige – andthere are still those rich enough to buy onejust to have it, whether they can play ornot.” And as long as people continuewanting to buy pianos, Piano Warehouse willbe on hand to make sure they get one. PIANO WAREHOUSE: 020 7267 9229 WWW.PIANOWAREHOUSE.BIZ

With figures showing excellent growthright up to the end of September, theteam at Piano Warehouse is enjoyingthe current boom in acoustic pianos –but with the doom and gloom in thenews, they explain to Andy Barrett thatthey are taking nothing for granted…


COMPANY PROFILE • PIANO WAREHOUSE

DoublebracedThe Piano Warehouseteam, left to right:Howard Martyn,Mike Neill andMartin Weedon

Although the goldenera of the piano is long

gone, Martyn andWeedon still see it as a

prestige purchase.

This is the first of a newregular monthly updatefrom the UK’s trade

association. It wants to use thisfeature to keep you updated onwhat it is doing on behalf of itsmembers and the wider industry.

The 350 member companiesare made up of retailers,manufacturers, distributors,wholesalers and allied tradecompanies. In short, if you areinvolved in MI, the MIA is herefor you. All the MIA’s energies aredirected towards ‘Making MoreMusicians’ in a variety of ways:

1) Public and trade shows suchas the London InternationalMusic Show (LIMS).

2) Partnership schemes such asthe Take it Away, partnered withArts Council England.

3) Working with the Departmentfor Children to ensure theprovision of a musical education

for children (and the recent £40million we have secured forschools to purchase new, qualityinstruments).

4) Working with the Departmentfor Culture and industry partnersto create more opportunities forpeople to play an instrument(such as the £500,000 roll out ofthe Rehearsal Room Initiative).

5) Launching direct initiatives toencourage music making such asWeekend Warriors, the MIA Learnto Play stand and the MIA GetAlive! campaign.

6) Working with the media topromote the ‘good news’ storyabout playing instruments (suchas our recent press concerningOasis and Take it Away).

7) Working with like-mindedinternational partners such asNAMM (which has supported anumber of MIA initiatives).

8) Collating industry statisticsthat map the sales and volumetrends at instrument level (seeour new relationship with GFK).

9) Supporting like-mindedorganisations, such as our 35-year support for Music for Youthand our ten-year partnershipwith The National Rock and PopFestival.

10) Launching a charity for ourindustry, Music for All, that putsall money raised towards helpingpeople to play instruments(www.musicforall.org.uk).

We spend time helping you sellmore, save money or protectyour business. All members haveaccess to a wide range ofbenefits including:

1) Business helplines (legal, tax,employment, health and safety).

2) Discounted exhibition rates.

3) Discounted insurance ratesfor your business.

4) Discounted debit and creditcard rates.

5) Discounted foreign currencyexchange rates.

6) Discounted advertising(Yellow Pages, Thompson, etc).

7) Free industry stats report.Interested? Please give us a

call on 01372 750600 or visitthe website www.mia.org.uk.

17 reasons why the MIA is good for business

Preferential electronic card processing terms for members ofthe Music Industries Association

Make the most of the connections you already have

As a member of the Music Industries Association, HSBC Merchant Services is pleased to offer you preferential

rates for your card processing.

For example, if your average credit card transactions are £101 or

more and your annual credit card turnover is between £100,001

and £250,000 we will only charge you 1.26% for your credit card

transactions.

Call us today to find out how much better off you could be with

our preferential rates.

Call 0800 731 8921*Click www.hsbc.co.uk/business

Important notesIssued by HSBC Merchant Services. Terms and conditions apply. HSBC Merchant Services reserves the right not to open a card processing facility. This offeris not available with any other card processing offer and is subject to our card processing terms and conditions. This offer may be withdrawn at any time.Theses rates are correct as at 1 October 2008 and may be subject to individual negotiation where the total annual Commercial/Business/ Purchasing/Internationalcard acceptance is equal to or greater than 15% of the total annual card turnover.

* Textphone 1800 10800 0283 516. Lines are open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday(excluding Public Holidays). To help us continually improve our service and in theinterest of security. We may monitor and/or record your communications with us.

AC12477


The method that started it all...

...now teaches it all.


COMPANY PROFILE • FRESHMAN

There are few companies that havemade a name for themselves asquickly and with as much style as

Freshman. Already famed across theindustry thanks to great quality guitars, asa clutch of glowing reviews will confirm,not to mention some high profileendorsements, this is a forward looking UK-based outfit that is most certainlygoing places.

“Freshman is still a very young brand –it’s only four and a half years old,” says itsfounder and driving force behind thebrand, Sean Kelly. “What we have found isthat quality always shines through, andthat has been the goal right from thebeginning. The fact that we’re direct tofactory, that we don’t go through anymiddle-men or agents, and that we sourceall the materials ourselves and completelycontrol everything has really made anenormous difference.”

By first ensuring that Freshman guitarshave the sound, playability and feel tomatch any high-end US brand, and thenkeeping the price affordable and thereturns for retail high, Kelly has forced hiscompany into the consciousness of thewider industry.

All of this has come from thestraightforward basic principles that thecompany was founded on. “It’s very easyto go and get a brand these days – there’sa new brand every week coming out ofChina I’m sure, and everybody sees that.The path we chose to go down was tocompletely design and source everythingourselves, and we’re now starting to getthe benefits of that. Customers are veryhappy with the consistency and reliabilitywe can offer, and most importantlyquality and profitablility, which you don’ttend to see.”

In line with its determination to providethe right product for its dealers at theright time, the new Apollo range looks setto turn even more heads in Freshman’sdirection. “After listening to what ourdealers have been looking for, we havereleased a fantastic mid-priced productcalled the Apollo, which is brand new andbeing launched this month,” confirmsKelly. “They look fantastic, and they’rereally high spec, but sub-£350.

“Really – every customer we haveshown them to has been completelyblown away with them. They have thelooks of instruments twice the price, and Iknow it’s a cliché but everyone that hasseen these has rated them as £700 or£800 guitars. I’ve achieved what I wantedto achieve.”

The Apollo range echoes the company’scommitment to putting the right productson dealers’ walls that will sell througheven when times are tough. “With theeconomic climate as it is, we’re basicallytrying to introduce a bit of eye candy thatwill entice customers to buy. With aFreshman, they know they’re getting aquality product that sounds fantastic, sothat’s the Apollo collection. We’veteamed up with Fishman and haveloaded it up with the Ion system – we’rethe first in Europe with this system –and yet again we’re trying to push theboundaries a bit.”

The new range will be backed upby an extensive advertisingcampaign across print media, as wellas a rash of reviews andcompetitions planned in the run upto Christmas. “This is a more grown up

approach with regards to promoting theproduct,” adds Kelly. “It’s all being done in-house – we have our own PRdepartment – and we expect to be able topush the product on and help sell itthrough, and that’s what people want withthe year we’ve had. If we can help in anyway to sell guitars, then that’s what we’reall in this for.”

Working hand in hand with dealers toprovide products that not only tick all theright boxes in terms of tone, features,quality and price, Freshman has gone along way in distinguishing itself from its competitors.

“We’re still growing as a company andwe still have new customers coming tous,” concludes Kelly. “I think people areintrigued by us. We don’t profess to be allthings to all people, we are a guitarcompany these days.

“This year we’ve seen a growth, andthat has been down to the expansion ofthe product range. Also, it’s as if we’veturned a corner, and people understandwhat the brand is about. There’s anunderstanding there on the end users’account as well, and there is brandawareness, which again goes back to the quality aspect. People know what they are buying when they pick up aFreshman guitar.”WWW.FRESHMANGUITARS.CO.UK

A breath of fresh air

Since its launch in 2002,Freshman has steadily builta reputation for qualityhome-grown instruments.Rob Power takes a look atwhat’s next for the Scottishfirebrand…

Freshman’s new range ofApollo guitars look to turnheads at a low price

COMPANY PROFILE • HERGA

Based in North West London, HergaMusic has been steadfastly growingits musical gifts empire since the

late 80s, when founder Irene McGregorfirst realised there was money to be madewith the smaller things in life.

“We opened in 1986 as a retail shop,which is still functioning in Wealdstonenear Harrow,” says McGregor. “It was 1987when we first started getting interested ingiftware. It developed from buyinggiftware for our own shop and finding thatthere was a good market for it. So, wedecided to set up the giftware side of thebusiness, which now supplies retailers,including music shops, gift shops, concerthalls and museums.”

From the kernel of a simple idea, Hergahas expanded both its outlook and itsproduct ranges, capturing a valuable nichein the market that has proved hugelypopular with retailers across the UK. “Therange of products has expanded,”

continues McGregor. “In the early days itwas t-shirts, sweatshirts and a fewpercussion items, and we now have adiverse catalogue. We have a catalogue of44 pages worth of product, plussupplements that we issue from time totime whilst we’re waiting to update. We’vejust issued a supplement with more than50 new products – since the LondonInternational Music Show we’ve launchedprobably 100 new products.

“It’s certainly been a busy year. LIMSwas a great shop front for us, as it allowedpeople to handle the goods and see themrather than just looking at a picture. Wedid in fact attract a lot of new customersat LIMS, and the stand on the public daywas like a honey pot.”

A successful showing at LIMS, and theobvious appeal of the products on showcertainly went some way to opening upthe eyes of MI retail to just how valuablea few simple gifts on the counter could

prove to be. “I think that if people have alove of music, they love to see things thatrepresent that interest,” adds McGregor.“Whether it’s a miniature clock of a guitar,a music box globe with a saxophone in it, a wall clock or a pencil with a guitar on it, it simply creates an interest, andpeople like to take them for themselves oras presents.

“We do get a reaction from some MIretailers that they don’t have room, butyou only need a small area at the point ofsale. Additionally, many of these items areimpulse buys – you don’t need to have ashowcase full of giftware. I think manyretailers have started with a selection, andthen realised the potential of selling thegiftware products and increased thenumber of lines they’re holding.”

In an industry dominated by rock androll clichés and a preponderance of farfrom individual products, the obvious eye-catching appeal of a gifts selection

sprinkled around a shopcould prove an easyand direct way of

making a bit extra of those margins,especially when times are as tight as theyare at the moment. “We have customerswho have told us that having giftware intheir window has pulled people into theirshop, which is obviously important in thecurrent economic climate,” says McGregor.“Rather than have people walk past ashop, particularly as we’re coming up to atime when people are looking for gifts, ifyou’ve got something in the window toattract them in, then of course it can leadto other purchases which is important.”

Thanks to the constant sourcing of newproducts by Herga and a commitment tonot allow the catalogue to become stale,there are plenty of imaginative andaffordable gift choices that could happilysit on the counter of any number ofretailers looking for an extra something.“It’s a diverse range, trying to cater for alltastes and all pockets, so there are giftsthere from 50p up to £30 or £40,”confirms McGregor. “The orders arestarting to pile in for Christmas now andstock is flying out. Coming up toChristmas you get people that arespecifically looking for nice gifts, so theymight go for the music box globes, or wallclocks, that sort of thing. There’s a lot ofdiversity, and we’ve found that’s the bestway. Everybody knows their owncustomers and knows the type of productthat may sell for them if they’re a bitdubious, and then they can branch outwhen they see the reaction.”

With the festive season rapidlyapproaching, and times astight as they are,there can be nodoubt that this isthe moment tomake the most ofthe increasedfootfall. Perhapsone way of doingthat is to make thebest of that giftselection.HERGA: 020 8861 1590

The giftof musicMaking its name in an area often overlooked by MI retailers, Herga Music knows justhow profitable the gifts sector can be. Rob Power looks the gift horse in the mouth…

“If people love music,they love to see things

that represent thatinterest, whether it’s a

music box globe or awall clock.”


Stocking a selectionof gifts is a good wayto encourageimpulse buys

PERSONNEL


FUTURE, the special-interest media group,has announced a number of changeswithin its senior publishing team, withnew bosses for its automotive, music-making and sports portfolios.

Following the departure of Automotivegroup publisher Paul Sloggett for personalreasons, the moves see some of the mostexperienced members of Future’spublishing team bringing their skills tobear in new parts of the business.

Richard Schofield leaves the Sportsgroup to replace Sloggett as grouppublisher of Automotive, with a mandateto develop the group’s print and eventsbusiness and research the group’s newonline opportunities.

Schofield successfully led Future’s entryinto cycling online – launching theBikeRadar Network. His previousexperience in the auto sector includestime as head of marketing for Emap’sautomotive division.

Katherine Raderecht becomes the grouppublisher for Sports after a number ofyears at the helm of Future’s music-making portfolio, which most recently sawthe successful launch of Future’s latestonline network, MusicRadar.

As well as the continued developmentof BikeRadar, Raderecht’s appointment willhelp deliver an accelerated expansion ofthe group’s events activity.

The former publishing developmentdirector, Mia Walter, returns frommaternity leave to become publishingdirector of the music making portfolio. AFuture veteran of 12 years, Walter alsobrings experience from her time as headof publishing in many of Future’s sectors,such as games and entertainment.FUTURE PUBLISHING: 01225 442244

Westside Distribution requires amotivated, knowledgeable and confident

percussion specialist to join their team in thesouthern half of the UK.

The successful candidate will be a self-starter, having theflexibility to travel on a regular basis to music dealers across

the Midlands and East Anglia, Wales and the South-West,London and the South / South East.

The role will involve supporting our network of drum-specialistand general music dealers. The candidate will be expected topromote and enhance the SABIAN cymbal brand within the

dealers’ stores, as well as developing SABIAN sales throughout theterritory. Anyone with relevant percussion-focused experience will

be considered for this position. Please send current C.V [email protected].

Alternatively, you can post your CV to Andy Gillespie at:Westside Distribution

Unit C, 139 Lancefield StreetGlasgow, G3 8HZTel: 0141 248 4812Fax: 0141 248 4813

Percussion Product SpecialistPercussion Product Specialist

Publisher’s new FutureRaderecht leaves musical instrument group as key personnelmove between divisions at consumer publishing house

Katherine Raderecht(pictured with Jon Gold atthe MIA awards) is movingto Future’s Sports division

Woodwind & Brass DepartmentSheehans are currently looking for an experienced

salesperson to take primary responsibility for woodwind and brass sales.

The successful applicant will be expected:

� to maintain the highest standards of customer service

� to be a highly motivated and skilled salesperson � to possess in depth product knowledge of all

woodwind and brass instruments � to be proactive in helping develop and expand

the department � to have good communication and admin skills to

be computer literate

Interested applicants should apply by post or email [email protected] with a full CV.

Sheehans Music Services Ltd58a London Rd

Leicester, LE2 0QD

My alarm goes off at 5:30am and the first job onthe way to the shower is to put the coffeemachine on ready for a very strong, short

espresso. I check my emails before leaving, and I’m outof the house by 7am. On the way to work I listen to theToday programme on Radio 4 every morning, unless Ihave to learn a song for a gig (I play in a function band).

When I get into the office, at around 8:30am, I’ve gota clear half hour before most other people arrive and agood chance to set up my day, check where we’re atand update my to-do list. There are bits of my rolewhich are the same most days but other elements thatcan be totally different – the first job is always to fire upour sales and stock reporting programs and see wherewe are against our targets, what we shipped the daybefore and what’s changed in terms of key productstock and dealer order statuses. This will flag up anyissues with stock or logistics and, if there is anythingneeding attention, it generally becomes the first line onthe to-do list.

Next up I’ll check my emails and attend to anythingthat Japan needs. We are in constant communicationwith our head office about everything to do with theproduct – issues from day-to-day logistics to long-termR&D all get covered – and it’s important to get thingssorted early in my day to minimise the delay betweenemails because of the time difference. Anything for theUS can wait until later as they’re asleep for most of our day.

Customer enquiries and product-related things for ourregional managers naturally land on the guitarmarketing desk too, so those things are shared outbetween myself and Alex, my assistant.

When I’m something like up to speed with theimmediate issues, it’s on to the bigger picture stuff, andwhat that’s made up of can vary hugely. Today’s to-dolist includes a load of work around some dealer supportand promotional activities we’re running over the nextfew weeks – finalising what we’re going to take to ashow next weekend, organising the stock list, starting toplan stand dressing and talking to Mark Kirkland, ourartist relations manager, about the finer details of someartist appearances for Music Live, working on the final

PR for a show with Antonio Forcione in Manchester,planning the wider PR for a similar event in November,talking to our web development guys about an onlinecompetition we want to run following Billy Sheehan’sclinics last week and working with our PR agency todraft a press release about the new Facelift transfers forPacifica – I was in Croydon last week doing a photoshoot with Rick Parfitt to go with the release, so it’sready to go when the copy’s approved.

With my new pan-European role, looking after someelements of marketing for the whole of the EU, there are

often a few things to deal with for our offices outside of the UK – today I’m working with our ad agency, The Bridge, to get some UK adverts together to send over to them to localise into German for YamahaBenelux.

If I get to it, I need to write what will turn out to be along email to our product development guys in Japanfollowing some R&D meetings we had one or twoweeks ago about product that’s a couple of years awayyet. There are a few totally un-glamorous things too.Today’s is the fact that VAT for the Republic of Ireland isgoing up by 0.5 per cent later this year so I’ve beenworking on the figures for that.

Tonight’s a bit of a special case, because I have a gig(my band gigs every week, but only very rarely onweeknights) so I’ll be out of here at 5:30pm and on theroad, but I normally leave the office between 6pm and6:30pm and finish the working day off with a quickcheck of the email when I get in at around 8:00pm.

I WOKE UP THIS

MORNING


PROFILE

In his new role coveringEurope, Julian Ward’s daysare increasingly busy with tasks that includeemailing Japan, organisingevents, dealing withcustomer queries andsorting out stock issues

JULIAN WARDUK Guitar Product Manager andEuropean Guitar Marketing Co-ordinator, Yamaha

I need to write what will turnout to be a long email to our

product development guys inJapan following some R&D

meetings we had about productthat’s a couple of years away.

It’s been a bit of a quiet year for jet-setting so it was with a jaunty step thatI set off to Heathrow’s Terminal 5 to

hop on a flight to Baltimore for ExperiencePRS, along with a gaggle of our readers,UK dealers and Guitarist editor MickTaylor. Aside from reporting for thisesteemed organ and, of course, Guitarist, Ireally didn’t have a great deal to do.

No sooner had we checked in we wereoff to a party chez Paul Reed Smith. Mrand Mrs Smith are excellent hosts andwhile our readers were wandering around, Iheaded for the beer tent – always a goodplace to network. I was soon chatting toHoward Leese, Heart guitarist and PaulRoger’s USA sideman for the past decade.A very nice chap but you can go offpeople, can’t you? Not only does he ownthe first guitar that Paul made with amaple top, which is certainly worth a bobor two, I asked him what he used for theFree-heavy Paul Rogers gig? “Oh, my 1958‘burst, of course.” Of course. In numerousconversations over the weekend with allsorts of US and UK dealers, not to mentionour dear readers, I came to realise that a)judging by the number of high-end PRSand other-brand guitars they own theymust all be stinking rich, and b) I’m not.Ho hum. I began to think I was the onlyperson suffering from the credit crunch.

Back in Blighty it was off to Abbey Roadstudios for another round of looking at veryexpensive guitars courtesy of a Fender,Gretsch and Jackson Custom Shop dealersale and general big up. Again, aside fromhaving to decide which guitars we’d shoot

for our Guitarist calendar, I had bugger allto do apart from soak up the atmosphereof Studio 2, tinkle on the ‘Lady Madonna’Steinway, strum some more guitars that Icouldn’t afford and drink some more beer.Fender’s Neil Whitcher introduced me totwo of my favourite guitarists: Morrissey’sBoz Boorer and ex-Pulp, now solo artistRichard Hawley, who’d just done a short setof his own tunes played on a rather fine£9k White Falcon relic.

Hawley has quite a lot to talk about. Hewas obviously very close to his late father,a steel worker (if I remember correctly) in

his hometown of Sheffield – a place thatplays a central role in Richard’s songwriting.His father was a musician and played theclubs and bars of Sheffield after a long dayat the works. He played with quite a few ofthe old bluesmen too. He took Big BillBroonzy on a pub crawl in Sheffield at atime when black faces were hardlycommon. Apparently, Bill whipped out hisguitar and sang for his ale and was wellliked. If you haven’t caught RichardHawley’s CDs I suggest you do. Nice chap.

A few more days later I’m at the AlbertHall, again with my editor and Guitarist

contributor Jamie Crompton to catchSeasick Steve – Guitarist’s October 2008cover star. This ex-hobo, now weunderstand well into his sixth decade, haswowed audiences with his, if not unique,certainly heart-felt scratchy blues, and is ona short sell-out UK tour. While nearly twohours of pretty much the same song mightbe stretching it for us hard-worn hacks, theentire place gave Steve a standing ovationat the end of the gig.

I stagger into the night with my head fullof thoughts. In the past days I’ve met a fewrock stars, seen and played a lot of very,very expensive guitars, and watched somegreat guitar players – but the one that’stopped the lot is a 60-something year-oldex-hobo. His second album is going to bebig, he’s played Glastonbury and he’s soldout the Albert Hall not that long after being‘discovered’ by Jools Holland.

But he’s not playing a posh PRS or aCustom Shop Grestch and he’s not widdlingup and down his fretboard either. InsteadSteve plys his craft on a varied collection ofshit or very shit guitars – his fabled TranceWonder has just three strings – through acheap Roland Cube, a set-up you or I couldpurchase for less than the price of birdinlays and gold hardware options on a PRS.

Best we don’t tell our customers or ourreaders that they don’t need all this highticket gear we try and flog ‘em to besuccessful, they just need to get out there,be a bit different and entertain. Hey, and I’vefound a guitar that I want and can afford. Icould even open a store: Vintage & ShitGuitars. At least I’d have one customer.

Dave Burrluck has allegedly been working on his travels – but it all sounds like a bit of a skive to us…

Dave Burrluck is the Gear ReviewsEditor of Guitarist magazine.

Guitarist, the UK’s leading magazinefor serious players, is published byFuture Publishing – 01225 442244

DAVE BURRLUCK

The real world?


Press trips galore for Dave Burrluck mean lots of beer, lots of chit chat and lots of guitars

Applications invited Take it away is an Arts Council England initiative designed to encourage greaterparticipation in music across all sections of the community by providing interest free loans to individuals for the purchase of musical instruments.

The scheme is run in partnership with The Musical Instrument Finance Company and is currently operated through a network of 196 musical instrument retailers across England. Retailers wishing to apply for membershipof the scheme in the next financial year (commencing April 2009) are nowinvited to apply to Arts Council England.

Applications are currently open to retailers of musical instruments based inEngland only. Further information including full details of the criteria for membership can be obtained by contacting Lucy Jamieson on 020 7973 6452or by emailing [email protected]

The deadline for receipt of completed applications is 5.00pm Friday 28 November 2008 after which no further applications will be considered for participation in the scheme during 2009/10. Please note that the applicationprocess is open once a year and we’re unable to accept applications after theclosing date.

To request an application pack please email [email protected],telephone 020 7973 6452, or write to Take it away scheme, Arts Council England, 14 Great Peter Street, London SW1P 3NQ.

Take it away is operated by ArtCo Trading Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arts Council England and a limited liability company registered in England & Wales under No. 2758433. Registered address: Arts Council England, North East, Central Square, Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3PJ.

LOCATION REPORTThe wild west iscovered thismonth... The wildwest of London,that is

NEWSRotosoundintroduces ‘iconic’method forwebsite;Southampton’sChamp amp store

INDIE PROFILETiki Drums in Hove –it’s all about a loveof everything to dowith drums

RETAIL

Ireland’s Generation X

NEWS, OPINION, DATA

The weekend of October 11th and12th saw Dublin rocking to theopening of the Irish-owned, Irish-run

X-Music, the biggest music equipmentsuperstore Ireland has ever seen.

Covering three floors and over 20,000square feet – and that’s just the sales floor– Nigel Kinmonth and Gerry Forde havehad the idea in the back of their head forseveral years, but the plan came to fruit ina very short space of time.

Kinmonth explained: “Gerry and I hadbeen talking about this idea for years, butit’s only evolved over the last seven

months, it’s incredible the support we’vehad and how hard everyone has workedon this project. I had been in a frustratingposition with my store in the city centre,for years. I desperately needed to expand,but it’s all so prohibited by space and cityrates, which kept it all out of reach.”

It was Forde who came up with theprime site, situated in the Red Cow RetailCentre in Ballymount, just 15 minutesfrom Dublin city centre and, with the M50on the door step for access to the rest ofIreland, Kinmonth saw it as a perfect spot.

“As we started from scratch, we wereable to build the premises to our ownspecifications, too, from the car park tothe sound proof rooms,” he added.

An impressive range of guitars drapedthe walls of the guitar hall, with a stagerigged for clinics and celebrity signings,which will also be an incentive to re-visitthe store, returning customers will also berewarded with an X-Card membership,offering discounts and invitations toexclusive events.

“To us, the customer is king and they’regoing to get what they have been askingafter for a long time: a massive musicsuperstore with great staff and internetpricing,” expounded Forde. “That’s themessage that’s been coming through toNigel and me over the past couple ofyears. We’ve had so much support from allthe brand names, they’re all here,including the state of the art RolandPlanet, the Fender Superstore, a vast rangeof Gibson models and superb models fromPeavey and Cort, the list goes on and on.”

In a tough economic climate, any storeneeds to have innovative ideas, and X-Music is no exception. “We know that theretail margins of the past are nothappening now,” explained Forde. “There’sthe instability within the big stores tryingto make ten per cent profit and thesmaller stores trying to make up to 40 percent, it can’t work. Millions of euros aretaken out of Ireland every year by internetsales, so we are going to compete withthem and offer the best deals.

“People here are loyal to Ireland, I wantto see that amount of money staying inthis country, and we have dedicated oneper cent of our turnover to charities, to bedonated under the banner Charity WorX.”

Forde also sees X-Music breakingbarriers with its website, but the storeprices will be the same as on the net. “I’vespent so much time this week talking toplayers who can’t believe they will getinternet prices, we can do that, there’s noneed to go abroad.”

The partners will keep the small shop inthe city as a satellite to the superstore,with accessories and access to buy onlinefrom the website, plus refreshments, allserving the city ‘dinner time trade’ thatcan’t stray too far from the workplace.

“Customers don’t want a crummy shopwith competitive prices and they’llcertainly avoid a good shop that’sexpensive, they want super service, superprices and the superstore experience thatX-Music is offering,” concluded Forde.

“Customers don’t wanta shop with just

competitive prices andthey’ll avoid a shop

that’s expensive. Theywant super service”

Gerry Forde

Dublin sees grand opening of the biggest MI store in Ireland’s history as long-held plan comes quickly to fruition


Gerry Forde (left)and Nigel Kinmonthat X-Music’sopening in October

Southampton’s newChamp shop frontWITH ONE of the coolest MI shopfrontsyet devised, Southampton gained a newguitar specialist in October, followingthe move of The Guitar Store to thecity’s centrally placed Commercial Road.

“We have something that makes usstand out from the crowd: we'vedesigned the shop front to look like aFender Super Champ,” said JamieGoatley, the store’s director and luthier.

Goatley explained how he had theidea when he saw a shop front designedto look like a Wurlitzer jukebox.

“The idea stuck with me,” he wenton. “First we had to apply for permissionfrom Fender, then my brother, whoworks with fibre glass mouldings, madethe knobs. We had to find a graffitiartist to paint the ‘front cloth’ and thebadge. It has taken time, but the endresult is pretty special, we think. We getpeople coming into the shop just to sayhow great they think it looks.”

An elaborate method of increasingfootfall, but obviously an effective one. THE GUITAR STORE: 023 8033 9668


RETAIL • NEWS

THE MIA has established an agreementwith the Independent newspaper tofeature advertorials in the publication’smonthly music magazine. The pages givesuppliers the chance to featureinstruments or ranges of instrumentsand/or the services they provide for a feeof less than £900.

The initial issue came out on October3rd with a dedicated page on guitars andanother double page spread on drums,with Yamaha, Roland and JHS featuringarticles (among others). There is room forretailers, too, with Chris Wright’sDrumwright store also featuring.

“This is exactly what the industry needsto be doing more of,” commented PaulMcManus, the MIA’s CEO.

“The magazine reaches A, B and Csocial groups and more beyond that. Wehave had a tremendous response from thepublic calling the offices and asking aboutvarious promotions that we organise.”

The agreement with the paper is aninformal one, which means that as long asthe advertisers come on board and thesubject is agreed upon, there is no limit asto what can be run.

The next issue is due in November.MIA: 01372 750600

MIA strikes deal with Independent’s monthly music mag

Iconic request from iconic brandRotosound calls for updated details for more user friendlymethod to drive further traffic to retailers’ sitesBRITISH guitar string manufacturerRotosound has requested that all UK andIreland dealers update their relevantinformation on its website in a bid to drivemore customers to their individual storesand websites.

To do this, retailers should check theirexisting details at:www.rotosound.com/ukdealers and emailRotosound’s chairman, Jason How, withany updates that they would like to seeon the site.

The company also has plans tointroduce an ‘icon’ system next to retaileraccounts to enable it to direct customerenquiries to their stores by showing therange of Rotosound products they stock.

This will allow the end users todetermine whether a dealer stocks theparticular type of strings required. Therewill be three icons shown – one for bassguitar, one for electric guitar and one foracoustic guitar.

How noted: “As I always say, 'the devilis in the detail', so every smallimprovement to drive sales and make iteasier for the customer to buy a productmeans more profit for our dealers. Thankyou for your continued support.” ROTOSOUND: 01732 450838

Daily support for MI

South-coast retailer finds novel way to amplify footfall

speakers | CD | amps | PA | mics | LED | wireless | DMX | lighting | USB | mixers | storage | lasers

From the company tha t ga ve the wor l d the award w inn ing DMX Sta r C lus te r 3D Lase r. . .

Enter the new world of affordable LED lightingFor details of the entire Kam lighting range please visit the new Kam website at: www.kam.co.uk

WEST LONDONLOCATION REPORT • RETAIL

WWW.MI-PRO.CO.UK NOVEMBER 2008 miPRO 57

PETER COOK’S GUITAR WORLD– HANWELLA NAME that is famed throughout thecountry, Peter Cook’s has a reputation thatfar outweighs the underwhelmingshopfront it has clung on to sinceseemingly about 1972. Hidden away on aresidential road, it’s certainly an odd placefor a guitar shop, although it does makeyou feel you’ve completed some sort ofsacred pilgrimage when you finally arrive.

Situated in Hanwell, the shop itself isremarkably small, and with not too muchon the walls – the odd prize Gibson, acouple of beautiful looking Fender relics,but not an awful lot else.

The reason Peter Cook’s has remained afavourite among the capital’s guitar-slinging elite is not because of the shopitself or indeed the stock on the walls, butbecause of what they have tidied away insome darkened stock room. A list as longas your arm of fresh new Gibsons fromacross the range, a huge stock, as well as alarge number of other brands.

While the chaps in the shop itself arefriendly enough, on the fourth back andforth run between stock room and shopthey can begin to lose patience, not theirfault I’m sure but perhaps a new system isneeded. On the surface then, Peter Cook’sis not quite the guitar Mecca it is madeout to be, like some sort of musicaliceberg, most of its impact and a lot of itsmagic lies beneath the surface.

DIGITAL VILLAGE – ACTONA PRIME location 50 yards from Actonunderground station, this is a great littlestore and a good example of what DigitalVillage does well. Clean, full of interestingrecording gear to get your hands on, notto mention synthesisers and electric drumkits, all well kept and there to be used, thisis a great environment to shop in.

Incredibly friendly staff, more thanhappy to discuss the ins and out ofeverything from home recording to classicNWA albums make for a welcomingenvironment and a window stuffed to thegills with tempting goodies is enough tomake any passing muso simply have tostop in and have a look.

WEMBLEY DRUM / GUITARCENTRE – WEMBLEYALTHOUGH the location of the centre is acomplete pain – hidden away as it is inthe trading estate tucked in behindWembley Stadium – once you arrive it ismore than worth the trip.

For a start, unless the shop has asudden rush of dozens of visitors, there isadequate parking – but then nothingshort of an Alladin’s cave awaits.

The drum centre is a sticksman’s wetdream; a recent re-fit and expansionmeans this is probably the biggest store ofits type in town, meaning it can stock ahuge array of brands, and masses ofaccessories and any other noise makingmaterial you might care to think of.

Everything is clean, shiny, open to thepublic and there to be hit hard, withpractice rooms set aside for electronic kitsand curious alcoves stuffed full of shakersand tambourines willing you to buy, buy,and buy some more.

Upstairs is the guitar centre, andalthough it is not as instantly impressiveas the drum section (clearly the beatingheart of the shop) it has plenty to offer,with two well stocked amplifier testrooms for bass and electric, a good rangeof price on both electrics and acoustics,and an adjoining PA centre. Well worththe visit.

PRO MUSIC INTERNATIONAL –ICKENHAMOUT IN zone six’s suburbs, this is a greatshop reaping the rewards of being the onlymusic shop for a good few miles around.

Clean and tidy, with exceptionallyknowledgeable and friendly staff, theemphasis is on the guitar here.

A good choice of electrics ranging from£100 Squiers up to £1,500 Carvins is themain draw, while a smaller acoustic roomat the back also works as something of acrowd puller.

The rear room, containing a sort ofmixed percussion collection caters for therest of the crowd that visit here – withsome nice PA products thrown in, but thisis really one for the six stringers and it is afirst class local music centre.

Romanticised home of the Clash and Wembley Stadium,London’s west wing has long been a musical hotbed, withone young Who springing from the area, as well as at leastone Rolling Stone. With that in mind, MI Pro takes a stepinto the wild west to see what’s on offer…

For those willing tosearch, the back streets

and industrial estates ofwest London have a lot

to offer the MI punter

Stadium sounds


Read all about the M-Audio monitor story at:

www.maudio.co.uk/number1

Who sells*

more reference

monitors than

anyone else in

the USA?

INDIE PROFILE • RETAIL

TIKI DRUMSHOVE

Is business up or downcompared to last year? It’s on the up – seeing as we wereonly established this year.

Do you advertise locally? No, but we advertise nationally inRhythm and Drummer. We first ofall want to establish ourselvesthere before advertising locally.

Do you have a web presence? Yes. It’s performing very well forus.

What is your main strength? Drum building and drumcomponents for the UK andEuropean drum building market.Providing drumming hardware, andallowing and encouraging peopleto make their own drums.

What is the most importantlesson you’ve learned duringyour time in the business?Listen to your customers. You haveyour own idea about how thingsshould be done, but once you start

talking to your customers thingscan change. Customers can helpyou out a lot.

What is the biggest challengefacing you today?Competitors who are able toinvest in large amounts of stockand undercut the smaller guys.With Thomann coming into themarket, there are a lot of retailersvery frightened by companies withthat sort of power. They canmuscle in and squeeze the smallguys out.

Given the power, what one thingwould you change about theindustry?

Because we’re quite a unique drumcompany, the big boys can reallydestroy the smaller companiesthrough pricing and at themoment, that’s what they aredoing. I’d change the sense ofcommunity – I think there’s anopportunity for drum companiesto work together. We competes onprice, rather than offering differentlines and working together.

What keeps you in the MIbusiness?It’s the love of drums. I couldn’t bein this business if I didn’t lovedrums, whether it’s teaching,playing or manufacturing, that’swhat it comes down to.

FACTS & FIGURESAddress: 18a Arthur Street, Hove, BN3 5FDTelephone: 01273 733910Owner: Preston and Lowry MarnoEstablished: 2008Employees: 2Best selling lines: Keller drum shells, tempus drums

PRESTON MARNO: Never happierthan when in his workshop – makingdrums, of course

NEWPRODUCTSBASS & GUITAR � ACCESSORIES � DRUMS � RECORDING � PRINT

ACCESSORIES • NEW PRODUCTS

PLANET WAVESMETRONOME TUNER £34.99They say: The essential all-in-one practice tool.For: MusiciansRange: Planet Waves accessoriesSpec: Chromatic metre style tuner with metronome,LCD screen, 1/4” input, built in condenser mic,adjustable tempo, beats, time division variations,battery powered.From: Summerfield 0191 414 9000

RANDY STRAPSSTRAPS FROM £30They say: Bespoke guitar straps, whereonly your imagination is the limitation.For: Guitarists, bassists, frettedinstrument playersRange: New lineSpec: Bespoke straps manufactured tocustomer’s specifications, Phat 'nComfy stuffing (3mm or 6mm), anymaterial from leather to sting ray skin,optional pockets. Four ranges: Studio(from £30), Complete Creations (from£100), Mix n Match (from £200),Extreme (up to £500).From: Randy Straps 01440 785243

GOLDEN GATEFIBREGLASS MANDOLINCASE £99.95They say: This case is ideal for themost heavy duty usage of thetravelling muso.For: Mandolin playersRange: Golden Gate casesSpec: Fibreglass construction, plushliner, fits f-hole and most A-holemandolins. In black, red & white.From: Gremlin 01903 203044


REMOBLACK SUEDE HEADS FROM £11.20They say: A unique suede texturing process for thepopular Ebony series.For: DrummersRange: Remo Ebony headsSpec: Available for Ambassador and Emperor weights.Ambassador with single-ply textured Ebony 10mm film.Emperor with two-ply 7.5mm film.From: Arbiter 020 8207 7860

SNAP JACKMAGNUM SERIES MAGNETICLINK CABLE £39.99They say: Everybody’s done the old ‘tripover’ at one time or another...For: MusiciansRange: Snap JackSpec: Magnetically connected jack plug,jack sleeve slides over detachable piece,nylon tangle-free protective braidedwrap, heavy metal imagery on jacksleeve (wings, skull, chick or iron cross).From: JHS 0113 286 5381

Heavy dutyprotection (above)for that mostdelicate ofinstruments

OVATIONIDEA PREAMP £199.99They say: A revolutionary new system with MP3technology for onboard recording and playback.For: Ovation playersRange: New Ovation productSpec: Three-band active eq, retrofit for OP and VIPpreamps, 128MB (100 minutes) memory, recordsfrom pickup, mic or both, line in for backing track,playback tempo adjust. Idea guitar: £449.99.From: Fender 01342 331700

PLANET WAVESUNIVERSAL II CHROMATICTUNER £17.70They say: The new design is sleekand futuristic with bold, easy-to-readdisplay graphics and offers precisiontuning.For: MusiciansRange: Planet Waves accessoriesSpec: Chromatic or manual tuningmodes, built-in condensermicrophone, 1/4” input, LCD display,battery powered (supplied).From: Summerfield 0191 414 9000

RECORDING & HI TECH • NEW PRODUCTS

FOSTEXPM0.4 STUDIO MONITOR £135They say: Superior sound quality with anaffordable price tag.For: StudiosRange: Fostex monitorsSpec: Custom 4” woofer and UFLC 0.65” soft dome tweeter,bi-amp drive with 18W each for LF & HF, two-way bass-reflex,independent L&R amps, magnetically shielded, gloss black orwhite front baffle.From: SCV 020 8418 0778

WWW.MI-PRO.CO.UK NOVEMBER 2008 miPRO 63

KORGM3 XPANDED £1,949.99/£2,699.99They say: Korg’s most far-reachingenhancement ever for a keyboardworkstation.For: Synth & keyboard playersRange: Korg workstationsSpec: Korg Karma technology,640MB new sounds, 384MB of freesample expansion, 160 newprograms, 32 new combinations(total 1,215 and 416 combinations),three sample expansion libraries,expanded sequencer mode.From: Korg 01908 857100

FOSTEXUR-2 USB AND SD CARDRECORDER £599They say: Flexibly adapt to a widevariety of playback requirements.For: Stage, studio, installationRange: Fostex recordersSpec: Two SD card slots, USB hostconnector for alternaterecord/playback between media,stereo or mono WAV recording to SDcard and USB storage device, 88/96sample quality, ‘chain play’ and‘memory play’, 99 cue points.From: SCV 020 8418 0778

M-AUDIOPROFIRE 610 AUDIOINTERFACE £309They say: For those who need acompact unit with advancedfunctionality and pristine audioquality.For: Computer studios, DJsRange: M-Audio interfacesSpec: 24/192 audio quality, twoOctane preamp, analog & digitalI/Os, DSP mixer for multiple,independent monitor mixes, 7.1surround mix capable, Firewire bus orexternal power supply.From: M-Audio 01753 659590

ESIM8U XL MIDI INTERFACE£599They say: Shows the real meaningof Plug n Play as the installationcould not be simpler.For: Computer musiciansRange: ESI interfacesSpec: 19" 1U HE chassis, eight MIDII/O, 128 MIDI channels, USBconnection, MIDI activity indicatorsper port, compatible with alloperating systems.From: Time+Space 01837 55200

PEARLMANCHURCH MICROPHONE £POAThey say: Discerning engineers rejoice –Pearlman Microphones is launching itsChurch mic.For: StudiosRange: Pearlman micsSpec: Faithful repro of classic StanleyChurch mic, authentic Triad transformer,Neumann M7 (or optional K47) capsule,hand selected GE five-star 6072 dual triode(12AY7) vacuum tube, handmade powersupply, custom Mogami/Neutrik cable.From: ES Pro Audio +49 8419 315 2723

KORGM50 MUSIC WORKSTATION

£899.99/£1,499.99They say: New workstation offers the latest and best

sounds in highly affordable and portable packages.For: Synth & keyboard players

Range: Korg workstationsSpec: Extended Definition Synthesis sound engine, three-stage

velocity-switched stereo piano, 256MB PCM data in 608 programs, 48drum kits, low-aliasing oscillators.

From: Korg 01908 857100

NATALCLASSIC TIMBALES £259They say: Exceptionally robust, apowerful Latin sound, reinforcing theNatal reputation for quality.For: PercussionistsRange: Natal Latin percussionSpec: Pair 13” and 14” drums, hand-hammered ‘black nickel’ finish, die-cast rims, chrome plated adjustablestand with cowbell post and cowbell.All with Aquarian heads. From: MSC 01562 827666


THIS PAGE IS SPONSORED BY MIKEDOLBEAR.COM, THE LEADING ONLINE RESOURCE FOR EVERYTHING DRUMS.

VISIT WWW.MIKEDOLBEAR.COM FOR MORE DETAILS.

DRUMS & PERCUSSION • NEW PRODUCTS

PERFORMANCEPERCUSSIONPP900E ELECTRONIC KIT £399They say: All the added benefits ofelectronics.For: DrummersRange: New PP Drum productSpec: Four drum pads, kick drum andpedal, two cymbal pads, with hi-hatcymbal pad and control pedal.Module with 215 voices, and 20preset kit sounds, MIDI out.From: JHS 0113 286 5381

YAMAHADTXTREME III £2,289They say: Takes digital drum designand technology to a new extreme.For: DrummersRange: Yamaha DTX drumsSpec: MOTIF XS synth sound engine,12” snare pad (three zones), hi-hatpad, two cymbal pads, three tompads with three zones – head & tworims – (Special version with threecymbals & four toms).From:Yamaha 01908 366700

PAISTETWENTY CYMBALS POAThey say: Supplement an innovativeline with more choice for yourpalette.For: Drummers, percussionistsRange: Paiste Twenty seriesSpec: Hand-made, B20 alloycymbals. New models include 12”,14”, 15” and 16” hi-hats, 8” and 12”splashes, 8”, 10”, 12” and 14" minichinas, 16” thin, 17" thin, 18" thin,19" and 20" crashes.From: Korg 01908 857100

HQ PERCUSSIONREAL FEEL BASS DRUMPRACTICE PAD £55.19They say: Designed with the drummer-on-the-go in mind.For: DrummersRange: HQ drum aidsSpec: For single & double pedals, foldsflat, foam rubber beater pad, metalconstruction, double chain link swivel.From: Summerfield 0191 414 9000

ISTANBULAZURE CYMBALS POAThey say: Designed to offer drummers of all styles acleaner, more focused alternative to traditional Turkishcymbal sounds.For: Drummers, percussionistsRange: Istanbul Agop Custom rangeSpec: Range comprises 14" medium heavy/heavy bottomhi hats, 16 & 18" clear lathed, light hammered crashes and20 & 22" pronounced lathed outer, tight lathed inner rides.From: BR Distribution 01207 282806

AHEADBAMSTIX, ROCKSTIX &TIPSTIX RANGES POAThey say: More power, less effort,50% less shock than wooden sticks.For: Drummers, percussionistsRange: Ahead sticks & malletsSpec: Bamstix heavy & light models,ali handle, bamboo rods. Rockstixheavy & light models, fibre rods withali handles. Tipstix as Rockstix, but hi-tensile plastic tip. Switch mallet Ahead5A stick with mallet head at butt end(for timpani/cymbal work).From: BR Distribution 01207 282806

Combining visualappeal withinnovative tone,Paiste’s Twentycymbal range grows(below)

From entry-level(above) to high-end

(below) electronic isthe way to go

NEW PRODUCTS • TRADITIONAL

66 miPRO NOVEMBER 2008

ANTONIO CARVALHOMANDOLIN £199They say: Outstanding workmanshipmaking for an amazing sound – all atan unbelievable price.For: Mandolin playersRange: Antonio Carvalho mandolinsSpec: Solid spruce top, pear shapedbody, curved fingerboard, hand-built,Portuguese style.From: Gremlin 01903 203044

BENTLEYBRASS & WOODWINDPACKS FROM £71.96They say: New and improved fromthe highly successful packages, nowre-branded ‘Bentley’.For: Brass & woodwind studentsRange: Bentley starter packsSpec: Package contains instrument(alto sax, flute, clarinet, trumpet,cornet or trombone), instrumentstand in bag, music stand in bag,tutor book, cleaning kit. Allinstruments checked/blown in Poolebefore delivery.From: Intermusic 01202 696963

TANGLEWOODCOVE CREEK TMASMANDOLIN £199They say: A pro mandolin at anaccessible price.For: Mandolin and frettedinstrument playersRange: Tanglewood mandosSpec: Teardrop style mandolin,mahogany top, back, sides, neck andheadstock.From: Tanglewood 01937 841122

SAMICKUKULELE FROM £24They say: Samick is known andrespected in the folk world. These areserious instruments, not stockingfillers.For: Fretted instrument playersRange: Samick folk instrumentsSpec: UK 60: ‘Concert’ model, solidMindi, geared tuners (£24.00). UK70B: ‘Baritone’ model, solid sprucetop with solid rosewood back &sides, Grover tuners (£48.00).From: Intermusic 01202 696963

TANGLEWOODUNION TB24DLXG BANJO FROM £159They say: The Tanglewoodphilosophy in the folk market, givingconsumers even more for theirmoney.For: Banjo and fretted instrument playersRange: Tanglewood banjosSpec: Bluerass style banjo, switchingto mahogany high gloss cosmetic,rolled brass tone ring, geared 5thtuner, Planetary tuning pegs.From: Tanglewood 01937 841122

STAGGEVA SILENT VIOLIN SET £197.34They say: Dispelling any doubtsabout taking the plunge to buy thatelectric violin.For: ViolinistsRange: Stagg violinsSpec: Solid lacquered maple body,two-band eq, volume control,internal headphone out, 1/4” jack,soft case with straps, bow, rosin,headphones, 9V battery, hard case.Available in black, metallic blue andmetallic red.From: EMD 01293 862612

The four (or eight)string boomcontinues withstill moreofferings fromAntonio Carvalho,Samick andTanglewood

DIXONBRASS HIGH D WHISTLE £55They say: The brass means this whistle boasts a warm and mellow tone.For: Whistle playersRange: Dixon whistles and flutesSpec: High D whistle with solid brass body, brass tuning slide, tunableplastic head.From: Gremlin 01903 203044

One less thing to worry about.

www.staggmusic.com

Series: Mel Bay Starter KitsTarget: Guitar, bass, harmonicComment: There is a slight irony in the fact thatthinking outside the box here has resulted in a seriesof books and accessories (or in the case of theharmonica, an actual instrument) packaged up in abox and given the tongue-in-cheek title of ‘starterkit’. But why not? Included with the Electric Guitarpack are a beginner’s book, two chord and scalecharts, a free pack of strings and some plectrums,making it an ideal pack to go along with the slightlygrander starter pack with the guitar and amp in it.

There is also a starter pack for youngsterswanting to get to grips with a guitar, but the showstealer is arguably the most genuine – theharmonica starter pack. With a key of C harmonicaincluded, as well as a tutor book, two smaller scalesand solos booklets and a CD, this is all the aspirantneeds to get started. While not exactly new to themarket, this being the ‘last chance before Christmas’issue of MI Pro, we thought it a good opportunity toget these excellent impulse buys in front of youreyes before the last minute rush into Christmas.MEL BAY: 020 8323 8010

BOOK OF THE MONTH

POPULARArtist: SilverchairYoung ModernTarget: PVGComment: A first from Mel Bay – certainly inthe UK – a pop book (from All Music Publishing).The band is Silverchair and this is the Australianband’s first album since 2002. Previously slottingmore into the grunge category, this latestoffering suffers a bit from an identity crisis,containing nods to the Seattle sound, whilebringing in rock ballads and an overall moresubdued ambience. The title track races along,but the others are comparatively sedate.MEL BAY: 020 8323 8010

NEW PRODUCTS • PRINT


Artist: Missy HigginsOn a Clear NightTarget: PVGComment: Continuing Mel Bay’s Aussietheme this month, another All Music book,featuring Melbourne’s favourite daughter ofthe moment, with her personalised stylecombining little girl lost vocals with streetsavvy lyrics. As the name catches on, thiscould well be a book that picks up.Otherwise, an excellent choice for theperformer looking for something a little bit different.MEL BAY: 020 8323 8010

Artist: Various (Gerlitz arr)Golden OldiesSeries: Schott Piano LoungeTarget: PianoComment: While the selection of 16 songs mightseem a little odd to some (essentially 1960s softpop) the over-45s of a certain taste with a pianoin the living room are going to love this book.Carsten Gerlitz’s arrangements are sophisticated,without being overly complex, and capture theessence of these numbers well. Lyrics and chordnames are included, as is a demo CD. The PianoLounge series is eight strong now and becoming aworthy collection.SCHOTT: 020 7534 0744

Artist: VariousBlues/Guitar/Harmonica/Bass Starter Kit

EDUCATIONAuthor: Helen MacGregor(with Catherine Birt)Singing PhonicsTarget: Pre-schoolComment: A collection of songs designed tosupport the earliest steps in phonics and theteaching thereof. The idea is to ‘play and learn’with the system based on the new phonicsprogramme from the Primary National Strategy.The book comes with a backing CD andphotocopiable resources, and each song or chantcomes with games and extended activities. A&C BLACK: 020 7758 0200

Artist: VariousQueens of CountrySheet MusicTarget: PVGComment: A sort of expanded version ofthe ‘Superstars’ volume, but containing onlythe women. A slightly presumptious title, asmany of the names most of us wouldconsider ‘queens’ of the genre are not here,presumably for copyright reasons. All thesame, 34 songs, the oldest of which goesback to 1991, so a lot of fresh material toget to grips with.FABER (ALFRED): 01279 828900

Artist: VariousKings of Country Sheet MusicTarget: PVGComment: The second selection of countrydelights, this time focusing on the brooding,macho, ten-gallon-hat-topped lump of pridethat is the male country singer. Full ofsouthern emotion and morals, this book againbelies its title by featuring only the neweststars of the genre (although there is a cameofrom Huey Lewis). All the same, fans aregoing to love it.FABER (ALFRED): 01279 828900


NEW PRODUCTS • PRINT

Author: David FranzProducing in the HomeStudio with Pro ToolsTarget: Musicians, producersComment: As stark an introduction to thedanger of software ‘how to’ books, no soonerhad this hefty tome arrived, than Digidesignannounced Pro Tools v8 – this book waswritten for v7. Despite that, it is a worthydelve into all things Pro Tools, aimed primarilyat those diving into the world’s foremost audioproduction programme. The revised version eightissue will probably be along soon.HAL LEONARD (MUSIC SALES): 01284 702600

Author: Various(Rideout/Fortner/Gallant – ed)The Best of the ‘80sTarget: Keyboard, generalComment: Not so much anything to do with themusic as a compilation of interviews with keykeyboard players from the 1980s, theirinstruments and their techniques, all courtesy ofKeyboard magazine. An impressive selection ofsubjects, from Vince Clark to Frank Zappa, viaPeter Gabriel and Herbie Hancock, the book is asmuch a tribute to the ‘classic’ era of electro-popand the golden age of the electronic keyboard asanything you are likely to find. Well worth a look.HAL LEONARD (MUSIC SALES): 01284 702600

Artist: Christopher HusseyChoices/Needs, Wants,RightsSeries: Citizenship SongsheetsTarget: Key Stage 2Comment: Two additions to the cross-curricular Citizenship Songsheets series thatcombine song and tuned and untunedpercussion ativities with any number ofclassroom tasks, whether for history, geography,science or citizenship lessons. The pieces arewritten to be politically correct, while avoidingclichés. The song ‘cards’ come with photocopiablelyrics and a CD with demo tracks and backing.A&C BLACK: 020 7758 0200

Author: Karl CoryatGuerrilla Home RecordingTarget: Project studio aspirantsSeries: Music Pro GuidesComment: This is the second edition of what ispossibly the most long-winded sub-titled bookever: How to Get Great Sound from Any Studio(no matter how weird or cheap your gear is). Andthat pretty much sums up the book’s content.The angle is that other ‘how to record’ booksand equipment manufacturers want you tospend lots of money for the best equipment,but to learn your craft, work with what youhave. Sounds good – although don’t think youwon’t need to buy anything – or develop an ear.HAL LEONARD (MUSIC SALES): 01284 702600

Artist: Paul harrisImprove Your Sight-readingSeries: Improve Your Sight-readingTarget: PianoComment: One of those ‘does what it sayson the tin’ series, with Harris producingeight books (one for each grade) eachfurthering the student’s ability to performthat most essential of functions. With theABRSM sight-reading syllabus recentlyrevised and due for implementation inJanuary 2009, these workbooks are availablenow to give learners that wee head start.FABER: 01279 828900

Artist: Suzy DaviesRespect/Moving OnSeries: Citizenship SongsheetsTarget: Key Stage 2Comment: And another two songs from theCitizenship series, again carefully written, againwith all the add ons necessary to take themusical process into a wide variety of areas inthe KS2 curriculum. With the series’ dedicatedwebsite at acblack.com/songsheets containinga variety of downloadable materials, the ‘push’of a song as the inspiration for a host ofactivities puts music in a strong position in theclassroom once again.A&C BLACK: 020 7758 0200

Artist: IoannisAnastassakis60 Tapping Licks forRock & Metal GuitarSeries: Mel Bay Guitar UniversityTarget: GuitarComment: Niche techniques often find theirway into print too late to be cool. Tappingtechniques are very 80s heavy metal, butthat is not to say that they must remainthere. As rock stars have toned down theirhaircuts since the 80s, perhaps they mightsneak a well placed second hand riff in, too. MEL BAY: 020 8323 8010

Artist: VariousSongs that ShapedAustraliaTarget: PVGComment: Not at first sight an educationbook, but given that this product is appearingon the ABRSM singing syllabus, it seemed likethe best place to put it. From the nation’snational anthem (Advance Australia Fair),through the once popular Botany Bay to theeternal Waltzing Matilda, 13 songs in all coverthe cultural phenomenon that is Australia.Word is the advance orders on this one arepretty phenomenal.MEL BAY: 020 8323 8010

MI MARKETPLACE

CLASSIFIEDS: MINIMUM 12 MONTHS - ONE ANNUAL CHARGE QUARTER PAGE £1,295

MARKETPLACE INDEX

Reeds Australia (RA), distributedin the UK by David and LouiseLeed of Leed Representation,

has been marketed in all majorcountries of the world for some 20years. Now under the managementand overall control of PeterHandsworth, a well-known Australianand international clarinetist andmusic educator, the company isbeginning to see some excitingchanges. Notably, it has beenrenamed Razzco.

Originally known as a 'boutiquebrand', Razzco’s range of Vintage,Vintage XL and Studio Plus reeds,mouthpieces and mouthpiececushions has expanded exponentiallyover the years. The brand is used bywell-known classic and jazz players –Alan Hacker and Tony Coe are buttwo examples of artists who enjoyusing Razzco products. And manyother converts are on the horizon.

A further pro-style clarinet offering named Passion came to themarket earlier this year. This reed hasbeen developed with all players inmind, with a new cut on a taperingbody based on the popular VintageXL, changing the shape of the backon a thick butt employing older

internodal cane. Finished with a filecut, it produces a crisp lean focusedsound throughout the range.

From the end of November, a newreed called Razz will be available fromLeed Representation, withrecommended retail prices atapproximately £8.50 (Clart box 10)£9.50 (Alto box 5) and £10.50 (Tenorbox 5) in strengths 1.5 to 3.5. It’seconomic, but as sound as all Razzcoproducts, and made on the samemachines by the same people.

All RA cane from South Australia isorganically grown - no bleaches orother chemical fertilisers or processesare employed. It’s a truly 'green'product two years in the growing,with a minimum of two to threemore years of maturation in the fresh air that’s unique to that area of Australia.

If you are interested in stockingany of these products, please contact:David and Louise LeedLeed RepresentationPO Box 33EmsworthPO10 8YSPhone: 01243 378050Fax: 01243 378057Email: [email protected]

SU

PP

LIE

R S

PO

TLIG

HT

THE PLACE FOR BUSINESS

A

ALLPARTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0870 442 3336

B

BILL LEWINGTON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01268 413366

C

COVERNOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0121 327 1977

CBAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 020 8816 8368

D

DB TECHNOLOGIES UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01753 655566

F

FOCUS MERCHANDISE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 020 8245 9035

FCN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01892 603730

G

GHANA GOODS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0117 955 8668

GREMLIN MUSIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01273 491333

GUITARRAS DE ESPAÑA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0117 973 3214

H

HERGA MUSIC SERVICES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 020 8861 1590

L

LEED REPRESENTATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01243 378050

M

MARSHALL AMPLIFICATIONS . . . WWW.MARSHALLAMPS.COM

MELBAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +44 (0)20 8382 8010

MIDI (IRELAND) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 003531 6779004

MUSIC EXCHANGE.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0161 946 1234

MUSIC SHIPPING CO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01562 827666

O

OCARINA WORKSHOP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01536 485963

P

PIANO LOGISTICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0208 561 4321

R

ROBERT MORLEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 020 8318 5838

ROTHWELL AUDIO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01204 366133

S

SOAR VALLEY MUSIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0116 230 4926

STAINER & BELL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 020 8343 3303

T

TIME & SPACE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01837 55200

V

VARSITY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0131 557 4310

W

WARWICK BASS GUITARS . . . . . . . . . . . . 0049 3742 255 5100

WIND PLUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0116 243 1698

TO ADVERTISE ON THESE PAGES CALL DARRELL CARTER ON 01992 535647MIMARKETPLACE

Eco-friendly reedslead the way...



AMPLIFICATION

To find out more about the JVM Series and other Marshall products contact: Marshall Amplification plc Denbigh Road, Bletchley, Milton Keynes MK11DQ www.marshallamps.com

ACCESSORIES & GIFTWAREABROAD REPRESENTATION

CLASSICAL GUITARS


MI MARKETPLACEDISTRIBUTION

DISTRIBUTION

DISTRIBUTION

DISTRIBUTION

GHANA GOODSWEST AFRICAN PERCUSSION

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL

PO Box 95, Fishponds

Bristol, BS16 1AG

Tel: 0117 9354132

[email protected]

www.ghanagoods.com

ETHNIC AND FOLK

MI MARKETPLACE


DISTRIBUTIONDISTRIBUTION

ETHNIC AND FOLK


MI MARKETPLACE

Rothwell effects pedals are trulyhand-made here in the uk and built to thehighest standards. The cases are handpolished and the electronics carefullyassembled by skilled uk workers. The circuit designis innovative and original (we don't do clones, repros ormods) and the sound is the sound of classic rock guitar - pure tone.Our pedals are quickly gaining a reputation for superb quality and are being played on some of theworld's biggest stages. The Hellbender (overdrive) and Switchblade (distortion) are currently beingheard by thousands of fans on Justin Timberlake's world tour, played by Mike Scott (also Prince'smain guitarist), who says "you make truly great, great pedals".

Why not join our growing list of uk and international dealers and stock Britain's finest boutiqueeffects pedals.

BRITAIN'S FINEST BOUTIQUE EFFECTS

WWW.ROTHWELLAUDIOPRODUCTS.CO.UK01204 366133

GUITAR ACCESSORIES

...bridges, necks, bodies,

electronics, frets, inlay dots, pickups, knobs,

switches, pickguards, tools scratchplates, strings, screws,

nuts, saddles, tailpieces ...and much more!!!

The UK’s Premier Guitar & Bass Parts Supplier

Pick a partABM, Badass, Bartolini, Bigsby, CRL, CTS,

Danelectro, Earvana, Electrosocket, Fender,

Gotoh, Graphtech, Hipshot, Hofner, Jim

Dunlop, Lace, Leo Quan, Moses, Razor,

Schaller, Sperzel, Sprague, Switchcraft

& Wilkinson.

To order call 0870 442 3336Low call rate 0845 345 5951

Order online or find a local dealer @:

www.allparts.uk.comor email us: [email protected]

GUITAR PARTS

INSTRUMENT FORUM

MUSIC PUBLISHER

Excellence in Music

Office 2.05, Argentum 2 Queen Caroline Street Hammersmith, LONDON W6 9DX UK Sales Freephone: 0800 432 0486

Fax Number: +44 (0)20 8323 8306 E-mail: [email protected]

MUSIC PUBLISHERS


MI MARKETPLACE

INSURANCE BUSINESS

MUSIC PUBLISHERS


MI MARKETPLACEPIANOS AND HARPSICHORDS

Rober t MORLEY Co Ltd

34 ENGATE St. LONDON SE13 7HA

020•8318•5838Grand & Upright Pianos by

Elysian, Grotrian-Steinweg, Bechstein,Monington & Weston

and other famous makers

John Morley Clavichords, Spinets,Harpsichords, Virginals & Celestes

Antique, Modern & New, Rental, Repairs,Sales lists & colour brochures on request.

Robert MORLEY & Co Ltd.Piano & Harpsichord Makers

Established 1881

www.morleypianos.com

[email protected]

MSC ONLINE

Extensive Product Information

Secure Dealer Only Section

Public & DEALER Forums

Online Ordering

www.musicshipping.co.uk

01562 827666

NEXT DAY DELIVERY

Drum and Percussion Accesories

THE MUSIC SHIPPING CO.

www.musicshipping.co.uk

PERCUSSION AND DRUMS

OCARINAS

Making Music in SchoolsSince 1983

UK made rainbow ocarinas fromOcarina Workshop are easy to playand great fun to teach with.

These pocket-sized instrumentsare popular with kids & well-tuned.Together with 'Play your Ocarina'music books, they are the key tosuccessful music-making in manyschools around the country.

Make sure school ocarinas are onyour counter-top and availablewhen customers request them!

Quote ‘MI Pro’ when you order12 Ocarinas & 12 Books and beamazed at the ocarina’s potential...

Trade orders are sent by return:free delivery & no minimum order

www.ocarina.co.uk

tel: 01536 485 963fax: 01536 485 051

email: [email protected]

PIANO MOVERS

WHOLESALERS

TOP 10 BEST SELLERSNASHVILLE ACOUSTIC GUITARS . . . . . . . . . . . . £50.00 retail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £27.50 trade ex vat

NASHVILLE ELECTRIC GUITARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . £99.95 retail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £54.97 trade ex vat

ARK HEAVY DUTY MUSIC STAND. . . . . . . . . . . . . . £18.50 retail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £10.18 trade ex vatDOLMETSCH DESCANT RECORDER . . . . . . . . . . . . . £6.99 retail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £3.84 trade ex vat

STEINHOFF 108B UPRIGHT PIANO . . . . . . . . . . £1795.00 retail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £987.25 trade ex vat

RAVEN STUDENT TRUMPET OUTFIT . . . . . . . . . £140.00 retail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £77 trade ex vatNASHVILLE ELECTRO ACOUSTIC BASS . . . . . . . £125.00 retail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £68.75 trade ex vat

STERN VIOLIN OUTFIT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £75.00 retail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £41.25 trade ex vatMAXTONE BONGOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £29.95 retail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £16.47 trade ex vatNASHVILLE 5 STRING BANJO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £99.95 retail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £54.97 trade ex vat

WIND INSTRUMENTS

REPAIRSPROMOTIONAL MERCHANDISE

www.focusmerchandise.co.uk


MI MARKETPLACE


MI MARKETPLACE

13 – 16 October 2009 Shanghai New International Expo Centre, China

live for the music

International Exhibition for Musical Instruments and Services

For information, visit www.musikmesse.com Or email [email protected]

• over 40,000 distributors, dealers, retailers and musicians from 91 countries

• over 1,100 exhibitors showing a broad product mix of both western and traditional Chinese instruments

• set against the backdrop of one of the world’s most exciting and rapidly-developing music product markets

ADVERTISERS INDEX

Adam Hall ...........................19,51,52

Allen & Heath ..............................24

Anglo Spanish Guitar Co.............5

Aria...................................................5

Artco Trading................................51

Ashton...........................................30

Audio Technica............................83

Big Cat...........................................29

DB Technologies .........................67

Edoru ..............................................61

EMD................................................67

Fender ...........................................35

Freestyle .......................................39

Future Publishing ........................41

Herga..............................................51

House Music ................................49

HSBC .............................................40

Indie Guitar Company................29

JHS .................................................15

Korg ...............................................25

Lamba ...........................................56

Lesuiretec.....................................47

M Audio .....................................4,59

Marshall Amplification.................2

MB Media......................................64

Mel Bay ...................................42,43

Messe Frankfurt ..........................79

Namm............................................36

Peavey...........................................55

Piano Warehouse .......................45

Retail Up ......................................... 5

Roland...........................................84

TO ADVERTISE CALL

DARRELL CARTER ON

01992 535647

S.Johnson .......................................3

Selectron ......................................33

Sheehans .....................................48

Sheridans .....................................62

Sound Tech......................................1

TEAC .............................................48

Ted Brewer ....................................14

The Sound Post...........................23

Warwick ........................................58

Westside..........................13,17,27,48

Yamaha ........................................9,11

MIA AWARDS 2008There was a lot of love in the air at the MIA awards onOctober 14th, with the great and the good from ourindustry enjoying the best of the past year. Clockwise fromabove: Simon Gilson of PMT and Ken Achard, now runningthe Mariner guitars brand, clearly enjoying each other’scompanies. Feargal Sharkey shocks Betty Heywood, but BillBruford doesn’t miss a beat. What these two don’t knowabout music publishing isn’t worth knowing: Mel Bay’sChris Statham and Chappell’s JohnMaclean. Neil Whitcherof Fender bids fond adieu to Future’s Katherine Raderecht –at what could be her last MI bash. Claire Dove of Futureand Martyn Hopkins of Roland UK are smiles all round.

SEND YOUR PICTURES TO [email protected]

MI Pro prides itself on bringing you hard-hitting news and analysis, but, we reckon you’d also enjoy seeing your peers intheir more ‘off duty’ moments. So, we’ve expanded CODA to include a permanent pictorial spread of the month’s socialhighlights. If you have any snaps from an event you’d like us to include, please send them to [email protected]...


NOVEMBER 2002

COVER STAR: : In MI Pro’s biggest ever issue (132pages) Synergy Distribution. Alan Greensall andPete Brown reveal how their ‘warehouseless’distribution model works, bringing to the fore theidea that a lot of major brands simply had nocoverage in the UK due to the overloadedportfolios of traditional distributors.NEWS: Arbiter takes on the distribution ofJackson and Charvel (after Fender buys Jackson)and takes on Akai following the demise of theUK’s AMIC operation. The US MI chain, Mars, goesunder – Guitar Center scoops the remains, JeremySilver promoted to CEO of Sibelius.FEATURES: MIA conference and awards, focus onthe keyboard market, starter packs, Yamaha Exporeport, Levy’s Leathers.PRODUCTS: Maverick Dtox guitars, ESP Devil Girlguitar, Laney TT50 head, Ashdown After Eight minicombo, Fender Mustang re-issue, Numark TT-X1turntable, Pioneer CDJ-800 CD player, HK AudioLucas XT active portable PA, Phonic Powerpod2280, Korg D1200, Petroc IV Klassik grand piano.

NUMBER ONE SINGLES: Kelly Rowland, Dilemma;DJ Sammy & Yanou featuring Do, Heaven; Westlife,Unbreakable; Christina Aguilera, Dirrty.NUMBER ONE ALBUMS: Foo Fighters, One ByOne; David Gray, A New Day At Midnight; Blue, OneLove; Robbie Williams, Escapology.

RETRO

THE LAST WORD IN MI PRO



MI ICON Hofner 500/1

Central to the sound of thebiggest band the world hadever seen, photographed

thousands of times, replicated to thisday and still only associated with oneplayer, there are few instruments thatare as truly worthy of the ‘icon’ tag asthe Hofner 500/1. With the Beatlesstill knocking back the prellies andkicking out the jams for the denizensof Hamburg’s red light district, thedeparture of sometime bass-playerand artist Stuart Sutcliffe led to PaulMcCartney taking up the bass.

Looking for an instrument that wascheap, distinctive and wouldn’t lookcompletely ridiculous played left-handed, McCartney stumbled acrossthe 500/1 and knew he had foundwhat he was looking for. Lightweightand with an immensely playable neckthat would later inform the melodicfree-flowing playing of its owner, the500/1 was hollow bodied with awarm tone that has come to beinstantly familiar to Beatlemaniacsthe world over.

Utilised throughout his career bothwith the Beatles and after, the 500/1has spawned a thousand imitators

from many manufacturers,including a recent Chinese madere-issue from Hofner themselves,but none have successfully capturedthe spirit of the original.

Examples of early 60s 500/1scan now expect to sell for hugeamounts, which considering it waspurchased by McCartney for itslow cost while the boys earnednext to nothing in Hamburg isboth ironic and indicative of justhow much the industry has grownand changed.

While many others have playedimitations, the 500/1 will alwaysbe the Beatle bass; featuring inthe group’s first appearancesin print and on television,McCartney’s 500/1 wasreplaced several times,with the original Hamburgbought model getting onelast airing in the video forRevolution in 1968,while McCartney alsoused his signatureinstrument at thefamous rooftop gig atopApple’s HQ in 1969.



SEND YOUR PICTURES TO [email protected]

AND MORE...Thumbs up from the Shure Distribution UK team,with Paul Cognale, Dennis Harburn, Digital Village’sjoint deputy MD Ray Edwards, MI Pro’s favouriteShure man Mike Gibson and Dolphin Music’s JasonTavaria. Amplified friendship from Peavey’s MD, CliveRoberts, House Music’s Barry Moorhouse, Clive’spartner, Vicky and Damon Waller of Orange. (Farleft)Ever the standard of charm and courtesy, Tanyaand Noel Sheehan of Sheehan’s Music in Leicester.And representing the biggest names in sheet musicin the US and Europe, Larry Morton of Hal Leonardand Chris Butler of Music Sales.

James Allen (vocals/guitar)

Fender Jazzmaster (or

Telecaster depending on mood)

Big Muff fuzz

Pro Co Rat distortion

Boss compressor

Vox AC30 and Vox cab

Rob Allen (guitar)

Burns Marquee

Line 6 DL4 Boss CH-1

Boss BD-2 Boss TU-2 Behringer delay

Paul Donoghue (bass)

Rickenbacker 4003

Ampeg SVT Zoom B2 Bass

Caroline McKay (drums)

Pearl Export kit,

Zildjian cymbals


With the debut album out, the hype justified

and thousands flocking to see the melodic

noise-mongering of the Scottish contenders,

Glasvegas, this is a band that is hard to avoid

at the moment. Here’s what they’ve been

spending their pocket money on…

SOUNDALIKESGLASVEGAS

NEXTMONTHA global brand reveals its UK strategy,sector spotlights on studio monitorsand boutique electric guitars, MusicLive report and... The build up toNAMM begins.

EDITORIAL: ANDY [email protected]: DARRELL [email protected]

Company / Job Title: Fender Marketing Manager GBI

Years in the industry: Nine

First single bought: Axel F by Harold Faltermeyer – theBeverly Hills Cop theme tune.

Favourite album: Revolver by the Beatles. Or EverybodyKnows This Is Nowhere by Neil Young.

Currently listening to: Puzzle by Biffy Clyro and Only By TheNight by Kings of Leon.

Favourite musician: Is Hendrix too obvious? I think I’ll gofor Paul McCartney. And Simon Neilfrom Biffy.

What instruments do you play? Funnily enough I play guitar andsome keys as well.

Are you in a band? Yes, I’m in three. I play with singersongwriter Lisa Lindley-Jones, whichis kind of folk with an edge, anotherfemale singer songwriter called LisaVain, and an all-out rock band calledBad Machine.

Neil Whitcher

BLACK TIE ONLYKeeping up appearances at the MIAawards on this page are (awardwinning) Roland’s Tim Walter andJohn Booth, flanking John Da Costaof Digital Village. More winners topright with The Sound Post’s JanWilliams and Diane Lappageflanking Dianne Bancroft and TedBrewer. Right: Ashton’s John Moore(unrecognisable without his WestBrom shirt), brand manager JamesDove and Peavey’s Andy Rust.


MI SPACE

© Intent Media 2008 No part of this publication may bereproduced in any form or by any means without prior permissionof the copyright owners. Printed by The Manson Group, AL3 6PZ

Enquiries to Mi Pro, Intent Media, Saxon House 6a St.Andrew Street, Hertford SG14 1JA.

Tel: 01992 535646 (Editorial)Tel: 01992 535647 (Advertising)Fax: 01992 535648

MI Pro has a monthlycirculation of well over6,000. It is distributedto all MI retailers andindustry professionalsplus carefully selectedpro audio executivesand resellers.

miPRO is a memberof the PPA

ISSN 1750-4198

UK: £50 EUROPE: £60 REST OF WORLD: £90

miPRO is published 12 times a year by Intent Media ~ SaxonHouse, 6A St. Andrew Street, Hertford, Herts SG14 1JA, UK

To order your subscription: call: 01580 883848 oremail: [email protected]. Please notethat this is a controlled circulation title andsubscription criteria will be strictly adhered to.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

At Audio-Technica, we know the credit crunch is hitting our

retailers hard, so we’ve designed some Christmas offers to

help fight back. Throughout November, many of our best

selling products such as the already affordable AT2020

studio mic and the award winning M50 studio headphones

will be substantially discounted so you can enjoy a margin-

rich Christmas.

To take advantage of these offers, simply call our UK sales office

on 0113 277 1441 or visit www.audio-technica.com/xmas

and see how we can help.

Fill your boots......with Audio-Technica’s Christmas offers.

www.audio-technica.com

ATH-M50

AT2020

w w w . r o l a n d . c o . u k

Thank You

Thanks to everyone who voted the V-Drums TD-9K and HP-207 Digital Piano the best products in their class at this year’s MIA awards.

Link to video demos of our latest products at www.roland.co.uk/media

Best Percussion Product: V-Drums TD-9K

Best Digital Piano: HP-207

Documents

Musical Instrument Professional (MiPro) Issue 102, November 2008