The Show Must go On ..........(without us)

Whilst we have enjoyed showing our wares at the last 5 shows, meeting lots of nice people and selling the occaisional guitar (and lots of t-shirts), we have decided to take a break from the show this year.

I decided that we needed a break since preperation for the show takes a huge amount of time and effort, and that especially with losing a key team member it would be unrealistic to try to make lots of new gitars to show off.
As it is we are fantastically busy with custom builds and repairs and it would be unfair to put any of that work aside.
I am also carefully rebuilding our team here and taking time to find the right enthusiastic and skilled guitarmakers to join us.

All Change

This year there have been some major changes to the show - some of which look to be interesting and others which I have mixed emotions about and will have to see how well the show works this year before comitting to exhibit there again

The Music Industires Association are now involved and have tried to make the show a mix of what it was and also moving it back to a trade show like the British Music fair (BMF) of old used to be...like a mini version of NAMM or Frankfurt Musikmesse.
The show will massively increase in size this year with the inclusion of Drummer Live, Sound Recording and technology and Unplugged
Having attended large shows such as NAMM and Frankfurt I know how difficult it can be to get around and see everything in a day (or even in three days at NAMM) let alone spend serious time checking out gear on every stand, and I wonder if that could prove detrimental to visitors spending enough time playing our stuff to be tempted by it.

Increased showtime and costs

This year the show will run over 4 days rather than the 2 that it was a few years ago and more recently three days
One day will be trade only with press allowed which I dont feel would be much good from our point of view as we sell direct to customers with no middleman
It does however mean yet another day away from the workshop and the added expense of paying for hotels etc (We have found in previous years that you cant 100% rely on public transport to get staff to the show on time - you need to have them close at hand)

The cost of the stands has gone up a fair bit as well - partly reflecting the extra days exhibition, but it is all a drain on finances - especially for a small company like ours . Add the hidden expenses like van hire, having electricity on the stand and lighting etc it can easily mount up

No Selling allowed

One new feature will be that you wont be able to buy any major stuff at the show - once again like at the international shows

I feel that this may come as a shock to visitors to the show - many of whom save up in the hope to buy something - either a bargain or a killer bit of gear that they cant let slip away .
This is an area tht leaves me unsure as I would hate to have a player desparate to buy a Feline guitar that they have fallen in love with and be despaerate to buy it and take it home with only to have to agree to have us call them in the week to finalise the deal (and for the deal to fall through as they have remembered all the bills that need paying)

I think we've all made purchases in the heat of the moment and worried about the bills later on - in fact I still speak to customers who have bought guitars of ours at previous shows who are still loving them to death.

Still undecided how I feel about this .... wil get a feel for it at the show ( I will be there as a visitor)

Festival Clash

This year the show is later than the last couple of years and clashes with Download Festival , and I do wonder if a lot of the usual visitors will be too busy watching bands up in Derbyshire to be at the show .....time will tell

I will however be at the show on the Saturday and Sunday so do come and say hello.

London Guitar Show was a great success this year and busier than ever.

The new venue at London Excel in the heart of London Docklands was a nicer venue and the show all ran smoothly without any hitches.
As ever we met a lot of existing customers & friends and made a few new ones too.
We sold a few guitars, and loads of strings and t shirts (they were very popular with the ladies - we ran right out of girls sizes)
We took a lot of new guitars as well as some familiar favourites, and the new axes caused a bit of a stir.

We had also upgraded much of our show stock with Earvana Compensated Tuning System nuts and were promoting the benefits of the system.