Daddy’s Blog

If you’ve ever tried to buy an acoustic amp, like me, you’ve probably had mixed results. Acoustic amps tend to be a little on the “coffee shop” side of the spectrum, meaning, they sound decent, but they are small and not very loud. A few years back Daddy’s started carrying the Fishman Loudbox series of amplifiers. These are, in my opinion, one of the best acoustic amp lines that I’ve ever heard. We just got a new model in the Fishman Loudbox line here at Daddy’s that is a great place to start for someone who is looking for a high quality Fishman acoustic amp, but doesn’t want to spend a ton of money. Introducing the Fishman Loudbox Mini.

The Fishman Loudbox Mini is a 60 watt, 2 channel amp with digital reverb, and chorus built in. It also has an 1/8″ mini jack for an iPod or MP3 player, as well as a balanced XLR output that you can use to run direct to a PA system or recording device. If you’re looking for an acoustic amp that packs plenty of punch for larger rooms, but still has the sound quality that you need to properly capture and reproduce your acoustic tone, then look no further. The Loudbox Mini is a sweet little amp, that’s not so little on volume, sound quality, and features. The Loudbox Mini is $299.99 and is available at any Daddy’s Junky Music location, or by calling 800-373-8393 X100 to order from Daddy’s Online.

I assembled the third an final Canopus kit, as promised, early yesterday morning and displayed it with the Birch and R.F.M. kits already stationed in front of the drum area in Boston. It’s the Natural Oil Sword Bop “Katana” kit. Simple, yet elegant. This kit is less money than the others though still made in Japan,and is just as pro. This 18″kick, 12″rack tom , and 14″ floor tom , complete w/single tom holder, sells for under $1900.So stop by the Boston Store and check out all 3 Canopus kits, and all 3 Canopus snare drums, plus hardware and snare wires this month. See ya.

http://www.canopusdrums.com/en/index.html

Michael Tocker-drums

This is how how my my daughter Justice, who has been a greeter at the Boston Store this summer and receives FEDEX and UPS packages, paged me 3 times this past week. First on Monday we received the previously mentioned Birch kit. It has a sweet 14″x20″ kick, 8″x12″ rack tom and a 14″x14″ floor. It’s in the Tobacco Burst Oil finish. The Birch Series Drums do not have reinforcement hoops. They have plenty of low end and projection. This kit would be at home in a jazz club, funk bar, or your spacious antique decorated living room , just far enough away from the fireplace to do any damage. On Wednesday a box w/2 snare drums showed up. One was “The Maple” in 6.5″x13″. This has become a popular size. More pop less snare buzz. The depth keeps the drum sounding big and full. This drum is in Royal Blue Lacquer w/brass lugs and die cast hoops. The 2nd snare is Birch and 5.5″x14″. It is in Ebony Matt lacquer and has chrome hardware. Simple and classy. It’s got a lower pitch organic earthiness to it when played. It sounds like that snare on that old album that you loved where no effects were added. In the middle of Friday, yesterday, afternoon I got the last page of the week. There were two boxes. The day was too busy so I was not able to assemble what was contained on the inside. I didn’t even open the boxes as I knew I would want to assemble them during hectic afternoon business. I know what’s inside though. It’s one of the new moderately priced Sword” Katana” maple jazz kits. The lugs are different and there are no reinforcement hoops. The finishes are simpler too. There are only two finish choices, Natural Oil for Jazz Bop Kit and Charcoal Oil for Rock kit(22″,10″12″14″) , available. So the that we recieved guess t is Natural. I will arrive early at work on Monday and assemble them. Stay tuned.
Michael Tocker-drums

Every day something new shows up at the Daddy’s warehouse here in Manchester, NH. Whether it’s a new product, product line, or cool special order for one of our customers, there’s always something new around the corner. That’s one of the things that I love about working here is that I can stay up to the minute on all the newest, coolest gadgets. One of the cooler things that’s showed up here in the last few days is the new Zoom H1 Recorder.The H1 is the newest entry in the extremely popular line of Zoom portable recording products. They also have the H4 and H2. If you want to check out some more detailed information and specs on those products visit the Samson/Hartke/Zoom website here. The H1 is the lightest and most portable 2 track digital recorder they offer. One of the really cool features that I appreciate on this device is that it has all of the hardware controls on the surface. You’re not going to have to dig through endless menus to get this thing to function the way you want it to. Simple hardware controls are always best.This recorder was designed for ease of use, portability and sound quality. Another nice feature is that it uses a standard mounting adapter that will give you the ability to use it easily with your Digital Camera or Video Recorder when you need to capture higher quality audio to go along with your movies. All this and a price of $99.99 just can’t be beat. This item is available at any of the 20 Daddy’s retail store locations or by calling 800-373-8393 X100 to order by phone. Our first shipment was limited, so if you’ve been waiting for something like this to come along that will not only easily fit your pocket, but also your budget, then you should call now. They’re going to go fast. Remember, Daddy’s rents, repairs, buys, and loves to trade. Thanks for choosing Daddy’s Junky Music!

..are two events happening in the drum department at Daddy’s Boston in September. I’ve written about Canopus drums before. They are amazing hand crafted drums from Japan. We’ve had a set of R.F.M Maple shell drums in the past. R.F.M. stands for reinforcement maple as these drums feature very thin maple shells, with thin reinforcement hoops. The reinforcement hoops vary in height depending on the size of the drum. These drums are very resonant and full, like no drums I’ve heard before. They sing with just a light touch. We have another , new R.F.M. kit in Boston now in Walnut Satin oil finish w/brass lugs. The sizes are 18″ bass drum, 12″ rack tom, 14″ floor tom and 14″ snare. We will receiving a Birch kit any day now. I’ve heard great things about Canopus Birch drums but haven’t seen or heard a kit up close yet. So for now I’ve been staring at the catalog and waiting for UPS guy daily like a kid right before his birthday. This kit will have similar sizes to the R.F.M. drums mentioned above except will feature a slightly more versatile 20″ bass drum. I’m not sure what color it will be so it will be a surprise. We will also be getting a couple of separate snare drums to showcase to go along with the solid shell 6.5″x14″ Zelkova snare that we already have. One snare will be 13″ and one will be 14″. One will be Birch, and the other Maple. I am unsure of colors but wait with anticipation to crack open the boxes. I consider us very lucky to be able to showcase such finely crafted beautiful instruments from Canopus. We were also lucky enough last month to have a visit from Mr. Shinichi Usuda, the President of Canopus Drums. We had drum talk on the sales floor for awhile and I learned some things. You can see a picture from the visit down below. Daddy’s Boston , along with stocking Canopus Vintage Snare Wires in 13″ and 14″ and snare belts, is also stocking some lightweight hardware. When I say lightweight I rally mean it. The flat base CCS-1F cymbal stand folds up small enough and is light enough that you could carry a couple in your backpack. The same can be said for the flat base CSS-2F snare stand and CHS-1 hi-hat stand both which are also very light. Along with being thin and lightweight , this hardware is also made very well. Stop by and check it out along with all the Canopus Drums featured during Canopus month at Daddy’s Boston in September.
I can’t believe that it’s been 4 years since we had our first ZILDJIAN DAY at Daddy’s Boston, but it has. OK I’m getting a little teary eyed and nostalgic now, but you never forget your first. Well the 4th ANNUAL ZILDJIAN DAY in Boston is Friday September 17th from 11-7. If you’ve ever been to one of our Zildjian Day’s you know how cool it is. Zildjian brings boxes of prototypes ( Sound Lab) to the event. I usually don’t know what they are until the day of the event. In the past we’ve had prototypes of the Bill Stewart inspired Complex Ride (3 sizes, different weights), The Kenny Washington and Jeff Ballard inspired Overhammered and Bounce Ride’s and all the different sizes of K Light Hi-Hats , to name a few things, many months before these cymbals officially became part of the Zildjian catalog. There are also many prototypes that never become part of the catalog. The prices that day, especially on prototypes, are as the kids would say “off the hook”. Zildjian will also be carting regular stock cymbals along, most from the K, K Custom and K Constantinople lines, that will also be heavily discounted on the day of the event only. So mark that day on your calendar. (cut and paste here) FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 17TH, 11-7, ZILDJIAN DAY, DADDY’S BOSTON). Remember , also like every other day, we take trades at this event. Thanx and see you soon.
Michael Tocker-drums

It’s no secret that when you are looking for your next piece of vintage music gear that Daddy’s Junky Music comes to mind. One of the things I love about my job at Daddy’s is all the cool gear I get to see and “test out”. We’ve always got a ton of cool pieces in any one of our 20 Daddy’s Junky Music locations, but every once in a while we come across something pretty special. That is why today, I bring to you one of the coolest sounding vintage rigs I’ve had together in a while. Check out the Gretsch 6152 and Rickenbacker Combo 400.The Rickenbacker Combo 400 is a rare piece to say the least. For us to have found one is pretty rare to begin with.  For it to be in this condition is amazing. This guitar was manufactured between 1956-1958. Out of the roughly 500 produced, 216 of them were black. This guitar features the double cut tulip body, neck-thru design, 21 frets, with a single pickup set in the gold anodized pick guard. Cosmetically this guitar is in great shape considering its age. No modifications of any kind. The neck is straight, frets are level, and it plays and sounds awesome. This guitar is selling for $2999.99 and will be available starting Friday at our Manchester, NH retail store. You can also call me at 800-373-8393 X100 to purchase the guitar online. I’m going to bring it over to the store tomorrow. Now, on to the amp.

The Gretsch 6152 amplifier was produced  from 1964 to the late 60’s. So although it’s not quite as old as the Rick, it’s definitely getting up there. This is another example of something that when we saw it, our collective jaw dropped because of the condition. We get cool vintage gear all the time, but most stuff that’s this old just doesn’t look or function as well as these two primo pieces do. This Gretsch amp is a 5 watt, all tube combo, with reverb, and tremolo. Just like the Rick, this piece is in amazing shape with no rips or tears in the tolex or grill cloth. From what we can tell it has the original RCA tubes in it. Another thing we thought was pretty neat is that it has the little accessory bag with extra fuses in it still unopened and stapled to the inside of the chassis in the back of the amp. When you see that, you know it’s been taken care of. This amplifier is selling for $499.99 and is also available for auction in the Daddy’s Online eBay store! Click here: http://bit.ly/aKwdXb and check it out. Remember Daddy’s rents, repairs, buys, and loves to trade! Thanks for choosing Daddy’s!

Summer is just flying by. It’s almost time to break out the long sleeves and stop running the air conditioner. If you’re going to need something to do in the coming fall, this month’s sale can get you the best deals on all our Tama and Ibanez gear, as well as interest free financing for 12 months with a qualifying purchase. One of the coolest new products we got from them recently is the new Ibanez TSA15H. This is a all tube guitar head with a built in tube screamer. For $299.99 it’s a real bargain. Add the optional matching 1×12 enclosure for $199.99 and you’ve got yourself a nice sounding rig for under $500 dollars. I just took one of these to the studio for some guitar tracking and it literally blew me away. For $299.99 I wasn’t expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ibanez guitars and basses. Ibanez as a company is fantastic. Their customer service is top shelf and the folks Daddy’s deals with at Tama are great people. What I’m trying to say is, I went into the session thinking that it would sound good, but not fantastic. I mean, after all, it’s pretty short money for what it is. I think what blew me away was how good the clean channel sounded especially. I was definitely able to get some good clean tones out of it without too much tweaking. During the lead parts I kicked in the tube screamer channel and that’s where the amplifier really shines. Nice overdrive with tons of sustain and great harmonics. I could definitely use something like this in the studio on occasion, and well, I might just have to get one. If you have any questions about this product, or if you need anything else from us, stop by your local Daddy’s Junky Music store, call 800-373-8393 X100, or email bfoley@daddys.com. Thanks again for choosing Daddy’s!