-RPMD-Yay! Boston’s Seaport Hotel was the place to be in late April for tons of information to help you sell print music products.
-Music City Miracle? Is this the year Summer NAMM makes a great comeback?
-Moonlighting. A look at manufacturers/reps who still perform regular gigs and how it helps them in their day jobs.
-The Bright Stuff. We always hear the bad news going on in the world. How about the good news?
-The 'Real' Guitar Heroes. What will the future of the guitar industry look like?

Kani Ka Pila brought a taste of Hawaii to its first NAMM show. The freshman company introduced the Kani Ka Pila Klip, which serves purposes not just for players but also for retailers. Sporting two individual clips, the Klip expands to an inch to clip on the headstock of most guitars, ukuleles, and banjos, as well as music and mic stands. Players can display sheet music, as well as the company’s chord charts, fretboard maps, Chord Transposition Wheel, and Chord ‘Minders. And retailers can use the clips to display pricing and product information in their stores.

Also making its NAMM debut was Ambrosonics, which came armed with a series of guitars with MP3 Recording, DSP, and USB options already installed. Among these guitars was the MP3 Recording Guitar. This instrument has 45 DSP sounds built in, and lets the player record up to eight hours of music into the guitar, which can then be transferred to a computer, iPod, or other MP3 player via USB. Players can also overdub to the music in the player.

What’s old was new again at Fender’s booth with the Stratocaster, Telecaster, Precision Bass, and Jazz Bass all getting redesigns. The electric guitars sport a redesigned bridge, bent-steel saddles with elongated string slots, and a new neck and body finish. The updated bass models feature a new neck and body finish, lightweight tuners, height-leveled pole pieces, and the new HMV high-mass vintage bridge.

Taylor Guitars carved out a new identity with the official launch of its solid body electric guitars. The new models include Classic, Standard, and Custom. All three come with new Taylor humbuckers, an aluminum bridge, and a top inset with exotic woods. According to the company, this gives the “look of a bound guitar, with the comfort of a contoured body.”

Rounding out this list is an old face with a new name. Industry veteran Daryl McCain, who has worked for Yamaha, Conn-Selmer, and others over his 12 years in this industry. Now he has started his own company, BackBeat Marketing & Consulting. Though brand new, the marketing company already boasts Sabian, Vater, Balter Mallets, Antigua Winds, Mapex, and Aquarian Drumheads among its clients.
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