With the NAMM, the Musikmesse is one of the key events of the musical instrument industry and what revolves around (sound system, lights, etc.). The part reserved for the guitar is increasingly reduced year after year which diminishes the interest of coming for visitors fans of six-string. Nevertheless this fair continues to offer a great concentration of people who are present for 4 days in Frankfurt. Below is the day-by-day report of this 2017 edition as well as the debrief in conclusion.
Video coverage
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
Interview recorded
- Sebastian Pecznic - Argentina composer and guitar player
- Heike Matthiesen - German classical guitar player
- Egon Rauscher - Swiss luthier for SoulTool Guitars
- Illona Bolou - French fingerstyle guitar player
- Hozen - Luthier for Maestro Guitars (Singapore)
- Maneli Jamal - Canadian fingerstyle guitar player
Photo Album
You get to see some funky instrument at the Musikmesse:
One innovation of this 2017 edition, the Guitar Boutique Village:
A nice and spacious Alhambra booth:
A very elegant line of Martinez guitars:
Illona Bolou doing her demo at the Baton Rouge booth:
A nice collection of Furch guitars:
A wall of Hiwatt amplifier was at the entry of the hall 11.0:
A very nice demo at the outdoor Relish Guitars booth:
Can you believe it? An Ozzy Osbourne Hohner signature model:
The very nice electric upright bass instruments from NS Design:
The interesting Kingsnake guitars built in Japan:
Debrief
What was positive
- Many very good business meetings for The Guitar Channel (more news soon ...)
- The creation of the Guitare Boutique Village with a dozen luthiers
- Hall 8.0 for acoustic guitars: relatively quiet
- Hall 11.1 dedicated to business meetings, super quiet
- The press room which is one of the best I was able to use
- Free Wifi throughout the site
What was negative
- No more big booths of big brands so no more demos with big guys
- No interesting outdoor concert. Gone are the days of the stage in the middle with concerts every 30min.
- The hall 11.0 with a part dedicated to the guitar even more reduced
The trend begun in previous years unfortunately continues: there are less and less interesting things to see in terms of guitar stuff. Most major manufacturers no longer come (Fender, Gibson, Taylor, Martin, PRS, Marshall, etc.). When you see products from the big brands, it's usually on the booths of the German distributors, nothing more.
Nevertheless, this show is still interesting because all professionals are present even if they have no booth. It is thus theoretically possible to meet them on the business plan.
The Musikmesse organization finally listened to the luthiers to create a dedicated space in Hall 8.0 (the acoustic guitars, violins, accordions, etc.), the Guitar Boutique Village where, among other builders, Soultool, Nik Huber, Spalt, Fibenare and a few others.
So globally a positive balance for The Guitar Channel due to the business meetings and discussions with players in the field of guitar. As a pure visitor, it is much less brilliant. There is just enough for a one day visit. With the Guitar Summit in September in Mannheim, which is going to be very interesting and where The Guitar Channel will be present, the Musikmesse has to redouble its efforts to continue to reinvent its formula.
Until the next guitar show report, keep on playing the guitar!
Pierre.
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