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2002 Summer NAMM Notes (Part 1)
July 19-21, 2002  Nashville, TN

by Jason A.Barker

A bird's-eye view of the main exhibit hall at the Nashville Convention Center during the 2002 Summer NAMM show

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INDEX 

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It's hard for me to believe that a year has already passed since the 2001 Summer NAMM show, yet I did indeed find myself back in Music City last week for the 2002 event.  If you will recall from my 2001 report, I attended last season's show as a representative for Carr Amps.  Steve Carr decided not to exhibit this year, so I did not plan to go until I received a last-minute invitation from Klein Guitars.  I'm glad that I went because I was able to reconnect with some old friends, make some new ones and see some outstanding performers.

While I will highlight some of the fabulous equipment displayed at NAMM, I'd also like to give a more personal account of my trip than I did in last year's notes.  There are plenty of other Web sites out there giving more gear-oriented details, so I'll try to personalize this offering.

We spent a shorter amount of time at the show due to a Friday evening arrival.  I had the pleasure of riding out to Nashville with Bill Richardson of Greensboro, NC.  Bill is a fine guitarist and had never been to a NAMM show.  A memorable time was had as we discovered what the event and city had to offer.

The first thing on the agenda was to attend Muriel Anderson's All-Star Guitar Night at the famed Ryman Auditorium on Friday evening.  Due to the late nature of my plans to attend NAMM, I did not have tickets to the concert, which had long been sold-out. Danny Flowers was kind enough to secure a couple of passes for me, as he would be performing on the bill with a handful of noted artists.   You might remember from my notes last July that Danny is an accomplished singer-songwriter-guitarist known for penning the classic "Tulsa Time" for Eric Clapton and other tunes recorded by Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris.  He was Don Williams' guitarist for thirteen years and has played with Vince Gill, Nanci Griffith, and Dobie Gray among others.
 
 

The concert at the Ryman this year was a tribute to the late Chet Atkins.  It was divided into two segments; the first featuring a handful of acoustic wizards including Muriel Anderson, Phil Keaggy, Alex De Grassi, Ed Gerhard, and Richard Gilewitz.  The second part featured electric stalwarts such as Junior Brown, Brent Mason, Johnny Hiland, Nokie Edwards, Seymour Duncan, and of course Danny Flowers.  Noted jazz/fusion drummer Danny Gottlieb provided much of the backbeat and the awesome bass stylings of Dave Pomeroy and Victor Wooten more than carried the low end for the evening.  Suzy Bogguss and fiddle legend Vassar Clements also lent their talents to the show.

The Ryman is known as the historic home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974.  While the building exudes lots of charm, I didn't find it to be the ideal facility to watch a concert that would ultimately extend to approximately five hours long (sitting on church pews isn't exactly comfortable).  Furthermore, people sitting under the balcony were treated to an obstructed view due to the support columns.  Nevertheless, with so much talent in one place, there was a lot of tremendous music to be heard. 
 
 

The great Jerry Reed made a cameo appearance to present surviving members of Chet Atkins' family with an official tribute proclamation by the governor of Tennessee.  One moment of comedy relief came during the silence as Reed bestowed the framed proclamation to Atkins' family.  Someone yelled out "Hey Jerry, when you're hot, you're hot," in reference to one of his hits.  Without missing a beat, Reed turned to him and replied "And when you're not, you can't give it away."

I would be remiss if I did not point out that Flowers was using a 1x15 Carr Slant 6V combo amp throughout the show.  His tone was great and projected better than some of the others in my opinion.  Danny definitely provided an energy boost with his performance of "Tulsa Time."
 
 

We hit the NAMM show Saturday and Sunday at the Nashville Convention Center.  NAMM holds two conventions per year, the winter session occurring in January in Anaheim, CA and the summer show in Nashville during July.  I like the Nashville event because I don't have to travel as far and I enjoy seeing the musicians affiliated with the Music City scene.  I've noticed a big change in the atmosphere in Nashville over the past decade.  It always seemed to me that the music scene was pretty much limited to Opryland and behind closed doors on Music Row.  Now, there are more clubs down on Broadway St., and some stellar musicianship can be heard on just about every corner.

Personally, this year's show did not seem quite as crowded as 2001 to me, I thought perhaps due to the economy and travel issues associated with 9/11.  However, NAMM actually reported an increase in overall attendance for this year.  Many of last season's vendors were located in the same places, so it made things easy to find and I did see some interesting products on display.
 
 

Let's begin our trip through the show at the booth of  Terry C. McInturff Guitars.  We shared a space with Terry at last year's exhibition, and our friend Greg Germino took up the spot this year with his new line of Germino Amplifiers.  I've known both Terry and Greg for a long time, given that they have both had a presence in North Carolina for many years.  Greg is now based out of Ohio, while Terry continues his guitar production out of Holly Springs, NC which is just up the road from where I live.

Terry makes some of the most gorgeous instruments anywhere and is a connoisseur of  quality.  As usual, he brought some stunning guitars to the show, including a new goldtop Taurus model.
 
 

I've been fortunate enough to share the stage with Greg Germino on a number of occasions.  In addition to being one heck of a guitarist, he can now add "amp builder" to his resume.  His new line of Germino Amplifiers embody classic styling cues of old-style Marshall amps.  The KT-66-equipped Rock Grinder model and EL-34 based Lead 55 amp are sure to please guitarists looking for organic and overdriven old-school tone.
 
 

Greg's purple combo (pictured above) is very reminiscent of the old Marshall Bluesbreaker amp.  It is a very wide enclosure, which Greg credits to the fact that the original Bluesbreakers were of a similar nature. Will Ray, a phenomenal guitarist from The Hellecasters, took one look at it and asked if it was legal in the state of Tennessee because it was so wide.  (You had to be there to experience the subtle phrasing and nuance of the wording provided by the inimitable Mr. Ray.)

Next stop is the always prominent Fender display.  Old friend Alan Waite has climbed the ladder to VP at America's proudest musical tradition.  He was kind enough to show off some of their goods at the show.

Fender's big guitar release at this show was the Highway 1 Stratocaster.  It is intended to be a stripped-down, no-nonsense American-made Strat at a reasonable price.  These instruments feature alder bodies and transparent satin finishes on both the body and the neck.  I saw three different colors, and all were nice looking and relatively lightweight.  For this market segment, Fender has got a winner on their hands.