THE GUITAR SHOW - comments time

jpfamps

guitars4you said:

jpfamps said:

The main issue was people on stands who thought they were playing a gig; the two guys opposite the Griffin Amps stand were particularly irritating. One was playing slap bass the other guitar and they endlessly jammed funk on two chords, very loud, more it seems to show what great players they were rather than demonstrating any gear. They also seemed very pleased with themselves!

I think you see that so much at many shows - look at me - maybe good players but a very poor attempt at actually selling - but then who is employing them with such policies

Actually they aren't good players, they can play stuff that sounds impressive that has nothing to do with making music.

If I saw someone doing that in a pub I'd leave.

dindude

I skipped it this year, went last year and really enjoyed it, I'm one of the lazy Londoners I guess, but still which ever way I cut it it was 2.5 hours each way and when I'm only "allowed" out of the house for 8 hours, it simply wasn't worth it this time.

Sounds like it was a great success though. Personally, from what I recall from the previous year, I took little interest in Fender, Yamaha and the like - frankly GuutarGuitar is a better envirnment to try out the new Fender Professional series, and you can try a Yamaha in loads of places, not least the dedicated Yamaha store in London.

What I love is the UK based boutique (for want of a better term) and small-fry companies - so much rich pickings here I would actually love a show that just attracted these guys and more of them.

mudslide73

Re the curry. .. see there are some advantages to living in the Midlands

COYB @jason Great show only spoiled by my lack of funds, really. 

Van_Hayden

I had a great show @jason don't move it! The London Guitar Show died a horrible death after it left Wembley for Excel. 

The cost is fine for the smaller guys like me, the timing is good between NAMM and Musikmesse.

I'd prefer it not to be a three day show, adds a lot of costs. 

It's great to have a mix of both small independents and big names, you don't get that anymore at the Northern Guitar Shows. So it's unique in the U.K.  

Noise is is to be expected, electric guitars make noise & you can't demo without it....and I know there's a plan for the live stage spill which will make things much better. 

Now parking is a pain....any way public transport can be encouraged??

Curry was great & I'd rather pay 50p for a cup of tea or instant coffee than £3 for a badly made latte....

uncledick

Really enjoyed the show - thanks @jason.  I arrived at bang on 10 yesterday and had to park up the road.  What I didn't notice until I left was the big overflow car park behind the venue!  Can some of that be used?  I'd be really reluctant to change much about the venue or format.  It was busy because it is consistently good.  Longer opening times would be good - maybe have it quiet from 4 until 6 so people can do some dealing or give/take advice?

What does annoy me is how some of the exhibitors behave.  As a Vox user I thought I'd go to the Laney demo to hear how their take on the AC30 format sounded.  Turns out, if you turn everything up to 10, you can play metal!!!  Useful?  Not at all.  I was also vaguely interested in the whole Gretsch thing so wandered over to their stand .....to be completely ignored on four separate occasions by a guy just happy to stand facing the amp playing for his own amusement.  This wasn't the only example.

Why does nobody think to do a 10 minute clinic on the features or range of sounds from their amp / guitar?  It used to happen but has practically died a death.  Maybe the traders could cooperate a bit to give others a bit of space and quiet for 10 minutes in an hour - certainly in their close vicinity?

Finally, a thumbs-up for @TTony and the Fretboard crew.  I felt a bit of a numpty when I first put the badge on but it worked really well - lots of support and banter from the traders and would definitely do it again.

I'll be back.

Nick

jpfamps said:

guitars4you said:

jpfamps said:

The main issue was people on stands who thought they were playing a gig; the two guys opposite the Griffin Amps stand were particularly irritating. One was playing slap bass the other guitar and they endlessly jammed funk on two chords, very loud, more it seems to show what great players they were rather than demonstrating any gear. They also seemed very pleased with themselves!

I think you see that so much at many shows - look at me - maybe good players but a very poor attempt at actually selling - but then who is employing them with such policies

Actually they aren't good players, they can play stuff that sounds impressive that has nothing to do with making music.

If I saw someone doing that in a pub I'd leave.

Have to agree with the above. As a consumer show it was odd to see players (endorsees/artists?) "sitting in" for prolonged periods of time. This made it difficult for punters to get their hands on the gear... a salesperson would see that as a substantial barrier to purchase!

TTony

Nick said:

jpfamps said:

guitars4you said:

jpfamps said:

The main issue was people on stands who thought they were playing a gig; the two guys opposite the Griffin Amps stand were particularly irritating. One was playing slap bass the other guitar and they endlessly jammed funk on two chords, very loud, more it seems to show what great players they were rather than demonstrating any gear. They also seemed very pleased with themselves!

I think you see that so much at many shows - look at me - maybe good players but a very poor attempt at actually selling - but then who is employing them with such policies

Actually they aren't good players, they can play stuff that sounds impressive that has nothing to do with making music.

If I saw someone doing that in a pub I'd leave.

Have to agree with the above. As a consumer show it was odd to see players (endorsees/artists?) "sitting in" for prolonged periods of time. This made it difficult for punters to get their hands on the gear... a salesperson would see that as a substantial barrier to purchase!

The JJ Guitars stand was pretty much opposite ours.

Throughout Sunday, whenever I looked across, Jeff had someone (the same someone) sat there playing.  When the someone wasn't, @JJ_Jeff was playing himself.  

Now, I wasn't particularly in the market for a new JJ, but I do have one and I generally like the brand (and I spied one or two interesting looking guitars on the display).  Plus I generally make a point of just dropping by and saying "hi" at the shows.  

I didn't bother this year because I felt that I'd be interrupting.

Its a tricky balance.  As a stand holder, I guess you don't want to look like billy-no-mates - with an empty stand, it's often harder to get someone onto the stand than if they have to queue & wait.  But their alternative dissuaded me from dropping in for a casual chat and maybe others too?

Strat_a_tat_tat

@TTony . Totally agree. The JJ stand was the only one I didn't visit on the 'electric floor'.

EricTheWeary

TTony said:

Nick said:

jpfamps said:

guitars4you said:

jpfamps said:

The main issue was people on stands who thought they were playing a gig; the two guys opposite the Griffin Amps stand were particularly irritating. One was playing slap bass the other guitar and they endlessly jammed funk on two chords, very loud, more it seems to show what great players they were rather than demonstrating any gear. They also seemed very pleased with themselves!

I think you see that so much at many shows - look at me - maybe good players but a very poor attempt at actually selling - but then who is employing them with such policies

Actually they aren't good players, they can play stuff that sounds impressive that has nothing to do with making music.

If I saw someone doing that in a pub I'd leave.

Have to agree with the above. As a consumer show it was odd to see players (endorsees/artists?) "sitting in" for prolonged periods of time. This made it difficult for punters to get their hands on the gear... a salesperson would see that as a substantial barrier to purchase!

The JJ Guitars stand was pretty much opposite ours.

Throughout Sunday, whenever I looked across, Jeff had someone (the same someone) sat there playing.  When the someone wasn't, @JJ_Jeff was playing himself.  

Now, I wasn't particularly in the market for a new JJ, but I do have one and I generally like the brand (and I spied one or two interesting looking guitars on the display).  Plus I generally make a point of just dropping by and saying "hi" at the shows.  

I didn't bother this year because I felt that I'd be interrupting.

Its a tricky balance.  As a stand holder, I guess you don't want to look like billy-no-mates - with an empty stand, it's often harder to get someone onto the stand than if they have to queue & wait.  But their alternative dissuaded me from dropping in for a casual chat and maybe others too?

It got mentioned in another Discussion that the Sandberg guys seemed to have turned up to chat amongst themselves and play their own basses ( not just my observation this). I'm not sure what the point of them being there was. If they don't book a slot for next year because of lack of business generated at the show it wouldn't surprise me at all. 

Strat_a_tat_tat

@Jason

First time I've been to the show. Good day out (well... half day... as I was gigging late the night before... so only got the show at lunchtime. However, even with only 3.5 hours to look around, it was still worth attending). Will try to get there again next year - gigs permitting.

The good points:

Venue seems absolutely fine. Granted, I was there on Sunday afternoon - so maybe it wasn't as crowded as Saturday.

Sensibly priced tickets. Yay.

Free parking - and not much hassle to park on the road and walk a few steps. All good (especially compared with places like the NEC and their parking charges).

Curry... at 1990s prices! Major win.

Tea... at 1980s prices! That got praise from my wife... which surprised me - as she's a 'Soy milk, flat white, over-priced, frothy coffee' kinda gal.

Location. Even though I'm about 20 miles north of London - with a fast train service - I still find it easier to jump in a car and drive 100 miles to Brum.... so, no problems.

Quiet periods... a godsend.

Good deals to be had on various stands (somehow... spending more money... always helps to justify the cost of attending).

Nice, friendly vibe... not as corporate as shows of yesteryear.

Good opportunity to meet Fretboard peeps.

The not so good points:

Who knew there was an acoustic floor? Nobody told me... so I never got there (even though I had time to). I think the lack of a plan/map... or even just a simple list of exhibitors is a bit of a major fail. A simple list of exhibitors (with their stand number... and whether they were upstairs or downstairs) would have been very useful. The incremental cost for a photocopied sheet for each visitor is probably not very large. However, if you wanted to recover that cost, I'd imagine at least one or two exhibitors may have been happy to pay for a small advert on the plan/map (you could also make the advert in the form of a coupon for a free plectrum when the punter visits a specific stand... or something like that... so the exhibitor isn't just getting an advert for their money, they're also getting some level of guaranteed footfall). I'm sure a man of your calibre can come up with much better ideas than I can on that.

The website.  Could have included a bit more info about the show... and if you didn't want to print a plan/map of the exhibitors, you could have included one on the website (so people could print their own... so no added print costs for you)... and its presence would have alerted me to the fact there was an upstairs - even if I didn't print out the exhibitor list / plan / map.

Another point:

From some of the comments, I'm guessing Sat was busier than Sun (if that's not the case, please ignore this sentence). Maybe people prefer to visit shows on a Sat... and there's no changing that. However, looking at the agenda for the live stage... to my eyes, it appeared that Sat was more interesting... so, if I'd been free on Sat, I'd have gone then. If you do need to try to balance the Sat and SUn attendance (and I don't know if that's necessary, as I wasn't there on Sat), maybe it would be good to give punters a couple more reasons to come on Sunday.

Anyway... good show. Enjoyed it.

Sorry for the long post.

Jason

Strat_a_tat_tat said:

@Jason

First time I've been to the show. Good day out (well... half day... as I was gigging late the night before... so only got the show at lunchtime. However, even with only 3.5 hours to look around, it was still worth attending). Will try to get there again next year - gigs permitting.

The good points:

Venue seems absolutely fine. Granted, I was there on Sunday afternoon - so maybe it wasn't as crowded as Saturday.

Sensibly priced tickets. Yay.

Free parking - and not much hassle to park on the road and walk a few steps. All good (especially compared with places like the NEC and their parking charges).

Curry... at 1990s prices! Major win.

Tea... at 1980s prices! That got praise from my wife... which surprised me - as she's a 'Soy milk, flat white, over-priced, frothy coffee' kinda gal.

Location. Even though I'm about 20 miles north of London - with a fast train service - I still find it easier to jump in a car and drive 100 miles to Brum.... so, no problems.

Quiet periods... a godsend.

Good deals to be had on various stands (somehow... spending more money... always helps to justify the cost of attending).

Nice, friendly vibe... not as corporate as shows of yesteryear.

Good opportunity to meet Fretboard peeps.

The not so good points:

Who knew there was an acoustic floor? Nobody told me... so I never got there (even though I had time to). I think the lack of a plan/map... or even just a simple list of exhibitors is a bit of a major fail. A simple list of exhibitors (with their stand number... and whether they were upstairs or downstairs) would have been very useful. The incremental cost for a photocopied sheet for each visitor is probably not very large. However, if you wanted to recover that cost, I'd imagine at least one or two exhibitors may have been happy to pay for a small advert on the plan/map (you could also make the advert in the form of a coupon for a free plectrum when the punter visits a specific stand... or something like that... so the exhibitor isn't just getting an advert for their money, they're also getting some level of guaranteed footfall). I'm sure a man of your calibre can come up with much better ideas than I can on that.

The website.  Could have included a bit more info about the show... and if you didn't want to print a plan/map of the exhibitors, you could have included one on the website (so people could print their own... so no added print costs for you)... and its presence would have alerted me to the fact there was an upstairs - even if I didn't print out the exhibitor list / plan / map.

Another point:

From some of the comments, I'm guessing Sat was busier than Sun (if that's not the case, please ignore this sentence). Maybe people prefer to visit shows on a Sat... and there's no changing that. However, looking at the agenda for the live stage... to my eyes, it appeared that Sat was more interesting... so, if I'd been free on Sat, I'd have gone then. If you do need to try to balance the Sat and SUn attendance (and I don't know if that's necessary, as I wasn't there on Sat), maybe it would be good to give punters a couple more reasons to come on Sunday.

Anyway... good show. Enjoyed it.

Sorry for the long post.

Hello, I will sort out a plan for next year, even if its just on the website, but expect a little better than that. Its my fault really, I spend a year looking at it, so I know where everything is blindfold, I just never thought about it.

The Live Stage timings is down to when people are free, it wasn't planned that way, it was the only options available, you may find it flips next year.

I think I've said before, I did have 4 x 6ft banners say Acoustics Upstairs, I put it on here too and on Facebook, not sure what else I could do really, I guess it will take time

Glad you enjoyed it

J

Bridgehouse

Jason said:

I think I've said before, I did have 4 x 6ft banners say Acoustics Upstairs, I put it on here too and on Facebook, not sure what else I could do really, I guess it will take time

Glad you enjoyed it

J

If you do get a floor plan sorted and a list of vendors with their stand numbers then people will instantly see there's an acoustic room and will probably instead be walking around going "where's the stairs?" - which is a step in the right direction

Jason

Bridgehouse said:

Jason said:

I think I've said before, I did have 4 x 6ft banners say Acoustics Upstairs, I put it on here too and on Facebook, not sure what else I could do really, I guess it will take time

Glad you enjoyed it

J

If you do get a floor plan sorted and a list of vendors with their stand numbers then people will instantly see there's an acoustic room and will probably instead be walking around going "where's the stairs?" - which is a step in the right direction

I bet you a free ticket to the show, that someone with a plan in their hand says they didn't know

digitalscream

Jason said:

I think I've said before, I did have 4 x 6ft banners say Acoustics Upstairs, I put it on here too and on Facebook, not sure what else I could do really, I guess it will take time

Perhaps just have the guys on the door say (loudly) "Acoustics upstairs, electrics through those doors" every five or ten minutes? Sometimes low-tech is the easiest option.

Jason

digitalscream said:

Jason said:

I think I've said before, I did have 4 x 6ft banners say Acoustics Upstairs, I put it on here too and on Facebook, not sure what else I could do really, I guess it will take time

Perhaps just have the guys on the door say (loudly) "Acoustics upstairs, electrics through those doors" every five or ten minutes? Sometimes low-tech is the easiest option.

They did, they did it everytime I was there, but I guess they got bored saying the same thing over and over, plus you could see people weren't really concentrating, just looking in to the main hall as if it would disappear if they didn't get in there straight away - which is nice to see

I'm now  just over 60% sold for 2018 - this is a bit mental, in the best possible way

Edit whilst typing, just sold another two stands - bloody hell!!!!

Strat_a_tat_tat

Jason said:

 
I'm now  just over 60% sold for 2018 - this is a bit mental, in the best possible way

Edit whilst typing, just sold another two stands - bloody hell!!!!

That speaks volumes. Congrats.

Jason

Strat_a_tat_tat said:

Jason said:

 
I'm now  just over 60% sold for 2018 - this is a bit mental, in the best possible way

Edit whilst typing, just sold another two stands - bloody hell!!!!

That speaks volumes. Congrats.

Thank you!

vasselmeyer

Put the stand prices up...and the ticket prices down  

digitalscream

Jason said:

digitalscream said:

Jason said:

I think I've said before, I did have 4 x 6ft banners say Acoustics Upstairs, I put it on here too and on Facebook, not sure what else I could do really, I guess it will take time

Perhaps just have the guys on the door say (loudly) "Acoustics upstairs, electrics through those doors" every five or ten minutes? Sometimes low-tech is the easiest option.

They did, they did it everytime I was there, but I guess they got bored saying the same thing over and over, plus you could see people weren't really concentrating, just looking in to the main hall as if it would disappear if they didn't get in there straight away - which is nice to see

I'm now  just over 60% sold for 2018 - this is a bit mental, in the best possible way

Edit whilst typing, just sold another two stands - bloody hell!!!!

Deservedly so, I'd say

Re: the acoustics thing...perhaps have big signs on the glass of the outer doors? People will spend a lot more time staring at those, whereas once they're inside they're just looking at the desk and getting through as quickly as possible.

Jason

vasselmeyer said:

Put the stand prices up...and the ticket prices down  

Free entry to an empty hall