Cumbria Guitar Show - bank holiday - Sunday 26th Aug

guitars4you

StefB said:

I was disappointed with the show, for the second or third year running now.

Apart from a small minority of nice shop stands (Guitars4You, Frets & Promenade Music) with some lovely pieces on display, and a couple of local builders (Reiver & Haydn Williams) the rest of it was like a flea market.  Shabby stands on the whole trying to flog, frankly, overpriced tat that you'd struggle to give away on eBay.

I give it the benefit of the doubt every year, being on my doorstep, but won't bother next year as it never gets any better.

Hard to know what to say - I suppose the first question is a) what were you expecting and then b) what would you like to see

I exhibit at a few shows throughout the year - 14 earmarked for 2019 - The Birmingham Guitar Show is the largest selection of new products of all the shows - More expensive to exhibit per sq foot, so from my point of view I wonder what the cost per square foot is when divided by the public attendance of all these shows - Some will say such a show with mainly new products, needs more used - Maybe, maybe not - It is a 2 day show with one day allocated to set up, so certainly looks far more professional and corporate - as such appeals to many manufactures, distributors as well

Table top shows are 1 day shows with less than 2 hours allocated to set-up, so essentially a table top format as adopted by the majority of similar shows in the USA - Most busy/big stores don't/won't exhibit - PMT to be fair attend many of these shows, as does Dave from Promenade - There are others as well who attend, but many are not interested, for whatever reason - Personally I like them - Hard work, but in a perverse way I like them - Good for 'marketing' and in many ways my 'social media' and far more interactive then facebook, as far as I'm concerned - Yet equally I can question why I do them when I have a bad day and at times I get them - Then a week later, I sell a guitar to a new customer who discovered me at a show, so well worth it - But that is fine for a small retailer like me but if you are turning over 2-10 million a year in store, then I can see why you won't bother exhibiting

Part of me has always stated that if I was serious about buying say a 2 or 3K premium grade USA guitar, then I'd probably go to that retailer - Sit in the show room for a few hours, try a few out, have a coffee, chat and hopefully in a relaxed atmosphere find something I want - You won't get that experience in any guitar show - Equally I know of no guitar shop in the UK that has the same level of used stock in one showroom that you'll see at any table top show - Is some of it tat, over priced, crap etc etc etc etc ? - Depends on the buyer and what you need, want or maybe looking for - Very rarely have I not done such a show and ended up buying something from another exhibitor that I feel they have listed to cheap and I can sell for more 

They are not for everyone - But I'd be interested to know what you'd like to see to 'improve' such shows - I can chat to the organisers 

Hush

Full of sheep shaggers what can you expect up there LOL. 

guitars4you

CountryDave said:

StefB said:

I was disappointed with the show, for the second or third year running now.

Apart from a small minority of nice shop stands (Guitars4You, Frets & Promenade Music) with some lovely pieces on display, and a couple of local builders (Reiver & Haydn Williams) the rest of it was like a flea market.  Shabby stands on the whole trying to flog, frankly, overpriced tat that you'd struggle to give away on eBay.

I give it the benefit of the doubt every year, being on my doorstep, but won't bother next year as it never gets any better.

I said a similar thing as we were leaving, adding Fylde Guitars into the list of good stuff of course.

Dave - JD McPherson

Simon_M

I went down with my mate and we were there from 11am to 3.30pm. By then, a lot of people were starting to pack up their gear and get ready to go.

We had a wander round first and just had a look at what was on offer. First person we spoke to was Sam McClaren (http://www.mcclarenguitars.co.uk/ ) and what an interesting chap he was too. He had two guitars (or maybe three...), one nylon strung, one steel, with him which he makes entirely from scratch with hand tools alone (albeit for an electric sander). Each guitar he builds in traditional style and it takes him three months to complete one guitar. In his 8 years of building he has made about 36/37 total. Really nice guy and interesting to boot.

I had a good long chat with Mark @guitars4you about the latest R8 craziness, vintage "mojo", playing at home and how he once nearly quit after playing Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Really good crack and although I'm not in the market for a vintage Fender, if I were: Mark would be my man!

Watched Martin of MD guitars (https://www.facebook.com/martin.dixon1462/) give an interesting talk on guitar maintenance - I've been changing strings wrong all my life! Two wraps then through the hole is the key to reducing slippage apparently.

Decent coffee in the café. Food not my thing but coffee was very respectable. Crazy busy by this point though.

I then had a noodle on some funky cigar box guitars from Chicken Bone John (https://www.chickenbonejohn.com/) who makes his instruments with his daughter. He gave me a few tips on using a slide properly and enjoyed playing some Seasick Steve style 3 string blues rock. I even bought a ceramic slide because it fit on my little finger so well. I still suck at slide but I'll keep practicing!

Towards the end of the show I watched a young lad (who's name completely escapes me) give an interesting talk and performance loosely based around fingerpicking. He played a rather good version of Classical Gas and took a lot of time to explain how to play artificial harmonics which I found very helpful. He also fielded A LOT of questions about using a thumbpick from a few younger members of the audience (one grade 8 guitar student my teacher friend informs me!) and readily admitted he "doesn't understand theory". All the way through his grandfather filmed him - he had found his first guitar in his grandfather's attic.

I did try a rather expensive British made electro-acoustic before I left. I was very nervous - what if I really liked it? How would I explain the large hole in my bank account to the mrs? Fortunately, the vendor was about as interested in making a sale as I am interested in crochét and sock puppets. He plugged the £2000 guitar into a tiny little <£100 amp and chose the absolute worst settings to demonstrate the instrument. He kept telling me how "rich" and "unique" the tone of the instrument was but I've honestly heard better farts in an underpass. 

In between these memorable events I browsed the many various guitars on offer (not a single LP Junior in the lot but a second hand R8 for £2600. If only he knew.) Some very good instruments of high quality like the before mentioned Fylde and Overwater Bases. Some were a total pile of shit which you couldn't pay me to take away. But that's part of the spirit of these events I suppose. You have to find the gems in the dirt.

I didn't win the prize draw pedal (booh!) but for £6, a pretty good day out I think.