Despite a significant drop in numbers of guitar exhibitors with yet new big guys absent such as Gibson, Martin, Laney and others, the 2016 Musikmesse was the occasion of many beautiful encounters.

Some pretty cool interviews with stars like Phil X (which replaced Richie Sambora on tour with Jon Bon Jovi), Sungha Jung (young Korean star of picking who has more than one billion views on YouTube) and other equally talented musicians (see list below).

The business development meetings for The Channel Guitar were particularly numerous and fruitful. We'll talk about that some more in the coming weeks.

Despite what all was said by some, the Frankfurt Musikmesse remains a major event in the world of music even if it is clearly changing direction. Open to the public during all 4 days, with lots of entertainment in the form of open-air concerts and also some big brands like Roland / Boss and ESP which have towering booths, the show remains an interesting event for visitors.

The 1st floor of hall 11 was completely dedicated to meetings "Business meets Business" in a very nice quiet atmosphere which is welcome after the sound fury of the floor below where guitars and battery stands happily contributing to a sound level quite infernal (see videos). The show takes a turn clearly oriented toward professionals.

The video report Snapchat Musikmesse 2016

Throughout this edition of the fair, I posted on Snapchat on my account pierrejournel video updates to cover the event and thus share the atmosphere of Frankfurt. Here's a montage summarizing the three days I was there from Thursday to Saturday.

Add me on Snapchat to get the update live
Or scan the picture above with the Snapchat app

Interviews done

• Heike Matthiesen
• Hubert Hochleitner from Hoovi Deeflex
• Sungha Jung
• Michel Haumont
• Shaï Sebbag
• Phil X
• Alan Chaput, product specialist from Eventide
• Youri de Groote

2016 Musikmesse photo album

Hall 11.0 was dedicated to guitars and drums which is not such a great idea for noise level.

Big D'Angelico booth like at the Winter NAMM:

A selfie on the fretless fretboard of the double-neck Ron Bumblefoot Thal signature model from Vigier:

Phil X was everywhere:

The hall 11.1 was the quiet place dedicated to business meetings:

The always comfortable press center:

Phil X rocking the Musikmesse unplugged:

My best souvenir of the 2016 Musikmesse

I have been wanting to do an interview with Phil X for quite some time now so I was super happy to receive a DM on Twitter from him on Thursday saying he would be in Frankfurt for Framus and available for an interview. How freaking cool is that! Here's the snap we recorded right before the interview:

Conclusion for this 2016 Musikmesse

See you next year in Frankfurt? Certainly ! The three days I spent on site were well filled with meetings about every hour from 11:00 am to 17:00 so it's likely I spend again the same time at Musikmesse 2017. And in addition to business meetings and interviews there are countless discussions with professionals of the guitar you meet in an alley which are well worth the price of coming to Germany for a couple of days.

Until the next report from a guitar fair or the next interview, keep on playing the guitar!

Pierre.