mi pro issue 103, december 2008

Add Disney magic to your Christmas salesDisney-licenced guitars from Sound Technology

01462 480000 | www.soundtech.co.uk/disney

T E C H N O LO G Y

INCORPORATING

� TRADITIONAL � HI-TECH � ROCK � CLASSICAL � EDUCATION � PRINTED MUSIC

EMD REVEALS ALLThe naked truth about a European distributor going all the way

GUITAR HERO LOUD TECH EUROMUSIC TANGLEWOOD T-REX NAMM BOUTIQUE ELECTRICS

COMPANY PROFILE

FENDER GBI

ISSUE 103 � DECEMBER 2008

For more information about the MG 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

While many have failed – or at least stuttered – EMD has woven

magic in the field of pan-European distribution. It has also established

one of the world’s strongest brands, too MI Pro’s unique perspective on the UK’s MI business with news,

interviews and reports on all aspects of the country’s front line

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 6Guitar Heroes active, Loud restructures,Schools Proms, cleaning keys warning

DISTRIBUTION 10Korg scoops two lines, Washburn andDisney, Pacifica Facelift

MUSIC LIVE 12The UK’s busiest MI show back in black

NAMM 14Joe Lamond reveals the real reasons whyyou should go to Anaheim in January

STERLING DROP 18The collapse of the British pound and itsrepercussions in the market

SECTOR SPOTLIGHT 30Boutique electric guitars

STUDIO MONITORS 35An often overlooked sector, but one thatcan make good profit

EUROMUSIC 38The buying group calls for those wishingto benefit from united buying

TANGLEWOOD 40The UK acoustic brand ships its MasterSeries – Michael Sanden tells the tale

T-REX 43The Danish footstomping specialist tellsMI Pro about its latest innovations

EUROPEAN PANS 22

RETAIL

NEWS 51HW Music re-opens Preston store, Indie Guitarsexpands operations outside guitar supply,Rotosound’s new products, AT catalogue,Gak.co.uk hits charts, Nevada award

INDIE PROFILE 54Allegro in Oxford is a prime example of howspecialisation equates to successful business

RECORDING 56 BASS & GUITAR 58 PRINT 61

PRODUCTS

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51 52

6

14

COVER STORY

ISSUE 103 DECEMBER 2008 IN THIS ISSUE

54

30

BUSINESS SPECIAL • FENDER 26Graeme Mathieson has had his hands pretty full over the past year with all of theKaman Music brands, as well as Taylor, adding to sales opportunities

A free, giant

wallplanner,

courtesy of

Mel Bay, to

help guide

you through

the MI year

ahead

THIS MONTH

MEMBER

Aspiring to survival

Arecurring theme over the past few months,certainly in this magazine, has been how MI seemsto be bucking the trends that the doom-mongering

statisticians are only too keen to expound upon – at thebehest, it has to be said, of a hungry media keen as everto emphasise the negative, rather than the positive. Well,no-one is much interested in feelgood stories, are they?

This month’s issue sees more of the same, as at variouspoints throughout the mag you will note references toreports that September and October have been bumpermonths for MI, but there is no doubt the squeeze isbeginning to pinch.

One of the highlights this month is an exclusiveinterview with NAMM’s president and CEO, Joe Lamond(page 14). The December issue is always a time for MI Proto begin previewing January’s MI trade spectacular inCalifornia, but this year, with all of the fiscal turmoil, itseemed a good opportunity to find out what MI’sbusiness was like across the pond.

Much the same, it turns out. Lamond points out thatsome are struggling and some are succeeding, butinterestingly, from his own retail experience of financialdownturns, he says his business usually grew through suchtime, through a combination of shrewd book-keeping and,most importantly, improved customer service.

Richard Baycock of Allegro in Oxford says a similarthing (page 54). Do what you’re good at and don’t getsidetracked, don’t panic – and don’t rip people off, thenthey will keep coming back.

The whole financial debacle, of course, was the result ofcredit being given where it should not have been and thisbecame a major headache for a few suppliers this year,particularly given the failure of big players in retail.

Perhaps the biggest headache was Fender’s, whichfound itself with just about every prestige guitar line youcan think of, as well as a couple of major percussionbrands, too. Graeme Mathieson, Fender GBI’s generalmanager, talks to MI Pro this month and reveals how hiscompany has overcome the difficulties of having so muchto offer each retailer (page 26).

Which brings us neatly on to an area of some dispute.Where is the good business to be had in the coming year?Obviously Christmas will bring with it promises of impulsebuys with starter packs flying out the doors, but there isstill the argument that the richest will feel the fiscal bitethe least. In light of that, we look at what the boutiqueelectric guitar market has on offer (page 30). When itcomes to making music, aspiration is something thatnever seems to diminish.

Andy Barrett

[email protected]

Christmas will

bring with it

promises of

impulse buys, but

there is still the

argument that

the richest will

feel the fiscal bite

the least


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

Loud flurry of activity

DURING A ten-day period in

November, Loud Technologies

made three big announcements

regarding the company’s

structure all of which add up to a

drastic change of direction by

the company’s new president

and CEO, Rodney Olsen.

Loud has restructured its

marketing, sales and engineering

departments, bid for the shares

in the Nasdaq registered

company to regain complete

control and, on November 14th,

announced the sale of the SLM

Marketplace (St Louis Music)

catalogue and accessories

distribution business and

proprietary St Louis Stage Gear

brand, along with the Austin

guitar and Knilling Instruments

brands to the St Louis-based US

Band & Orchestra Supplies.

In a letter to its shareholders,

dated November 3rd 2008, Loud

(under the name Sun Mackie)

issued a request to buy the

remaining 23.8 per cent of shares

that are in the public domain.

A portion of the letter read:

“We are pleased to submit this

going private transaction

proposal to acquire all of the

issued and outstanding common

stock of Loud Technologies not

currently held by Sun Mackie,

which currently owns

approximately 76.2 per cent of

the outstanding common stock

of the company. We are prepared

to offer $1.45 in cash per share

of common stock. We believe

this is a full and fair price, which

will provide the public

shareholders of The Company

with a 45 per cent premium over

the October 31st, 2008 closing

price of $1.00.”

The move to buy up the

remaining shares in Loud appears

to suggest that the company is

hoping to go private once again.

Then, November 5th saw the

company announce a

reorganisation of its corporate

marketing, sales and engineering

functions, with product strategy,

development and marketing for

the company’s MI and pro audio

businesses to be managed by

separate, dedicated product

management teams, while

marketing communications for

all Loud brands are to be

consolidated and managed by a

shared marketing support team.

“The company’s worldwide

engineering resources will be

scaled accordingly to support a

more focused product

development schedule,” stated

Olsen in a corporate statement.

“Loud will also move North

American sales from its current

captive sales force to a group of

independent sales representation

firms and consolidate portions of

its international sales force.”

The restructuring is expected

to result in around 90 full-time

positions laid off and will be in

place by the end of 2008.

Finally, on November 14th,

Loud announced the sale of St

Louis Music, albeit with the

retention of the ‘jewels’ in the St

Louis crown, namely the Alvarez

guitar, and Ampeg and Crate

amplification lines.

“The SLM sale, a non-core

business unit and product lines,

enables Loud to dedicate

resources and solidify its

leadership in the musical

instruments and professional

audio markets,” said Olsen.

NEWS

US pro audio giant drops St Louis lines, but keeps Ampeg

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

Musikmesse 2009

tickets online

THOSE INTENDING to visit

Musikmesse or Prolight +

Sound 2009 can now purchase

their admission tickets via the

internet and benefit from the

lower online ticket price.

Musikmesse is the world's

leading trade fair for musical

instruments, music software

and computer hardware, sheet

music and accessories and will

be held in Frankfurt am Main,

from April 1st to 4th, 2009.

Musikmesse visitors are

granted free entry to the

Prolight + Sound trade fair for

audio, lighting, event and

communication technology.

Admission tickets can be

purchased quickly and easily

on the website and are printed

out immediately, avoiding the

need to queue at the box

office on arrival at the fair.

Online tickets are

personalised and also

authorise the holder to travel

to and from the fair using

local public-transport services

operated by the RMV public-

transport authority.

The Musikmesse and Pro

Light + Sound shows will take

place next year from April 1st

to 4th. Last year’s shows

attracted a combined

attendance of approximately

110,000, visiting over 2,500

exhibitors and sands as the

world’s largest MI show, both

in terms of trade and

consumer figures.

A full preview and report

will appear in the April and

May issues of MI Pro magazine

next year.

MESSEFRANKFURT.COM

Passes available immediately with

discounts available for web purchases

ACTIVE MUSIC Distribution and

Activision, the developer of the

Guitar Hero video game, have

issued a combined statement

announcing a unique partnership

agreement to bring the music

game to the UK’s MI Market.

With the highly anticipated

Guitar Hero World Tour being

launched on November 14th

along with the proven statistics

of Guitar Hero developing new

music makers, Active Music is

extremely hopeful that this will

be of great interest to the MI

trade, particularly as Guitar Hero

World Tour will now incorporate

drums, vocal and bass in

addition to guitar.

“There is an emerging trend

that people playing Guitar Hero

are keen to progress and

actually start learning to play

the real thing,” said Active’s Lee

Worsely. “This brings a natural

synergy for the MI market to

start selling and developing

connections with this massive

emerging market, bringing new

blood to their business.

“For many years computer

games have taken people away

from learning a musical

instrument. That trend is now

changing and here is a game

that positively encourages

people to take up an instrument.

“This is a real opportunity for

stores to embrace the platform

and bring new customers into

their shops. By offering

incentives with purchases of

Guitar Hero, such as a free

lesson or a discount on their

first instrument purchase, stores

can keep these customers. At the

same time they can appeal to

existing customers willing to

make this purchase for

themselves or their family”.

A spokesperson for Activision

added: “We have seen this

growing connection between

Guitar Hero and

music making, so finding a

partner that could take the

game to the grass roots of music

making seemed an obvious

channel to explore. We are

delighted to have partnered with

Active Music and look forward

to developing this market during

the coming months”.

Guitar Hero games are

available from Active with

immediate effect.

ACTIVE MUSIC:

020 8693 5678

Active snaps up super HeroUK supplier scoops Guitar Hero sales for MI and hopes to cash in on youth appeal

NEWS

Sonic youth




SOME 3,000 children and youths once

again made it through Music for Youth’s

(MFY) regional festivals to appear at the

34th School Proms at the Royal Albert

Hall in November, performing music at an

outstanding level and once again

illustrating the positive power music has

for the younger generation. The total

audience over the three evenings was

some 15,000.

During the course of the three concerts

there was a range of music presented

including Japanese taiko drumming, rock

combos, orchestras, jazz bands, grime,

brass bands – among others, performing

work ranging from Duke Ellington to

Vaughan Williams, as well as premieres of

specially commissioned works.

This year was the first time the festival

was run by MFY’s new CEO, Lincoln Abbot,

under the watchful eye of the new

chairman David Hamid, following the

organisation’s founder, Larry Westland,

retiring last year.

“To put on three different shows over

three evenings is an ambitious venture,

but this is an ambitious organisation,”

commented Abbot. “With so many

exciting initiatives going on within the

music education landscape, it’s a vibrant

time for young people’s music making. The

Schools Proms is the opportunity to see

the next generation of creative, innovative

and energetic performers.”

The Schools Prom concerts are the

culmination of the MFY season, which

sees 45,000 young musicians from across

the UK taking part in the Regional

Festivals. Following this, 10,000 young

musicians came together for the National

Festival, which is held at the Symphony

Hall and various venues in Birmingham.

The performers for the Schools Proms are

chosen from these concerts.

All of this costs money, which means

that MFY as a charity is constantly on the

lookout for sponsors and partners. The

MIA is a founding sponsor for the

organisation and JHS & Co has been

involved financially since 2005. Other

major sponsors are the National Union of

Teachers and The Times Educational

Supplement, but the lack of involvement

from MI companies is cause for concern.

“Moving forward, Music for Youth will

certainly reflect the immediacy, ambition

and energy of young people’s music-

making,” said Abbot, adding: “I also want

the organisation to play a part in

influencing future directions, so you will

see more collaborations, commissions and

creative risk taking.” MFY: 020 8870 9624

Thousands more school and college kids make it through

to the Royal Albert Hall and an evening of superlatives

Drummers back ‘First

Lesson Free’ campaignYamaha extends music schools campaign to encourage

wider audience with support of top msuicians

MIA makes Dettol

come clean

FOUR OF the UK’s top drummers are

backing a pioneering national music

making campaign led by Yamaha Music

Schools and aimed at introducing more

people to drumming by offering free

introductory lessons.

The scheme, championed by Feeder's

drummer Mark Richardson (pictured),

Amy Winehouse’s sticks man, Troy Miller,

Neal Wilkinson (Van Morrison) and

Massive Attack and Kylie Minogue’s

drummer, Andrew Small, has the

potential to bring a whole new audience

to the art, Yamaha is hoping.

There are currently 25 Yamaha Music

Schools offering the Drum Encounters

course and, alongside guitar tuition, it's

one of Yamaha’s fastest growing courses.

“We’re delighted to launch this

national push to get more people into

music making,” said Yamaha Music

School’s manager Nigel Burrows. “It's a

very simple idea – we are offering free

introductory lessons for all and,

following the success of our recent Jools

Holland free keyboard lessons

promotion, we know many people will

subsequently enroll on a YMS course.

“The scheme has received the support

of a high-powered group of professional

drummers, who will be visiting

participating schools wherever possible.

Their endorsement will help us promote

the scheme and raise awareness of

drumming. The lesson will introduce

people to the fundamentals of the art

and cover the basics required to play.”

Mark Richardson added: “I’d like to

introduce more people to the drums,

and I know that Yamaha feels the same

way. What better way to get started

than by getting your first lesson totally

free. Lots of people want to play but are

unsure of where to start so probably

never take the first step. This campaign

is designed to introduce more people to

music making generally and drumming

in particular.” YAMAHA: 01908 366700

PIANO MANUFACTURERS and dealers

were thrown into a state of alarm earlier

this month when a television advert for

Dettol appeared to suggest owners

should spray their keyboards with the

antiseptic spray – potentially causing a

rush of failures and expensive

complaints, it was feared.

The ad depicted two children seated

at a piano. When one of them sneezed, a

concerned mother reached for her can

of Dettol and sprayed the keys.

One of the first to hear alarm bells

was Yamaha, which immediately

contacted the MIA, explained the

association’s CEO, Paul McManus.

“Obviously, nothing should be

sprayed on a keyboard and the worry

was that people seeing this could spray

on their electric keyboards too, which

would be a more worrying prospect.”

The MIA’s first port of

call was the Advertising

Standards Authority,

which, McManus said,

reacted with impressive speed, as

apparently did Dettol’s owning

company, Reckitt Benckiser, when

contacted directly. The company

explained that the idea its product

might do harm simply hadn’t occurred

to it and agreed not to screen the

offending commercial again, pending

tests to find out whether, in fact, Dettol

actually represents a hazard to pianos.

“Obviously, the concern was that

retailers and manufacturers might

suddenly find themselves faced with a

stream of costly failures – or worse – so

it is good news that Reckitt Benckiser

reacted so positively and so swiftly,”

McManus said.

TV ads pulled after complaints from MI trade

THE UK’s MI dealers are facing

price rises of up to 25 per cent

due to the collapse of Sterling on

financial markets around the

world, combined with price

increases from manufacturers

and suppliers in China and south

east Asia as a whole.

In an article by Gary Cooper

(see page 18) various UK

suppliers have pointed out the

30 per cent devaluation of the

pound in a matter of weeks and

it appears almost no one is

immune from the effect. The

rises come at a particularly bad

time, with the UK already

officially in recession,

unemployment rocketing and

fears growing for trade in the

coming year.

Worst hit are likely to be

educational suppliers, whose

business is often on a contracted

basis with local education

authorities. The MIA’s Paul

McManus says the association is

so concerned that it has written

to the Federation of Music

Services, the National Music

Participation Director and the

Department for Children to

inform them of the situation and

tell them that the price rises are

sadly unavoidable.

“It’s admirable that some

suppliers are desperately trying

to stick with existing

commitments to their customers

– I think Stentor is an excellent

case in point in that regard,”

McManus said.

Many suppliers are trying to

ease into the price rises, as with

Stentor. In a letter to retailers

from Stentor’s owner, Michael

Doughty said: “Stentor will

honour all outstanding orders

that have been confirmed by us

at the old prices. This is a very

expensive policy, but we trust it

will be appreciated by customers

who have orders in hand and are

awaiting delivery.”

But such measures will be

temporary at best. Jon Gold, the

president of the MIA and MD of

Ashton Music UK, fears that

some retailers will get the wrong

end of the stick. “The problem is

many smaller retailers I have

spoken to clearly don’t

understand this and see it as

‘profiteering’ and ‘unnecessary’,”

he said. “What many also don’t

seem to realise is that this is not

a manufacturing increase, nor

associated with increased

shipping or courier costs – it’s

purely an exchange increase.”

The problem with Sterling is

being caused by the drastically

reduced base interest rates

announced by the Bank of

England on November 6th this

year, but the irony is that while

the idea is to free up money for

the public to spend, the price

increases mean that, in this age

of Asian manufacture, the money

in the customer’s pocket does

not go so far.

China and Korea are not alone

in the cost spiral, either, as the

Japanese Yen has also risen

considerably in recent weeks,

raising the question of what

might be on the way from the

major Japanese musical

instrument companies.

Other distributors are privately

saying they see the imminent

price rises as almost a healthy

counterbalance to the price

deflation of recent years, where

profitability has dropped along

with the price of musical

instruments, but some are

equally unconvinced. “You may

get a bigger cash turn, but you’ll

also get a lower sales volume. It

will stop a lot of discounting,

though,” said Clive Norris, the

MD of Selectron.

A drop in the ocean?

NEWS


As Sterling falls against global currencies and Asian manufacturers readjust, price increases in MI become inevitable

John ‘Mitch’ Mitchell: 1947 to 2008JOHN ‘MITCH’ Mitchell, who

died aged 61 on November

12th in Portland, Oregon, stood

out, even among a gifted

generation, as one of the finest

drummers of the 1960s.

Born in Ealing in 1947,

Mitchell grew up on the fringes

of London’s thriving live music

scene at a time when pop

music was reaching beyond

itself to become rock. He

became part of a scene that

saw musicians moving from

band to band to band, so many

of which were destined for

stardom – in Mitchell’s case,

including the Pretty Things and

the Riot Squad.

In 1966 he had the good

fortune to join Georgie Fame’s

Blue Flames which, while it was

billed as an R&B band, was

staffed by heavily jazz-

influenced players and provided

a jazz background that Mitchell

was later to take and turn into

the foundation of ‘fusion’.

Heavily influenced by Elvin

Bishop and the British drummer,

Ronnie Stephenson, Mitchell

fitted perfectly in Fame’s seven-

piece line-up. Indeed, in a recent

tribute, Fame described Mitchell

as, “probably the best drummer

of his generation.”

Mitchell was certainly a keen

student of his craft and for a

time is said to have taken

lessons from Jim Marshall, in

whose Ealing music shop he

also worked.

What set Mitchell apart from

so many of his contemporaries

was a technique rare among

pop drummers and it was this

that so ideally suited him to his

next gig as drummer with The

Jimi Hendrix Experience.

In 1966, introduced by

former Animals bassist-turned-

Hendrix manager, Chas

Chandler, Mitchell joined bass

player Noel Redding to form

Hendrix’s legendary band, The

Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Moving from seven-piece to

three-piece, playing alongside a

musician as experimental and

freeform as Hendrix, both

allowed and forced Mitchell to

use his technical skills to the

maximum.

On tracks from the

Experience’s first album, such as

Third Stone From The Sun and

Manic Depression, whatever it

was Mitchell was playing, it

certainly wasn’t straight-ahead

rock n roll. It was loose, flowing

and free and defined a new

style of playing.

The Experience was destined

to be short-lived, the original

band breaking-up in 1969 –

though Mitchell remained close

to Hendrix and played with him

at the iconic Woodstock festival

in the same year. He later went

on to work with Hendrix after

the Band of Gypsies phase and

seemed to be set to continue

working with the guitarist, had

not the latter died in 1970.

Mitchell (like Experience

bassist, Noel Redding) was

badly treated by Hendrix’s later

manager, Mike Jeffreys, and

never received the financial

rewards he had earned.

He went on to play with

other artists, but rarely recorded

again and, though he did work

outside of the Hendrix industry

(including stints with Jeff Beck

and Jack Bruce) the rest of his

career was spent reliving his

time with the Experience. In the

weeks prior to his unexpected

death, Mitchell had been

touring the USA with the 2008

Experience Hendrix Tour.

Left to right: Stentor’s Michael Doughty, Jon Gold, MIA president and Paul McManus, the MIA’s CEO

Washburn secures DisneySound Technology to distribute Hannah Montana in the UK

Sequoia in UK

ARBITER GROUP has announced

a new partnership with Berlin

based Magix AG to distribute the

Samplitude and Sequoia DAW

programs in the UK and the

Republic of Ireland.

“We’re very excited to bring

the Samplitude and Sequoia

products to the UK MI market,

where they represent a perfect fit

with our other high profile

technology brands, such as

Native Instruments, Arturia,

Celemony and Moog,” said

Stephen Parker, Arbiter’s music

technology manager.

“We are delighted that with

the Arbiter Group we have found

a partner for the UK and Ireland

that has a long experience in

business and excellent contacts

to continue the success of

Samplitude and Sequoia,” added

Steffen Holly, director of audio

products at Magix.

Arbiter Group will

commence distribution

immediately and will

offer Samplitude 10X

and Samplitude 10

ProX editions at retail

prices of £199.99 and

£399.99 respectively

for a limited period, a

substantial saving on

the full recommended

retail prices of these

products – Samplitude

10 has an SRP of

£389.99 and

Samplitude 10 Pro has

an SRP of £779.99.

ARBITER:

020 8207 7860

Arbiter’s music technology division scoops

DAW double for UK and Ireland

YAMAHA’S Pacifica guitars are

the latest iconic design to

receive a facelift from Status

Quo’s co-frontman Rick Parfitt

(pictured) and his ‘stick on’

guitar covers. Parfitt is the

driving force behind the Facelift

range of re-useable patterned

vinyl guitar body overlays.

Initially introduced to fit

Fender Strat and Tele bodies,

Parfitt came up with the idea

after being intrigued by the

concept of changing the

appearance of any guitar in a

use and re-use way.

Coated in a low-tack

adhesive, Facelift is non-slip

when placed on a guitar, it can

be applied in seconds to

instantly transform the look of

any instrument, whether a

brand new model or a tried and

tested older instrument. It's

economical and yet

immediately effective.

Parfitt is not the only rock

icon to recognize the

significance of the Yamaha

Pacifica as a classic guitar, as

earlier this year the Rolling

Stones guitarist, Ronnie Wood,

selected a Yamaha Pacifica for

his first ever painting on the

body of a guitar, turning a

Yamaha Pacifica 112 guitar

that sells for less than £200

into a collector’s piece worth in

excess of £15,000.

Pacifica Facelifts are

available now for 012, 112J and

112V models, with a suggested

retail price of £19.99 and

available from Facelift’s

exclusive distributor in the UK

and Ireland, JHS & Co.

JHS: 0113 286 5381.

YAMAHA: 01908 366700.

Pacifica gets a Facelift

DISTRIBUTION • NEWS

Rick Parfitt’s cosmetic accessory now available in brand new shape

designed for Yamaha’s best selling guitar, the Pacifica

Korg wins HartkeSamson also switches to Milton Keynes

KORG UK is taking over

distribution of Samson and

Hartke from January 1st 2009.

The brands are moving from

Sound Technology to avoid

conflict following its takeover

of Harman Pro UK.

Commenting on the

acquisition, Rob Castle, MD of

Korg UK, said: “Samson and

Hartke will be a great

complement to Korg and Vox,

while also having products

relevant to our other brands.

We are working with Sound

Technology to ensure a smooth

transition.”

David Marshall, MD of

Sound Tech, added: "Samson

and Hartke have been fantastic

brands for us and we are very

grateful for the opportunity

Samson has given us over the

years. However our purchase of

Harman Pro UK earlier this

year necessitated a review of

existing brands to ensure that

there is no possibility of

conflict. Although we are sorry

to be letting these brands go,

we wish Korg UK every success

in the future."

Castle says he expects the

Samson and Hartke lines to

make up for the business

previously done with Takamine

guitars. “Since the departure of

Takamine to Fender earlier this

year we have been looking for

the right products to expand

our offering,” said Castle.

SOUND TECH: 01462 480000

KORG: 01908 857100

CASTLE: A great complement

SOUND TECHNOLOGY has

attained the distribution of

Disney licensed guitars into the

UK’s MI market through its

ongoing distribution arrangement

with Washburn guitars.

Branded ‘Disney by Washburn’

the first products to arrive in the

country are based on the

worldwide success of the Hannah

Montana franchise. The models –

a three-quarter size acoustic and

a three-quarter size electric – are

available in the UK immediately

and, the distributor hopes, in

good time for the all-important

Christmas market.

Hannah Montana is seen on

Disney Channels all over the

world. A record-breaking

franchise, the programme was

second only to American Idol in

the key six to 11-year-old age

range in the US and has been

supported this year in the UK

with a DVD release and a 3D

film. There has also been a

magazine launch and Nintendo

DS, Wii and Sony PS2 video

game releases.

The ‘secret star’, 14-year-old

Miley Stewart, is the typical girl

next door, but she has a hidden

identity – she just happens to be

the biggest pop sensation in the

world at the moment.

“It's impossible to

underestimate the power of

brands in these

economic conditions

and they don't get

much stronger than

Hannah Montana at

the moment,”

commented Ian Cullen,

marketing director of

Sound Technology.

“We hope these

models will appeal to MI

retailers looking to

cover all bases for

this Christmas.”

SOUND TECH:

01462 480000

Disney by

Washburn guitars

now in the UK

through Sound

Technology


Established: 1988

Number of employees: Four

Is business up or down on this time

last year? Any particular reasons?

Business is down because I think shops

are being cautious on their purchasing.

We’re getting lots of orders in, but they

tend to be of lesser value than recently.

What are your best selling lines?

It’s horses for courses really. Because we

have such a big catalogue, there’s

something there for every type of shop

or retailer, so it’s very varied.

Apart from your products, what are

your strengths as a distributor?

We have a rapid turnaround and keep

adequate stocks so that we can always

accommodate out customers.

Do you think it has been a particularly

tough year for retailers? Why?

It’s been a very difficult year for

everyone, yes. At the moment we’re

holding back on some imported

products because of the exchange

rates. We have plenty of other stock

customers can chose from, so there’s

not a real problem, but it is an issue

at the moment. What we’re trying

not to do is put our prices up, which

is why we’re holding back on those

products which could end up priced

above what people would normally

expect to pay for them.

Is the internet the biggest challenge

facing the industry today?

For the general music shop the internet is

a big threat. I think another threat for the

people who are instrument retailers is that

there is a lot of direct buying, taking the

shop trade away. The people who have

spent their money on creating the shop

fronts aren’t actually reaping the benefits

of that.

In a perfect world, what product lines

would you add to your portfolio?

I think possibly a few more household

products, but as it is at the moment we

have most things covered.

What are your aims for the next year?

To ride the storm, basically, and maintain

the level of business and hopefully see

things grow while everything settles

down again.


PROFILE • DISTRIBUTION

Address: 4 High Street, Wealdstone , Harrow, Middlesex HA3 7AA

Phone: 020 8861 1590

Email: [email protected]

Contact: Irene McGregor / Brenda Harvey

CONTACT DETAILS

Herga Music has been quietly supplying the MI and

general trades with unique products for two decades.

Irene McGregor gives an insight into her business...

Herga Music

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

EVENT REVIEW • MUSIC LIVE

Spare a thought for Jason Hunt, NEC

Clarion’s event manager for the

Music Live show. On Monday

November 10th, the day after this year’s

show closed its doors, he began preparing

a weekly report with the daunting title: ‘52

Weeks To Go’ and so the preparations for

the next year’s show were underway.

Hunt is hoping that the 2009 event

won’t have the drama of losing a major

partner halfway through the year as was

the case in April this year, when Sound

Control went into administration and

disappeared from the UK’s MI map.

As a result of that crisis, this year’s

show developed an interesting landscape

in that the country’s two largest

multiples, PMT and Reverb, were both

selling on site, as was Rocktronic, the

public face of the MI retail buying group

The Firm, representing dozens of

independent retailers.

This meant that, in between the

manufacturers’ stands throughout the

show floor, a large retail area loomed.

The fact there is so much room for

retail at this show is an indication of

exactly how much business Sound Control

had at its disposal when it was around.

Hunt has indications from the floor that,

in fact, without the former number one

trader, more kit was sold than ever before,

but spread around these three the impact

is less likely to be so pronounced.

The crowds were back again, with pre-

audited figures indicating that, despite a

quieter Sunday than for some time,

attendance was up around 1,000 over the

three days and, of course, education day

on the Friday was nothing short of

rammed. With all of the doubts that have

been raised about the show this year, from

the Sound Control issue to the general

economic malaise, there was considerable

relief that this most important statistic

was maintained.

“A lot of people were worried about

whether anyone would turn up,” said

Hunt. “In the end, everybody seemed

pretty pleased. I even had people coming

to the organiser’s office thanking me for

the show, which is unusual.”

There were further indications that,

outside of retail, things have not been

smooth running for this year’s show. While

most of the big exhibitors were present

(despite extensive pre-show rumours of

some major names pulling out) including

Yamaha, Roland, Peavey and Sound

Technology, the stands were clearly

smaller than has been the case in previous

years – although this is again qualified by

the fact that Roland reduced the size of its

stand at last year’s show, while all was still

healthy and rosy with both Sound Control

and the world in general.

It is also worth pointing out that other

companies (and most notable among

these is JHS & Co) maintained profile and

investment in this show. JHS even went a

step further with a dedicated Fret King

‘lounge’ where invited guests could enjoy

some peace and quiet and a good range of

Trev Wilkinson’s guitars to noodle about

on and discuss.

“As a company, we love Music Live to

death, which is why we support it the way

we do,” commented Dennis Drumm. “We

thought the numbers were very good on

Friday, ad it’s a great thing to get all those

kids in there. Overall I’m very happy. We

added quite a significant amount of space

this year and it worked very well for us.”

Marshall was the big absentee this year,

having had its large presence dominate

the show for some years now. In its place,

PMT had arranged a Marshall exclusive

zone. Simon Gilson was happy, with

reservations. “It was a very tough show

this year,” he said. “We don¹t know the

numbers yet, but they’re definitely going

to be short of expectations. Was it a good

show? Yes, I thought it was. Friday was

amazing. It was great to see the place

absolutely rammed full of kids, which, are

obviously our future.”

The absence of Marshall meant that

there was all the more focus on the likes

of Gibson and Fender – the former on site

with its impressive ‘tour bus’ and the

latter with a kind of ‘festival marquee’

affair. Both stands were predictably

popular with the punters.

When asked about the wider aisles

and the smaller stands, Hunt was

unequivocal in his optimism. “All I can do

is keep on doing what I’m doing,” he

said. “Yes, there were smaller stands this

year, but revenues are holding and all we

can do is work for an even better show

next year.”

Which brings us to the overall verdict

of Music Live and its very raison d’etre:

retail. This show has become a retail show.

It is not a show where manufacturers and

suppliers jostle to put out their trade

messages, it is about getting kit into the

hands of the punters. The floors are not

carpeted, the stands are simple, the noise

ideal for a party, but not conducive to

doing deals and discussing strategies.

In this regard, Music Live is a unique

and valuable show and well worth the

effort. WWW.MUSICLIVE.CO.UK

Liveand let live

Event: Music Live

Venue: NEC, Birmingham

Date: November 7th-9th

Exhibitors: 142

Visitors: 24,000 (approx, pre-audited figure)

Verdict: A slightly quieter Sunday (about 400 down) bucked the trend, which

showed figures slightly up on the Friday (education day) and the Saturday, but

expectations are that visitor numbers are around 1,000 up on last year. This

confirms Music Live’s position as an end-user, retail show. Popularity is maintained

despite fewer manufacturer exhibitors, smaller stands and bigger aisles, but these

are punters after a bargain. The simple, ‘turn-up-and-buy-something’ message is

valid and places Music Live central to a market it has made its own.

Music Live is undergoing something of a shift, but it is one

of organic evolution, rather than any change in direction. It

is still a unique event. Andy Barrett pounds the aisles…

“I even had people

coming to the

organiser’s office

thanking me for the

show, which is unusual.”

Jason Hunt

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

MUSIC LIVE • EVENT REVIEW

For those about to rock...

Music Live is well worth a visit,

with the big names out in force

and bargains aplenty

SHOW PREVIEW • NAMM

As MI Pro readers begin to peruse

these pages, the first of the big

trade events, the Winter NAMM

show, is just six weeks away. Under normal

circumstances, a good number of the

world’s MI businessmen would already

have booked hotels, got their show passes

and secured a seat on a flight into LAX –

but these, as we are all painfully aware,

are no longer normal circumstances.

The immediate, knee-jerk reaction to

bad times looming is to batten down the

hatches, cancel all marketing expenditure

and cut whatever can be cut. A trip to

California might well be high on that list

of non-essentials.

If the world’s financial gurus are to be

heeded, however, it would seem that this

is the last thing we should be doing. In

order to kick start the ailing economies of

the world, what we should be doing is

spending as we have spent over the past

ten years of economic growth – thus the

decimation of base interest rates around

the world in an effort to get more money

into the pockets of the public (which itself

has some interesting side effects – see

News Analysis, page 18).

NAMM’s president and CEO, Joe

Lamond, would agree with those who say

‘act normally’, but for a number of quite

different reasons.

Lamond’s business background is in

retail and he has seen economic

downturns before, although this one, he

admits, is a bit different.

“Yes, I’ve seen some rough times. We’ve

always gotten through them, many times

with growth, by staying laser focused on

taking care of our customers and giving

them reasons to shop with us and to keep

making music. One of the key differences

this time is 24/7 media coverage of the

bad news. The world seems convinced, by

our government leaders and by the media,

that things are horrible and will only get

worse. That has the potential to become a

self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Which rings very true to many here in

the UK, where our doom-mongering press

has painted a picture so dramatic, many in

MI, both retail and supply, are wondering

where all of this happening as they record

figures for September and October.

According to Lamond, there is some

evidence of this in the US, too.

“The headlines of the global economy

are full of bad news these days and the US

is no exception,” he says. “There are

NAMM members experiencing significant

challenges. But we also are hearing of

other members who are finding success as

well. There is little doubt that this

combination of economic factors is

unprecedented, leaving the brightest

business minds in the world scratching

their heads.”

MI, of course, has some pretty bright

minds of its own and this is where trade

associations such as NAMM come into

their own, creating a natural forum where

these issues are considered.

“The NAMM board is made up of real

business owners experiencing this first-

hand – you can imagine how big a topic

this is with them and all our members.

Many have lived through past recessions

and have ideas on how to weather this

one. NAMM’s role is to do everything

possible to promote music making to the

A NAMM for all seasonsAs the world descends into turmoil over global finances and the repercussions begin to hit businesses large and small,

some might argue it is a time to hunker down and protect what you have. NAMM’s president and CEO, Joe Lamond tells

Andy Barrett that would be a mistake…


“You get through tough

times by staying laser-

focused on customer care.”

Joe Lamond

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SHOW PREVIEW • NAMM

general public, strengthen music education

and create learning opportunities for our

members to position their businesses not

just to survive, but to thrive both now and

in the future.”

While a little vague, what this last

statement does mean is that there are

people with experience and know-how

within our own industry that can shed

light upon areas that might seem

intractable to others – and you might be

one of those. The important issue is

getting together. The NAMM show is –

and has been for many years, one of the

best places to stage that get-together.

“In times of great change, learners win.

Those who try to do things the old way

find themselves perfectly suited for a

world that no longer exists,” Lamonds

points out. “The NAMM show is the only

place in the world where virtually every

industry leader comes to learn, gather

ideas, solutions and direction for the

future. It’s been said that anyone who is

really serious about their future wouldn’t

even consider missing it.”

And there is another factor, not unique

to the music industries, but one that we

excel at. As Lamond puts it: “Our industry

is also made up of great relationships and

friendships. There’s something about our

inherent need to come together and talk,

vent, laugh and just be around one

another. These face-to-face relationships

are the association’s and industry’s

greatest assets.”

Many of NAMM’s (and the world’s) best

MI minds will be presenting talks and

discussions at the NAMM University

sessions throughout the show (see box).

Inevitably, the message is ‘be there’ as it

always has been, but this is a strong

argument that the annual shot in the arm

that is the NAMM show is more

important at this time than ever before. If

you’re not booked up yet, do so.

Aside from being the epicentre of all

the economic grief in the world at the

moment (the USA, not NAMM) America

has also enjoyed unprecedented coverage

(certainly here in the UK) of that country’s

selection of its next head of state.

Apolitical British rockers and anarchic

punks are known to have stayed up the

whole night on November 4th just to get

final confirmation that Barack Obama had

been elected as chief of the world’s most

powerful nation and is to inherit the chair

where the buck really can go no further.

This two-month gap between winning

the election is known as the ‘lame duck’

period, as the outgoing president

effectively has no power (nor possibly

desire) to do much and the newly elected

official hones his (or maybe, one day, ‘her’)

policies for the next four years.

NAMM, as with any trade body, spends

a lot of time lobbying government to

ensure its aims and values remain to the

forefront of political decision making, but

unlike here in the UK, where it is very

much ‘the king is dead, long live the king,’

the lame duck period leaves any lobbyist

with an administration that is irrelevant

and another that has, at best, a general

overview of what its policies will be.

Lamond explains that the work does

not stop – in fact, if anything, it intensifies

at this time.

“Mary Luehrsen and our government

relations team do a very good job of

building a lot of important relationships

with elected officials in both parties. Our

strategy is to identify the most vital

figures to move our agenda forward and

provide them with good research-based

information about the benefits of music in

order to keep music education strong in

communities across the country.

“It’s tedious, ongoing work because new

officials are coming in and going out all

the time at both State and Federal level.

During this lame duck period, things can

happen very quickly, so we need to be

especially vigilant right now.”

Which is general, but specifically?

“NAMM and a large coalition of partner

organizations have been working with the

Obama team for more than a year

regarding their position concerning music

and the arts and we are continuing that

work with Obama’s transition team today.

Actually, we were pleased to have

President-elect Obama provide Wynton

Marsalis on a Support Music conference

call recently to discuss this very issue.”

(This call is available to listen to now at

namm.org on the public affairs page.)


The NAMM University has proved itself

over the past few years to be an

initiative of endless value to the MI

retailer, with MI business luminaries

offering their real-world advice on pretty

much every aspect of MI retail you can

think of.

As with previous years, each day of

the show will begin with a breakfast

session (with a free breakfast served

from 8am to 8:30am – as if you needed

any more incentive). These will take

place at the Hilton Anaheim Hotel

Pacific Ballrooms. The schedule of these

breakfast sessions are listed below, but

the NAMM Ideas Centre (stand 5501 in

Hall B) will hold sessions every half an

hour (unfortunately the schedule is far

too lengthy to reprint here, but the full

programme is available on the NAMM

website at namm.org).

Here then is a run down of the

Breakfast sessions as they will happen

each morning.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 15

Breakfast of Champions

Joe Lamond, President and CEO, NAMM,

and guests

In this session, Joe Lamond, president

and CEO of NAMM, will welcome some

champions of business for a series of up-

close and personal discussions. Listen in

on the thoughts of these opinion leaders

and get a rare glimpse into their views

on the future of our industry in this

rapidly changing business environment.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16

The Big Issues: Trends and Tactics: The

Next 12 Months

Bill Hinely and panel

It’s the beginning of the new year and

the ideal time to look ahead and explore

the trends that are going to influence

business over the next 12 months. In the

latest big Issues session, Bill Hinely and a

panel of experts will explore some of the

emerging trends that are going to

influence the music products industry

during the upcoming year and beyond.

Find out how these trends are going

to affect you and how to control the

challenges while you take advantage of

the opportunities. This is the information

you need to succeed and thrive in this

time of economic and social change.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 17

25 Ideas to Improve Business – Now

Panel discussion with Alan Freidman and

Danny Rocks

Are you looking for a few fresh ideas

to improve your business? Are you

looking to find new customers? Do you

want to create more ‘buzz’ for your next

event? Do you need some help with

your financial statements?

Well, look no further. In one hour, you

will get 25 ideas that you can start to

implement Monday morning. These are

not just theories, but practical, dealer-

tested ideas to improve your business.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 18

Best in Show – This Year’s Hottest

Products

Frank Alkyer, Publisher, Music Inc and

panel

With more than 1,500 companies

exhibiting and demonstrating thousands

of products at the NAMM show,

sometimes it can be difficult to make

sure you’ve seen all the important new

items. Join Music Inc publisher Frank

Alkyer and his esteemed panel of retail

buyers, media and gear heads as they

scour the aisles and dig into the

merchandise to find the best products,

ideas and trends from the hidden depths

of the show.

You know as soon as you get home,

someone always asks: “Did you the see

the new…?” and you feel you’re the only

person who missed it. The chance to

change all that, this rapid-fire, 60-minute

snapshot covers what you need to see

before leaving Anaheim.

NAMM University sessions

The crowds of the

NAMM show – no

better place to get

ideas in troubled times

MUSIC CHINA • EVENT REVIEW

The Music China show took place in Shanghai from

October 9th to 12th with the organiser, Messe

Frankfurt announcing record figures for the seventh

successive year since the show’s inception.

The fair filled six halls with 1,106 exhibitors from 23

countries and regions, an increase of 87 exhibitors from

the previous year. The number of overseas exhibitors

totalled 286. The total exhibition area was 65,000 square

metres. The event once again showcased leading Chinese

and international brands, resulting in almost every

conceivable music product and accessory being exhibited

on the show floor to the 43,238 visitors – an increase of

more than 14 per cent.

Of these, 40,612 were domestic visitors, a 16 per cent

increase from last year, and there were 2,626 international

visitors from 91 countries, which indicates that while the

domestic attendance was dramatically higher,

international visitors were down two per cent.

Despite this, and evidenced buy the number of

international exhibitors, an increasing number of

international music companies are seeking to do business

in China, encouraged by a renewed education focus from

the Chinese government, increased domestic consumer

spending power and the growing transparency of

distribution channels. All of this has led to a rise in

exhibitors and national pavilions at Music China.

Music China hosted eight national pavilions around the

show space from Britain (supported by the Music

Industries Association), Austria, Czech Republic France,

German, Italy, Spain and Taiwan.

Appearing for the first time at the British Pavilion was

Oxford University Press. Alastair Henderson, OUP’s key

account manager, pointed out that China has a huge

potential market for the publisher.

“We have had a lot interest from teachers in our

teaching books, which they have never seen before,” he

said. “We have a Chinese publisher who is thinking about

licensing 26 books in our piano teaching series.”

As well as a raft of live music performances, many

visitors took advantage of the various educational

seminars at Music China, with the NAMM University

organising several hands-on courses over two days, led by

leading players in the Chinese market and a panel

discussion featuring distinguished industry names.

Altogether 950 people attended NAMM’s nine events, an

increase of 53 per cent compared to last year.

“We are delighted at the large increase of attendees at

NAMM University this year. This is the third edition of the

courses at Music China, and it is apparent that Chinese

trade visitors to the show really appreciate the sharing of

best practice and learning from their very successful peers.

The high-level line up of speakers was clearly mirrored in

the dedication and number of attendees," said Betty

Heywood, NAMM's director of international affairs.

The next show is scheduled for October 13th to 16th

2009 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre.

WWW.MUSIKMESSE.COM


Event: Music China

Venue: Shanghai New International Expo Centre

Date: October 9th-12th

Exhibitors: 1,106

Visitors: 43,238

Verdict: Visitor and exhibitor numbers both up, but

international visitor numbers were down. This was

indicative of two factors: the growing appeal of the

show domestically and a rash of late decisions by

international visitors not to go, possibly due to

worries about spending in the current climate.

Visitor quality, however, was as high as ever and the

UK contingent of exhibitors was up again this year,

following an alternating pattern in terms of numbers.

Those that attended from the UK, both exhibitors and

visitors, saw the show as very much worthwhile.

China’scup runneth overExhibitor and visitor numbers up again, but some overseas visitors stay away


NEWS ANALYSIS • ECONOMIC CRISIS

Britain’s hard-pressed MI retailers are

facing price rises of up to 25 per

cent, leading UK distributors have

warned in recent weeks. The recent

collapse of sterling against the US dollar

and factory gate price increases from

Chinese and other Asian manufacturers

are largely to blame.

Triggering the price rises has been the

30 per cent devaluation of the pound in a

matter of weeks and, from soundings

taken by MI Pro, it appears almost no one

is immune from the effect. The rises come

at a particularly bad time, with the UK

already in recession, unemployment

rocketing and fears growing for trade in

the coming year.

Worst hit are likely to be educational

suppliers, whose business is often on a

contracted basis with local education

authorities. The MIA’s Paul McManus says

the Association is so concerned that it has

written to the Federation of Music

Services, the National Music Participation

Director and the Department for Children

to inform them of the situation and tell

them that the price rises are unavoidable.

“It’s admirable that some suppliers are

desperately trying to stick with existing

commitments to their customers – I think

Stentor is an excellent case in point in

that regard,” McManus says.

In a letter to retailers, Stentor’s Michael

Doughty says: “Stentor will honour all

outstanding orders that have been

confirmed by us at the old prices. This is a

very expensive policy, but we trust it will

be appreciated by customers who have

orders in hand awaiting delivery.”

Another major distributor in this sector,

Barnes & Mullins, is also striving to help

retailers. In a letter sent to his customers,

MD Bruce Perrin says: “Due to the strength

of Barnes & Mullins’ export business – the

majority of which is based in US dollars –

we are able to hold back from passing on

all the costs to our customers. This is why

on the price update pages issued to

retailers you will see only a tiny fraction

of our prices have increased.”

“The vast majority of suppliers will not

be able to absorb the increases, though,”

McManus warns.

The background to the price rises

reflects more than the changing values of

the pound and US dollar, however. For

example, the Baltic Dry Index (the number

issued daily by the London Baltic

Exchange, giving the cost of international

cargo transport) has recently nose-dived,

following a decline in shipping coming

from and going to the Far East as the

recession has begun to bite. This means

that shipping costs are actually

substantially lower than they were this

time last year.

Similarly, energy prices are also

declining, which should, in theory, offer

some relief. However, industry observers

point to recent changes in Chinese

legislation, which has introduced

significant national insurance costs on

manufacturers, plus greatly increased

labour rates and, paradoxically, a

manufacturing slump, with many factories

closing due to a fall in orders from the

West. This has actually led to price rises

from producers struggling to keep afloat.

It is by no means solely the big

distributors who have been hit by cost

increases. Selectron UK, currently riding

high with ESP guitars, was one of the first

to warn about what was coming.

Its MD, Clive Norris, has been

predicting the current price rises for many

months. He says: “What you’ve got to

bear in mind is that the pound-dollar rate

was steady at two dollars-plus

over the past 18 months or so – and

that had a downside in itself as

it meant people could jump on an

aeroplane and go to America to buy a

guitar. It also gave Thomann a red carpet

into the UK – well those two situations

have certainly changed.

“However, at $1.55 you can see that

we’re losing 25 per cent off your bottom

line, so everyone’s in the same boat.

Added to that, I know for a fact that I am

going to be paying higher factory prices as

of January 1st next year – anything

between four and 17 per cent. They are

having to force their prices up just to stay

in business due to increased labour costs,

raw material costs and the fact that, as

their volume drops, their margins have to

increase. Previously, manufacturers were

relying on high turnover, which they no

longer have.”

On the point that Norris makes about

raw material costs, one distributor we

spoke with on an ‘off the record’ basis

confirmed that the price of flamed maple

in China has risen astronomically in the

past year – just adding more fuel to the

inflationary fire.

By no means are China and Korea alone

in the cost spiral. The Japanese Yen, too,

has risen considerably in recent weeks,

raising the question of what might be

on the way from the major Japanese

music companies.

Meanwhile other distributors are

privately saying they see the imminent

price rises as almost a healthy

counterbalance to the price deflation of

recent years, where profitability has

dropped along with the price of musical

instruments, but Norris is unconvinced.

“You may get a bigger cash turn, but you’ll

also get a lower sales volume. It will stop

a lot of discounting, though.”

This is a picture that could change

overnight, should the pound suddenly rise

in value – though few are holding their

breath in anticipation.

Inflated prices in the MI market come

at a particularly bad time as prices in

other retail areas are, mysteriously,

dropping. Large High Street retailers

holding massive levels of stock purchased

a year ago, are furiously cutting prices in

an attempt to boost Christmas sales,

which could make musical products look

expensive by comparison.

The Music Shipping Company’s Craig

Fenney is resigned to the prospect of

rising prices. “Obviously there have got to

be price increases for the reasons we all

know. But the problem is that the

benchmark prices dealers are used to now

are already ridiculously low, so they’ve got

to go up, not just in line with the

international financial circumstance, but

just to make it possible for manufacturers

and wholesalers to survive – which makes

it a huge increase.”

Fenney is one of those who believes

that there could be a positive to come out

of all the gloom. “If prices go up, so do

“It’s admirable that some suppliers are

desperately trying to stick with existing

commitments to their customers.”

Paul McManus, MIA

Not so sterlingThe near collapse of the British pound, which has come on top of all of the other squeezes in the global economy and

Asian manufacturing, means that we are facing the most uncertain fiscal period for decades. Gary Cooper speaks to

some of the UK industry’s leading lights to find out what this means to our business…

PERRIN: “Only a fraction of

our prices have increased”

MCMANUS: The majority of

suppliers will not be able to

absorb the increases

dealers’ profits. The margin stays the same,

but you make more money. Because we

had good stocks, bought when the rate

was better, we’ve been able to hold our

prices so far – but we have warned our

dealers that in December we have to put

up Aquarian prices; we just can’t absorb it.

If the dollar sticks around 1.50-55 then I

can see us needing a ten to 12 per cent

price rise.”

So what sort of reaction has he been

getting from retailers?

“Sanguine, really. When you explain it

to people, they understand. We’ve all got

to come to terms with this and, well, if we

lose some people who aren’t prepared to

make a sensible margin, that will be better

for everybody else and I think it could

come to that, after Christmas.”

While High Street music retailers face a

potentially difficult time in the New Year,

trying to sell products that have suddenly

increased in price, worse may lie in store

for the educational specialist.

The MIA predicts a rough ride, as

McManus explains: “The problem facing

educational suppliers is that they have

long-standing commitments to

educational authorities to supply them

at fixed prices. As MI Pro readers will

know, there has been a £40 million

boost in education spending on new

musical instruments, but shops can’t

afford to hold the price they’ve tendered

at. That’s why I wrote direct to the

government and the music services

explaining what’s going on.

“Having said all that, ultimately, this is

a good thing for our industry, because the

race to the bottom in prices has got to

stop. We have businesses in the

educational field not making any margin –

and I really mean, no margin at all, just

trying to keep the business and that can’t

be right. So, painful as it is, this could end-

up being a good thing.”

Higher prices – painful in the short-

term, good for everyone in the longer

term? It sounds like an economics exam

question set by a particularly sadistic

examiner. And maybe there is no correct

answer. One distributor (off the record, for

reasons that will soon become obvious),

when asked what he thought the New

Year would bring, put it bluntly: “It’ll be

every man for himself.”


ECONOMIC CRISIS • NEWS ANALYSIS

“We’ve all got to come to terms with this and,

well, if we lose some people who aren’t prepared

to make a sensible margin, that will be better

for everyone else and I think it could come to

that, after Christmas.”

Craig Fenney, Music Shipping Co

FENNEY: “Retailers are

sanguine”

DOUGHTY:

“We’ll

honour

outstanding

orders”

Trade price warning

A COMBINATION of price

increases from the Piano

Warehouse’s suppliers and the

falling price of sterling, caused by

the global economic situation,

has led to the piano supplier

having to make price increases

on the Weber, Steinmayer and

Gors & Kallman ranges.

Piano Warehouse is keen to

emphasise that the increases will

be minimal, with some models

remaining unaffected, although

Howard Martyn has told MI Pro

that the current uncertainty

surrounding the market means

that it is impossible to make any

medium to long-term predictions

as to price stability.

“Bearing in mind that prices

for Steinmayer have remained

unchanged for over ten years,

while many of our competitors

have seen increases by as much

as 30 per cent over the last few

years, we feel our pianos offer

good prices with great margins

for the retailer,” said Martyn.

Those wishing to obtain

further details regarding the

increases should contact Piano

Warehouse for an updated price

list and Martyn added that there

would still be special offers on

selected items whenever and

wherever possible.

PIANO NEWS

Factors make trade price increases inevitable from the Piano Warehouse


The people’s pianoWorld’s largest piano uncovered in Chinese

capital 50 years after its completion

This is a new section in MI Pro aimed at creating dedicated news pages for the UK’s piano suppliers

and retailers. This month, information has been contributed by Piano Warehouse and Yamaha, but

the idea is that all those dealing with or manufacturing pianos in the UK now have their own special

section in MI Pro to deal with the news and issues that directly affect them.

Yamaha’s HamburgersFirst YPTG European seminar held at Yamaha Europe’s headquarters

OVER 70 piano technicians

from 15 European countries

recently attended the inaugural

Yamaha Piano Technician Guild

(YPTG) training seminars held

at Yamaha's European head

offices in Hamburg.

The YPTG was launched in

March 2008 at the Frankfurt

Musikmesse and aims to

promote and develop the

highest standards of technical

support for Yamaha's

handcrafted pianos.

This is achieved by providing

an accreditation process for

technicians, recognised by both

artists and venues throughout

the whole of Europe.

The two day seminar, hosted

by Kimiyasu Ito, the director of

piano development projects in

Japan, focused on Yamaha’s

‘premium pianos’ – the CFIII,

S6 & S4 models and provided

delegates with a much deeper

and more practical

understanding of Yamaha's

design, construction and

material selection processes.

Some 14 countries were

represented including the UK.

“We are delighted that our

pioneering guild accreditation

programme is proving popular

amongst so many technicians

across so many countries,”

commented the president of

the YPTG, Takahiro Mizuno.

“The training provides a

recognised level of quality

assurance to our top end piano

customers and players. It also

helps us further promote the

qualities of Yamaha pianos

while strengthening our

relationships with the piano

technician communities who

play such a vital role in

ensuring that the highest levels

of Yamaha quality and support

are maintained.”

A PIANO THAT has stood in

the Great Hall of the People in

Tiananmen Square in Beijing

for nearly 50 years is, in fact,

the world’s largest.

The commonly held belief

has been that, until recently,

the biggest ever piano was a

Challen grand made in 1935 in

celebration of King George V’s

silver jubilee. This model was

11 feet and eight inches,

although the piano went off

the radar after its last sighting,

back in the 1980s, when it was

seen by a piano tuner, Paul

Bexon, in Gwyrch Castle in

North Wales. Since then, its

whereabouts are unknown.

The record was believed to

have been broken a few years

ago with the construction of a

12-foot grand in the States,

made by Rubenstein.

It turns out, however, that

the Challen’s record was

broken less than 25 years after

it was made, by a considerably

larger model – ‘a veritable

leviathan in piano terms’, was

how Piano Warehouse’s

Howard Martyn described it.

Martyn went on to explain

that the piano had remained

relatively unknown, probably

because of the very closed

society that China was when

the instrument was built, back

in 1959. By the time China

was opening its doors to the

world, the details of the piano

had been lost to history.

The story goes that in 1959,

upon the completion of the

Great Hall of the People (itself

built to celebrate the tenth

anniversary of the Chinese

Republic), the communist

party commissioned the

Beijing Piano Company (today

makers of Steinmayer and

Gors & Kallman pianos, both

sold in the UK through Piano

Warehouse) to build a piano

for the Great Auditorium. The

company responded by

producing a 15-foot model

that has dwarfed any other

pretenders to the crown.

The significance of the

piano has not been noted until

now, although the former

prime minister, the late Sir

Edward Heath, a good amateur

pianist and composer, gave a

recital on the piano at a

charity event in 1987.

The piano remains on

display at the Great

Auditorium to this day.

In black and white

PIANO NEWS

606: the number of the jazz


LONDON’S award-winning 606

Jazz Club hosted a showcase

evening featuring the best of the

UK’s young jazz talent to

celebrate the launch of the

Yamaha Jazz Sessions CD.

The new CD features emerging

young jazz artists and is the

latest initiative in Yamaha's

partnership with Jazzwise

magazine, the All-Party

Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation

Group (APPJAG) and the 606

Club. The collaboration has

resulted in a three-year

scholarship programme. The CD

will feature in, and be cover

mounted on, the Christmas and

New Year edition of Jazzwise.

Produced by Andy Ross at

Astar Studios the Yamaha Jazz

Sessions CD features six

musicians, nominated by the

heads of jazz at six of the UK’s

leading conservatoires, as well as

special guest tracks from Yamaha

jazz artists Gwilym Simcock,

Jason Rebello and Julian Joseph.

The six jazz scholars who each

performed a 30 minute set at the

606 launch are (pictured, left to

right): Rick Simpson (piano),

Iestyn Jones (electric bass), Ruby

Wood (vocals), Zem Audu (sax),

Calum Gourlay (acoustic bass)

and John Randall (drums).

“Yamaha Scholarships have

developed events from

appreciation of jazz to growing

jazz education,” stated Michael

Connarty MP, of the APPJAG.

Yamaha launches new CD at live concert at London’s 606 club

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DEALERSHIPSAVAILABLE

Buyer found for SeilerGerman piano marque saved byb SamickTHE GERMAN manufacturer,

Seiler, has been bought by

Samick, ending fears that the

company would disappear for

good. It is the third German

piano company that the

Korean firm has bought

Seiler, based in the town of

Kitzingen in Bavaria and a

manufacturer of high end

pianos since 1849, went into

liquidation early in the

autumn, but but is now a

wholly owned subsidiary of the

Korean MI giant. A new

management team for Seiler

has been appointed.

The company will continue

making pianos in the same

factories by the same

craftsmen, Samick noted. Seiler

joins an ever-growing number

of names under the Samick

banner, which includes

Pramberger, Kohler &

Campbell, Knabe and Sohmer.

New Albert Weber uprightTHE PIANO Warehouse has

announced the immediate

availability of the new Albert

Weber series of upright pianos

from Young Chang in Korea.

The new piano is a 121

centimetre framed upright and

will be available in a black polish

finish only, with e suggested

retail price of £4,995.

COVER STORY • EMD

When you look at what European

Music Distribution (EMD) has

done in the 45 years of its

existence, you do tend to wonder why no-

one else has chosen to go a similar route.

A precis of the business plan might well

read something like this: Establish a

distribution hub in a location that has

access to the major markets in Europe and

start building your networks; once

established in western Europe, introduce

an entry level brand with European spec,

but sourced in Asia; provide regional

distributors with unbranded product; open

up a branch in the USA; develop joint

ventures in China; organise the supply of

all customers direct from China; promise a

maximum two month lead time.

Simplistic? Very likely, but that, in

essence, is what EMD has done.

Admittedly, the journey has been slightly

longer than a paragraph. Its early

beginnings stretch back 45 years, to when

Leonardo Baldocci arrived in Brussels to

establish a distribution company for an

Italian manufacturer.

But, by forging the path outlined,

Baldocci’s EMD is a company that has

grown beyond anybody’s expectations –

and continues to grow today.

The problems experienced by the likes

of Pearl, Fender and, more recently, Gibson

in trying to establish a pan-European

operation seem almost insignificant when

viewing them through the EMD lens.

Considering that these companies leapt, in

relative terms, into the logistical web that

EMD has spent decades navigating, it is no

surprise that supply problems arose.

Those big names were manufacturers

and brands, of course, before they braved

the rigours of distribution outside their

own territories, whereas EMD was a

worthy distributor operating throughout

Europe before it turned its hand to design

and manufacture.

The result, the Stagg range of

instruments and accessories, and its

subsequent success in no less than 55

countries, has been something of a

revolution of its own.

“I think we can safely say that Stagg is a

recognised brand today,” says a clearly

satisfied Baldocci. “In fact, it has been one of

the fastest growing brands in the industry.”

So successful, in fact, that the R&D

team has been working hard to increase

the standing of the products.

“Originally, Stagg comprised entry-level

products only, but for the last few years,

some lines – such as the brass and

woodwind instruments, amplifiers and

cymbals, which have all been developed in

house – compare to the best while

remaining affordable,” adds Serge Alsteens,

EMD’s international sales director.

“Cymbal sales in particular are growing

spectacularly and I’m very confident it

will be one of the leading brands in the

near future.”

The company is very keen to emphasise

the involvement of its own design team,

too. It is often the perception that a lot of

the gear that ships from China in

container loads is almost scooped on to

the ships from the factories, but it would

be a brave company that risked that –

even at the entry level.

“Right from the start in 1995, the

products sourced in Asia have been

developed or improved by us,” insists

Baldocci. “Existing products from suppliers

usually don’t meet our quality standards.”

Combining this with EMD’s philosophy

of maintaining traditional distribution and

sales formats, namely maintaining some

Bucking the trendEMD has seen impressive and long-term growth for some years now, not least because the company never stands still.

Leonardo Baldocci and Serge Alsteens explain to Andy Barrett how they manage such development – one step at a time…


“What is important is that dealers know they’ll

make a great margin on any Stagg product,

even in these difficult times.”

Serge Alsteens

90 per cent stock levels, having a full

contingent of reps on the road throughout

Europe and the US, and priding itself on

quality after-sales service, you have a

brand that is positively sought after

among third party suppliers elsewhere in

the world.

“Offering good quality products has

been an important part of our success,”

confirms Alsteens. “It’s because we offer

a reliable range of products sold

everyday by our own sales team in

France, the UK, Germany, Benelux and

the US, that distributors all over the

world have chosen Stagg.”

“Our R&D department also designed a

range of drum cases a few years ago,”

interjects Baldocci. “These are produced by

the industrial joint venture we’ve set up

with a partner in China.”

But both Baldocci and Alsteens

recognise the limitations of scale.

Although products such as the drum cases

and the recent James Neligan series of

solid topped acoustic guitars do achieve a

very high standard, there is a limit to what

can be done.

“We won’t be aiming at what you

might call ‘boutique’ items,” explains

Alsteens. “This is not part of our plan right

now, although we’re currently working on

more mid to high-end products to be

produced by our joint venture.”

It is here, with the joint venture, that

EMD has once againforged a path and

proved that it is a company always on the

look out for the way to take another step

forward. Sourcing products in south east

Asia was, in many ways, the first step,

followed by collaborations for

warehousing and manufacture.

The latest step, put in place late in

2007, was to provide unprecedented lead

times for products by allowing customers

to buy according to online stock figures

from the warehouse in China, filling a

container and having that shipped

directly. Ordering and receiving a delivery

of this sort could normally take five

months or more, but EMD is promising

delivery from as little as six weeks and

within two months.

“Our top 900 products are available

from the Foshan warehouse and our

distributors worldwide are taking

advantage of this to maintain their stock

levels,” says Baldocci. But even for a

company with the logistical experience of

EMD, there were some teething problems.

In the company’s financial report for

the 2007, it was reported that some six

per cent of the company’s turnover had

been affected by problems with deliveries.

While not too keen to go into the details

of what happened, nor how the problem

was overcome, Baldocci is certain the

problem has now been eradicated.

“The situation is now back to normal,”

he confirms. “We have increased our stock

levels this year to ensure that dealers are

not affected further in the event of any

delivery problems.”

Rather than dwelling on the negative,

Alsteens is keen to underline the benefit

the ‘Foshan Direct’ scheme can give to its

smaller customers.

“This is also a unique opportunity for

dealers to increase their margins,” he

enthuses. “We not only offer the best

prices, but EMD will organise transport to

the dealer’s door and, most importantly,

offer the same warranty on products as

when purchasing from our warehouse in

Belgium. We’re currently shipping 85 per

cent of any order from Brussels, including

Remo heads for France & Benelux.

“This is crucial for our dealers at this

time of year. Dealers can also use our

retailer-exclusive business web service for

up to the minute stock, prices, images,

statistics and much more.”

As a company, EMD is worth

something in the region of 40 million

euros and right up to November is still

on track to hit all of its targets for 2008.

According to its financial reports, the UK

makes up around a quarter of the

company’s MI sales, but the real growth

lies in the subsidiary company it opened

five years ago in the States.

In November 2007, the EMD Group

appointed Daniel Barker as the president

and CEO of EMD Music Inc. Barker

brought with him some 35 years of MI

sales experience, not least having served

as the president of Sabian. With double-

digit growth in the previous two years (36

per cent in 2007), Barker has overseen a

climb over the past year that has been

nothing short of spectacular.

“We’ve shown 52 per cent growth in

the US so far this year which is fantastic,”

confirms Baldocci. “We are confident that

the US will be our main source of growth,

if not revenue, in the coming years.”

“We’ve also recently started distributing

Ashdown over there, which will also

contribute to our growth,” adds Alsteens.

With reports coming in daily of how

bad the economic climate is at the

moment and figures seemingly confirming

that the High Street is now beginning to

suffer, the MI industry has, thus far,

managed to avoid the worst of any effects

– and EMD is, frankly, thriving at the

moment. The first quarter of 2008 was

looking good, with the financial report

showing growth of 14 per cent up to April.

While this figure has adjusted somewhat,

the picture is still an attractive one.

“Despite the current economic climate,

our total sales figures are 7.5 per cent up,

which was our target for 2008,” says

Baldocci. “This wouldn’t have been

possible without our fantastic sales force

as well as our very professional customer

service department.”

Alsteens feels that the trend is likely to

continue. “Even the figures for September

and October show an increase over the

EMD • COVER STORY

But well featured entry-

level gear, such as the GA

series amps (above) remain

the bread and butter of the

Stagg ranges


New products,

such as the James

Neligan series

acoustics (far

right) are moving

EMD up to the

mid-priced section

of the market

COVER FEATURE • EMD

same period last year in all our

territories,” he says. “What is important is

that dealers know they’ll make a great

margin on any Stagg product, even in

these difficult times. Investing in

profitable lines is crucial for any dealer,

now more than ever.”

Interestingly, the almost wild

fluctuations in currency over the past few

years do not seem to have affected EMD

greatly. Obviously, any company that

trades across borders is going to weave

gains and losses into its projections, but

with most growth taking place in the USA

and China dealing in dollars, a big chunk of

currency-effected business has remained

relatively untouched. With sterling nose-

diving at the moment, however, that big

chunk of EMD’s business could well be hit.

Baldocci thinks not.

“The falling pound isn’t really a

problem, as it hits everyone in the same

way,” he states. “I also don’t think sales of

entry-level instruments and accessories

will be affected by a price increase.”

Which puts paid to speculation regarding

heavy inflation from this particular

quarter, at least.

While Stagg is undoubtedly the jewel in

the crown of EMD’s line-up, it is always

worth remembering that the different

operations around the world also function

as third party distributors for various big-

name brands. As Alsteens alluded to

above, in the US and for much of the

European mainland, it is the supplier for

Ashdown Engineering’s bass amp

products, as well as the Essex company’s

Hayden guitar amps and Lodestone

guitars and basses.

In the UK, where Ashdown, of course,

handles itself, the third party lines include

the Seagull, Art Lutherie and Simon &

Patrick acoustic guitars from Canada, as

well as B-Band electronics and Martin and

Augustine strings. In all of its territories,

EMD is always open to suggestions for

lines to handle, but it says ‘no’ a lot more

than it says ‘yes’, maintaining the edict

that it is the right brand that is important,

not any brand.

That said, the main push of the

company in the recent past and into the

future is going to be Stagg. This most

catholic of brands, now spreading upwards

into the mid-priced market, covers just

about everything you can think of from

classical guitars and PA systems to brass,

woodwind and just about anything you

might want to hit with a stick or a mallet

(or a hand, come to that, but they don’t

make them).

Baldocci clearly has his sights set on

making a lot more of his brand. “We

definitely want to keep

improving our products and reinforce

Stagg’s presence all over the world and for

the next few years, we expect further

growth in the US and from export sales.”

Being in the enviable position of having

created pretty much all that he surveys,

Leonardo Baldocci is now at an age when

most of us would be looking to take a

step back, take things a bit easier –

perhaps spend some time in the garden or

even at the golf club. As EMD is something

of a testament to, however, such thoughts

are pretty alien to him. The very

suggestion provokes something of a

shocked answer.

“As I’m currently

enjoying every single minute of my time

in the company, I don’t see any reason to

take it a bit easier.” Well, that put me in

my place, but he must surely have

thought about who might be in line to

take things over when he does finally call

it a day.

Unfortunately, he remains inscrutable.

“Who will be running things in the future?

There are plenty of people within the

company to choose from.”

That should keep the work force going

the extra mile – as if there weren’t good

enough reason already.

WWW.EMDMUSIC.COM

STAGG HAS, over the past 13 years,

become a literal one-stop-shop for the

beginner musician, whether rock n roll,

brass and woodwind, traditional strings,

or, well, just about any and every sector

of music and accessories you care to

think of.

Recent additions to the Stagg

catalogue go a long way to illustrating

the fact that, while distinctly entry level

in price, the range is improving in quality

all the time.

Perhaps one of the most impressive

areas the company is working in at the

moment is that of brass and woodwind,

with instruments such as the 77-SA alto

saxophone. This sax, weighing in at under

£300, has everything the learner should

want from a first instrument. This is the

very latest version of Stagg's popular low

priced alto and it

really is

incredibly

good. It has a

reassuringly

good weight to

it and feels very

solid, as well as

being extremely

comfortable to

play. It ships with

a quality case,

strap,

mouthpiece,

ligature and

reeds.

Of

course,

these

days, no

catholic brand could exist without a

quality acoustic guitar and the NA30MJ

CBB is one of the new range of Stagg

instruments that goes that step further.

This is an electro-acoustic mini jumbo

guitar with a solid spruce top mahogany

back and sides, rosewood fingerboard

and bridge, all very nicely bound and

inlaid. The addition of B-Band’s under-

saddle pickup and A3.2 eq makes this an

instrument that punches way above its

weight in the sub-£300 range.

There are electrics, too, of course, and

the LP-style L-300 with its gothic black

finish, again shows that EMD is well

aware where the tastes of the buying

public are at the moment. Dual

humbuckers on a solid alder body, a hard

maple set neck, Kluson tuners and a

Tune-O-Matic bridge gives the learner

everything he or she will need to get to

grips with what is needed to be an

electric player. Being under £150 puts it

almost into the impulse buy category.

On the amplifier front, the new GA

series offers a lot for its sub £100 price

tag. The GA-60 is a dual channel, high

impedance combo with a 12-inch

speaker and footswitch control over the

channels, as well as a line input for CD

or MP3 players and a headphone socket.

Finally, on the traditional (or rather

folk) side of things, the M-30 mandolin

comes it at a remarkable sub-£70 retail

price, but again, gives the learner

everything that is needed to get to grips

with the instrument. Playability is

achieved through quality craftsmanship

and although cheaper components are

used, the overall effect is of a musical

instrument and not a toy.

Spruce top, back and sides, an unusual

linden neck, a nato fingerboard and a

rosewood bridge combine with an

adjustable maple tailpiece to ensure

that, with care, this instrument will take

the learner right through to the point

where a high end instrument is required.

This is, of course, is where Stagg and

EMD is at: making the instruments that

make music makers.

What is more, the standard of the

instruments is improving year on year.

There is little point in making

instruments that put the learner off, but

with the quality of Chinese manufacture

better than ever, plus the quality control

that EMD has in place, both in terms of

R&D and at the factory gates, the brand

is certain to be high up on both retailers’

and customers’ shopping lists for years

to come.

A proliferation of Stagg



COMPANY PROFILE • FENDER GBI

Of the three stories that dominated

the MI trade in 2008, one of them

– Fender’s takeover of the

multitude of Kaman brands – has arguably

had the greatest impact on the greatest

number of retailers.

While the dust has (largely) settled

following the collapse of Sound Control

and the takeover of Harman Pro UK by

Sound Technology has gone pretty

seamlessly, the ramifications of the Fender

acquisition are still being felt. And then, to

top it all, came the news that Taylor

Guitars had appointed Fender its European

distributor – sticking a prize cherry on top

of a mix that already included an

embarrassment of riches: Fender, Guild,

Takamine, Ovation, Gretsch and Tacoma.

The man charged with working out how

to handle this profusion of brands is

former Arbiter veteran Graeme Mathieson,

Fender GBI’s general manager, an affable

Geordie with a rapid wit and, as soon

becomes apparent, an encyclopaedic

knowledge of the UK trade. MI Pro met up

with Mathieson and the Fender Europe

team at the company’s European HQ in

East Grinstead.

Mathieson recognises the size of the

task he is up against and understands the

initial caution expressed by some retailers.

To them it looked like a takeover too far,

resulting in too many of the world’s top

guitar, amp, drum and, particularly,

acoustic guitar brands concentrated in the

hands of one distributor. So how is Fender

handling so many of the industry’s blue

chip brands? And have the worried dealers

been satisfied?

We begin with the sheer number of

brands currently under the Fender umbrella.

Critics say no one owner can possibly give

equal attention to them all. How does

Mathieson feel about that claim? “If you

look at Gretsch now, it’s stronger than it

has been for a long, long while. That’s an

example of what Fender is very good at: it

keeps the lines separate and distinct and

not just in terms of marketing, because it

applies to production, too. If that’s how a

Gretsch is made or that’s how a Jackson is

made, then Fender doesn’t change it to

Fender’s way of doing things.”

In the five years since Fender GBI was

established, growth has been on the

extraordinary side of rapid and for all

Mathieson can point to successes like

Gretsch, surely some brands must get, if

not trampled, then surely a little bruised in

the rush? For example, what about

Charvel and Jackson, once the kings of the

pointy headstock market? “Jackson’s

actually one of our biggest success stories

and until the Kaman acquisition it was the

brand that we all thought was going to be

our second biggest.

Most of the problems that we’ve had

with Jackson have been supply problems,

as opposed to a lack of demand. Charvel is

different, but we’re just about to re-launch

Charvel and I think it’s going to become a

fantastic line for us.”

Mathieson opts to play his Charvel

cards close to his chest but does say:

“There’s going to be a limited number of

Charvels built, but they are going to be

very special with no more than forty or

fifty dealers in the whole of Europe. There

are nine in the UK so far – and they will

get a limited number of US handbuilt

guitars, selling for around about the same

money as an American Standard Strat, so

what will

happen is that

we will get a

good demand

from a handful

of dealers – and

sometimes that’s

the best way to be.”

So how is Fender

GBI’s organisation

managing to cope

with taking on so

many brands at

once? Was there no

danger of indigestion?

“We bought Kaman for a

number of reasons but

you have to realise we

didn’t take it on to do

less business. So if you

have a dealer who was

buying from one of the previous

incumbents, the fact is that he

was buying and the only

difference now is that all that

money is going into one pot.”

But isn’t that the very

essence of the problem – that,

rightly or wrongly, dealers have

traditionally robbed Peter to pay

Paul and if they owed money to,

say, Korg, for Takamines, they

could previously have bought

some Ovations or Guilds, while they

juggled their credit? Now, with a huge

chunk of acoustic sales with one

distributor, that makes the retailer far

more dependent on Fender, with less room

for fancy footwork.

“We had a thorough credit review of all

our accounts and the approach we took

was to say: ‘Okay, this person has a good

record. He’s paying his bills and he’s got a

£10,000 credit limit, so he’s got to be

good for £15,000 or £20,000,’ and that’s

the view that we’ve taken. I think we have

a very straightforward way of dealing with

people and we’re always happy to look at

putting credit limits up. We’ve increased

the cash discount for dealers who pay

“Gretsch is stronger now than it has been for a

long while. Fender is very good at keeping the

lines separate and distinct and not just in terms of

marketing, because it applies to production, too.”

2008 has been a pretty eventful year for Fender, globally, continentally and

regionally, with the company scooping up the Kaman Music brands, as well as

winning the European distribution rights to Taylor Guitars. Since then,

many questions have been asked as to how UK dealers would cope

with such a wealth of essential product from a single supplier. Fender

GBI’s Graeme Mathieson supplies the answers to Gary Cooper…

Stratified

Fender’s product

list has just got a

whole lot bigger –

how will dealers

feel about ordering

so much from one

company?

early, but if a dealer doesn’t want that and

would rather have terms, we’re happy to

look at that. I think we’ve been pretty fair.

“Having said that, I can understand

where all the concerns were coming from.

It’s just that we’ve gone from being a big

player to being a very big player.”

There is no getting away from the fact

that the Kaman takeover put a few industry

noses out of joint. Several distributors felt

they had been badly treated (only ever off

the record, of course) and it left Fender

with some odd overlaps and awkward

corners.

For example, Genz-Benz

amplification, which Sutherland had

been quietly establishing as a useful

niche brand in the UK, or Hamer,

which Go To Guitars had begun to

do good business with as a plug

to fill the ‘Gibson Gap’. How has

Fender GBI found these two

brands sitting with all their

others? “There’s no doubt that

some of the distributors we

took those lines off were

doing a pretty good job and I

can understand why they

might have been upset, but I

can put my hand on my heart

and say that we haven’t had

any issues with previous

distributors – it’s all been

very amicable.

As for dealers, it’s been

a mixed bag. Some dealers

thought it was a good thing

as we already had a good

relationship and they

just saw it as a way to

buy more from us,

which makes things a

bit simpler for them, but

other dealers have

concerns about

spending that much

money with one

distributor, as we’ve

just said. But once

you’ve got the first

couple of months out

of the way, it really

doesn’t make that

much difference.”

With the two brands

in question, Mathieson

says both Genz-Benz and

Hamer have been going

from strength to strength.

Logistically, Mathieson

and his team had to think

fast to make sure Fender’s

reps weren’t competing

with themselves, or trying

to cover too many brands

in any one call. The

answer was to stratify

(sorry!) the sales team.

“For the first quarter this year, it was all

about taking on staff. We just had to go

out there and recruit as many people as

necessary. As a result, we now have one

sales force that does Fender, Squier and

Guild, another that does Taylor, Gretsch

and SWR and then a Kaman sales force

that does the remainder of the Fender

lines, like Jackson and the other brands like

Takamine, Ovation and so on.

“But that’s just guitars – we have a

separate drum and percussion sales force

now and then there’s Simon Jacob who

does Custom Shop products for us – so

some dealers could actually see five

people and we think we need to do that,

to achieve separation.”

It must be an expensive operation as it

means Fender has 15 people on the road in

the UK and the Republic of Ireland alone.

“Yes, but we feel it’s necessary. I’ve

done it when I was a rep – you go in with

a huge catalogue, but a dealer only has a

limited amount of time to see you and

after the first 15 minutes he’s starting to

feel he’s spent too much money with you,

or his attention is starting to wander.”

If Fender’s Kaman takeover had been a

surprise, gaining Taylor was a complete

shock. No one could have criticised Sound

Technology’s sterling work taking the

brand from relatively humble beginnings

to the point where it was doing

exceptional levels of business and this

was, let it not be forgotten, not a

consequence of Taylor having sold-out to

Fender – it hadn’t – it was simply a switch

of distribution. What had precipitated it?

“The thing you have to remember was

that this wasn’t just a UK decision – it

was Europe-wide and that’s something

we can offer.

It’s not 20 different sales forces, it’s not

however many marketing departments,

it’s one company. We can offer a

dedicated sales force in every

area, a marketing department that puts

out one concise message and one

warehouse, so that they can see exactly

what’s happening.”

And yet, some rumours in the trade

suggest that Taylor supplies have not been

all that they might have been in recent

months. What has been happening there?

“I wouldn’t say that’s a problem at all. We

do have problems from time to time,

everyone does, but we haven’t really had

an issue with Taylor – in fact we’re very

pleased with the way it’s gone and the

back orders with Taylor are minimal.

“Gretsch has been a problem, I would

have said, because we’ve been making

bigger orders than the factory has been

able to cope with, but not Taylor. And of

course part of that reflects the fact that

we’ve got Gretsch quality to a far higher

level than it’s been for a long while and

there has been such a huge Gretsch

community growing out there.”

For all Fender GBI’s impressively calm

absorption of perhaps the biggest meal in

MI history, the signs are that things are

shifting around within Fender globally, as it

tries to come to terms with what it is

becoming. For example, Guild, which word

on the street suggested had languished

after its move from Rhode Island, but

which was brought back to life following

the purchase of Tacoma, is now being

moved to the Ovation plant in Connecticut,

while Tacoma production in the USA is

being discontinued and the brand moved to

Far East manufacture.

Clearly, there is much going on with

Fender globally and MI Pro is looking to talk

to Fender USA about its global strategy and

what this could mean for some of our

industry’s most iconic brands.


FENDER GBI • COMPANY PROFILE

“We haven’t had any

issues with previous

distributors – it’s all

been very amicable.

As for dealers, it’s been

a mixed bag.”

Graeme Mathieson: “We’ve gone

from being a big player to being

a very big player”

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Meanwhile, in the UK, the Fender GBI

operation is getting into its stride with its

five-fold sales team, Mathieson says. But if

Fender is changing, how about retail? “The

big change that we’re seeing is that the

end user now wants every aspect of the

sale to be thorough and professional. He’s

so much better informed for a start,

thanks to the web, but it’s a very cold and

impersonal way of buying things.

“It’s a valid route to market but it’s only

one way and by our figures only one in

five guitars gets sold that way. That means

four out of five people still want to go

into a shop to buy a guitar.”

Mathieson believes this is particularly

important for the future of MI retail and

cites Hamer and SWR as examples where

potential buyers are likely to be extremely

clued-up before they walk into a store and

will expect a retailer to be as passionate

and enthusiastic as they are, if they are to

make a purchase.

This is a point of view, which,

increasingly, we are hearing from

distributors and manufacturers. While

Gibson has chosen to plough its own

distinctive furrow, others are rumoured to

be considering similar approaches and

even those that, like Fender, are out there

in the market offering their

products to anyone who is

willing to do a

professional job

selling them, are

starting to suggest

that specialisation is the key to future

success. Which is all well and good, but

teetering on the brink of recession, how

does Mathieson feel that translates to

reality for hard-pressed retailers? To be

blunt, does he feel there is the business to

be had, whatever they do? “Without being

unduly optimistic, we are in a very good

business. Music is popular and uplifting.

But yes, it’s a very odd time and it’s hard

to know what is happening. Just last week,

for example, I visited two dealers – one a

web business who told me his sales are

well up, the other a

bricks and mortar retailer

who has been in business for

over 100 years and he says he is up, too.

There is a feeling of uncertainty out there,

I know. But people will still buy musical

instruments.

“At the end of the day, if you’re a chap

who wants to buy a Gretsch White Falcon,

you’re going to want to buy it from

somebody who has it in stock and really

knows what they are talking about and

who will empathise with you and enthuse

with you about it. That’s the dealer who

will do well. For us, it’s all about finding

our who your customer is, who is

buying into that lifestyle,

getting the message

out to him and

driving him into the

dealer who can give

the customer the experience he wants.

“Fender – all manufacturers – need

retail stores. If we thought the internet

was the be-all and end-all, we could do

that ourselves, but it isn’t. What is crucial

for us is the ability to compare and

contrast – that’s why we offer so many

models. And in my experience if

somebody’s got £500, they’ve got £600

and if they have £100 for a pedal, they

can just as easily spend £130 and getting

him to spend that extra is the retailer’s

job. I think the end-user, looking at how

he buys into brands, is looking for a

specialist – a higher level of service.

“What we can do is provide a level

playing field, with uniform pricing across

Europe. We don’t do deals – it’s very

transparent, so if you’re a dealer you buy

with confidence from us, knowing you are

getting the correct price. It’s up to you

then to get as much margin as you can

and you do that best by providing service

and experience.”

Like other suppliers, Fender sees the

best future for retailers coming from

increased specialisation. With Best Buy on

the horizon (Mathieson was unwilling to

speculate about its arrival here) it’s hard

not to conclude that it is the way for

individual shops to thrive. And with

Fender GBI’s basket of icons, where

better from which to pick and choose the

rock n roll legends on which that future

will be based?

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FENDER GBI • COMPANY PROFILE

“The big change that we’re seeing is that the end

user now wants every aspect of the sale to be

thorough and professional. He’s so much better

informed, for a start, thanks to the web, but it’s a

very cold and impersonal way of buying things.”

With most guitar players, their

instrument is far from just a

lump of wood with a few bits of

metal attached; it’s an obsession, a hobby

that takes over their spare time and eats

up all their spare cash, a demanding

mistress that needs space, cluttering up

spare rooms and walls and gathering

about itself an army of amplifiers, effects

and accessories.

Many of us can remember the first

flush of guitar enthusiasm and are still

caught up in the long-term love affair that

started rather inconspicuously in our local

music shop. Highly detailed back-of-

school-book drawings detailing our

favourite shapes, endlessly repeated Strat

headstocks and curvy body shapes – hours

were whiled away dreaming of the day

that the ideal guitar was finally landed.

For some, the day never comes – the

guitar is outgrown, rarely picked up, never

learned, consigned to the loft and left for

some curious ancestor to pick up and

maybe play. For those of us that persevere,

however, working our way through non-

rock n roll jobs and generally going about

our lives, a bit of sneaky saving and

perhaps some subtle mind manipulation

on partners can lead to the eventual

ownership of that guitar. You know the

one. The instrument that, when you first

started playing, you wanted more than a

fat kid wants cake (which I’m led to

believe is quite a lot). It is these

instruments that we shall concern

ourselves with here – the highest of the

high end, the hand-made, boutique guitars

that arrive smelling of leather and wealth,

that have been toiled over and perfected

in custom shops by men who know more

about the guitar than it is reasonable for

any human being to know.

The top end of the guitar market is a

glamorous place, a haven for the beautiful

and the adored, the lusted after and the

intricately detailed. Imagine if you will

Primrose Hill without the cocaine. Anyway,

tenuous comparisons aside, lets dive in

and take a look at what the cream of the

guitar crop has to offer…

FENDER

With a rake of desirable names under its

broad banner, Fender has a huge stake in

this area of the market, alongside the

heritage to add real weight to its high-end

offerings. The Fender Custom Shop

remains a hugely popular luxury for those

with bucks to burn, and retains high

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stocking them is with a lot of information at your fingertips. With that in mind, Rob Power investigates…


For those of us that persevere, however,

working our way through non-rock n roll jobs,

a bit of sneaky saving and perhaps some subtle

mind manipulation on partners can lead to the

eventual ownership of that guitar.

SECTOR SPOTLIGHT • BOUTIQUE GUITARS

production values and high desirability. For

example, the Time Machine series Closet

Classic ’56 Stratocaster looks and plays

like the guitar that, given the chance, no

self respecting guitarist would not want

to own, and recreates the feel and sound

of those instruments down to the

smallest detail.

Elsewhere at Fender, the Hamer brand

remains a popular high-end choice, and it

is easy to see why: handbuilt in Conneticut

by a small and dedicated team to exacting

standards using processes that wouldn’t

have looked out of place in Fender’s own

original workshop, Hamer is a steady

selling brand that, because of its limited

production, is highly prized. Take a look at

the beautiful looking Talledega Pro, with

its distinctive shape, rich finish and its

punchy Duncan designed pickups and

you’ll soon realise just why Hamer

continues to perform so well.

GIBSON

Still the first choice for many with a

couple of grand burning a hole in their

pockets, Gibson remains a byword for high

quality US-manufactured guitars that are

instantly recognisable and in many eyes

the original high-end guitar brand.

The 2008 Les Paul Standard aims to

replicate some of the stand-out 1950s

models that have become legends and,

thanks to extensive customer feedback

and a bit of good old fashioned re-

designing, this latest Les Paul looks set to

do the business.

To begin with, there have been a few

neck adjustments. An enlarged neck tenon

joint for more wood-on-wood contact and

therefore improved resonance is the first

change, whilst a new ‘asymmetrical’ neck

profile aims to provide a new level of

comfort for and feel for players.

Locking Grover tuners and hand-made

gold pots from Bourns are on board, while

a new computerised Plek set-up system

has been used to individually dress each

fret. The idea here is to completely

eliminate fret buzz and all the associated

problems that can come with it.

Burstbucker Pro humbuckers and a

chambered mahogany body are also

included here, as well as new strap locks

and the Gibson snakeskin. All in all, a fine

addition to the Gibson history books.

TOM ANDERSON GUITARWORKS

Westside’s US ambassadors of cool, Tom

Anderson is a name that, among those in

the know, is a byword for pure class. With

wonderful guitars that tell you all you

need to know about hot-rodding and

handbuilt on the west coast of the US,

Tom Anderson is building itself a growing

reputation not just in the States but

worldwide. This is thanks to instruments

that seem, if the reports are to be

believed, to play themselves.

The Drop Top Classic is a great indicator

of everything Tom Anderson does well.

Tricked out with three M-Series hum-free

single coil pickups, players can use the

Kickback circuit to dial in an array of tones

not usually available on a classic ‘S’ shape,

and do so with a guitar that looks

stunning. In high demand and with

production often uable to keep up with

the baying demands of the freshly

converted, Tom Anderson is in the upper

echelons of boutique guitar makers for

good reason.

YAMAHA

Just as well known for its entry-level

instruments, Yamaha’s high-end offerings

have been massively popular for a number

of years now. Its SG models, by far the best

known and most highly prized guitars that

the company produce, were championed by

the likes of Santana in the late 70s and

remain a top pick for name players.

The classic SG2000 features the

sustain-maximising spec that Santana was

looking for and includes a maple-topped

mahogany body, thru-neck construction

and solid brass sustain block under the

bridge. The more rock-focused SG1000

drops the sustain block and swaps the

thru-neck for a regular set neck, while the

high-end SG3000, not widely available

outside of Japan, adds custom finishes and

upgraded cosmetics.

The latest SGs also feature another of

Yamaha's technological innovations – a

process called IRA (Initial Response

Acceleration), which helps the guitar

achieve the tone of a played-in

instrument, and they are shipped in a

vintage hard case complete with signed

certificate authenticating the setup and

serial number of the guitar.

PRS

Having become the brand of choice for a

large number of guitarists – hard rock

players can hardly been seen with

anything else, while a growing army of

blues affectionados and top ranking name

players have taken it to their hearts – PRS

is a boutique maker that has achieved a

vast amount in the last 15 or so years.

The Modern Eagle II, an update on the

previous Modern Eagle, continues PRS’s

tradition of striking, really quite attractive

instruments with all of the signature PRS

moves fans have come to expect. Premium

grade timbers, a wide flat carved neck and

an all new pickup system (the 1958/2008

pickups aim to achieve both modern and

vintage sounds), all complement a frankly

dazzling finish that will capture the hearts

of many an established fan and probably

make a few new ones too.

Elsewhere at PRS, the

Hollowbody I is a striking

piece of work, carved inside

and out with nothing but a small

block under the bridge connecting

the back and top. It does the job

of a thinline hollow electric with

style. Additionally, the optional

PRS/LR Baggs piezo system means

that players can plug straight into

a PA or recording console as well

as an amp at the same time, with

a large choice of tonal

possibilities. Impressive stuff.

FRET KING

With the steady guiding hand of

industry legend Trev Wilkinson at

the helm, Fret King has made an

immediate impression with

players thanks to its extremely

high production standards and

eye-catching designs.

Contemporary updates on

classic themes, with a bit of the

old Wilkinson magic thrown into

the mix for good measure, these

are fresh looking, lovingly

constructed instruments of the

BOUTIQUE GUITARS • SECTOR SPOTLIGHT

Right: Gibson Les

Paul Standard;

Far right: Vox Virage


SECTOR SPOTLIGHT • BOUTIQUE GUITARS

highest calibre. The Green Label series Fret

Kings have been hand made in the UK and

can certainly walk the walk. Take a look at

the striking Esprit for an example of what

Fret King does best.

RICKENBACKER

Thanks to a long held association with

being irrevocably cool, Rickenbackers have

been in high demand for many years and

as long as everyone continues to love the

Beatles, this will continue to be the case.

Right up there with Gibson and Fender in

terms of classic instrument design, either

the 330 or 360 have an instant, iconic

appeal which makes Rickys difficult to get

hold of in the UK at the best of times.

VOX

The recent unveiling of Vox’s all-new

guitar line was met initially with curiosity,

and then (once the assembled masses had

seen, heard and most importantly played

the axes in question) with lots of nodding

and chin stroking.

The Virage, available in both double and

single cut designs, is a hollow body beauty

and full of the sort of distinctive

idiosyncracies that you might expect from

a Vox product. With retro-tinged looks,

these guitars are easy on the eye, and you

can tell from the off that a lot of effort

has gone into making sure they stand out

from the crowd in what is a packed

market. Ergonomically curved bodies,

contoured across their length and width,

combined with a slightly smaller than

might be expected body size, makes the

Virage extremely comfortable to play

whether sitting or standing.

Featuring the Vox Three-90 pickup

system, which includes two triple coil

pickups able to deliver clean, crunch or

lead tones, the idea is that these guitars

are able to replicate single coil, P90 and

humbucker type sounds without the

player have to switch guitars.

The system, designed by DiMarzio for

Vox, employs analog circuitry, which

means there are no batteries or active

electronics, and operation is hum free. It

has tonebar construction, designed to

keep feedback to the minimum and gift

the Virage with the resonance of a hollow

body but the attack of a solid body, while

the hand carved neck joint offers comfort

high up the neck.

Elsewhere, the Vox-designed Full

Contact aluminium bridge allows for clear

harmonics and easy string loading. All in

all, Vox has packed this foray into the

boutique guitar market with features

galore, making for a great retro-looker

with plenty of modern aspects that will no

doubt appeal to plenty of players who

love the appeal of vintage instruments but

want plenty of tonal options.

There are, without a doubt, an awful lot

of goodies out there at the moment, and

plenty of eye candy for those of us who

are still dreaming. And while times are

tight at the moment, the investment

factor in a truly world class, boutique

guitar can never be forgotten. One only

needs to look at the constantly rising

prices associated with instruments of

yesteryear to see that the demand for the

truly spectacular will never really wane, at

least not as long as the guitar remains the

most lusted after instrument out there.

Beautifully crafted instruments that

have been put together with care and

dedication can pull together everything

that the industry has learned since the

birth of the electric guitar all those years

ago and give players something that will

last a lifetime and sound amazing

throughout, whether battered to death as

a regular stage axe or lovingly cherished in

the home. Some collect antiques, some

cars, but there will always be a significant

group of us that love guitars and long may

that remain – no matter what state the

economy is in.


CONTACTSFENDER: ..................................................................................01342 331700

GIBSON: ..............................................................................0800 444 27661

WESTSIDE (TOM ANDERSON GUITARWORKS): ...............0141 248 4812

YAMAHA: ...............................................................................0870 4445575

HEADLINE (PRS): .................................................................01223 874 301

JHS (FRET KING): .................................................................0113 286 5381

ROSETTI (RICKENBACKER): ...............................................01376 550033

KORG (VOX): .........................................................................01908 857 100

While times are tight at the moment, the

investment factor in a world class, boutique

guitar can never be forgotten. The demand for

the truly spectacular will never really wane, at

least not as long as the guitar is lusted after.

The latest Yamaha SGs

a modern guitar that

oozes ‘classic’

Left: Drop Top Classic

Right: Hamer’s hand

made beauty

Far right: the Time

Machine series Closet

Classic ’56 Stratocaster

To be a good recording engineer or producer there is

one absolute essential: a good ear. Unfortunately,

not even the best MI retailer can sell that, although

they can let their punters know that developing one is

akin to learning a musical instrument – it takes years and,

even then, some people simply never acquire the skill.

What dealers can do, however, is let any potential

customer know how important a good nearfield reference

monitor is, what makes it good and how there is pretty

much no limit to how much they can spend.

Studio monitors come in two different types: passive

and active, although it must be said that the passive

market is pretty much ignored these days. This is a shame,

as the need to buy an amplifier and all of the cabling

needed to feed the speakers makes for good business. This

feature will concentrate on active monitors, as that is

pretty much the market (until some clever marketing

manager comes up with a popular reason why going the

passive/amp route is superior).

A misconception that users often carry with them is

the idea that they want a monitor that ‘sounds good’. This

is a misnomer. We all want hi fi speakers that sound good,

but this is not the territory of the studio monitor. Hi fi

speakers tend to add ‘warmth’ and depth to a signal, but

the job of a monitor is to accurately reproduce the signal

– there should be nothing added and nothing taken away

(there are exceptions here, notably the B&W Nautilus and

800 series hi fi speakers, as used in Abbey Road and other

top studios, but way beyond the sort of price range

discussed here). This is expressed as ‘transparency’. The

engineer/producer needs to hear what has been recorded

as it has been recorded with no embellishments, because

his or her job is to make the recording sound good at

source. Take it as read that all of the monitors in this

feature are referred to by the manufacturer as ‘transparent’.

This is not to say that there is no such thing as a ‘good’

or ‘bad’ monitor, it is that the criteria are different from

what many would call a good or bad speaker. How can

one tell whether a monitor is good or bad? Well, quite

simply, you tend to get what you pay for. Top quality

monitors from the likes of Genelec, Dynaudio, Adam, JBL

and even KRK can cost thousands of pounds because of

the R&D, top components and extensive quality control,

much as you would expect from any top priced product,

but, as is the case in so much of our industry these days,

the quality of cheaper monitors is improving all the time.

Which brings us back to having ‘a good ear’ again.

Customers should always be encouraged to spend as

much as they can afford and this is truer for monitors

than for many other products, but then it comes down to

good old fashioned subjectivity as to selecting a particular

model over another in any given bracket.

M-AUDIOThe boys and girls at M-Audio are pretty full of

themselves at the moment – and why not? The USA’s MI

Sales Trak retail statisticians recently provided information

that put the company’s new ‘studiophile’ nearfield active

monitors, the BX-5A and the BX-8A Deluxe, as the top

selling products in their category.

M-Audio is, of course, well established in the sphere of

home studios, having grown exponentially through its

Midiman days of the late 90s and early noughties,

but it has always been in the area of interfaces that

the company has been the powerhouse. However, the

release of the BX Deluxe models confirms that the

company has a lot more strings to its bow (or channels

to its DAW).

The BX-8A Deluxe monitors muscle in with 130 Watts

of total output and update the BX-8A system with a

variety of enhancements: a new waveguide for a cleaner

sound and a custom amplifier tuning creates a better

With home recording at an all-time high, it is perhaps surprising that the last thing many hobbyist musos consider when

setting up in their bedrooms or building their home studio is a decent set of reference monitors. Andy Barrett looks

through the transparencies to see what money is to be made…

Monitoring sales


What dealers can do, however, is

let any potential customer know

how important a good nearfield

reference monitor is and what

makes it good.The Yamaha MSP7 monitor

delivers consistent quality

and performance

STUDIO MONITORS • SECTOR SPOTLIGHT

integration between the high and low frequencies,

delivering refined spectral balance and a smoother

response. The eight-inch LF driver is made from woven

Kevlar. This material’s high mechanical and thermal

resilience makes it ideal for use in speaker cones. These, in

turn, have been designed to provide a curved conical

design that improves room dispersion. The HF domes are

made from silk, which avoids the ringing, metallic edge

that cheaper materials tend to create at the upper

registers. Magnetic shielding is included to avoid that

nasty computer interference.

The new Deluxe monitors also provide the smaller 5A

actives, with pretty much the same spec, but the more

intimate design makes them ideal for the smaller set-up –

the quality, however, remains the same. At well under

£200 for the 5A Deluxe, the customers are getting a lot

for their money.

Beyond the BX series sit M-Audio’s high resolution

reference monitors, the DSM series, which go that step

further into the higher realms of £500-odd, but of more

interest to the MI store than that is the AV series – entry-

level monitors for the new kid on the recording block (on

a budget).

YAMAHAThere are still those in the business who bemoan the

withdrawal some years ago of the Yamaha NS10 monitors

and others who still refuse to replace what was widely

viewed as the industry standard for nearly 20 years, but

we have to move on. As it is, Yamaha introduced the MSP

Studio series as it withdrew the NS10s and, let’s face it,

there is no way it would have done that unless

improvements had been made.

The MSPs are taking over from where the NS10s left

off and are now widely used in pro studios the world over.

The top-of-the-line MSP7 powered monitor is capable of

delivering consistent quality and performance that fits

into just about any modern production environment and

its moulded, thick-walled casing has been developed for

precise tolerances and resonance. The one-piece moulding

also makes it possible to produce large-radius, rounded

baffle corners that help maintain a natural wavefront and

minimise diffraction for a smoother, more uniform

response. Internal tweeter mounting also boosts high-

frequency performance by eliminating spurious resonance

from the tweeter frame.

The MSP7 has a suggested price of just over £700, but

street prices vary quite widely, which means this is likely

to be one punters look for first. The MSP5 is the smaller

brother, but still provides all of the quality of the 7.

A step below the MSP series is the HS series, designed

for the budget market, but still, it has to be said, pretty

uncompromising on that important area of transparency.

Home studios, computer-based music production, gaming

systems, keyboards rigs and personal computer systems

can all benefit from these and all models are sold

individually, making it easy to build flexible monitor

setups and 5.1 systems.

The 70-Watt HS50M (five-inch cone and three-

quarter-inch dome tweeter) and the 120-Watt HS80M

(eight-inch cone and one-inch tweeter) are housed in

bass reflex-type cabinets, and reproduce surprisingly tight

low end and smooth, high frequency response to beyond

20 kHz.

KRKOne of M-Audio’s main competitors in this area of the

market is KRK, distributed in the UK by Focusrite. These

attractive wee boxes with the distinctive yellow cones take

low priced performance and give it something of a shake

up. The Rokit series, for example, is now in its second

generation with three sets, the 8, the 6 and the 5, that have

a number of interesting features. At a glance, you notice

the curved front plate design, which is attractive, but also,

more importantly, eliminates diffraction distortion.

The Rokits have an input volume control that provides

an adjustable gain range from +6dB to -30dB, thus

controlling those recordings that come through at more

unmanageable levels, and there are also recessed tweeters

that focus the sound away from the cabinet. More

conventional designs, apparently, direct sound along the

plane of the cabinet where waveform interaction can

cause phase problems and increased diffraction.

KRK’s VXT series slot in just above the Rokits in terms

of price point and again offer the user three models, the

4, 6 and 8, and utilise the Kevlar cones and silk HF domes.

It also has a curved design, but this time there is ABS

structural foam in its cabinet, which mean there are no

parallel walls inside the speaker for ugly, resonant reflections.

ESIContinuing a couple of themes (Kevlar curved cones,

magnetic shielding), ESI introduces one of the more

cumbersome elements of modern marketing to its

nearfield monitor range: the random capital letter. The

nEar eXperience monitors, despite the spelling, are

excellent budget products with features that belie the

price point. Available in four, five and eight-inch versions

(with the matching monikers, 04, 05 and 08), these

monitors offer an ultra-flat low frequency response, as

well as those silk HF domes.

ESI claims to be the first manufacturer to use Kevlar for

the LF driver in studio monitors in this price range, but

can still boast its proprietary crossover control technology

that provides the perfect output level and frequency

response to match the installed drivers and cabinet design.

SAMSONNot a name that might spring immediately to mind for

some when considering studio monitors, but Samson’s

activity in studios with its mics should be clue enough

that the company knows what it’s doing in this area.

Of immediate interest is the Resolv series and

particularly the 65a, which has proved massively popular.

The sub £200 price point adds to the appeal.

The Resolv 65a features 6.5-inch co-polymer butyl

surround woofer, a one-inch titanium diaphragm,

neodymium magnet with ferro-fluid cooled tweeter and

gold plated connectors, all mounted in a ported tuned

cabinet. In addition, it utilises a mid-range contour control.


SECTOR SPOTLIGHT • STUDIO MONITORS

The HS series, designed for the

budget market, is still

uncompromising on that

important area of transparency.

In the nominal position, the Resolv monitors are

clinically accurate, but by dialing in the control, the

frequency response from hi fi to an aggressive mid-range

can be dialled in, emulating some of the classic

nearfield monitors.

Each unit is powered by a dual power amp, (75 Watts

low and 25 Watts high) perfectly matched to the drivers.

The active crossover allows precise control of the

crossover frequency.

JBLSamson is, of course, distributed in the UK by Sound

Technology, so staying with that particular supplier, we

move into another brand – one of the Harman brood –

that might not spring to mind when thinking studios. What

the company has, in fact, is something pretty special. The

4300 series of monitors include a thing called Room Mode

Correction, a proprietary technology that automatically

analyses and corrects the response of each speaker in the

room for accuracy at the mix position.

These are the first studio monitors with network

intelligence built into each speaker specifically designed to

deliver an accurate mix in any room, and the LSR4300s are

a good investment for modern production studios. Despite

this, these monitors are priced well within the reach of any

project studio at sub-£800, but with street prices that

knock a considerable amount off that – okay, so not exactly

starter packs, but for a ‘self aware monitoring system,’ these

are going to be the delight of many.

EDIROLAs with M-Audio, Edirol has made its name with accessible,

essentially entry-level interfacing, but this has led the

company on to supplying a bit of everything the project

studio might need – and monitors are no exception. As is

often the way with Edirol and Roland, a lot of technology

from the top end trickles down to sometimes quite

surprising price points. The MA-7A monitors, for example,

are well under £100 at retail, but contain some little tricks

that belie the cost.

These little monitors contain something called the ‘Bass

Enhancer’. This is technology that lets the user hear bass

frequencies not normally audible through speakers this size,

thanks to a DSP chip programmed using psychoacoustic

principles that converts low frequencies into a series of

overtones which the human ear cannot distinguish from

the original low frequencies. This allows the listener to

perceive bass frequencies outside of the normal range of

the speaker cone, without over-driving the woofer. With the

Bass Enhancer, the MA-7A Stereo Monitors offer a strong

low-end in a very compact set of reference monitors. It’s an

excellent selling point for the beginner recordist.

FOSTEXStill associated with all things ‘home studio’, the Fostex

brand has never quite maintained the high spot it

achieved during the 1980s’ home recording revolution,

when, along with Tascam, it really led the way. That said,

the company has continued to put out important

products and its forays into studio monitoring have

produced some excellent results.

The latest line of monitors from Fostex is the PM series, a

collection of five monitors (including a sub), ranging from

100mm drivers to 200mm, which the company claims has

a ‘brighter, tighter’ sound in these second generation

models. The PM-1 MkII, for example, is a nicely proportioned

model for slightly smaller rooms and offers the type of

transparent sound that singles out a good monitor. It can

pack some pretty high SPLs accurately across the audio

spectrum, thanks to 120 Watts of bi-amped power, as well

as a bass response that matches well with its high-end.

Prices start at around £100 and build up to about £400.


STUDIO MONITORS • SECTOR SPOTLIGHT

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?

Stocking a careful

selection of monitors

could bring in some

good profits

CONTACTSM-AUDIO ......................................01753 659590

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

KRK (FOCUSRITE) .....................01494 462246

ESI (TIME+SPACE) .......................01837 55200

SAMSON (SOUND TECH) .........01462 480000

JBL (SOUND TECH) ..................01462 480000

EDIROL .......................................020 8747 5949

FOSTEX .......................................020 8418 1470

Buying groups can be a big help to

smaller retailers struggling to compete

against low online prices or multiples

that can simply offer more products at

better prices that the average indie. To help

combat this and fight the corner for the little

guy, buying groups have emerged as a potent

force – especially in these uncertain

economic times.

Initially formed over 20 years ago when

some Scottish retailers grouped together

to form the Scottish Musical Instruments

Retailer Association, it was when this group

merged with a hardy band of piano dealers,

based mainly in the south that Euromusic

was formed.

The group’s chairman, Richard Harfield,

has been involved with Euromusic since

meeting some members at NAMM eight

years ago. “I was recruited by a guy from a

music shop in Scotland,” he recalls. “I

started buying bits and pieces, but nothing

more than that. Every year we have an

annual general meeting, and I went to one

of these and I suddenly saw the light – I

understood what it’s all about. A lot of

people don’t understand it, the products

we have, the quality of the products and

the general knowledge that members of

Euromusic have.”

Buying product in bulk as a group has

obvious advantages and Euromusic prides

itself on the huge amount of product it is

able to supply. “We have our own branded

guitar line, Jim Deacon, which we have

exclusive rights to in the UK,” continues

Harfield. “They’re basically the best entry-

level guitar you can get bar none. They’re

too expensive for the majority of

wholesalers to offer and because they’re

more expensive they don’t bother.

“They’re expensive because the quality is

so high. We sell these guitars at £99 and

the margins on these instruments are

excellent. You can’t get these sort of

margins from a regular wholesaler and you

definitely can’t get the quality. It’s a

proper, 60s-sounding guitar that doesn’t

sound horrible, like a lot of cheap guitars

do. We also have our own brand of cables

and amplifiers, all of which we are buying

in bulk.

“This means we’re buying at the best

price, which we are then able to pass on to

our members. A little independent would

not be able to buy at the same price as us.

Basically, we’re saving around 20 per cent

– net probably around 16 per cent. But if

you’ve got a little shop that does 200,000

a year, struggling because it’s only making

25 per cent, this means that all the profit

is used up on rent, rates and maybe a lad

to help out. The owner can’t go on holiday,

and he’s got nothing at the end of it. If he

buys with Euromusic, he’ll be making a 50

per cent margin, and can go on holiday

and make a bit more money.”

At the moment, Euromusic is looking to

add to its ranks, so it’s time for retailers

who may have thought about buying

groups before, but never quite took the

plunge to take another look. “We have 50

members at the moment and we’re

looking to increase that to around 80 to

100,” says Harfield.

“We’re actively looking for people at the

moment. We have an online ordering

system which is unique in any buying group,

we have our own very modern warehouse

up in Glasgow and we have this web-based

interface where you can see what is in stock

at any one time, the prices – everything.

“You can order straight from there and

it’s all very easy to use and extremely

straightforward. We’ve got a lot to offer

retailers. Because Euromusic always buys

the best price, our members get the best

prices on a lot of products. We exist to help

get our dealers better margins.”

EUROMUSIC: 0141 577 5330

As a purchasing group with growing membership and plenty of buying power, now might well be the time for

independent retailers to get on board with Euromusic. Rob Power finds out how it can help you…


COMPANY PROFILE • EUROMUSIC

The Euro jackpot

Becoming a part of Euromusic is simply

a case of getting in touch and having a

chat. “To get involved, people can apply

to us via email or post and we’ll talk to

them,” confirms Harfield.

“It’s basically a members club, so we

can be selective about who we want to

deal with. The directors have to approve

them, as we don’t want anybody who is

financially insecure – it’s our money

we’re using so we don’t want anyone

going out of business on us.

“Membership is £200 a year and we

ask for a bond, which is ten per cent of

expected turnover, which is lodged with

the bank and we then use as our

purchasing capital.

“If you leave, you can have the

money back, but in the main, this sort

of arrangement gives the group a good

amount of working capital.”

You can email the group at

[email protected], or alternatively

call and leave a message at the number

on the bottom of this page.

Get involved

Working with a buying group

can help retailers compete


COMPANY PROFILE • TANGLEWOOD

Those fortunate enough to have been

at the Music China show in 2006

might well have noticed (alongside

the launch models of the new entry-level

Evolution series) that the Tanglewood

stand had a couple of elegant looking

prototypes of the Master Design series.

These were the result, it turned out, of

Tanglewood’s Tony Flatt having scoured

the globe for something – or rather

someone – who could take his burgeoning

brand up to the next level and into the

£700-plus market.

The problem was, as the Swedish luthier

Michael Sanden (pictured) explains, he

didn’t want ‘just another dreadnought’.

“They had been looking for something

different,” he says. “Tony saw my guitars

at a show here in Sweden and he liked

what he saw.” Sanden, who hand-makes

around 40 guitars a year, was asked

whether he wanted his designs under the

banner of a global brand.

“I have sometimes been criticised for

not developing more conventional

designs,” Sanden reveals. “I have never

seen the point in that. I want to do my

own thing, so it took me a few weeks

before I said yes to Tanglewood, but I

made it very clear that while the designs

would be mine, they would differ from the

guitars I make here in my workshop.”

In the end, just about everything on the

Master Design guitars is different from

Sanden’s own models, but also easily

recognisable as Sanden designs. It has

been quite a feat – right down to the

‘invisible’ elements, such as the bracing.

Five or six prototypes were shipped

back to China with notes as to how to get

it right and eventually Sanden was happy.

“Tanglewood has been great. It has given

me a full veto on every aspect of the

guitars and that gives me peace of mind.

The factory had trouble with the necks, so

there has been a compromise there, and

the wood for the tops is not as I’d ordered,

but that turned out really well.”

Sanden noticed on an early prototype

that the tops were a different colour from

the usual Canadian sitka, but it turned out

that the factory had sourced another

spruce from Tibet. “I thought that was kind

of cool. I checked the wood for its

flexibility and resonance and I really like it.

It was a good result.”

With Sanden and Tanglewood waiting

for the first shipment as MI Pro goes to

press, there are quite a few nerves jangling

around south Sweden (not to mention the

UK). “We have a good relationship with

the factory, so I’m not too nervous about

that,” points out Sanden. “It is whether

people will want to buy the guitars – and

then which of the 32 countries that

Tanglewood sells to will go for them.

“Tanglewood has experience of what

sells where, so things look promising. In

the end, customers are going to get really

good value with the guitar and the woods

they use, as well as the pickup and the

case… In fact, I think it is a little too good

for what they will be paying.”

There will be three models in the initial

run of the Master Design series, but no

cutaway model. Initial attempts with

Sanden’s extremely attractive cutaways

proved too costly and too difficult to

maintain quality control over, so they will

be added later if sales go well on the first

models. From the decision to make any

new models, Sanden estimates up to 18

months will be needed to get the models

into production. With Guitar & Bass

magazine giving the series its ‘Best

Acoustic’ award, however, everyone is

quietly confident that sales will go well.

“It is an exciting time for us,” says

Tanglewood’s sales director, Brian Cleary.

“Moving into this price bracket is new for

us, so we’ve always known that we

have to be different if we are going

to compete – we didn’t want

simply to slap a luthier’s name on

a guitar. Michael has given us that

difference. I know others have

done this sort of thing before, but

here we have a couple of interesting

elements coming together at the

same time. Tanglewood has

established a good and trusted

brand and wants to move into the

high end, so we needed

something different. It has

worked really well for us.”

It is too early to say

whether Tanglewood will

look for other luthiers to

add to the Master Design

series, but it is a

possibility. “Let’s get

these models out there

first,” says Cleary. “We

have a lot on our plate

now, but if another

opportunity arises, who knows?”

TANGLEWOOD: 01937 841122

December sees the arrival of Tanglewood’s new Master Design series and the brand’s first foray into the high end acoustic

market. Some years after the idea was first mooted, Andy Barrett discovers that nothing has been left to chance…

A line in the Sanden

“I have never seen the

point in developing

more conventional

designs. I want to do

my own thing.”

Michael Sanden

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Warwick UK: Warwick Music Equipment Trading (Manchester UK) Ltd. • 75 Bridge Street • Manchester M3 2RH / Great BritainPhone 0044 - (0) 161 - 8390 - 666 • Fax 0044 - (0) 161 - 2146 - 161 • E-Mail : [email protected]

Headquarters: Warwick GmbH&Co.Music Equipment KG • Gewerbepark 46 • 08258 Markneukirchen / Germany • E-Mail: [email protected]: D ü b e n d o r f / S w i t z e r l a n d • P r a h a / C z e c h & S l o v a k i a R e p u b l i c • W a r s a w / P o l a n d • S h a n g h a i / P. R . C h i n a

Visit us on the World Wide Web: www.warwickbass.co.uk • www.warwick-distribution.co.uk & join the WARWICK BASS FORUM: www.warwick.de/forum

Hellborg Club Cab 115

Bass reflex cabinet loaded with one custom designedCelestion 15" coaxial speaker. 8 ohms, 99dB. Rated at250W RMS.

Warwick UK: Warwick Music Equipment Trading (Manchester UK) Ltd. • 75 Bridge Street • Manchester M3 2RH / Great BritainPhone 0044 - (0) 161 - 8390 - 666 • Fax 0044 - (0) 161 - 2146 - 161 • E-Mail : [email protected]

Headquarters: Warwick GmbH&Co.Music Equipment KG • Gewerbepark 46 • 08258 Markneukirchen / Germany • E-Mail: [email protected]: D ü b e n d o r f / S w i t z e r l a n d • P r a h a / C z e c h & S l o v a k i a R e p u b l i c • W a r s a w / P o l a n d • S h a n g h a i / P. R . C h i n a

Visit us on the World Wide Web: www.warwickbass.co.uk • www.warwick-distribution.co.uk & join the WARWICK BASS FORUM: www.warwick.de/forum

Triumph

E-Upright, Maple body (hollow milled), AAA-FlamedMaple top (2-piece, bookmatched), One piece Mapleneck, body rest made of Flamed Maple, Scale: 1/2 - Eb,24 positions, Magnetic MEC Pickup (neck) and Piezopickup system (bridge), MEC Piezo Buffer electronics,Finishes: Coloured Oil Finish or Stain High Polish Finish(Stain High Polish Finish with extra charge), Triumphtuners, handmade Ebony nut, available as 4- or 5-string,left-handed version without extra charge, only 4-string

Hellborg Preamp

Audiophile quality bass preamp with 72 dB gain, trans-former balanced input, 4 Band Eq with inductor basedmid bands, effects loop operating on -10 or +4 dB level,transformer balanced DI out. All transformers and coilsare studio grade and housed in mu metal casings.

Hellborg Mono Power

Massive 250 Watt Bipolar Power Amp with overdimensioned output stage. Transformer impedancematching between amp and speaker. Advanced circu-it protection.

awarded January200

8

FOR HELLBORG SYSTEM

Launched for the first time in the spring of 1953, the Triumph E-Upright wasthe first commercially viableElectric Upright Bass.

For 55 years it has been theindustry standard.

Then:Jim RumeyJimmy BondClerence PalmerEberhard WeberHolger Czukay

Now:Viktor Krauss Jorge Casas John B. Williams Jen ZeilenbachGuy Pratt

R E V O L U T I O N A R Y

Handbuilt in Denmark to exactingly high

specifications, T-Rex has become one of the pre-

eminent names in the guitar effects market. The

reasons for this lie primarily in the products – wonderful

sounding pedals that reek of quality can only be a good

thing – while the way the company operates, with its

friendly yet professional, laid back but dedicated manner,

has also contributed. Distributed by Westside in the UK, T-

Rex’s international profile has been growing for some

time now, and 2008 has seen the company and the brand

make significant steps forward on to the world stage –

and with considerable aplomb.

The latest products to be dreamt up in the company’s

Danish workshops are always of interest, thanks to T-Rex’s

seemingly endless pursuit of innovative new ideas. This

year has seen the release of one significant new product –

the Twister.

“The Twister is a chorus and flanger pedal,” says T-Rex’s

Sebastian Jensen. “It is essentially two units in one and

users can switch between the two. We wanted to make a

good sounding chorus, but not based on the delay circuits

you normally get. We wanted to keep the high end of the

tone, which was a problem we had to work around. The

chorus pedal is digital – the delay line has been replaced

with a DSP processor instead, but all around it is analog. It

has been successful so far – but the first batch is always

easy to sell. We’re getting good reviews though, and

hoping for further success.”

Another pedal launched this year is the Polyswitch,

which is, according to T-Rex, the world’s first true

hardwire stereo A-B switch.

“We launched the Polyswitch at around the same time

as the Twister,” continues Jensen. “It is a stereo switch

pedal that also has a buffer inside, so if players want to

buff up their signals they can. Very often, people need

some kind of buffer, so we wanted to build one in.”

Allowing players to split their stereo signal and switch

between outputs, the Polyswitch also works in reverse,

giving players the opportunity to run two separate stereo

instruments into a single amplifier.

A new series is in the works, currently at the planning

stage, but looking set for an unveiling at NAMM, which

reflects T-Rex’s individuality and a desire to get away from

the familiar shapes and sizes that are regularly associated

with effects pedals.

“We plan to have a new series called the Tone Bug,

because here at T-Rex we’re fed up with the square angled

design, so we wanted a new one,” outlines Jensen. “It will

include a reverb and at least one more pedal initially –

and at an affordable price. We want to build on these first

two models and have a full range there. Everybody else

these days is using the old square-angled pedal design,

but we wanted our own design, something that looks a

bit more striking and less boring.”

Elsewhere at T-Rex, the company is working at raising

its profile even further by working with high-profile

players, such as the latest collabioration with ex-Creed

man and current Alter Bridge guitarist, Mark Tremonti.

“We have just met Mark Tremonti and we have built a

phaser with him,” says Jensen. “We will be launching that

one at the NAMM show in January 2009. It’s a traditional

phaser, but Tremonti wanted it to be old fashioned, with a

bit of bite – so it sounded dirty. What we actually did was

build a distortion pedal into the phaser, so you have a

‘bite’ control in there, which sounds really cool when used

with the phaser.”

Working with big-name players has also led to the

inclusion of the most unlikely of names – Katie Melua, no

less – to be associated with the brand. The Radio 2

listener’s favourite guitarist has been a T-Rex endorser for

some time, and the company has now built custom

boards for both Katie Melua herself and her bass player.

With plenty in the pipeline, and an ever-increasing

popularity among both name players and the huddled

masses of small club playing talent, T-Rex looks certain to

continue its impressive growth to date, all the while

keeping to the hand made, boutique pedal ethos upon

which the company was founded.

There are plenty of other pedal manufacturers out

there, but few with the eyes, ears and expertise to

continually provide the sort high quality product for

which T-Rex is making a name for itself.

WESTSIDE: 0141 248 4812

Noisemakers the world over have been realising that a pedal board is simply not complete without a selection of T-Rex’s

finest noise boxes. Rob Power finds out what the Danish wizards have been up to recently…

T-REX • COMPANY PROFILE


“Everybody else these days is

using the old, square design, but

we wanted something a bit

more striking.”

Sebastian Jensen

Rexy music

“I’m the Dope Man,” growls, er, the

Dope Man. I’m at the legendary

Baked Potato in LA, for a Monday

jam night at the implausibly small club

that for the past couple of decades has

been the place to hang and catch some of

the world’s finest musicians on a night off.

My bullshit radar is on maximum as the

Dope Man (think Muddy Waters with a

flock of mad professor white hair) takes

out his cheap nylon string from a black

bin liner. It’s just one more example of a

surreal few days I spent in LA.

I’m here on assignment for Guitarist, as

a guest of forward-thinking retailer Steve

Gray, part-owner of the Guitarguitar chain,

who thought it would be a progressive

move to head out to la-la land to visit

some of his key high-end brands – VHT,

Tyler, Suhr and 65 Amps – and hook up

with Way Huge founder and now Dunlop

product developer Jeorge Tripps, who’s just

taken us to a rather good Mexican

restaurant in ‘the Valley’.

Back at the Baked Potato, Steve opts

for a G&T; I ask the spacey waitress – no

doubt a resting actress or singer/

songwriter – what beers they have. She

reels off a long list; I settle for what I think

is a Mexican-sounding brand: Gwenes. She

brings me a bottle of Guinness and gives

us six dollars change from a 20 only to

snatch it away minutes later, “Gee, is that

for me?” Er, no, it was Steve’s change.

A few days earlier everyone was

envious about me going ‘on holiday’ again.

Steve and I have done this before: we

cram in lots of visits, which generates both

good copy and makes important contacts.

Then we fly back. Frankly, by the time the

Potato’s house band hits the stage I’m

beginning to think I need some more

exotic substances to keep me going. I’m

jet-lagged. I’ve been talked at for the past

two days by companies keen to get their

messages across and I really could do with

just going to bed.

We’d started our visit the day after we

arrived at VHT, Steve Fryette’s high-end

amp company. Nice guy, great amps. Then

we dropped in for a cigar with boutique

guitar maker James Tyler, who’s making a

very good recovery from a serious

operation. Nice guy, great guitars. A few

beers then bed. And, yes, as usual I’m

woken up at 2:30am by a call from the UK

– you know who you are.

The next day we drive down from LA to

Lake Elsinore to meet up with John Suhr,

another gear obsessive, who, with Rudy

Pensa, created the infamous Mark Knopfler

Pensa-Suhr in the 80s and the OD100

amp with Bob Bradshaw. For the past

decade, after a stint in the Fender Custom

Shop, he has been making very

Tom Anderson-style guitars, amps

and now effects pedals. Obsessive

about quality, Suhr’s operation is

growing into quite an act, yet

they’re little interested in me. “Oh

right, you’re writing a story about

us, that’ll be a first,” says Suhr’s

partner Steve Smith with just a hint

of sarcasm. I’m used to it. Still,

nice guitars.

With a couple of hundred miles

on the clock we get back to LA and

meet up with Jeorge Tripps, a very

likeable electronics nerd who started

Way Huge and then went to Line 6

before hooking up with Jim Dunlop.

Now, I’ve been called an anorak

gear obsessive before, but compared

to Jeorge, I know nothing. The guy

lives and breathes carbon film resistors

et al, can quote – and does – the

circuit layout of the script logo original

MXR Phase 90 stomp box. At the end of

day I realise that everyone I’ve met is

totally obsessed with what they do and

the gear they make. Sod any social skills,

these guys just live and breathe guitar

gear. And it’s not over yet…

On day three we head back to the

Valley to meet with Dan Boul at 65 Amps,

a company he founded with Peter Crouch

(Sheryl Crow’s guitarist). Another

motormouth, Dan at least comes from my

world – we both quote Keef as our fave

guitarist – and his hand-wired amps are to

die for. “There’s rock and there’s rock n

roll,” says Dan. “I like the latter.” I’m

not arguing.

Just before I head back to LAX we pop

into Line 6 (Steve’s ex-employer) to say

hello and get the lowdown on a few secret

products that I can’t talk about.

As my flight takes off I begin to wonder

what I’ve learned. Well, unless everyone

I’ve spoken to is lying, the boutique

market, or whatever you want to call it,

seems remarkably recession proof. There

are worries about the strength of the

dollar and the inevitable price rise, but it

seems that despite worldwide doom and

gloom this sector is more secure than

many others. Of course, to any of us who

are feeling the pinch, this kind of opulent

spending power is a little upsetting.

Finally home, some 16 hours later, my

daughter asks: “Good holiday, Dad?” I

climb into bed and sleep for 12 hours.

We cram in lots of visits, which generates copy

and makes important contacts. Then we fly back.

I’m jetlagged, I’ve been talked at for the past two

days, and I could do with just going to bed.

Instead of filing his copy on time our resident

guitar journo is off on his holidays again…

Dave Burrluck is the Gear Reviews

Editor of Guitarist magazine.

Guitarist, the UK’s leading magazine

for serious players, is published by

Future Publishing – 01225 442244

DAVE BURRLUCK

LA stories


On day three Dave hooked up with Dan

Boul, co-founder of 65 Amps...

GXseries

New from Doctor QThe Q in QSC. Founder and chief designer

© 2007 Shure Incorporated

www.qscaudio.com Shure Distribution UK Call us on +44 (0) 1992 703 058

Email us at [email protected] www.shure.co.uk

There are many perceptions about

the Music Industries Association and

who is involved with it, so this

month, the MIA thought that it would

highlight some of the 100 people in the

industry that give up their time (free of

charge) to help the association in its

mission to ‘Make More Musicians’.

There are, in fact, only three employed

staff in the organisation, Paul McManus,

who is the only full time employee,, Clare

Sayers and Pat Robinson, who both work

on a part time basis. The staff is based at a

small office near Leatherhead in Surrey

(where, McManus says, visitors are always

more than welcome to visit).

The MIA is, then, extremely fortunate

to have the support of a voluntary board

of directors that meets three times a year

to help the staff with strategy. This board

is made up of retailers and suppliers from

a vast array of companies.

Retailers: Andertons, Drumwright,

Sheehans, The Firm, Rosehill, The Music

Instrument Co. and Phil Parker

Suppliers: Ashton, JHS, Sound Technology,

Roland, Yamaha, Korg, Headline, Peavey,

Intermusic, Synergy, Sibelius, Stentor,

Guitar XS and Active Distribution

Over and above that, the MIA has a

number of working parties that meet to

agree strategies and actions for specific

subjects important to the industry. These

committees bring in additional volunteers

from sources such as PMT and Dolphin

right through to the Federation of Music

Services and the National Association of

Music Educators, with most committees,

as with the board of directors, meeting

three times a year. The bulk of actual

work, however, is normally done between

meetings by emails and phone calls.

Here are details of some of the

association’s current active working

parties and the company volunteers who

are helping to deliver the workload.

Education Committee

(chaired by Justin Baron)

Main issues; School music provision, early

years music provision, teacher training and

availability, assisting the government in

spending the extra £40 million on new

quality instruments, Music Manifesto,

Music Education Council, National Music

Council, liaising with the Department for

Children, LIMS Education Day

Members: Sibelius, Stentor, Rockschool,

Normans, Buffet, Roland, Yamaha, ABRSM,

Motif Media, Federation of Music Services,

Association of Music Educators, Institute

of Contemporary Music

Exhibitions Committee

(chaired by Tim Walter)

Main issue: The successful growth and

development of LIMS for 2009

Members: Roland, Sound Technology,

Drumwright, Guitar XS, Headline, Yamaha,

Studio Music

LIMS retailing working party

(chaired by Jon Gold)

Main issue: to decide on a suitable model

for retail involvement at LIMS 2009

Members: Andertons, Bonners, PMT,

Sheehans, The Firm, Drumwright, Digital

Village, Sound Technology, Ashton, Active

Distribution (and many others by email)

Promotions Committee

(chaired by Lee Worsley)

Main issues: DCMS Rehearsal room roll

out, MIA Awards, Weekend Warriors, Get

Alive!, Learn to Play activities, LIMS, new

retail initiatives (for example, music

clothing), Music for All liaison, MIA

communications strategy

Members: Active Distribution, Yamaha,

Future Publishing, PMT, Dolphin Music,

Headstock, Korg

Membership Committee

(chaired by Tina Chandler)

Main issues: Increasing membership, new

membership benefits, review of

membership bands

Members; Guitar XS, The Firm, Ashton

Music, Sharon Music

Music for All

(chaired by John Booth)

Main issues: Successfully establishing a

charity for our industry, piloting a prison

teaching model, taking Learn to Play to

schools and the general public

Members: Roland, Drumwright, Korg and

two companies external to the MI trade

Jon Gold, MIA President comments: “We

have great new blood on board now, with

Dave Marshall (the new vice president),

Tony White from Bonners and Clive

Roberts from Peavey. We are all people

who do not like sitting in dusty rooms

making vague decisions, so I want us to be

active and I want all of us to contribute.

We are trying to make a difference.”

The MIA only exists because of this

type of support from people who want our

industry to be the best it can be in getting

everyone playing music and enjoying the

world we all love and believe in.

If you feel you could give up some time

to support the MIA in any of its various

activities, please call 01372 750600 or

email [email protected]

WWW.MIA.ORG.UK

Just who IS the MIA?


CLIVE ROBERTS: MD of

Peavey Europe

JON GOLD:MD of AshtonMusic UK andMIA president

JUSTIN BARON: MD

of Sibelius and chair of

Education Committee

LEEANDERTON:

PromotionsCommittee

chair

RICHARDHODGSON:

YamahaMusic UK

director

TINA CHANDLER: Guitar XS

and Membership

Committee chair

1 – 4. 4. 2009live for the music

The world of music is coming to Frankfurt am Main again

in 2009. Visit the Musikmesse show from 1 – 4 April to find

out about the most important product innovations and new

developments in the industry. Musikmesse is the leading

international trade fair for musical instruments, music soft-

ware, computer hardware, sheet music and accessories.

With a complete range of musical instruments from the

classical spectrum through to electric guitars, keyboards,

brass instruments and electronic equipment, our exhibitors

give retailers, trade visitors and music fans alike an insight

into the latest trends. Make valuable contacts and success-

ful business links here. Discover the most recent technical

innovations and try out the latest instruments. Plus, there

are professional product presentations from famous musi-

cians to enjoy at this top insider event.

Tel. +44 (0) 17 84 41 59 50

[email protected]

www.musikmesse.com

PERSONNEL


INDUSTRY veteran Damon Crisp, who

recently left German giant Monacor, has

launched a brand new venture, DAC Pro-

Media, which will, among other activities,

be an official agent and ‘specialist sub-

distributor’ for Sound Technology’s

Harman brands in the UK (namely JBL,

Crown and AKG) into the DJ market..

Crisp, who prior to his time at Monocor

spent ten years as MD of Numark Alesis

Europe, has begun his new company in

considerable style, having bagged several

big names, including the US GCI

Technologies line of products, with brands

including Gemini, Cortex and I-key Audio.

“Ultimately, we will be looking to

represent the right lighting and

accessories suppliers, too. I have had many

meetings so far and expect to make an

announcement of these partners either at

the start of 2009 or at the Winter NAMM

music conference in Anaheim USA in

January,” Crisp commented.

“Having been in the pro audio, DJ and

‘night’ venues market for some 23 years, I

felt with the changing world we live in

that a serious, more personal and direct

sales-to-market strategy was needed.

“Professional agencies have worked

incredibly well in America for years, along

with many other countries, too. The proof

is clearly there for all to see. With

everyone experiencing escalating costs

and the immense amount of money

needed to train, develop and finance a

sales team these days, this way of direct

selling will be the future for many

companies, I am sure.”

DAC PRO-MEDIA: 07505 070299

NEED NEWSTAFF?

NEED NEWSTAFF?

Put your company at the forefront of the market and attract the best candidates from professionals already working within the MI industry!

For print and web recruitment positions please contact [email protected] telephone 01992 535647

New Crisp ventureFormer Numark boss goes it alone with DJ sales for Sound

Technology and US-style agency model for the audio market

RCF UK has announced the appointment

of Dean Davoile as its new sales

manager for its MI/pro division.

Davoile, who brings a wealth of

experience to the position, latterly with

IAG UK, where he handled many

international brands including,

Wharfedale, Quad and Mission. Working

mainly in the MI and pro audio markets,

Davoile’s remit is to grow RCF’s products

in these areas.

“Following on from this year’s

ProLight+Sound show in Frankfurt,

where we launched a number of high

profile MI products, including the new

ART 7 series, NX series and some new

4PRO speakers, it became evident that

we needed to expand the MI/pro

division. We have already had a great

response with the new MI products and

we are now looking to build on this

initial success with Dean’s

appointment,” commented RCF’s

Phil Price.

“I have to say that I’m really looking

forward to working with Phil and the

RCF team, they have great roster of

products to offer the market”

commented Davoile on his

appointment.

The hiring of Davoile fills the gap in

the UK team left by the departure of Jim

Khan a few months ago.

RCF UK: 0844 745 1234

New RCF and dB manfor UK moves from IAGEx-Wharfedale salesman to head up MI and pro division

CRISP: direct selling is the future

DAVOILE: filling the gap

At home means being woken up at silly o’clock by

my little boy banging the bed, so that’s the start

of my day for the foreseeable future. Then it’s

eating some breakfast and getting to work on time

while his mum gets him to nursery.

So I make my way to our offices – I’m only ten

minutes away from them. We’re based about ten

minutes from Newbury on the border of

Oxfordshire and Berkshire – and get started. My

day normally starts by looking at far too many

emails, usually communicating with our factory

in Korea.

We speak to them about various

production issues, sometimes over email

and sometimes by phone, so that takes up

the first half of the day. Then I deal with

some public enquiries, usually telling ten

bands we can’t endorse everybody. I’ll then

have to speak to dealers and the guys out

on the road, as well as dealing with

distributors and finding out what’s

going on out there.

Right now we’re busy setting up an

Indie recording studio as well in

Oxfordshire. We’re busy expanding our

repertoire – we’ve got the guitar range, and

now we’re opening the studio and we’re setting up a

music festival for the end of July next year. It’ll be an

open air summer festival, and we’re looking at getting

some big names along with our endorsees playing, so

that’s all going on right now.

We’re also planning for the NAMM show at the

moment, as we’re about to launch in the US in

January, so there’s an awful lot of work going on for

that, too. We’ll be launching at NAMM, so there’s

plenty going on in that area.

We’re re-releasing our amplifier range as well, so

I’m busy working with our manufacturers, sorting

out an acoustic amps and valve combos to go with

the bass amp we’ve already set up.

We’re also trying to catch up with our sleep after the

Music Live show at the moment, which was good but

hectic. There’s always loads going on – we’ve just had a

new German distributor start this month, so that’s taken

up lots of time. There are four of us that work here,

there’s another six in the office in Korea and around 30

in the factory there. There are also a few guys working in

the office in Canada, so there are a few of us.

I get away from the office at about quarter to seven

every night. I’m gigging as well, and get in a couple of

gigs a month with the band. We originally started as a

covers band, then did originals when we were

at the right age and once we realised we

weren’t going to be famous we went back to

covers. So we are heroes in our own bath times

now, playing locally. And we’re obviously

endorsed by a great guitar company.

Our retailers are panicking at the

moment, so we’re working hard to

make sure they’ve got the right gear

in stores to help them. We need to

make sure they’re all right, and not

overstocked, so that’s a very big deal fir

us right now.

I WOKE UP THIS

MORNING


PROFILE

To be honest, with Indie

Guitars about to launch in

the US, a new studio about

to open and a festival to

get off the ground in 2009,

24 hours doesn’t seem

long enough...

KEITH WILLISIndie Guitars

We’re busy expanding our

repertoire: we’ve got the

guitar range, we’re opening

the studio and we’re setting

up a music festival for the end

of July next year.

NEWS INDIE PROFILEAllegro Oxford: a

traditional brass and

woodwind specialist, but

a fast moving business

nonetheless

RETAILA1 tradition maintained

NEWS, OPINION, DATA

THE HW Music Megastore has taken over

the former Sound Control store on

Heatley Street, Preston, a store with

considerable pedigree as it was originally a

branch of Manchester’s famous A1 Music

before it was bought up by Academy of

Sound and then subsequently by Sound

Control. The store was closed in May,

following Sound Control’s demise.

Richard Harfield, the founding director

of HW, immediately made enquiries as to

the availability of the store, but was told

that there were ‘non-returnable deposits’

on the Preston business, making Harfield

‘too late’ according to Deloitte Touche.

Despite this, Harfield could not help but

notice that there seemed to be no activity

at the store after the administrator’s sale

of stock had been completed and so he

approached Ashton Music’s MD, Jon Gold

– a former Academy of Sound (AOS)

manager and responsible for the purchase

of the former Sound Control store in

Stoke. Gold put Harfield in touch with

AOS’s former owner, Keith Woodcock.

“Keith was very pleased that I was

interested in re-opening it as a music shop

as when it was AOS they had spent a huge

amount on shopfitting and luxury extras

such as climate control air-conditioning.

We moved in late August and opened for

business on September 8th.

The Preston store is, as Harfield

describes it, ‘a medium-sized store’ on two

floors, close to the town centre and

opposite the university. HW has taken on

some of the former Sound Control staff

and has installed its own manager, Phil

Crompton, and his assistant, Marc

Winstanley, from the Bolton megastore.

Harfield is now looking to consolidate

his business with no plans for further

expansion. “We did have a branch years

ago and we learnt the lessons of this,” he

explained. “If you have a branch, it must

be strong enough to exist on its own,

otherwise it will end up being supported

by the main store. This Preston store has

consistently turned over around a million

pounds, so if you are intelligent at buying

and stocking, you will make money.”

Harfield has secured the Gibson

franchise for the Preston store, as well as

other prestige brands. These are products

that, Harfield believes do not ‘get trashed

on the web’. The company is also a

member of the Euromusic buying

consortium, which means it gets industry

leading margins (see feature page 38).

The HW Music Megastore in Bolton is

the largest independent music store in the

UK, with over 20,000 square feet of space.

It was founded in 1976 by Richard and

Chris Harfield and enjoys an enviable

reputation in the North West of England.

Richard Harfield has even bigger plans for

the Preston store, however.

“We aim to make the Preston branch of

HW Music the coolest rock n roll music

store in the North West. It’s ideally

situated in the Preston city centre and we

will have the leading brands. Together with

our staff, we think we have the right mix

to make this a real success.”

Coming back to further expansion,

Harfield added (with his tongue in his

cheek): “We need to get our management

team trained up to handle it, but when

one of the other chains falls apart, we

should hopefully be in a position to

exploit it. Historically we have always

done well in recessions – the thing is to

offer a good choice and have a nice store.”

He puts his company’s success down to

simple factors such as this and offering

good customer service. “Remember,

customers don't stop buying, they merely

stop buying from you,” he concluded.

HW Music Preston: 01772 204567

“We aim to make HW

Preston the coolest rock

n roll music store in the

North West. We have

the right mix to make

this a real success.”

Richard Harfield

HW Music’s takeover of established store after administration of Sound Control aided by former Academy of Sound bosses


Indie Guitars moves into

new territories,

Rotosound has new

strings to its bow, Audio

Technica online catalogue

Bottom end expansion

THE PAST 12 months have seen the

Rotosound R&D team in overdrive,

resulting in a variety of new products

launched for the bass and guitar playing

fraternities.

On the bass string front, two

roundwound sets aimed specifically at

players who de-tune have been

introduced. The Drop Zone and

Drop Zone+ sets allow players to

lower their tunings down to B

and an F# respectively.

On a slightly more

mainstream note, the custom

gauge FM66 set has been

repackaged and renamed

‘Funkmaster’.

Of all the additions made

to Rotosound’s string ranges

this year, possibly the most dramatic

step for Rotosound is the introduction

of the Nexus coated sets.

Two sets will be available for four

string bass guitar. The aim, Rotosound’s

chairman, Jason How explained, was to

“produce high energy strings rich in

mid-tones as an alternative to steels

with high presence, with a polycoat

dressing over a Type 52 wrap. We

believe that with the Nexus Bass sets

we have produced a string with extra

life to suit the player for all seasons.”

The intention

is to have these

sets in stores

early in 2009.

More details on all

sets can be found

in the new string

brochure which can be download from

Rotosound’s website (rotosound.com).

There is expansion in the electric

guitar string sphere as well, with the

arrival of the British Steel and Pure

Nickel sets. Previously available in a

generic pack, these string sets now have

their own packaging. The 12 string sets

have become the Double Six range and

both the sevens and the 12s are now

colour coded by gauge.

ROTOSOUND: 01732 450838


RETAIL • NEWS

AN ONLINE, interactive version of Audio

Technica’s new 2008-2009 product

catalogue is now available for customers

to use at audio-technica.com/catalogue.

The elegantly designed UK retail print

catalogue has been recreated in electronic

form to make it easy for dealers to find

product information and email to

colleagues – all from the comfort of their

computer. Everything within the hard copy

catalogue, from product images to

technical specifications and UK retail

pricing information is present in the

interactive version, which is fully

searchable and also allows users to add

notes to pages for future reference.

Harvey Roberts, Audio Technica’s senior

UK marketing manager, said, “In this

electronic age it’s important that we

provide our customers with online support

that makes life as easy for them as

possible. The interactive nature of the

electronic catalogue, with its ability to

create notes on customer preferences,

ordering reminders and so on makes it a

very useful resource for Audio-Technica’s

UK dealers.”

AUDIO TECHNICA: 0113 277 1441

Mic giant’s full product range now accessible online

Indie broadens its horizonsRecording studio and record company established and plans for a festival and record label are laid as UK firm ‘upgrades’

INDIE GUITARS is set to expand its remit

considerably, having established a

recording studio in a collaboration deal

with the facility, formerly known as 427.

Set up by renowned session guitarist

Adam Fox in 1991, 427 was recently

relocated to a disused munitions building

at Grove airfield – a major hub during the

Second World War – and acquired its new

name shortly after a meeting between Fox

and Indie MD and founder, Keith Willis in

September this year.

Plans have now been laid for an

expansion and upgrade. Indie Guitars is

taking on the adjoining building and the

dividing wall will be knocked through in

order to construct a 1,000 square-foot live

room and analog recording suite.

It is hoped that the partnership

between the two companies will result in

combined endorsement and recording

arrangements, enabling Indie to offer all-

in-one deals to deserving artists. According

to Fox, even bigger plans may also be in

the pipeline with talk of a record label at

the Indie camp.

The company intends to diversify even

further next year with the launch of the

first Indie Guitar festival – an open-air

summer event. The festival is designed to

raise awareness of the brand and establish

Indie on the festival circuit. Details of the

line-up are yet to be set in stone, but the

company has confirmed that a number of

Indie endorsers will be performing

alongside a number of big name acts that

are yet to be revealed. The event will most

likely take place at the end of July next

year, with the location and ticket sales

details still to be confirmed.

“Indie Guitars is not just about guitars,”

explained Willis. “We’re adamantly not

merely a guitar company. Guitars are built

to play music on and that’s what we’re all

about. Part of the whole plan for the

company was always to do more within

the music industry. Whether economically

forced or not, we were looking to diversify

anyway and we think that now is the right

time to do this.

“We ran a private test festival two years

ago and we plan to run the first Indie

Guitar festival next year – a three-day

outdoor event held at the end of July.

“We’d already intended to launch a

studio, but the opportunity came up

recently so we leapt at it with both hands.

We’re also proposing to launch a record

label called Indie Dreamer. All of this is

linked in – it all comes under the same

umbrella of what we’re doing.”

INDIE GUITARS: 01635 579300

Virtually Audio TechnicaRotosound new lines improve low tone choice for

guitarists and bassists and gives in to coated products

Portastudio in your pocketTASCAM HAS launched its first miniature

recorder, the DP-004 Digital Pocketstudio,

a portable four-track digital recorder no

bigger than a paperback book.

The DP-004 retains the ease-of-use of

cassette-based four-track recorders and

instead of confounding menus and

windows, the recorder uses a set of

dedicated knobs and buttons for easy

operation. Tracks or mixes can be

transferred to a computer via USB.

"Tascam invented home recording," said

Paul Jenkins, vice president of sales and

marketing for Tascam. "The DP-004 is our

most portable model yet, just plug in the

included AA batteries and take it

anywhere. It's the perfect holiday gift for

students, songwriters and musicians.”

The unit, which is available

immediately, has an estimated retail price

of £152.

TASCAM: 01923 438880


INDIE PROFILE • RETAIL

ALLEGRO MUSIC,OXFORD

Is business up or down compared to

last year?

About the same, really. We’re a highly

specialised woodwind and brass retailer,

having custom from all over the UK and

Europe coming to see us, so we’re very

different from most shops.

Do you advertise locally?

I try not to. I’m in the Yellow Pages, but I

do advertise in specialist magazines like

Jazz UK, the National Youth Jazz

Orchestra magazine, and sometimes in

the MU mag. I don’t do a shotgun job, I

do a rifle bullet one – you can waste a

lot of time and money advertising if you

do it wrong, but I also try and get on

local radio.

Do you have a web presence?

Yes, and I think it’s a very good one.

We’re at www.saxophoneheaven.com

and brass instruments at

www.brassheaven.co.uk.

What is your main strength?

Expertise. I’ve been playing for 55 years,

and we nearly know everything about

the saxophone. We know the old players

and the current ones, and have an awful

lot of experience here.

What is the most important lesson

you’ve learned during your time in

the business?

Hands on playing of instruments. We are

players here, and we do the job. We

know the business and have done for a

number of years, and we like to think we

know everything about what we do.

We’re very specialised.

What is the biggest challenge facing

you today?

I think it’s the same as any other music

shop – to survive. The good thing about

smaller shops is that if they do what

they know, and don’t get sidetracked

and panic, that’s the thing to do. Don’t

rip people off and they’ll come back.

Given the power, what would you

change about the industry?

Probably ensure that suppliers serve

their time in shops. If suppliers do deals

and sell things at cost to dealers, all that

is left is for people to go lower. People

can’t sell things at cost just to make

cash and move the metal. Suppliers need

to understand that.

FACTS & FIGURES

Address: 404 Marston Road,

Oxford, OX3 0JE

Phone: 01865 798165

Owner: Richard Baycock

Established: About 20 years ago

Number of employees: 2

RETAIL • NEWS

Gak.co.uk receives

Hitwise Top Ten awardInternet observer rates MI retailer with consumer music firms

GAK.CO.UK, the sister company of The

Guitar, Amp and Keyboard Centre in

Brighton, has earned a Hitwise Top Ten

award for ranking ninth, based on market

share of visits among all UK websites in

the ‘Shopping and Classified – Music

Industry’ category.

Gak.co.uk has been registered with

Hitwise for some years now and receives

reports from the internet activity observer

monthly and quarterly. The Brighton-based

company hit the top ten for the period

July to September 2008.

“Every member of staff is working really

hard to keep the company moving

forward, both in-store and online, awards

like this show us we’re doing something

right,” said Gary Marshall, Gak’s MD.

As an independent store based on the

south coast of England, from which the

retailer still earns more than 60 per cent

of its revenue, Gak has turned its sales of

musical instruments into a national sales

operation and the website now makes up

a good chunk of the company’s income.

Marshall added: “While this is

undoubtedly great news and it shows

what we can achieve, I still want to

emphasise that as a bricks and mortar

retailer, we are still a big player and going

from strength to strength.”

The news of the website charts is still

giving the company a big feelgood factor.

“This has given us a real sense of

achievement,” said Gak’s marketing

manager, Max Mckellar, adding: “We felt it

was worth shouting about as we are up

against multi-national firms that deal with

music consumption as opposed to music

making. I think this is a milestone.”

GAK: 01273 665428

Nevada’s online

presence turns headsWebsite acknowledged by Hampshire County Council

NEVADA MUSIC has been named

runner-up as Best Small Business

Website in the Hants Web Awards.

The awards recognise the

development of local web-based

businesses and Nevada will add the

award to a number of other industry and

local business accolades it has won for

its services in the past few years.

Nevada Music relaunched its website

just over a year ago, working alongside a

web development company. The

relaunch has increased Nevada’s

customer base, as well as improving its

service to existing customers.

The judges commented: “This is a

world-class e-commerce site that many

of the largest retailers could learn from.

“Up-to-date products are presented

well and all the e-commerce basics of

delivery, returns and security are well

managed. Team information and buying

guides are good.”

Nevada’s MD, Mike Devereux, said:

“These awards are very important to us,

they are a recognition of the talented

Nevada Music web team, which has

developed The Nevada Music Experience

– a site with heart, soul and authority.”

NEVADA: 01489 578737

The Nevada

Music team

receiving the

award

NINE VOLT AUDIO

TAIKO

£85They say: Offers composers a unique set of

tools to create compelling drum performances.

For: Studios, computer musicians

Spec: Multi-sampled library of Japanese

drums, range of articulations and effected

sounds, Kontakt scripting, patches with up to

90 velocity layers.

From: Time + Space 01837 55200

VOX

JAMVOX

£159They say: Drag-and-drop access to virtually any

combination of sought-after amp and effects models.

For: Guitarists, vocalists

Spec: Korg GXT Guitar XTracktion technology, imports

MP3/iTunes, guitar/vocal extraction or mute function,

instrument/vocal record function, USB-powered, amp,

cab and FX models, hardware with two 3“ speakers and

two bass reflex port.

From: Korg 01908 857100


DYNASONIC

PDR-1 PORTABLE

RECORDER

£110They say: A high quality digital

recorder, specially designed for audio

and music recording.

For: Musicians

Range: New FCN product

Spec: USB or two AA battery-

powered, built-in condenser mics,

switchable mic, guitar & audio inputs,

built-in monitor, input and output

volume control, 16b/44kHz quality.

From: FCN 01892 603730

PRESONUS

STUDIO CHANNEL

£249They say: Delivers first-rate sound at

every stage.

For: Studios

Range: Presonus outboard

Spec: Tube-based Class A

mic/instrument preamp, VCA

compressor, three-band parametric

eq, 1U rackable, metal chassis.

From: Source Distribution

020 8962 5080

NORD

STAGE EX

STAGE PIANOS

£2,599 & £2,399They say: An even greater selection of

sounds for each and every performance.

Range: Nord stage pianos

Spec: 256MB memory, accompanied by releases of

Studio Grand2 XL version and others from Nord Stage

Piano library, velocity and aftertouch sensitive keyboard

(88 and 76 keys available), three sound engines.

From: Sound Technology 01462 480000

NOVATION

REMOTE SL37 LIMITED

EDITION

£369.99They say: All the advantages of

Automap in a keyboard as futuristic

as the concept that it delivers.

For: Studios, performers

Range: Novation Remote

Spec: Eight faders, 16 rotary

controllers divided into 16 boxes with

transport, octave and data/select

sections, Automap sequencer control,

automatic assignment, 999 models.

From: Focusrite 01494 836324

TASCAM

DP004 PORTASTUDIO

£152They say: Retains the legendary ease-of-use of cassette-

based four-track recorders.

Range: Tascam Portastudio

Spec: Dedicated knobs and buttons, 1/4" inputs for mic or line,

built in stereo mic, stereo mixdown track, USB compatible, AA

battery powered, SD Card media, ships with 1GB card.

From: Tascam 01923 438880

The Tascam Portastudio

(above) is a great

starting point for

musicians who want to

start recording

NEWPRODUCTSBASS & GUITAR � ACCESSORIES � DRUMS � RECORDING � PRINT

NEW PRODUCTS • RECORDING & HI TECH

EKO

KADETT SL1 ELECTRIC

£149.95They say: Italian style reissued for

the discerning 21st century player.

For: Guitarists

Range: Eko electrics

Spec: Tone wood body, maple neck,

rosewood or maple fingerboard, two

single coil (neck and centre) and

bridge humbucker pickups, available

in natural, or metallic blue or red

finishes.

From: Freestyle 01924 455414

FRESHMAN

APOLLO 1 SERIES

£249.95They say: Guitars that simply defy

belief when the price is compared to

the quality of the instruments.

For: Guitarists

Range: Freshman acoustics

Spec: Two body shapes: grand

auditorium cutaway (Apollo 1OC) or

dreadnought cutaway (Apollo 1DC)

grade A sitka spruce top, mahogany

back and sides, rosewood fingerboard

and bridge, gold machineheads,

Fishman 201 ION system, built in tuner.

From: AAA 01355 228028


WASHBURN

IDOL RANGE, FROM £849They say: Passionately hand-built in Washburn's Chicago

facility by some of America's best luthiers.

Spec: Five new models. WI570: humbucker loaded, single-cut

mahogany body, maple top, mahogany neck, rosewood

fingerboard. WI566: EMG pickups, Buzz Feiten tuning system,

TonePros tune-o-matic bridge. WI568: figured maple top,

Seymour Duncan electronics with coil tapping. WI580: Seymour

Duncan pickups with coil tap. Also WI420, WI440 & WI460.

From: Sound Technology 01462 480000

INDIE

THE SOUND

£379They say: Ultra clear low

frequencies through the sound board

the same time as the highs, for a

balanced output.

For: Guitarists, studios

Range: Indie acoustics

Spec: Jumbo body, cedar top, open-

pore satin finish, mahogany back,

sides and neck, lacquered inside back

for accelerated projection.

From: Indie Guitars 01635 579300

ARIA

SB-1000 CB BASS

£749They say: Modelled on Metallica’s

bassist, the late Cliff Burton, and the

ideal bass for metal or rock.

For: Bassists

Range: Aria SB basses

Spec: Ash body, maple/walnut 5-ply

double octave thru-neck, ebony

fingerboard, active MB-1E dual coil

pickup, BB low-noise circuitry, six-

position pickup attack

selector Gotoh tuners and

tail piece, black hardware,

black gloss finish.

From: Aria 01483 238720

VINTAGE

SYNERGY ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC

£149They say: The acoustic guitar for people who prefer electrics.

For: Guitarists

Range: Vintage electros

Spec: Partial bowl back cutaway body, C-section neck profile,

fine frets, six-in-line tuners, Shadow undersaddle piezo pickup

and P3B preamp, available in sunburst, natural, ruby red burst

and gloss black finishes.

From: JHS 0113 286 5381

SHINE

RK-2000 NT BASS

£249They say: A classic shape made

more accessible with quality

manufacture and a great price.

For: Bassists

Range: Shine basses

Spec: Maple body, maple thru-neck,

rosewood fingerboard, two double

coil pickups, chrome hardware,

diecast tuners, black finish.

From: Intermusic 01202 696963

Shine on the money,

with a high class bass

at a low price

NEW PRODUCTS • BASS & GUITAR

ADMIRA

ECLIPSE & MALAGA THIN BODIED ELECTRO CUTAWAY CLASSICAL GUITARS

£339They say: The first thin-bodied guitars in this range – ideal for younger or smaller players.

For: Guitarists

Range: Admira classical guitars

Spec: Sapelli back and sides, African mahogany neck, mongoy fingerboard & bridge, Shadow P3B

preamp. Malaga: solid cedar top. Eclipse: black coloured solid spruce.

From: Barnes & Mullins 01691 652449


STAGG

SQUARENECK RESONATOR

£226.85They say: For the country and

bluegrass slide players who want

something just for them.

For: Slide guitarists

Range: Stagg acoustics

Spec: Squareneck lap-style resonator,

spruce top with nickel-plated steel

cover plate, large cone spider-style

resonator, mahogany back, sides and

square neck, rosewood fingerboard,

nickel-plated bridge and tailpiece,

diecast nickel machineheads.

From: EMD 01293 862612

GODIN

5TH AVENUE ARCHTOP

ACOUSTIC

£POAThey say: Takes you back to a time

when the archtop acoustic guitar

reigned supreme.

For: Guitarists

Range: Godin acoustics

Spec: Canadian wild cherry body,

back and sides, silverleaf maple neck,

rosewood fingerboard and adjustable

bridge, floating pickguard over f-

holes, cream binding. Cognac burst,

natural and black finishes available.

From: Active Music 020 8693 5678

SPONGEBOB

SQUAREPANTS

3/4 SIZE ELECTRIC GUITAR

PACK

£89.99They say: Spongebob Squarepants

guitars go punk – turn these guitars

way up loud.

For: Beginners and young guitarists

Range: Spongebob Squarepants

instruments

Spec: 3/4-size twin cutaway electric

guitar, forearm chamfer and rear

ribcage contour, maple neck and

fretboard, single coil pickup, single

rotary volume control, inbuilt amp

and speaker, 9V battery powered,

jack socket, headphone out.

Spongebob graphics. Ships with

carry bag, signal lead, strap, pick

and Spongebob tutorial DVD.

From: JHS 0113 286 5381

OZARK

DELUXE ‘D’ MODEL

£595They say: A touch of pure class for

the bluegrass or country afficionado.

For: Guitarists

Range: Ozark acoustics

Spec: Solid spruce top, solid

rosewood back and sides, ‘tree of life’

abalone inlaid 12 fret neck with

inlaid edges and soundhole, chrome

plated machineheads, Artec

transducer and endpin jack preamp.

Vintage style finish.

From: Stentor 01737 240226

OZARK

DELUXE PARLOUR GUITAR

£525They say: Ozark Deluxe guitars offer

superb value and quality and all

include a hard case.

For: Guitarists

Range: Ozark Deluxe series

Spec: Solid spruce top, solid

rosewood back and sides. 12 fret

neck, fitted with D’Addario EXP

strings, Artec transducer and endpin

jack preamp, ships with hard case,

630mm scale length.

From: Stentor 01737

240226 The Amira classical range

now boasts a thin-bodied

model (left) - ideal for

younger players

BASS & GUITAR • NEW PRODUCTS

ADMIRA

SERIE ORO CLASSICAL GUITARS

FROM

£879.99They say: Admira’s latest addition to these

highly acclaimed instruments.

For: Guitarists

Range: Admira classical guitars

Spec: Solid German spruce top, Honduras

cedar neck, ebony fingerboard, Rubner

machine heads. Rojo with redwood back and

sides, Blanco with German maple, Negro with

Indian rosewood. All ship with hard case.

From: Barnes & Mullins 01691 652449

Comment: The advanced editions (three

volumes for low, medium and high voices)

of this excellent series provide a wealth of

classic repertoire, selected and presented

to develop the skills needed to sing in a

foreign language, and will doubtless prove

a prime resource for teacher and students.

Each song comes with a detailed

pronunciation guide (using the

International Phonetic Alphabet) and

background information on the song. The

CDs provide a spoken text read by a native

speaker as well as a recording of each

song’s accompaniment on piano (by Iain

Farrington). These three books focus on

Italian, German, French and Russian.

The Association of Teachers of Singing

are quoted in the blurb for these editions

as saying that singing teachers have been

waiting for a publication of this nature for

a very long time and that they offer the

best introduction to singing in other

languages that it had come across. Which

is certainly high praise.

That ends the details. The reason these

books take the Book of the Month slot is

that the precision in every aspect of this

book – the most valuable publications for

the serious singer for some time – simply

ooze with care and attention. The purpose

is functional – aimed squarely at the

highest level of education, but the pages

carry a lot of the emotion of the editors,

as well as that of the composers. Put

simply: quite superb editions.

FABER: 01279 828989

BOOK OF THE MONTH

CHRISTMASArtist: Donald Sosin(arr)Baching Around theChristmas TreeTarget: Sax, woodwind, brass, strings

Comment: A selection of well worn Christmas

songs (14 in all) from The First Noel to Go Tell

It on the Mountain, but intriguingly arranged in

the styles of 14 composers from Purcell to

John Williams. The book is available for ten

different instruments, comes with backing CD

and will be a lot of fun for the learner soloists.

HAL LEONARD (DE HASKE): 01536 260981

PRINT • NEW PRODUCTS


Artist: Richard Harris(arr)Play ChristmasTarget: Violin & piano

Comment: Ten modern festive classics from

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to Wham’s

Last Christmas, arranged for piano and violin

and targeting the Grade 3 to 5 player. Full

backing is on the CD – as are the piano

accompaniments in pdf version. A simple, yet

extremely effective book that does what it

says on the tin and supplies young learners

with valuable seasonal repertoire. The focus

on popular tunes gives it that bit of extra

appeal at this time of year.

FABER: 01279 828989

Artist:Furlong/Milburn/NortonThe Little Cradle RocksTarget: Vocal/piano

Comment: Two of Boosey & Hawkes’ top

educational composers (plus the introduction of

Andrew Milburn to the ranks) get together to

create 14 new Christmas songs for two, three or

four upper voices (and full piano accompaniment).

The idea is to put contemporary styles and

rhythms before the singers, who can be

accompanied by piano or by the backing CD

included. An excellent edition for all of those busy

choirs out there this Christmas.

BOOSEY & HAWKES (SCHOTT): 020 7534 0744

Artist: Various (Kemp & Pegler – eds)The Language of Song

Artist: Timothy Roberts& Jan BettsSing NowellTarget: Education, PVG, general

Comment: Something of a breath of fresh

air in the season of trying to make

everything new and different: 34 Christmas

carols arranged for simple piano, with guitar

chords and all lyrics. Ring and hard bound for

easy placement on the piano music stand,

attractively illustrated for the younger

player, and with two CDs of demo and

backing, it’s everything a Christmas carol

book should be.

A&C BLACK: 020 7758 0200

Artist: Katherine & HughColledgeA Yuletide SuiteSeries: Simply 4 Strings

Target: Elementary string ensembles

Comment: Not a new publication, but

certainly Christmas relevant, the Colledge

family’s series of ‘modular’ arrangements of

songs that can be used with almost any mix

of instruments available. Four pieces (from the

Czech Republic, Gasconym Cornwall and

Wales) all arranged to give even the earliest

beginner something to do and enjoy.

BOOSEY & HAWKES (SCHOTT):

020 7534 0744

CLASSICALArtist: Various (ArtemVassilev – arr)Classical Play-alongSeries: Master Play-along

Target: Violin, flute, clarinet, trumpet, sax

(Grades 3 to 5)

Comment: This book and CD focuses on 12

works from classical masters (Beethoven

Haydn, Mozart and Gluck) with live recordings

of the orchestra for all of the above

instruments. Piano notation is on the CD as

pdfs. Fun for younger students.

SCHOTT: 020 7534 0744


NEW PRODUCTS • PRINT

Artist: Astor PiazzollaEl ViajeTarget: Piano

Comment: The man many consider to be the

master of tango Nuevo has been arranged for

piano in this brand new edition. The pieces are

aimed at the intermediate player and include

extracts from Piazzolla’s incidental music for A

Midsummer Night’s Dream and Family Troupe

and, of course, The Journey (El Viaje) in full.

Those looking for a challenge will be taking

this one up – although this book is definitely

not for the feint hearted.

BOOSEY & HAWKES (SCHOTT):

020 7534 0744

Artist: Mary CohenBags of Tunes/Bags of FolkSeries: Mary Cohen’s Superseries

Target: Cello, violin

Comment: Repertoire for the younger learner

as Cohen combines well-known tunes and

original pieces based around the first finger

pattern. No further comments or notes are

made so that teachers can maintain their own

fingering, bowing and dynamics methods as

required. Bags of Folk does the same, only

introduces the learner to the world of

traditional music from Britain and the US.

FABER: 01279 828989

Author: Kevin Mitchell(compiler)The Musician’s Joke BookTarget: Musicians, general

Comment: Over 100 pages of ruthless mockery

of all musicians – no-one is spared, which is

nice, as it means there are sections of the book

when one looks embarrassedly around to make

sure no-on else has seen one that applies to

you, but then a few pages one can guffaw with

ease at the precision with which others are

spiked. A neat gift for any muso at a tad under

seven quid and one that will give a good few

hours of pleasure at rehearsals and other

musician-oriented gatherings.


Author: HelenMacGregor & SteveChadwickSinging SpanishTarget: Language education (key stage 2)

Comment: A series of beginner Spanish

lessons built around new songs and chants.

Song is arguably the most efficient way of

implanting words and phrases into the mind

and is also an excellent way to establish a

fun atmosphere in the classroom. Set

alongside any Spanish programme, this will

be welcomed by pupils and teachers alike.

A&C BLACK: 020 7758 0200

Artist: Various (MarkPhillips arr)30 Easy Spanish GuitarSolosTarget: Guitar

Comment: The word ‘easy’ in the title

probably needs some sort of qualification.

Easy it might be for the higher grade learner

of classical and/or Spanish guitar, but for the

many (who seem to be included as the

notation is accompanied by tablature) this is a

book with some hard work involved. That said,

making the style more accessible is no bad

thing. Any guitarist should be encouraged to

give this a go – many new tricks to be learnt.


GENERALAuthor: Phil TaylorThe Black StratTarget: General, enthusiasts

Comment: Subtitled ‘A history of David

Gilmour’s black Fender Stratocaster’ this

book was a contender for book of the

month. This is a coffee table volume of

considerable beauty, with excellent archive

pics and what is possibly the most in-

depth research into the life of a single

electric guitar ever – for an off the shelf

purchase from Manny’s in NYC.

HAL LEONARD (DE HASKE):

01536 260981

EDUCATIONArtist: Ted EschlimanGetting into JazzMandolinTarget: Mandolin players

Comment: One is tempted to say ‘now I have

seen it all’ but this is dead serious. On the

wave of mandolin and ukulele fever, players

are looking for more involved musical

challenges – and jazz is about as good a

grounding as one can get to open doors into

blues, pop and even classical music. Watch

out for those jazz mando solos in the future.

MEL BAY: 020 8323 8010

Artist: Jonathan LarsonRentSeries: Pro Vocal

Target: Vocal

Comment: Larson’s massive Broadway hit is

pared down here to just eight songs, arranged

for the rehearsal/audition/karaoke market

with a backing CD that is computer

compatible in order to allow pitch changes.

Rent never quite took off in the UK as it did in

the States, but that does not mean there are

not big fans of the show over here –

particularly among the singing fraternity.


POPULAR & JAZZ

MI MARKETPLACE

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

MARKETPLACE INDEX

The Music Shipping Company is

now established as a key supplier

of percussion products to UK

retail stores. It supplies leading brands

such as Natal, Aquarian, Mono, Holz,

Groove Juice and Shaw.

It carries huge stocks of Remo and

Vic Firth products and many niche

market percussion items, such as

Hansenfutz pedals and Triplet Gloves,

together with an array of accessories

and consumables. All of these items are

shipped on a next-day delivery basis

from its warehousing in the Midlands.

Natal has undergone a huge increase

in its profile in 2008, with brand new

lines and additions to its already well-

established ranges. The professional

series of Natal Congas and Bongos are

still made in the UK, using the original

moulds and patterns, all hand produced.

This scrupulous attention to design

carries through to all its other products,

too. Anything that carries a Natal badge

is of the highest quality at its price point.

Aquarian drumheads are now viewed

as the finest quality available, with

many leading drummers joining the

family of endorsers. Another range that

has been advanced is Shaw Sticks,

which now features accessories such as

drum bags and practice aids.

MSC’s product ranges also extend to

non-percussionists, with its supply of

hearing products from US-based Hearos

and the market-leading ER20 ear filters.

Several web-based innovations were

put in place this year, such as a full

‘dealer-only’ secure online catalogue,

with full ordering facilities. The main

MSC website is now focused on product

information and advice for drummers.

SU

PP

LIE

R S

PO

TLIG

HT

THE PLACE FOR BUSINESS

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

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

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

H

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

HOT ROX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0115 987 3163

L

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

M

MADAROZZO™/CBAC LTD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 020 8816 8368

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

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

R

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

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

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

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

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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

Shipping yourmusic products...



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

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GUITAR ACCESSORIES

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

Order online @:www.allparts.uk.comor email us: [email protected]

Pick a part

• Amp Cabinets • Capacitors • Hardware• Resistors • Transformers • Tubes

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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

PIANO MOVERS

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]

PERCUSSION AND DRUMS

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

Adam Hall...........................19

Anglo Spanish Guitars......5

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

Barnes & Mullins ................11

DBT Technology...............57

EMC.......................................9

EMD.....................................75

Euro Music ........................25

Future..................................41

Herga .................................48

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

Indie Guitar ........................21

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

Korg ....................................29

Lamba................................50

Lesiuretec .........................34

M Audio .........................4, 37

Marshall................................2

MB Media...........................55

Messe Frankfurt ................71

NAMM ................................60

P & R Howard ...................33

Peavey................................53

Roland ................................76

S.Johnson............................3

Sanden .................................9

Sherwood ..........................47

Shure..................................45

Sound Tech...........................1

Stand First ........................28

TEAC...................................39

Warwick .............................42

Westside........................13, 17


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

TO ADVERTISE

IN MIPRO

CALLDARRELL

CARTER ON

01992

535 647

SEND YOUR PICTURES TO [email protected]


DECEMBER 2004

COVER STARS: Arbiter Group’s Andrew

Landesberg discusses ‘the storm before the calm’

following his company’s loss of its Harman Pro

and Fender accounts in the UK as both companies

went for ‘self-distribution’ the year before.

Landesberg reveals he always believed that Arbiter

would emerge stronger than ever.

NEWS: Musikmesse pulls out of Russian show,

MacDonald’s Music of Camberley closes and

owner, Jon MacDonald, retires from the MIA retail

committee, Pat Kelly reveals the manoeuvring in

Sound Control’s purchase of Academy of Sound.

FEATURES: Music Live and Schools Promos

reports, NAMM preview, Chip and Pin questions

answered, Audio Toyz, G&R Piano Removals

PRODUCTS: Parker P36 and PM10, Vintage Metal

Axxe, Electro Harmonix 16 Second delay, M Audio

02 USB MIDI controller, Antigua saxes

NUMBER 1 SINGLES:

Girls Aloud – I'll Stand By You, Band Aid 20 – Do

They Know It's Christmas?

NUMBER 1 ALBUMS:

U2 – How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, Robbie

Williams – Greatest Hits

RETRO

THE LAST WORD IN MI PRO

IT’S ALL ABOUT LIVE MUSICMusic Live came around once more and,

as ever, amid the throngs of the tyre-

kicking public and exciteable school kids,

the personalities of the MI trade were

gaining their annual lesson in how to deal

with the general public. Lessons, of course,

that any retailer would be more than

happy to impart.

Above we see Audio Technica UK’s

marketing manager and resident German

linguist, Denise Burnage, dealing with an

enquiry from an Audio Technica endorser,

Robin Guy (he uses an AT3000 wireless

system, as well as the ATM 73 VW wireless

monitoring headset). Guy was giving drum

clinics at the show and also appearing on

the stage with Swans in Flight.

On the left is a new face to MI, Sarah

Rand, the founder of Randy Straps, who

was at the show to get a flavour of the

rock n roll world she finds herself in.

Randy Straps are exclusive, custom made

and bespoke straps that are made

specifically to the customer’s

specifications and make worthy

companions for the most prestigious

guitars... Or any much loved instrument,

for that matter.

MI Pro prides itself on bringing you hard-hitting news and analysis, but, we reckon you’d also enjoy seeing your peers in

their more ‘off duty’ moments. So, we’ve expanded CODA to include a permanent pictorial spread of the month’s social

highlights. If you have any snaps from an event you’d like us to include, please send them to [email protected]...



MI ICON microKORG

Since its release in 2002, the

microKORG has racked up an

impressive number of

appearances both live and on record,

building itself a huge and varied

fanbase and rightfully gaining itself a

position as a modern MI Icon.

There is an awful lot of power in its

diminutive, retro-styled casing. As a

result, the micoKorg has become

popular thanks to its flexibility, tonal

nuance and, importantly, low cost,

which has meant that unlike some of

its richer brothers it has been able to

reach a large market of musicians

looking for something extra to add to

their sound.

Packing in 37 keys and a huge

number of presets into a suitably cool

looking, wooden-ended frame that

screams of retro cools, the

microKORG’s strength lies in its dual

oscillator DSP synthesis engine – the

same that can be found in the much

loved MS2000 – which gives players a

huge selection of waveforms. Over 70

waveforms on the first oscillator,

including a number of traditional

analog waves, can be combined with

the ring and sync modulation in

oscillator two to create sounds that

would be out of place on a synth five

times the price.

Artists as diverse as the Killers, the

Prodigy, Royksopp and Bloc Party have

found a space in their set-ups for the

little synth and it’s easy to see why.

Using DSP technology to replicate the

sounds of an analog synth, it features

129 factory preset sounds bunched

together in eight groups – trance,

techno/house, electronic, drum n bass

breaks, hip hop, vintage, retro, S.E./hit,

and of course a vocoder, which can

transform the voice of the singer and

make them sound like a funky robot

for the future.

A hugely powerful and cost-

effective bit of kit, the microKORG

deserves a place in the MI Icon hall of

fame thanks to its widespread use,

distinctive sounds and popularity.



SEND YOUR PICTURES TO [email protected]

SMILES ALL ROUND AT THE NECTop left: One of Music Live’s biggest fans, Rotosound

maintained its presence at the show. Here Kathy and

Jason How give proceedings a big thumbs up.

Above: Adam Hall’s Andrew Richardson seemed

exceptionally relaxed, despite this being his first Music

Live attendance. Some people are simply unshockable.

Speaking of which, Playmusic magazine’s Nick Bryant

and Tim Slater (left) have seen it all before and so enjoy

soaking up the vibe – as well as enjoying the launch of

their new online version of the magazine.

Robin Pecknold

Acoustic guitar, vocals – Martin D28

Skye Skjelset

Guitar – Epiphone Casino, Fender Twin

Casey Wescott

Keyboards – Fender Rhodes, Korg Trident

Christian Wargo

Bass – Fender Precision, Ampeg

J Tilman

Drums – Ludwig kit, Paiste cymbols


Seattle-based Fleet Foxes’

recently released album of

‘baroque harmonic pop jams’ and

caused quite a stir thanks to its

classic songwriting, tight knit

harmonies and intricate sound.

Here’s the gear the quintet are

using at the moment…

SOUNDALIKESFLEET FOXES

NEXTMONTHMarket spotlights on guitar effects and

entry-level electric guitars, a major

profile of an iconic British brand, plus

the usual hot news, chilled comment

and the latest in retail on the side.

EDITORIAL: ANDY BARRETT

[email protected]

ADVERTISING: DARRELL CARTER

[email protected]

Company / Job Title: JHS Marketing

Dept PR / Gear Editor / Maker

of strong coffee

Years in the industry: Knocking on

the door of (cough) 20 years now

First single bought: The Smiths -

What Difference Does It Make? (With

the Terence Stamp cover sleeve – a

quite exceptional first 45rpm choice,

if I may make so bold).

Favourite album: Eagles Hotel

Califormia – guitars and harmonies

never sounded better. Wish I could

have been there

Currently listening to: Kings Of

Leon: Only By The Night; AC/DC:

Black Ice; Bread: Essentials

(Retrospective)

Favourite musicians: Robben Ford,

Robin Trower, Robyn... (Okay, I’m

Robin'd out)

What instruments do you play?

Electric and acoustic guitar,

mandolin, keyboards (did seven years

classical piano as a young ‘un),

drums, kazoo

Are you in a band? Lead guitar / vox

in 60s band Rain. I get to be every

60’s guitarist from Hank to Hendrix –

in one night. Great fun

Gibson Keddie

SCHOOLS PROMSNo famous faces in this section this month,

but you never know – in time, these could

prove to be the big stars in the future.

The Schools Proms ran from November

12th to 14th this year and presented the

15,000 strong audience that attended the

three gala performances with musicianship

that was not ‘good for their age’, but good –

full stop. From jazz to grime, rock to classical,

with bands, orchestras and choirs all featured,

the eclectic mix of styles confirmed that it

doesn’t matter what the music is – the

younger generation loves to play it.

Music for Youth, which has existed for 37

years and has now presented 34 Schools

Proms, is a registered charity and is open for

all offers of help, whether with the regional

festivals (which see some 45,000 kids

participate) or in terms of full scale, big

money sponsorship.

If you give anything over the next year,

give to this organisation. It does more for the

future of music in the UK than anyone.


MI SPACE

© Intent Media 2008 No part of this publication may be

reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission

of 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 monthly

circulation of well over

6,000. It is distributed

to all MI retailers and

industry professionals

plus carefully selected

pro audio executives

and 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 or

email: [email protected]. Please note

that this is a controlled circulation title and

subscription criteria will be strictly adhered to.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

WISHING ALL OUR CUSTOMERS

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR

www.staggmusic.com

mi pro issue 103, december 2008

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