It’s hard to believe that it’s been a quarter century of awards, but we’ve reached our silver anniversary. We will be handing out the 25th annual Music & Sound Awards in just a few weeks: Jan. 13 at Winter NAMM to be exact. So who’s up for some great hardware this year? We contacted the nominees, asking them to share what the honor means to them. Also, for our 25th edition of the awards, we added a new category. Best New Manufacturer honors the rookie of the year, if you will. There are some fantastic companies up for that prize.
This marks the greatest diversity of nominees ever. More than 75 different manufacturers have been nominated this year. Let’s look at the full nominee list. Also, check out the inside of this issue to see if you were nominated. We have our full list of dealer nominees, as well!
Best Acoustic Guitar:
C.F. Martin DCPA1
On behalf of all of my co-workers at Martin, we want to thank our loyal guitar-playing customers and dealers for noticing and acknowledging our company, especially our efforts to blend our traditional Martin Dreadnought design with a cutaway and sophisticated electronics. We embed tremendous pride and care into each of our guitars and the award for Best Acoustic Guitar means everything to us. Beyond that, we strive with our company and charitable foundation to be an excellent corporate citizen. We don’t brag about this, so it’s especially nice to be recognized for the Outstanding Community Service Award. Thank you!”
—C. F. Martin IV, chairman & CEO
Ovation Adamas Kaki King Signature Model
“Ovation is extremely proud to have our“Kaki King Signature model nominated for this Music & Sound Award. Kaki is one of the most talented players we have ever had the pleasure to work with. From her early days learning to play her father’s Adamas guitar, Kaki has always displayed a natural ability to extend the musical possibilities players can get out of their guitars. Her new signature model will certainly inspire others to do the same.” —Rick Hall, Ovation product manager, KMC Music
Ibanez Montage (MSC350PW)
Taylor Baritone 8 String
“Wow! ‘Best New Acoustic,’ ‘Outstanding Community Service,’ ‘Product of the Year’ and ‘Manufacturer of the Year’ awards….We are honored to be acknowledged in multiple categories. The Music & Sound Awards represent true achievement in our industry, and once again to be part of this elite group is rewarding. Thanks to our dedicated and enthusiastic network of retailers and our many fans for their ongoing love and support of the Taylor brand.”
—Brian Swerdfeger, vice president sales & marketing
Hohner Essential Folk EL-SF Plus
“Hohner is honored that our Essential Folk acoustic guitar has been recognized as one of the most important new products. In the very crowded acoustic guitar market, the Essential series guitars have definitely risen above the competition. It is truly gratifying to see this product acknowledged by this Music & Sound awards nomination.” —Scott Emmerman, director of sales and marketing
Best Electric Guitar:
Ibanez RGA 8 String (RGA8BK)
DBZ Guitars Imperial Series
“I am honored that the DBZ Imperial has been nominated by dealers for Best Electric Guitar of The Year. I had the concept for a long time, but never built it. The inception of the DBZ brand gave me a perfect opportunity to make it a reality.”
—Dean Zelinsky, CEO
Jackson JS Series
“We’re pleased the Jackson JS Series was nominated for Best Electric Guitar of the Year. We listened to our dealer network and tried to design the right instrument at the right price. We’re happy to see they’re successful for dealers and consumers.” —Jeff Cary, senior vice president, marketing–Specialty Brands, Fender
PRS 513 Swamp Ash
Line 6 Variax
Best Bass Guitar:
Ibanez SRA Series (SRA505BB)
Kala UBass-2
“Kala is grateful to our dealers and the Retailer for this Music & Sound Award nomination. We are delighted that the Kala U-Bass has been recognized by them as a groundbreaking bass instrument by including it in the Best Bass Guitar category. With its polyurethane strings and 20-inch scale, our customers have discovered that the U-Bass has incredible low end to rival any bass instrument and offers the ultimate in portability.” —Rick Carlson
Lakland 44-60
Godin Shifter Bass
Fender American Deluxe Precision
“We’re extremely honored to be nominated for Bass Guitar of the Year, Product of the Year and Manufacturer of the Year, and extend a hearty ‘thank you’ to all our dealers and business partners who believe in what we’re doing and are taking notice of our efforts.” —Richard McDonald, senior vice president, marketing
Best Guitar Accessory:
Graph Tech TUSQXL Nuts
“It’s truly incredible to be nominated, because the focus is usually on shiny, beautiful guitars, and performance components like TUSQ XL nuts can be easily overlooked. Retaining the look and tone of our original TUSQ nuts and saddles, plus infusing Teflon throughout the material to provide unparalleled tuning performance, no matter the style of play, took years to develop. So, this nomination is very inspiring for our team, and shows us you understand that components, no matter the size, are as important as the wood, finishes and hardware that make guitars sound and look desirable. Thank you to our fans!”
—Dave Dunwoodie, president
Barcus-Berry Breeze II & IV Preamps
“The Breeze series was an exciting launch in 2010, not only as an addition to the Barcus-Berry line, but also because it was selected as the electronics line for all Sierra acoustic-electric guitar models. We are pleased with the positive dealer response, and we thank everyone who nominated us in this category.” —Kimberly Hawthorne, product manager
D’Addario EXP Electric Strings
“It is a great honor to know that our EXP Strings and Puresound Custom Pro Snare Wires have received such fantastic acclaim that they have been deemed worthy of nomination for this year’s Music & Sound Awards. It is very humbling to know that our continuous hard work and dedication to quality and innovation has not gone unnoticed this past year.” —David Via, VP of sales and marketing
Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro II Slash Humbucker
“Years ago, Slash approached me about doing a signature Seymour Duncan pickup. But, after going back and forth with design revisions, he gave up. He told me, ‘I finally realized the Alnico II Pro is perfection—you can’t improve on perfection.’ The APH-2 came about as Gibson was recreating the ’59 Gibson Les Paul copy Slash has recorded with since ‘Appetite for Destruction.’ He couldn’t get its gutsy punch with other instruments. So, Slash challenged us to develop a pickup that would make his live guitars sound like his recording guitar. The result is the APH-2.” —Seymour Duncan LR Baggs Anthem
“LR Baggs is honored to have the new Anthem system nominated for the Best Guitar Accessory category of the Music & Sound Awards. We work very hard only to release new products into the marketplace that truly make a difference and fulfill a need or desire from the musician’s standpoint. The Anthem definitely does this in spades. We appreciate the validation of our work from the industry.” —Ryan Angle, COO
Best Keyboard/Sound Module:
Yamaha Tyros 4
“A great deal of R&D goes into every product we manufacture and it’s always satisfying to be recognized for our instruments’ success, especially in such competitive categories. It is even more gratifying to know that these nominations come from our dealers themselves under the auspices of the Music & Sound Retailer.”
—Rick Young, senior vice president
Kurzweil PC3LE
“We are so honored that our PC3LE has been recognized. Thanks and best of luck to all the nominees!” —Mike Papa, American Music & Sound
Casio Privia PX-3
Yamaha Piaggero NPV80
Korg Limited Edition SP-170RD
“Korg USA has been nominated in several categories by our retail partners for our Korg and Vox brands. We are proud to bring these high-quality products to the market and are pleased with this ‘vote of confidence’ from our dealers. It’s an honor to be nominated, and we appreciate the efforts of everyone involved with bringing these new products to the musical instrument channel.” —Douglas Nestler, vice president of sales
Best Instrument Amplifier:
Peavey 6506+ 112 Combo
Ibanez Tube Screamer Amp (TSA15H/TSA112C)
Fishman Loudbox Mini
Genz Benz Shuttle 9.0 Bass Amplifier
“We at Genz Benz are thrilled to achieve this recognition for our Shuttle 9.0 bass amplifier. We are prouder still for the fact that this is the second time we’ve been recognized for innovation and performance with this series, having received this award previously for our ShuttleMAX 12.0. Thank you once again for the honor.” —Roger Hart, director of merchandising/Genz Benz, KMC Music
Vox AGA150
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