Â
Â
Â
Â
Daddy’s Junky Music Stores deal with many suppliers, many of them are okay, some of them are not very good and an even smaller number of them are excellent. Let’s talk about one of the really great ones. They are Kaman Corporation; manufacturers of Ovation guitars, Gibraltar drum hardware, CB drums and exclusive distributors for Gretsch drums, Latin Percussion and Takamine guitars. They were the first company to call on Fred Bramante at his first tiny Daddy’s in Norwalk, CT back in 1972 and we’ve been doing business with them ever since. We’ll talk about our companies’ 34-year relationship but first, a little historical background on Kaman. The Bloomfield, CT based corporation was founded in 1945 by an aspiring young engineer, Charles Kaman. This rapidly growing company dove into the aeronautics business with innovative helicopter designs that were widely used during the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. By 1966, Charlie Kaman, who was an enthusiastic acoustic guitar player in his spare-time, was thinking about combining aeronautical engineering into guitar technology and the Ovation guitar was born. The popularity of the now famous round-back design was made possible by space age plastics, Kaman’s extensive manufacturing experience and early endorsements by players like Glen Campbell. One year later, Kaman acquired Coast Wholesale, a musical equipment wholesaler based in California and by 1971 had also added C. Bruno and Son, an east coast wholesaler to their stable of companies. Kaman was well on its way to being a major player in the musical instrument industry. More recently, they have bought Hamer Guitars, Latin Percussion and Music Corp (the #2 music wholesaler) to further strengthen their position.
What makes Kaman an excellent company? Daddy’s is just like you. We like to deal with people that treat us in a straight-forward, honest fashion, people who appreciate our business and don’t place their interests above ours. A partnership, with all the give and take and mutual trust that kind of relationship entails, can now be formed. Now, in our experience, the larger and more corporate a company becomes and particularly if they are engineer driven, the more difficult that partnership becomes. Decisions, once quickly made, now pass through layers of management and often lose their original purpose. Turnover of personnel is increased, you’re dealing with a new face every few months. Company policies are established that do not take the customers needs and desires into account. Ultimately, unless we absolutely need that company’s product, we will almost always turn our business toward a more “Daddy’s friendly†organization. Kaman is one of the few exceptions. They have experienced tremendous growth and yet have been able to retain the charms of a smaller company. Kaman treats their dealers or customers in an open, friendly, professional manner and takes the needs of their customers into account when decisions are made. Egos don’t get in the way, Kaman’s interests are understood in any conversation but don’t take precedent over the customer’s best interest. Believe me, this is a difficult balancing act and one which Kaman does very well. How do they do it? There has to be an overall comprehensive corporate philosophy that gives its managers and sales people the guidelines and the latitude to make the right decision for the customers. I’m guessing that this situation exists at Kaman and above all else they have the people who can do the job properly. Jim Sullivan, our Kaman regional sales manager, has been calling on us for well over 30 years, we know him and trust him to balance his company’s and Daddy’s needs while doing the right thing. We want you to feel comfortable when you buy a Kaman product (Ovation, CB-5, Gibraltar, Latin Percussion, Toca) from Daddy’s, knowing that the weight of our company and the Kaman corporation is there to back you up.
Daddy’s product managers, Paul Rindone, Lew DiTommaso and I visited Kaman’s headquarters in Bloomfield, CT a couple of weeks ago and got a sneak peak into their presentation of the 2007 gear. The Ovation 2007 Collectors model is an Elite LX with the contour bowl, VIP electronics, Bear Claw top and a Vintage natural finish, very nice. Ovation will also be expanding its popular Celebrity series with new features and very affordable prices. Gibraltar drum hardware will be introducing new thrones, including the Dome Throne which incorporates ergonomic design to improve balance, posture and core strength. There is also a new curved rack starter pack and elliptical single braced stands (strength without the weight of a double braced stand) that will be introduced at the Winter NAMM show. Watch the Daddy’s webpage for more new product info as we get closer to the show (Jan 18-21, 2007). We look forward to all the new Kaman product opportunities that we’ll be presenting to you within the next few months in our stores. Keep your eyes open for them, they come from an excellent company. Â
Archive for November, 2006
An Excellent Company
Wednesday, November 29th, 2006For those about to rock…
Wednesday, November 29th, 2006So, I recently shared Buddyhead’s words of wisdom regarding rock band’s - for those who are currently in a rock band and those who want to be in a rock band. I certainly hope that you found it useful 
So this time around, I thought I would share some of Buddyhead’s Rules of Audience Rock - for those of you who like to go to shows. I have picked out some of my favorites and listed them below for you. Again, I am just the messenger! ENJOY!
BUDDYHEAD’S RULES OF AUDIENCE ROCK
1) Don’t sing if you aren’t one of the dudes on stage getting paid to do it. Nobody paid their hard-earned money to hear your dorky, untalented butt sing. We came to hear the dudes on stage sing. Paying 40 bucks to go see Tool, but instead of hearing Maynard, you get the dorkus malorkus standing next to you singing “Sober” really loudly and out of key. Enough.
2) Also, if the singer on stage does decide to either: pass the mic around for the “sing along” song, or: motion to the audience to sing aloud at key moments, and you know beforehand that your singing ability is severely limited, you MUST waive your “sing along” rights. Leave the crowd participation parts to those that do not fall under the “musically retarded” category.
3) This is possibly the oldest rule in the book… yeah, you know what we’re talking about… don’t be THAT guy. We KNOW you like the band, that’s why you’re here, you don’t need to wear their SHIRT to their show as well.
4) Also, no wearing shirts of ex-bands either. That means no Nirvana shirts at the Foo Fighters show, no Jawbreaker shirts at the Jets to Brazil show, no Minor Threat shirts at the Fugazi show etc.
5) The “merch guy” is not your friend. In fact, all the merch guy wants to do is get through the night without having to talk to you. That means that he doesn’t want a copy of your emo band’s demo to pass along to the band.
6) Dancing is ok, as long as you don’t get all fruity. Air-instruments are NOT ok. That includes: air-guitar, air-drums, air-microphone, air-keyboards, and yes even the air-bass. Don’t get me started on air-saxophone.
7) If you yell out “Play some Skynyrd”, you deserve an immediate ass-whoopin’. This isn’t funny unless your name is either Beavis or Butthead.
Don’t be the buff steakhead dudes in the Jeep blasting Radiohead as you leave (or enter) the parking lot of the Radiohead show. WE KNOW YOU LIKE THE BAND! THAT’S WHY YOU ARE AT THE SHOW CHAMP! HOW MUCH OF ONE BAND DO YOU REALLY NEED?! Actually just don’t be the four buff guys in the Jeep at the show… period. This rule applies to everybody. You don’t need to listen to the band you’re going to see on the way to seeing them.
9) Tall dudes that stand at the front of the stage should have their eyes pureed.
10) Don’t yell songs at the band, especially if it’s not a super rare song or something. Yelling “ENTER SANDMAN” at the Metallica is not necessary. NOÂ KIDDING THEY’RE GONNA PLAY ENTER SANDMAN DUDE. Calm down, they’ll get to it in the 3rd encore. Heckling is ok.
11) Anybody who utters the word MOSH PIT deserves to die.
12) Don’t take off your shirt. We know you’re sweaty dude, taking off your wife beater isn’t going to stop that.
13) Don’t buy those shirts in the parking lot from the dude who looks homeless… unless your idea of a good fitting shirt is about 1 foot long and 3 feet wide.
14) No making out at shows. Get a room. Unless of course it’s a Shat show, then it’s ok.
15) Don’t be that guy who sells your zine at shows. We don’t want to hear about your boring life, let alone have to pay money to hear about it.
16) No crying.
17) When there’s a brand new band that a lot of people seem real excited about that features ex members of other cool bands or something, and they don’t have any releases out yet, just a demo, or a couple mp3’s on their website or something, don’t be the jackass at the front of the stage singing all the words. Yeah, yeah, we know you’re the geeky super fan who likes these guys way more than everybody else. Just stop it cos you’re making everybody want to vomit with your over apparent super fan enthusiasm.
18) “Moshers” who lose shoes, keys, wallets, etc. and then stop their kung fu fighting to try and look for those objects, then get clobbered and fall to the ground…… no wait, keep doing that, it’s funny.
19) Sometimes when your favorite band is playing their big hit as their last song, you think it’s a good idea and really cool to jump up on the stage and dance with the band. You and about 50 other die-hard geeks. Well… we know you’re real enthusiastic about the whole thing, but get your porky and dorky ass off the stage. The band doesn’t want you up there that close to their equipment. Get off the stage fruitcake.
20) If you go up and begin conversation with the band while they’re loading equipment out at the end of the night and you don’t at least offer to help, you deserve to be smacked upside the head. The band wants to get their stuff in the van and get the hec out of your corn & wheat truckstop town, and you’re not helping matters.
21) Street team people passing out the latest Mudvayne cassette sampler in front of the show should be crucified. Yeah, give me a tape dude. I want a freakin’ Mudvayne tape.
Installation Speakers- “A fifteen and a hornâ€
Monday, November 27th, 2006It finally happened yesterday. Daddy’s Sound Solutions removed 2, fairly new, “name-brand†speakers in a church and put up 2 Peavey Sanctuary Series SSE-S5 enclosures. Both the models have a 15†woofer and a driven horn. The lower cost Peavey’s improved the sound in this sanctuary by several orders of magnitude. The system now needs much less processing power to sound good and gain-before-feedback is greatly increased.
We were originally asked to come up with a proposal to add rear speakers in this moderately large sanctuary. This would have required more processing power from the system’s Shure P4800, possibly the best digital audio processor with active feedback control available at this time. Unfortunately, the P4800 was pretty much maxed out and it was running only 2 main speakers and 2 relatively simple monitor mixes. The culprit was the XO1## brand “15s with a horn.â€Â In all fairness to the manufacturer, whose loudspeakers we do sell, the guy who designed the system did not use the speakers we, or practically anyone else, would have specified for this job.
Here are some guidelines for speaker selection for installed systems:
- The size and coverage pattern of the horn really matters. If a listener is outside the coverage pattern, recognition of speech will be impeded. Two 90 degree horns cover a half circle. Two 60 degree horns do not.
- As far as distance is concerned, Peavey’s Sanctuary Series guidelines mention a 60’ maximum distance for their models with their 1.4†diaphragm driver. I would suggest you extrapolate this and consider guidelines of 40’ max for a speaker with a 1†driver and 80’ for a speaker with a 2†driver. A demo of what “sounds good†is difficult in a music store or even in the ultra-cool DSS office at Daddy’s Central in Manchester. Go to somebody else’s church, gymnasium, or hockey rink before deciding on your speakers.
- Consider a 12†and a horn enclosure. Less thump will be required as an installed system is usually designed for speech first and then music. Low frequencies travel farther in large rooms as well. In addition the smaller enclosure size is a little less visible and therefore more easily acceptable to the viewer.
Store of the Year
Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006A couple of weeks ago, I received a phone call from Zach Phillips, editor of Music Inc magazine (For Progressive Music Retailers). He told me that Daddy’s Junky Music Stores had been named Dealer of the Year (Chain Store) and their choice had been determined by a majority vote of industry manufacturers and suppliers. Well, I thought, that’s pretty cool but I decided to end the phone call quickly before Zach had a chance to change his mind or before someone demanded a recount. So it’s official, we are Store of the Year and we’re pretty proud of that fact. We’ve got a lot of people here that work very hard to make sure that our customers and the stores are service properly and this award is really for them.
So what happens now? Do we get a huge bouquet of flowers, a bejeweled tiara and a satin sash that proclaims Daddy’s as Store of the Year for everyone to see? Are there fabulous prizes, trips to exotic locales, and audiences with dignitaries from around the world?
Â
The answer to these questions is, I’m afraid, a resounding no, but we do get an article in a future issue of Music Inc and maybe even our pictures on the cover. Hey, I’ll take it, so Fred Bramante (Daddy himself) and I went to the Boston store to be photographed. Why Boston you ask? It’s all because of Elvis. For those of you who have never visited the Boston store, there is a 10 foot high bust of the King right there in the store and what better backdrop for our picture than a tribute to the man who made it all right for geeky white boys to sing the blues. Vernon, the photographer, came with all the right equipment, the proper lighting and a camera that cost more than my car. For the next forty-five minutes, Vernon shot picture after picture as Fred and I unsuccessfully tried to look front cover worthy. We alternately smiled and then put on our confident businessmen faces, we stood apart and stood together but to no avail, we just ended up looking like ourselves. I’m sure Fred shared my frustration as we shifted from pose to pose, what would it take to make this picture really special? Well, the answer was obvious to both of us; it would take a different photo partner. I can only guess at Fred’s choice but that person may look something like this.
               
Ah, Eva Green, a current Bond girl and pretty spiffy looking. We haven’t seen this much of her since she bared all in “The Dreamers” My choice?
 Helen Mirren as “The Queen”, heck of an actress and I’ve always been a bit of an Anglophile. Frankly, when those four lads from Liverpool crossed the pond to finish the revolution that Elvis started it pretty much cemented it for me. Say, isn’t that the Queen Mum in the background?
Â
  However, our fantasy partners would never materialize and we were left with this.
           
Â
Â
I guess it will have to do.Â
I’m just the messanger….
Friday, November 17th, 2006BUDDYHEAD’S RULES OF ROCK - For those in a rock band or want to be in a rock band
1) Don’t misspell any words in your band’s name. Many bands opt to switch the letter ‘I’ for the letter ‘y’. This is cool if you’re into everyone with 1/8 to 1/6 a brain assuming that you are a crappy jock/rap/metal band. For instance, Limp Bizkit, Strait Up, and Korn are all these type of bands. Are any of them good? Check and mate.
2) Avoid using food products in your band’s name. Chances are you’ll misspell it anyways. Also, chances are you’ll pick some crappy food over a tasty one.
3) Don’t wear your band’s own shirts. No exceptions or excuses accepted. Don’t think the “but I’m on tour and we haven’t been able to wash our clothes, it’s the only thing clean I had to wear” story is gonna fly… wear the dirty shirt, you’re a rocker my friend.
4) Don’t play reggae unless you are in Bad Brains.
5) Cowboy hats are for cowboys only. That is why they are called cowboy hats. You aren’t Madonna nor are you trend setting. And unless your main transportation is a horse just don’t wear a cowboy hat, or you’re a total poser cowboy.
6) This one here is a no brainer and it’s mainly, but not solely, directed towards the ska bands. DO NOT insert the name of your genre, or something related to your genre into your band’s name. You don’t see any good bands attempt this. (except Metallica, but they have songs about satan so it’s cool) The best solution to this problem is to not start a ska band in the first place, cos not only are ska bands just itching to break this rule and prove their dorkdom, but nobody’s scoring gash with a ska band anyway.
7) Avoid using the words theory, project, or plan in the title of your band name.
Don’t play funk. Don’t even joke about playing funk.
9) Mc Hammer pants aren’t cool anymore, don’t wear them.Â
10) Visors on band members (or anyone for that matter) earn yourself a slap. If you have your visor sideways, upside down, or both your penalty increases to additional groin area pummeling.
11) For shows, props are generally a bad idea. They usually stimulate the audience’s what-the-hell sensors. If you do decide to use one, make sure it’s small and you don’t spend most of your time playing with it.
12) If your band has a cozy fan base of say, five, skip out on the huge rock star banner. It is key to grasp the idea that people don’t operate on the if-they-have-a-banner-they-have-to-be-good mentality.
13) Never ever have all members wear the same shirt. This is a ridiculous concept and should not be explained.
14) If you’re playing your hometown, don’t say, “What’s up (town)”. This phrase is reserved for the out of town and/or touring bands. You might make them mad by stealing their pep speech.
15) If you’re playing outside of your hometown, don’t say, “What’s up (town)”. This phrase screams shoot me in the face.
16) Preaching is for church, shut up and rock.
17) Cordless guitars are only ok if your first name is Eddie, your last name is Van Halen, and you kick ass at playing a guitar with a power drill. If this is not the case, don’t venture there.
18) Playing your guitar up by your neck makes you look like a geek. Period. If you need an example, take a cue from a few of the greats… look at Slash’s guitar height, or maybe take a peek at where Duff let the bass rest, or possibly look at just how low Krist Noviselic rode his rock axe.
19) If you play bass make sure you have only 4 strings. If you play guitar make sure you only have 6 or less. If you play drums know that if your set looks like something Tommy Lee would play while hanging upside down, you are a jackass. You don’t need 12 cymbals fruitcake.
20) Gold hardware and/or wood stained anything is a no-no. Ditto for neon anything.
21) White cordless mics were used by Vanilla Ice, don’t travel the same road.
22) Unless you are an immortal rock god, spitting or throwing water into the crowd instantaneously eliminates any chance you had at getting lucky that night. It may ensure you getting your butt kicked though.
23) Covering new wave songs, oldies, or current Top 40 songs means your band sucks mad horse dong. The “hey wouldn’t it be funny to cover that N’sync song and make it punk” idea is about as funny as a knee to the eye.
24) If all of your songs are about how much you miss your girlfriend, do us all a favor and instead of touring, stay home geek.
25) Kick out the fat guy, he’s the reason you are never gonna be big.
26) If you’re fat, kick yourself out, you’re blowing it for the rest of the band.
26) If you’re a metal band, make sure that you are a metal band before you say you are a metal band. A pretty fool proof test is to ask yourself if you think Rob Halford would be into your band back in the days when Judas Priest was IT.
27) If you have a DJ make sure he at least has two turntables. We actually recommend no DJ, but if you gotta go there…
28) We take that back. No DJ’s. This DJ in bands stuff has to stop now.
29) Shave. Beards = blowing it.
30) Don’t wear backwards baseball caps, unless you’re the Beastie Boys.
31) Use a pick. If you play slap bass you need your fingers broken.
32) Don’t tell the crowd what they can and can’t do. You’re not in Fugazi. If you want to be a cop, get off the stage and go join the police academy champ.
33) Unless you’re the headliner you shouldn’t be playing hour and a half sets, keep it short. The idea that, “Hey these people don’t seem to like us, maybe they just didn’t like those songs, let’s play some more until we play one they like” is never accurate. Get off the stage. We want to go home.
I love happy Daddy’s winners :)
Monday, November 13th, 2006Believe it or not, there are occasions when we are running a contest, give away, raffle etc., where we call a winner and there is a less than excited response, “Oh. Thanks”Â
Today, however, was NOT one of those days. Daddy’s had spent Saturday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena selling raffle tickets to win an autographed guitar signed by all of the member of the rock band Journey. (All of the proceeds from the raffle have gone to the Officer Michael Briggs Memorial Fund)
We announced the winner today and I am happy to report that Melanie Kimball was soooo excited to hear that she won! I love happy winners
 
Thank you to everyone who participated in the raffle!
Â
Time to save some money
Thursday, November 9th, 2006 As I promised last time, we’d talk about the latest price reductions that are out there and how you can save some money. Here at Daddy’s, most price reductions come at the end of any product’s life cycle. The new model is about to come out and it’s time to clear the shelves of the old model. These savings can come in the form of being bundled with free product, factory rebates or my favorite, a new lower Daddy’s price. Such is the case with the Tascam 2488. The latest in a long line of Tascam Portastudios, the 2488 is the most affordable 24-track recording and mixing workstation ever made. Go to www.tascam.com and you’ll find all the specs but this monster’s price (originally $1099.99) has been officially reduced to 799.99. Is there a new version on the way? Probably, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is still a lot of recorder for short money, check it out. Gibson also just lowered the price of some of its most popular guitars. The Faded Flying V and SG have been around for a few years and have sold well but it is rumored that they will be removed from the line-up in the next few months. Both models are now $579.99, you save close to a hundred bucks and these models never go out of style. The ticket on the increasingly popular Les Paul Studio has also been lowered “temporarilyâ€, according to Gibson. What does that mean? Wish I knew, but I’m guessing that price will hold until NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show in Anaheim, CA in mid-January. You can now buy the LP Studio in Ebony, Wine Red, Artic White or Fireburst for only $999.99 but do it soon. This price will go back up.
Â
Mackie has indicated that the venerable VLZ Pro line of mixers has come to end. How did we find out? Mackie removed the MAP pricing policy on the 1604, 1402 and 1202 mixers. MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) policies dictate the price at which an authorized dealer may advertise a manufacturer’s products. Legally, the supplier cannot tell a dealer how much to sell their product for, but can control the advertised price. When the MAP policy is removed from a product, they can now be advertised for any price, bargains start to happen. The best new price I’ve found on these mixers was at Daddy’s, naturally. The 1604 is now 699.99 down from 849.99, the 1402 is now $349.99, it was $399.99 and the 1202 is now just $199.99, a full $100 off the old price. As one of our customers told us, “When things get cheap, the cheap get things.â€Â  These mixers have never been cheaper and the time is right to grab the mixer you always wanted, because when they’re gone, they’re gone.
Â
Finally, Numark has slashed the prices on the CD Mix 1, 2 and 3 as well as on the iDJ. All these products are featured with the new low prices on page 21 of the November Daddy’s catalog. This price change also allowed us to whack another hundred bucks off our Daddy’s Mobile DJ package in that same catalog, it’s advertised at 1099 but you can buy it now for only 999.99. I suspect that there will be more shifting in prices as we get closer to the NAMM show and we’ll keep you up-to-date on all the changes. This convention is the main showcase for manufacturers from around the world to preview their new product, which means the old stuff has got to go and it also means it’s time for you to save some money.
   Â
This just in, the folks at Vox just announced that the 1×12 AC-30 will now be 699.99. Holy
@#$%! Just yesterday this amp was 999.99, but this price change does make sense since the 2×12 and 1×12 were originally both 999.99. We just put another dozen on order in anticipation of increased demand.
Custom Wiring- Floor Boxes
Thursday, November 9th, 2006One of the neatest things Daddy’s Sound Solutions offers is custom wiring for audio and video. The best way to make the stage in church look neat is to bury as much of the wire as possible under the stage and use custom floor boxes for access and connection.Â
We recently completed an installation at Granite State Baptist Church in Salem, NH where we installed 7 recessed floor boxes. Each contains 4-XLR microphone input jacks, 2 Speakon monitor output jacks (giving access to 4 monitor mixes), and a duplex AC outlet. Any variety of audio or video connections could have been custom mounted on the plate at the bottom of the box. The mix is up to you, our customer.
Compare the “down the mic stand into the recessed floor box” look possible with this installation to the miles of spaghetti-like cables connecting your microphones and monitors to a stage box at the end of a commercial audio snake. Churches spend thousands of dollars on decorating to make their sanctuaries attractive for worship. As contemporary worship grows in your church, consider a sound investment in neatness and convenience with custom wiring using floor boxes. If you’re reading this in New England, Daddy’s Sound Solutions is nearby. Give me an email at dfuchs@daddys.com and I’ll stop in when I’m in your neighborhood.
Audix MB1245 “Microboom”
Thursday, November 9th, 2006Here’s a hot one for folks looking for a GREAT way to mike a choir, children’s program, or pageant in a church or school this Christmas season. The MB1245 from Audix is a fantastic microphone solution. Audix has mounted one of their “Micro” series capsules on the end of a 2.5 oz., 50″ carbon fiber boom. The cable attaches to the other end. This thing looks neat and it sounds great. We use Audix pulpit and hanging choir mics and love their smooth response and good gain-before-feedback. The microboom puts an even better capsule in a nifty package. This set-up is better than a hanging choir mic because it can be moved closer to the performer. Audix offers an optional pedestal mic stand but the Microboom is so light we’ve been able to mount it on a standard round-base (el cheapo) mic stand and position the boom horizontally at a 90 degree angle without a counterweight. Using the MB1245 this way, there is no stand positioned in front of the kiddies.
If you’re in New England within shouting distance (like 100 miles of Manchester, NH) and would like to see the Audix MB1245 Microboom, feel free to email Dave Fuchs at dfuchs@daddys.com and I’ll bring one by.
