Daddy’s Blog

Ah, the adrenalin rush of last minute shopping, it is addicting, but we can help take the edge off with some last minute suggestions. We didn’t want to spoil all your fun, so we ordered up a couple of late-in – the shopping season snow storms, just to spice it up a little. Now it’s crunch time, so with that in mind, if you’re looking to outfit your loved ones with musical gifts this year, here are our most popular gift choices, let’s count them down.

THE TOP 5 INSTRUMENTS

5. Brand new and zooming up the charts with a bullet, the Yamaha F-325 has become an instant favorite because it is made to fit Yamaha’s high standards of quality and value. It plays easily, sounds great and is available in three different versions, the F-325 by itself for just $139.99, in the Yamaha GigMaker Pack (F-325 with gig bag, lesson DVD, digital tuner, strings, strap, etc.) for just $149.99 or the F-325 with a rugged hard shell case for only $179.99. Just see any Daddy’s salesperson and they’ll help you get set up with just the right package

4. Yamaha scores again with the P-70 digital piano, our best selling keyboard. This board has 88 keys, 10 voice, 32 notes of polyphony, digital effects with speakers and a built-in amplifier. There’s not much more you could ask for in a digital piano is this price range ($599.99) except for a great piano sound and this board has the Yamaha sound. That’s why the P-70 outsells all its rivals.

2. If it’s a great starter electric guitar package you’re looking for, here’s our #1, the Ibanez Jumpstart Basics Pack. It includes an Ibanez six string electric guitar, Ibanez GTA10 amp and a full complement of accessories (instructional DVD, book, chord chart, gig bag, tuner, cable and more), everything you’ll need to launch that musical career. This package is available exclusively at Daddy’s and is just $199.99.

1. Drum roll, please, for the second year in a row, our number one selling item is the Line 6 Spider III 15 amplifier. Line 6 is arguably the most innovative music company there is and this amp is just one reason supporting that claim. There are four amp channel models (Clean, Crunch, Metal, Insane) and 6 built in effects (reverb, chorus/flanger, phaser, sweep echo, tape echo), that’s a lot of technology to pack into a great sounding little amplifier. At $99.99, the other amp companies don’t stand a chance. Check this one out for yourself.

Our Best Selling Accessory Items

5. A perennial favorite, the Shure SM-58 clocks in at #5. Rival mic companies will tell you that this mic was designed and built with technology from the late ‘50s. That’s true, but if you want to extend that argument so were the Fender Stratocaster and the Gibson Les Paul and they seem to be working just fine. Dependable and rugged with a distinctive upper-midrange peak that will cut smoothly through any mix, the SM-58 has survived and shows no sign of slowing down. $99.99

4. Planet Waves is a division of the D’Addario string company, renowned for quality in all their products. Their Universal Chromatic Tuner includes a patent pending fold out stand plus LED lights and an LCD meter that makes super accurate tuning for any instrument easier than ever. It’s the perfect addition to any guitar purchase and is just 19.99.

3. The perfect complement to your Shure SM-58 would be the On-Stage Tri-Pod/Boom stand. Height adjustable from 36” to 63” with an easy-to-use Euro-style clutch that’s perfect for one hand adjustment. Only $24.99.

2. The Monster S-100 12’ guitar cable is #2 not only because it’s built to withstand almost any punishment a guitar player can hand out but also its precision coaxial design and copper braided shield helps reject RFI and RMI (electrical interference). A special copper winding provides improved clarity and tighter bass response at any length. Your sound is too important not to get this cable and it’s only $19.95.

1. Connecticut based Music People manufactures On-Stage stands and they’re in the number one position because the XCG4 has revolutionized the guitar stand. This collapsible stand will protect your favorite guitar from tragic falls and will do it faithfully for only $19.99.

There you are, if you’re holding off until that final frenzy of Christmas shopping because it feels so good to be stressed, this has been no help to you. For the rest of us who are looking for a little help, these gifts will really up your Santa quotient. Good shopping and happy holidays.

Even heading in to the holiday season, the latest gear is still rolling in the door and gives you another reason to head down to your nearest Daddy’s Junky Music Store.  Within the last few weeks, the final piece of the Line 6 Spider Valve puzzle, the HD-100 amp head has finally arrived.  We are now stocking the 112, 212 combos and the head and cabinet (still in short supply) in our stores.  The Spider Valve line is the result of the collaboration between German designer Reinhold Bogner and Line 6.  These amps combine the magical front end modeling of the Line 6 Spider and the precision crafted Bogner designed output section.  Check ‘em out, they’re in stock now.

Line 6 has scored again with some new POD product.  Leading the charge is the Pocket POD, a powerful new effect process, is the just the right size (it can clip to your belt) and just the right price (only $129.99).  Over 300 custom presets in the Pocket POD along with the great sounding effects makes this a fun processor to put through your amp and plug your guitar and phones into it to practice and play anytime, anywhere.  This will be one of the season’s hottest sellers.

The POD X-3 has also recently arrived.  An upgrade from the POD XT (almost double the number of guitar amp models, bass amp/preamp models, USB 2.0 multi channel capability), the X-3 features a larger LCD screen and it’s now easier than ever to program your POD to fit your tastes.  More sounds, ease of operation, that makes a better POD.  If you need a stage ready version of the X-3, may we suggest the POD X-3 Live? It contains all the upgrades of the X-3 with stereo ¼” line outputs, stereo XLR outputs for the best possible live signal and a built-in expression pedal.  The POD X-3 Live is also now available at Daddy’s.

The Boss RE-20, a digital recreation of the Roland RE-201, the most famous tape echo of all time, is now at Daddy’s. This machine faithfully recreates the analog tone, tape flutter and magnetic head sound saturation of the original machine with an even longer delay time.  If you long for the pure tone of tape echo with modern reliability, this is the pedal for you.  Check it out at Daddy’s.

Line 6 has scored again with some new POD product.  Leading the charge is the Pocket POD, a powerful new effect process, is the just the right size (it can clip to your belt) and just the right price (only $129.99).  Over 300 custom presets in the Pocket POD along with the great sounding effects makes this a fun processor to put through your amp and plug your guitar and phones into it to practice and play anytime, anywhere.  This will be one of the season’s hottest sellers.

The POD X-3 has also recently arrived.  An upgrade from the POD XT (almost double the number of guitar amp models, bass amp/preamp models, USB 2.0 multi channel capability), the X-3 features a larger LCD screen and it’s now easier than ever to program your POD to fit your tastes.  More sounds, ease of operation, that makes a better POD.  If you need a stage ready version of the X-3, may we suggest the POD X-3 Live? It contains all the upgrades of the X-3 with stereo ¼” line outputs, stereo XLR outputs for the best possible live signal and a built-in expression pedal.  The POD X-3 Live is also now available at Daddy’s.

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) announced on October 29^th that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Kaman Music Corporation for $117 million in cash.  Headquartered in Bloomfield, CT, KMC owns Ovation, Latin Percussion, Toca, Gibraltar hardware, Genz Benz, Hamer and is the exclusive US distributor of Sabian Cymbals and exclusive worldwide distributor of Takamine and Gretsch Drums.  In addition, KMC is also the largest distributor of small goods (musical accessories) in the United States.  The deal is expected to be finalized sometime within the next 3-4 weeks.

KMC was formed in 1966 as Ovation Instruments as a vanity project for Kaman Aerospace founder Charles Kaman.  A major player in the helicopter industry and a guitar enthusiast, Kaman theorized that an acoustic guitar with a more efficient sound projecting design could be made using modern materials, thus the plastic, roundback Ovation was born.  Just three years later, Glen Campbell appeared weekly on ABC TV as host of “Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour”  playing Ovation guitars and the national exposure started the ball rolling.  At the same time, the market was asking for an acoustic that played easily, had built-in electronics and was durable enough to withstand the rigors of the road.  The Ovation fit the bill perfectly and the rest is history.  The company also dove into the small goods business in the early ‘70’s.  However, even during these periods of profitability and growth, the mission of Kaman Musical was viewed from within the parent company, Kaman Aerospace, as a conflict to the its core competency.  Within the last year, the Kaman family divested itself of all interest in Aerospace and the board of directors moved quickly to unload KMC.

Fender was still smarting from the failure of their attempt to try and compete with Kaman and others in the small goods business, ending up closing that short-lived division (FMIW) weeks before acquiring Kaman.  An excellent value at $117 million, Kaman now allows Fender to put themselves not only at the head of the pack of small good wholesalers but also squarely in the hand percussion and drum set market with the exclusive Kaman brands LP, Gibraltar, Toca and Gretsch.  It is speculated that Fender could also take advantage of Kaman’s east coast location to try to improve distribution of all of Fender’s products, which are currently all shipped from California.  Kaman also brings with it a reputation as one of the most customer service centric companies in the musical instrument industry.  This is an area that has consistently been a challenge for Fender and the hope is that Fender learns and adopts Kaman’s culture with respect to service and not the other way around.  Time will tell.

Catching up on some ongoing situations, on September 26, a United States District Court Judge in Florida dismissed the $1 billion dollar lawsuit brought by Ace Pro Sound and Recording against several manufacturers (Yamaha, Tascam, JBL, Korg, etc. ) and  national retailer Guitar Center.  Industry journal Music Inc. quoted Ace’s former owner acknowledging “that this suit was about misunderstanding and poor communication and had nothing to do with the violation of any state or federal laws.  This simply was not a matter for the courts.”  After several legal battles and probably a considerable amount of legal fees, that’s a very interesting conclusion.

The sale of Guitar Center to Bain Capital Partners was completed on October 9^th.  GC stock ceased to trade on Nasdaq at market close on that date and was then de-listed.  Immediately, rumors and speculation started to circulate about the new direction of the company.  Initial industry speculation indicates that there may be some store closings and that the new owners may insist upon a “fixed priced” policy in the stores.  More news should be coming out of the Winter NAMM show in January.

Gibson steamed into the third quarter of this year(July-September) with the Guitar of the Week program.  Buoyed by the early success of limited releases like the Silverburst SG, the general excitement about the program and some pretty special guitars in the 2^nd quarter (LP Classic Custom in Silverburst, LP Supreme Gold Top, Fireburst SG Supreme Bass), could anyone stop the Gibson juggernaut?   All this momentum and the real jewel of the program, the Reverse V, not even due until late August, where would it all end?  Well, pretty much in the third quarter.  Skyrocketing fuel costs, concerns about the credit crisis, a softening real estate market and retail environment plus an assortment of generally ho-hum guitars would slow this train down.

Not all the news was bad, but buckle up, it’s a rough ride.  Let’s review.

Week 25 – LP Studio w/BFG electronics – Not a bad idea,  take the interesting BFG electronics (P-90 in neck position, Burstbucker 3 in bridge position, kill switch where toggle normally resides) and put them into a dressed up package (real lacquer finish, pickup covers, switch tips, etc).  With all of that, there’s been a somewhat lukewarm reaction to the guitar, go figure.

Week 26 – SG ’61 Reissue Classic White – Presented in a stark black/white color scheme but warmed by the nickel hardware and powered by twin ’57 Classic Humbuckers, this guitar would surely spark some interest from SG devotees, right?  Hmmm, not so much, but it’s awful purty!

Week 28 – LP Classic Custom Antique Ebony – Evoking memories of an earlier, more exciting time in guitar history, this beauty has the regal bearing of Les Paul royalty.  A lustrous ebony finish is nicely framed by gleaming gold hardware and antiqued binding for just the right look.  Add to this, the snarl of a couple of P-90s, you’ve got a winner.  There’s only one left at this moment.

Week 29 – Reverse V – So ugly that it’s beautiful, this guitar evoked strong reactions when it first appeared.  You either hated it or loved it.  Our original 6 were quickly snapped up and we immediately ordered 6 more but by this time the word was out, get ‘em while they last.  The second half dozen sold right away.   It happened so quickly that we barely had time to react but this much is certain; this reasonably priced, truly unique instrument could turn out to be the most prized guitar of this whole series.

Week 31 – Flying V New Century – For the modern man, the New Century V features a recessed full pickguard in carbon fiber, for the ultimate utilitarian look.  We’ve sold half of them, so there is some interest in this look out there.

Week 32 – SG Special Ebony with EMGs – Also thoroughly modern, this SG has a satin ebony finish, it’s stunning and the EMG 85 in the neck position and EMG 81 down by the bridge will give you the widest range of tone imaginable.  We bet heavy on this one.  That’s me tearing up my tickets down by the rail, right after the end of the race.

Week 33 – Les Paul Classic Antique – Step back in time.  It’s 1977, disco is dying and you’re playing the blues on your 9 year old Paul.  You’ve taken the covers off your high powered ceramic pickups for added response, the neck is ‘60s slim, the mahogany top sings, you’re on top of the world, it doesn’t get any better than this.  That’s this guitar.  So, how come nobody’s bought one yet?  Answer that question for me.

Week 34 – Les Paul Standard 50s neck – This one’s very similar to Week 33 except the neck is more rounded, there’s a little something extra to hold onto there.  Same pickups but the maple top has a bit of subtle flame, not enough to dazzle you but every so often in the right light, it looks might good.  There’s still a couple of these left.

Week 35 – SG ’61 Reissue Antique Satin Walnut – What can you say.  The walnut looks great, the ’57 Classic Humbuckers sound great but no one seems to be biting on this one.

Week 36 – Explorer New Century Satin Ebony – Looks cool, but you’d have thought we would have learned from the NC V, people aren’t looking toward the 21^st century for their guitars.  They want the stuff that looks like it’s 40 or 50 years old.  Who knew?

So there it is, the third quarter of the Gibson Guitar of the Week program.  They blasted one out of the park, dinked a couple of singles over a drawn-in infield and whiffed on some 97 MPH heaters from an unfriendly retail environment.  Will the 4^th quarter with the merriment of the holiday season revive this program?  There’s some pretty tasty stuff coming down the pike.  Stay tuned and we’ll let you know how it all turns out.