Daddy’s Blog

Congrat’s to the latest concert ticket winners!

Bruce Reynolds - Incubus!

Duane Urban - Incubus!

John Hamnett - Pete Yorn!

Stephen Dick - Depeche Mode!

Chris Paglia - Depeche Mode!

Paul Perry jr - Mayhem Festival!

Enjoy the show everyone!

Congrats go out to Jim Saulnier and Brian Shanbrun - our Toby Keith concert ticket winners!  There are still a TON of tickets that we are giving away and its FREE to register!  Just click here http://www.daddys.com/events/tickets.php

Perhaps the most excitement at the 2009 NAMM Summer Show is when the Renaissance Hotel (attached to the convention center) was evacuated as a result of an electrical fire on the 3rd floor around 8:30 on Friday night. The Nashville Fire Department rolled a ladder truck, emergency vehicles, ambulances, etc. and the sight of all the flashing lights and helmeted firefighters rushing into the hotel was pretty exciting. In the spirit of full disclosure, the fire was out by the time they got there and all they did was bring in some fans to clear out the small amount of smoke that was generated, but it was pretty interesting. The rest of the show, handicapped by the absence of most of the industry’s major players (Fender, Peavey, Korg, Roland, etc.) was less enthralling. Friday started out with a promising rush of dealers, eager to see the displays but by Saturday, it was evident that Friday’s promise was not going to translate into a great show. That said, kudos to Hoshino (Ibanez and Tama’s parent company) and Yamaha for bothering to show up so we’ll present to you what those folks were premiering plus a new product from a new manufacturer that looks very interesting.

Just in time for this coming holiday season is the Jumpstart Mikro Bass package, a perfect way to start a young bassist’s career. The package features the Mikro Bass, IBZ1B amplifier, headphones, tuner, gig bag and more for only $199.99, available in September.

The RGA42FM has just hit the Daddy’s stores. With jumbo frets, two Ibanez LoZ humbuckers and the Gibraltar standard bridge, the 42 combines style and power in a very attractive package.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Paul Gilbert signature model, Ibanez has released the PGM300REWH with three DiMarzios, the Edge bridge and those crazy f-holes, all for a low, low, $1999.99.

For the first time in a long time and to answer multiple customer requests, Ibanez presents an RG with a fixed bridge. The RG321 (seen here in Candy Apple and Black) with humbuckers, Wizard I neck and mahogany body. Look for this guitar at Daddy’s in August at a very reasonable $299.99

Ibanez has once again added its distinctive touch to a classic style guitar. The ART320 single cut guitar now comes with a spectacular flame top with two Ibanez LoZ humbuckers, medium frets and the Gibraltar II bridge for only $449.99.

Not to be outdone, Tama has reworked the Stagestar kit to include new cymbals and stands, a low profile 18” bass drum and a nice $499.99 price, look for it in October. Finally, the Imperialstar Limited Edition double bass kit with Meinl cymbals, a double tom stand and an additional 18” crash and boom stand should be hitting Daddy’s by September and will sell at $1099.99.

Yamaha also came to the show with some exciting new product introductions. The S70XS and S90XS synthesizers come fully loaded with voices, performances, arps and Virtual Circuit Modeling that are found on the Motif XS. There’s also a library of instrument samples that totals 456 MB. The piano sounds feature new samples taken from the Yamaha S6 concert grand. With a multitude of performance features these keyboards should do well in the market and Yamaha has taken it one step further by installing a fully weighted keyboard in the 76 key version (S70XS). Expected prices for the S70XS and the S90XS are $2299 and $2399 respectively. Here’s the 70:

Guitars have not taken a back seat to keyboards at Yamaha and are given their full due with the unveiling of the NX series. These electric nylon string guitars come with a new headstock and bridge design along with some very tasteful cosmetic features. The NCX line is the more standard classical line with 12th fret neck joint and standard body depth while the NTX line features a 14th fret neck joint and thinner body for a clear smooth high end response. Shown here are the NTX700BL and NTX700. They come with the System 61 preamp, solid spruce top and nato back and sides, starting at $499.99.

The NTX1200R is essentially the same guitar with a Solid Sitka Spruce with Rosewood back and sides that give this guitar rich tonal quality and a spectacular visual appeal. The expected price should be in the $999.99 range.

There was also a very interesting product from BreezSong and inventor Steve Skillings. He came up with the JamHub to help a family friend who needed a way to practice with his band at a low noise threshold. The JamHub will allow anyone with standard rock and roll instrumentation to practice in apartments, dorms or just crowded neighbors without disturbing the peace. This piece of gear combines clearly defined and accessible multiple mini-mixers in one unit. Starting with the BedRoom at $299.99, there are five mixing sections with a stereo headphone jack and three audio channels, separate volume controls, a pan control and an effect control. There are 16 digital effects built in. The GreenRoom model offers seven sections or mini-mixers making it a “sort of like a 21 channel, seven stereo bus mixer for $500”. The flagship TourBus model includes two SoleMix remotes, a metronome and a digital recorder. These products should be shipping in August and should be the perfect answer for musicians who need to practice in low noise situations.

So, that was the show, smaller, more intimate but still with some cool new products, look for them at your nearest Daddy’s store within the next few weeks.

It is the eve of the Summer NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show, a transient, off and on affair, that is supposed to be a showcase for music stores of the latest products from leading manufacturers. After being held in Nashville through most of the ‘90s and into the new century, NAMM decided to try Indianapolis and Austin, TX as new sites with disastrous results (few came to the show). The show then returned to Nashville in 2008 and experienced a slight up tick in attendance. Unfortunately, as a result of a sluggish retail environment in the current economy and the fear that no one would show up, no one showed up. Many of the best know brands and some of their biggest customers have decided not to come to this show. However, your intrepid Daddy’s Junky Music Store crew, along with fellow AIMM (Alliance of Independent Music Merchants, a group of leading independent music merchants from across the country) members made the trek to Music City and were immediately rewarded with an exclusive invite to the Pearl warehouse right in Nashville. Pearl is a Preferred Vendor partner of the AIMM group and they opened their doors to us so we could get a glimpse of what makes one of the most popular drum lines in America really tick.

We were greeted at the warehouse with a thunderous performance by a group of Pearl employees on Tiki drums.

Ushered into the air-conditioned (it gets pretty steamy in Nashville) warehouse, a pickup band of Pearl employees hit us with a dose of completely unrehearsed but excellent island infused jazz, that really hit the spot.

From there we eagerly strolled through the warehouse, surrounded by shelves of Pearl hardware and all types of percussive instruments. That was okay, but it was the eye-opening “snare closet” that really got our attention. This is a collection of all the current models of snares, beautifully presented in a glassed closet. Feast your eyes on this.

Also in this room, was a very interesting set, seen here being played by John Anning, Director of Business Development for AIMM and closet drummer. It consisted of a djembe for a bass drum, snare, mounted tambourine and high hat. Maybe the perfect cocktail set for the new millennium.

The quick tour of the warehouse was followed by a lip smackin’ southern barbeque dinner (pulled pork, beans, slaw, you get the picture) and the buses got us back to the city by 8:00, plenty of time to sample the nightlife in downtown Nashville. Thanks to Pearl for their hospitality and a look at behind the scenes of a great drum company.

After a beautiful weekend of sun (finally) we are back to the rainy, cloudy, cold weather here in New England.  I guess I shouldn’t complain - could be worse - I could be forced to look out my office window and see GORGEOUS weather while I am inside working.

Anyway - here’s what we have cooking.  First and foremost, the folks over at Berklee College of Music have finally chosen and notified the top 11 finalists for the Battle for Berklee.  They tell me they had quite a difficult time chosing and there were a ton of players that really stuck out to them.  Of which, if for some reason one of the top 11 are not able to attend the finals, I am sure they will dive into alternates!  Anyway, here is Berklee’s top 11 picks:

Chris Juris, Boston, MA

Dan Searl Westford, MA

Robert Joyce - Berlin, MA

Riley Stockwell - Groton, MA

Corey Sterling - Portland, OR

Michael Seraus - Aruba

Eric Pierce - Dublin, OH

Mike Johnson - Harwinton, CT

PJ Brutzman - Morristown, NJ

Luke Enyeart - Deephaven, MN

Nick Virzi - Bayside, NY

A big thanks to all who entered - you really made it difficult for Berklee to choose!
The “Battle For Berklee” finals will be held at Daddy’s Boston on Thursday, July 23rd @ 7pm.  It is free for anyone to attend - so come on dows!  We had a great time last year with all the finalists, their family’s and friends.  The finalists will spend the day touring the Berklee College of Music campus, mingling with the other finalists, students and teachers and then back to Daddy’s to battle it out for a scholorship to attend Berklee’s Guitar Summer Session in August, a $500 gift card to Daddys, an Ovation iDea guitar, a Fender Blues Jr. Amp and more!
Guest judges that night will include former Boston guitarist Barry Goudreau, Fender endorsee Gary Hoey, T Lavitz (Dixie Dregs) and Berklee faculty guitarist Julien Kasper.  And the topper - our very own Daddy - Fred Bramante will be MC’ing for the night!  It’s going to be a blast!

August not only brings Fender Fan Appreciation Days to Daddy’s Portsmouth, NH and Dedham, MA, but it brings the return of legendary Dream Theater drummer MIKE PORTNOY to both Daddy’s Boston AND Daddy’s Albany!  You MUST register to attend either (or both) of these in-store meet & greets - its FREE to register and FREE to attend, but you MUST register before hand.
PLUS, your registration also gets you registered to win a pair of tickets to see Mike perform with Dream Theater! I will be pulling those names prior to each meet & greet - I have a pair of tickets for the Boston show and the Albany show!
For complete details on dates and times and to register - please click here http://www.daddys.com/events/portnoy.php

Speaking of concert tickets, I have a ridiculous amount of them in my office and I’m giving them ALL away!  YUP - every last one of em!  Plus, one lucky winner is going to get a pair of tickets to every concert ticket I have for August!  Click here for details:  http://www.daddys.com/events/tickets.php

I think that’s enough for you guys to digest for now.  Don’t forget to register for the Portnoy meet & greets and to win tickets to the hottest concerts this summer!