-Guitar Hero is all the rage for consumers.

-Need to take a break from searching for the latest gear during The NAMM Show? Here are some celebrity appearances and parties to check out.

-Attendance increased at Music China and Prolight + Sound, and Kenny G made a big splash.

-Improving next month's NAMM Show is like making the 1972 Miami Dolphins better. But NAMM is certainly not resting on its laurels.

-We reveal all of the manufacturer nominees for Music & Sound Awards to be handed out next month at The NAMM Show.

-Counterfeiting on MI products, particularly guitars, may have received minimal national press, but the problem is real and not going away.

-Find out how to sell products your customers are probably not looking to buy.

-M&SR features its second annual independent retailer roundtable. What's on dealer's mind's this year. Are things better than last year?

-Females playing musical instruments now outnumber males, according to a NAMM/Gallup survey.

-Industry leaders paved the way for the next 10 years.

M&SR: Which guitar in your collection is most valuable to you?
Pritchard: Well I have a 1957 Gibson Les Paul. I hate Les Pauls, but it was my dad’s so that, I suppose…I’d be most reluctant to sell that one. Let’s put it that way.

M&SR: What other gear do you use?
Pritchard: I’m pretty simple. I only have one pedal, which is a Boss Blues Driver. I think we use Ernie Ball strings. Quite simple, really. I don’t really know much about guitars. I just like to write songs on them and play them.

M&SR: Has being in a band made you want to try new instruments?
Pritchard: Yeah, I love trying. I’m rubbish, but I love trying [Laughs]. Even just on the level that I’m not a very good guitar player but Hugh [Harris] is really good. So I always ask him to show me how to play things. I play drums a little bit. It’s quite fun to smack the [heck] out of something. For five minutes, just go mental.

M&SR: Do you shop at retail stores often?
Pritchard: I buy guitars all the time. I’m a bit of a guitar collector, so [I’m always in guitar stores] but I wish they’d send us more free ones. [Laughs] I really like vintage stuff, so I often go to a few on Denmark Street in London, which is where all the guitar shops are. I just bought a really nice Dobro, actually. It’s a beautiful Dobro Resonator from 1934.
There’s a company called Kato. They’re really, really cool. We kind of met them first when we were on tour. One of the people who works for them is a tour manager as well. So we got to know him. They’re not really retailers but they have gear—drums particularly—and they have rehearsal rooms. They have deals with Zildjian and Tama I think. So Paul gets a lot of his stuff from there. But they’re also a really nice bunch of people. They’ll sort you out with anything. I’ll talk to them and they’ll be like, “We got some new stuff in; do you want to try it out?” You know? So that’s really cool.

M&SR: What kinds of new things have they told you about, or are you looking for?
Pritchard: An example is Maton, this relatively new company from Australia. They make these acoustic guitars and they’re not the best acoustic guitars, but what they are is amazing through a PA. Their DIs are amazing. So they turned me on to them. Actually, the guy is getting me a little drum kit, funny enough, for my flat. Because I have jam nights all the time with my friends.
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