Daddy’s Blog

Because April is traditionally New Gear Month at Daddy’s, this was going to be a weekly update during April on the new gear that was showing up on an almost daily basis in our warehouse.  Here we are at the end of the month and there appears to be no end in sight to the new arrivals so we’ll keep going until everything we saw at the Winter NAMM show is finally in the stores.  For instance, this past Thursday, Gibson sent our first Trans Gold BFGs.  If you haven’t seen or tried this guitar, what are you waiting for?

Unorthodox is the first word that would describe this guitar.  When we received our initial shipment of Trans Black and Red BFGs a couple of months ago, one look at this Paul with the missing truss rod cover, no switch tip on the pickup selector and no pickup covers convinced me that there had been a complete QC meltdown at the Gibson factory.

Fortunately, before I had a chance to send back the lot of ‘em, someone much hipper than I said, “Wow, these are cool!”  Recovering quickly, I replied, “Of course they are.”  Even though the top looked like there had been a bad industrial accident, the response was overwhelmingly positive in the stores, they sold like crazy.  Was it the lightweight chambered mahogany body, the nasty tone of the P-90 in the neck position or the chunk of the Zebra Burst Bucker 3 at the bridge or the look of the distressed hardware (heck, even the case comes “shopworn”)?  I don’t know, but there’s a level of comfort with this guitar and a great price point that made this instrument appealing to all kinds of guitar players.  Go to www.Gibson.com for more info and “live” demos, you’ll like what you see and hear.

Another venerable guitar company, Fender, has been busy putting together some great new instruments.  The Squier Vintage Modified Tele Thinline just showed up, the latest model of the exciting Vintage Modified line that has caused quite a stir in the stores.  Available in black and Shoreline Gold, this semi-acoustic body is powered by two Duncan-Designed Tele pickups.  A master volume and a master tone control along with a three position blade switch allow you to coax some great tones out of this axe.  It’s now in all Daddy’s stores so check it out, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the look, feel, features and value of the Squier Vintage Modified Tele Thinline.

Industry News

Loud Technologies, the parent company of Mackie, Alvarez, Ampeg, Crate and St. Louis Music, has recently agreed to purchase the assets of Martin Audio, a U.K. based live performance systems company.  The advantages for both companies are numerous; Martin now has access to Loud’s financial and technical expertise while Loud will take advantage of Martin’s high profile reputation and access to international markets.  A match made in heaven, perhaps?

Product recalls in the M.I. industry are pretty rare, we’re not dealing with life endangering medical issues or failing brake systems but now we’ve hit the big time!

Casio has ordered a recall of its CTK-710 after receiving five reports of the keyboard overheating resulting in two fires.  If you’ve got a CTK-710 with serial number 7030001-7040400 or 7041901-7043500, contact Casio directly and your keyboard will be repaired free of charge.  All the details are available at www.casio.com.

The man that many believe had a huge impact on the development of the Fender Stratocaster has passed away.  Bill Carson, a native Oklahoman, had relocated to Southern California in 1951 to pursue a musical career as a Western Swing guitarist.

He played with many of the giants of Western Swing including Hank Thompson, Spade Cooley, Lefty Frizell and others.  However, Carson’s true legacy was born when he went to the Fender factory one day in search of an endorsement deal.  After meeting Leo Fender, Bill went on to suggest that the square edges of the popular Telecaster should be changed to be more comfortable and so the contoured look of the Stratocaster began.  Carson starting working at Fender as a part-time assembly worker and field tester (even in those days, it was good to hang onto the day job) but eventually started working full time and became at various times supervisor for guitar manufacturing, artist relations manager and eventually a district and regional sales manager.  Working until 2001, Bill Carson was a true character; witness his successful application to the Guinness Book of World records as the cultivator of the largest watermelon (262 lbs.) or the night he spent in an Oklahoma City jail in 1953 after he bit the ear off a drunken fireman who was pestering Carson’s wife.  These and other tales are chronicled in his autobiography, Bill Carson – My Life and Times with Fender Musical Instruments, currently in print.  Carson was 80 years old.

Taylor Guitars recently announced that Daddy’s locations in Williston, VT, Burlington, MA (47 Middlesex Turnpike, right behind the Vitamin Shoppe) and Portsmouth, NH have just been authorized to sell the complete line of Taylor Guitars.  Currently, there is inventory in the Williston store and the opening orders for Burlington and Portsmouth should be here within the next couple of weeks.  We’re pleased that these stores will be joining our current Taylor stores (Boston, Manchester, Salem and Waterbury, CT) in representing this premium acoustic brand.

This blog wouldn’t be complete without a Digitech LV-2 update.  Last week, we told you that the expected April delivery date had been changed to sometime in May and now, last Friday Digitech announced an increase in the minimum advertised price, even before the first machine has been delivered! Here’s the good news, the new pricing does not go into effect until June 1 so there will be a short window when the VL-2 will be available at the old price of 299.99.  My suggestion would be to put a deposit on one now to lock in the lower price.  The minimum advertised price on the Vocal Live 4 will go from 399.99 to 499.99 on June 1^st but expected delivery time on the 4 is still undetermined.  Stay tuned for the latest word on this exciting piece.

The DJ world has been waiting for a first glimpse of the new Denon DN HD2500, a hard drive (40GB) based professional media player and it’s finally here.  Denon has the well earned reputation as a manufacturer of some of most reliable and sought-after DJ equipment in the market today and the HD2500 is just the latest addition to their roster of great gear.

A 3.8” screen allows you visual access to functions like setup, queing and beat matching.

External USB device support will let you plug your preferred players into this control center.  Music Manager software is included to provide not only a search system that will help you navigate through files but includes seamless looping and some useful special effects (Echo, Echo Loop, Flanger, Filter and more).  This complete DJ command center is selling at $899 and can currently (as of April 24^th) be seen at our Boston, Salem and Manchester stores.

Another highly anticipated product just hit the warehouse last week and will be in the stores this week.  It’s the Marshall JVM series of amps and Marshall is touting these amps as the “new benchmark”.  The 410H and 410C (head and combo) have arrived and you really need to check them out.  Built in England, these amps feature four totally independent channels, 12 footswitchable modes, digital reverb, two FX loops, 28 front panel controls and 8 switches but don’t let that scare you.  Marshall claims that operation of the amplifier is “incredibly intuitive”.  Each of the JVM’s four channels has three modes – in the  “Crunch” channel, the Green (think “Plexi” Super Lead), Orange (classic 2203) or Red (just like a hot-rodded JCM800) modes give you all the classic rock sounds you’ll ever need.  In the “Clean” channel, all three modes offer rich bluesy and sparkling clear tones.  The OD1 channel is the perfect synthesis of high gain, all valve Marshallness; perfect for shredding, hard rock and metal, gain and more gain while the OD2 channel is like OD1 on steroids, just about ready to break that home run record!  If this sounds like an amp you need to own, check it out at Daddy’s right now, they’re being shipped from our warehouse to the stores as you’re reading this.

Industry News

Yamaha to Close U.S. Factories

Yamaha Corporation of America announced in February that it is closing its two U.S. manufacturing plants while consolidating all its musical instrument operations in the Far East.  The Yamaha Thomaston, GA plant, originally opened in 1979 and which did some final assembly of acoustic pianos and speaker products officially closed on March 30^th.  The Grand Rapids, Michigan factory will be ceasing operations on April 27^th and its production of band instruments and percussion will be moved to Asia.  Music Trades March ’07 issue stated that Yamaha has made major investments in new production facilities in China and that the company was following the route taken by many of their U.S. based competitors who have “shifted large portions or, in some cases, their entire production to sources outside the U.S.  The closing will affect approximately 380 employees who have been offered comprehensive separation packages by Yamaha.

Fishman Sues Esteban

Wilmington, MA based Fishman Tranducers, Inc. filed a lawsuit in January with the United States District Court against Stephen Paul d/b/a “Esteban”. Daystar Productions and HSN (Home Shopping Network) Interactive LLC for “unfair competition and trademark infringement in violation of Federal Lanham Act and related state and common law violations”.  Fishman claims that these parties have been promoting Esteban guitars as being equipped with Fishman transducers, pre-amps and jacks (!) while, in fact, Fishman has not sold any electronic components to Esteban or anyone else involved with the production of the shade wearing, TV pitchman’s instruments.  We’ll keep you updated as this case unfolds.

People listen…..Daddy’s Boston’s very own Mark Sullivan was recently quoted on the T-Rex Engineering website with his thoughts on the new “T-Rex Replica” pedal.  Check out what Mark had to say here http://www.t-rex-engineering.com/default.asp?show=page&id=2325  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gibson introduced the Guitar of the Week program at the beginning of 2007.  The plan is to introduce a new Gibson guitar every Tuesday and make it available to select Gibson dealers (read; no national chain stores) in limited runs of 400.  These guitars were promised by Gibson in initial press releases to be, “historically accurate Gibson designs no longer in production to specially designed colors to entirely new models fresh off the (Gibson) drawing boards…”  All this prompts the question;  will this series turn into “instant classics” or suffer the same fate as the Flying V and Explorer?  These two guitars, introduced in 1958 at a list price of $247.50, were almost universally ignored by dealers and customers.  Now, almost 50 years later, original Vees and Explorers in decent condition are fetching upwards of $150,000 on the open market!  The final results of this new program may not be known for some time, but here are the early returns based on our experiences.

Week One – SG Supreme Bass – Based on the classic EB-3 design, this bass is powerful and easy to play but all that is overshadowed by the gorgeous AAA maple cap on the body.  Very striking but while initial response has been somewhat tepid,  we’re expecting it to heat up as more bass players check it out.

Week Two – Les Paul Classic Antique – Featuring a 60’s slim taper neck powered by

’59 Classic Humbuckers, this is a “classic” Les Paul in every sense of the word.  What really sets this guitar apart is the Fireburst finish which effectively highlights the AA figured Maple top.  This piece had some legs right out of the box and should continue to be a strong seller.

Week Three – SG Standard Silverburst -  Who knew?  A smash hit from the moment it hit the charts, the Silverburst SG was gobbled up by our customers with an intensity that left us somewhat bewildered but ultimately happy.  In fact, there’s only one left.

Week Four – Explorer Pro Flame Maple VS -  The same thing only different as the aforementioned Explorer, the updated Pro features a smaller, lightweight mahogany body.  Add the 496R and 500T humbuckers, a Vintage Sunburst finish over a stunning AA Maple top offset with antique binding and you’ve got a real rocker.  There has been good action on this guitar and we believe it will continue to sell well while in stock.

Week Six – SG ’61 Reissue Antique Ebony – This is my favorite of the whole series and that could only mean one thing, they won’t sell!  I can’t figure it out, a beautiful ebony finish, gold hardware with antiqued switch tip and headstock inlays make this a very distinctive SG.  It looks vintage and thoroughly modern all at the same time.  Be the first on your block to check it out.

Week 8 – Les Paul Antique Deluxe Gold Top – The original Les Paul Deluxe, a punchy, dependable “player”, has long been undervalued in the vintage market, but are starting to regain some popularity.  Gibson has recreated the magic of those late ‘60s and ‘70s favorites with this entry into the Guitar of the Week program.  It sports that famous gold sparkle finish and mini humbuckers.  We got a very positive and immediate response to this guitar.

Week 9 – Les Paul Supreme Autumn Burst – Given the robust price point of this guitar we didn’t expect it to jump off the shelves and we haven’t been disappointed.  However, the stunning Autumn Burst finish over the AAA Flame Maple top AND back make this a very special Les Paul.  Check out the inlay on the peghead, rare curly ebony fingerboard and multiple binding and you will quickly realize that the Supreme is a step above everything else in its class.

Week 10 – SG Standard w/3 Single Coil Pickups – I’m beginning to develop an SG complex because this one isn’t selling either.  The guitar makes perfect sense, take the comfortable fit of an SG, slap three Single Coil Blade pickups on it, add a 6 position switch and you’ve got an almost endless variety of sounds and pickup configurations.

So why isn’t it selling?  Don’t know but it’s a pretty cool guitar.

Week 11 – Thunderbird IV Zebra Wood Bass – Introduced in 1963 and heavily sought after in the vintage market, the Thunderbird has long been the favorite of such luminaries as John Entwhistle.  Gibson latest version of this classic is highlighted by the exotic Natural Satin Zebra Wood body, black chrome hardware and powerful TB Plus ceramic magnet humbuckers.  These basses are currently in short supply and their distinctive look has drawn a lot of attention.

So there you have it, our take on the first 11 weeks of the Gibson Guitar of the Week program.  There have been some hits, some misses but whether or not they’ve been a hit with the public, they’re all great guitars so check ‘em out at your favorite Gibson dealer, like those guys with the stores in New England and Upstate New York, you know the place!