Vendors missing from NAMM

[ClintN667]

I've never been to NAMM but I always enjoy seeing new stuff and even old stuff. I've noticed a few companies who I havent heard about anything lately. Randall being one of them and I think they are about to disappear altogether and Splawn they seem like they never go to any of these shows. Do you guys think NAMM is a something that vendors should try to have something for or just a trade show that really doesnt matter? I'm kinda betting Randall is going to call it quits in the near future, is there any companies that you guys feel like are about to call it quits?

 

[Bad.Seed]

I've never been to NAMM but I always enjoy seeing new stuff and even old stuff. I've noticed a few companies who I havent heard about anything lately. Randall being one of them and I think they are about to disappear altogether and Splawn they seem like they never go to any of these shows. Do you guys think NAMM is a something that vendors should try to have something for or just a trade show that really doesnt matter? I'm kinda betting Randall is going to call it quits in the near future, is there any companies that you guys feel like are about to call it quits?

Splawn is probably far too small of a company to afford to be at Namm.
I have spoken to Scott personally on a number of occasions. He recently told me that the business was struggling a little bit due to the used market pricing. Not that they are going out of business or even thinking about it, just that sales have declined due to price and availability of used Splawns on the market

As far as Randall, seems like their joint venture with Mike Fortin did not work out long term, but I dont know the specifics. They have been silent for a couple years now after their big influx of new products.

 

[cardinal]

NAMM seems to be losing relevance to some extent. A few big companies (Gibson, Mesa/Boogie) have stopped participating at least at times recently.

I think the concept was for companies to show off what they have to vendors to try to get the vendors to order their stuff. But I don't think that's really the way it works now, particularly given that the landscape is largely dominated by a few large manufacturers and a few large retailers, and now more and more manufacturers are just selling direct.

If Splawn does most of its business direct, then I don't see why they'd bother going to NAMM. Companies like that need to find ways to directly advertise to users (probably via social media or band endorsements, etc.).

 

[RaceU4her]

I’ve read some companies are bailing due to high costs. The huge displays, shipping the displays and everything that goes along with it ads up quick

 

[ClintN667]

I imagine the internet is probably slowing the interest in NAMM as well. Now it seems like a lot of companies are just going after "influencers"

 

[studiodunn]

NAMM is a vanity event. I doubt it generates enough business to justify the cost for 90% of the booths. With online sales, a saturated used market and rising production cost, I'm guessing most businesses that work to survive just can't afford to seen for the sake of being seen.

 

[romanianreaper]

If Splawn does most of its business direct, then I don't see why they'd bother going to NAMM. Companies like that need to find ways to directly advertise to users (probably via social media or band endorsements, etc.).

Splawn is a hidden gem of a company and unfortunately, alot of people don't even know they exist. Scott and Co. are great people and when I ordered mine back in the early 2000s, he was super nice, helpful, and I got exactly what I wanted.

It is amazing to see where Friedman is now and I think Splawn should at least be closer to that kind of success. I mean just less than 10 years ago, there was no Friedman production amps, pedals, guitars, etc., etc. Dave was on the cusp of something big but he was still modding amps. Somewhere along that timeline, Dave used his connections and it took off like a freight train.

 

[DiezelMonster]

Summer Namm is not NEARLY as important as Winter Namm is.

Couple that with the high costs of displays and transportation of the gear, it becomes less and less desirable for companies to participate.

When companies could take the $100,000 + it costs to do R&D or other things it makes less sense to be there.

The internet has also made it difficult since all this shit gets leaked prior to the show, why spend the money.

It also was not open to the public before but since the public has made it's way in, vendors care less about dealing with them.

 

[cardinal]

If Splawn does most of its business direct, then I don't see why they'd bother going to NAMM. Companies like that need to find ways to directly advertise to users (probably via social media or band endorsements, etc.).

Splawn is a hidden gem of a company and unfortunately, alot of people don't even know they exist. Scott and Co. are great people and when I ordered mine back in the early 2000s, he was super nice, helpful, and I got exactly what I wanted.

It is amazing to see where Friedman is now and I think Splawn should at least be closer to that kind of success. I mean just less than 10 years ago, there was no Friedman production amps, pedals, guitars, etc., etc. Dave was on the cusp of something big but he was still modding amps. Somewhere along that timeline, Dave used his connections and it took off like a freight train.

Friedman was in LA and got his products into the hands of major rock stars. I don't know that Splawn ever got that type of high visibility placement.

 

[John 14:6]

I’ve read some companies are bailing due to high costs. The huge displays, shipping the displays and everything that goes along with it ads up quick

I remember Mike Soldano on Tone Talk basically saying NAMM was not worth his investment and time. I spoke to Scott Splawn years ago and he pretty much said the same thing. I will pass on buying any Randall products. I owned a George Lynch amp of theirs a few years ago and good luck getting anyone to work on it. The only place I could find willing to do warranty work on it went out of business. I live in Southern California so this kind of surprised me. I called Friedman about getting some mod work done. Once I told them the amp I wanted to mod I was told Dave was not interested.

 

[Rick Lee]

I've been to NAMM about 10x. Gibson sat 2018 out, but had a huge exhibit this year. It was very big, had a large stage, lots of cool work stations to show how they make stuff, all the Gibson brands on display, just huge and awesome, way bigger than their display in previous years. The first time I saw Mike Soldano at NAMM, it was at the Jet City exhibit and that was pretty small. Fender probably has the biggest piece of real estate there. A friend at Fender told me they send 300 employees to NAMM. It has to cost millions. Dave Friedman was at the BAD area with Mike Soldano this year. That was a nice piece of real estate that couldn't have been cheap. But Dave is moving a lot of pedals and amps, and also had a lot of very cool Friedman guitars on display. Suhr holds their own event at their HQ in Lake Elsinore on the same weekend, but has no presence at NAMM, AFAIK.

 

[Racerxrated]

If Splawn does most of its business direct, then I don't see why they'd bother going to NAMM. Companies like that need to find ways to directly advertise to users (probably via social media or band endorsements, etc.).

Splawn is a hidden gem of a company and unfortunately, alot of people don't even know they exist. Scott and Co. are great people and when I ordered mine back in the early 2000s, he was super nice, helpful, and I got exactly what I wanted.

It is amazing to see where Friedman is now and I think Splawn should at least be closer to that kind of success. I mean just less than 10 years ago, there was no Friedman production amps, pedals, guitars, etc., etc. Dave was on the cusp of something big but he was still modding amps. Somewhere along that timeline, Dave used his connections and it took off like a freight train.

Friedman was in LA and got his products into the hands of major rock stars. I don't know that Splawn ever got that type of high visibility placement.

Yep. Before he started modding amps, wasn’t he doing racks and custom pedal/switching boards? Definitely a ‘foot in the door’ situation for him..which he smartly took advantage of. Some older gear/amp online boards have posts by Dave asking advice about circuits..of course these are old like 20 yrs ago lol.
Good on him for where he is today..he builds some killer amps.

 

[Detroit1973]

If Splawn does most of its business direct, then I don't see why they'd bother going to NAMM. Companies like that need to find ways to directly advertise to users (probably via social media or band endorsements, etc.).

Splawn is a hidden gem of a company and unfortunately, alot of people don't even know they exist. Scott and Co. are great people and when I ordered mine back in the early 2000s, he was super nice, helpful, and I got exactly what I wanted.

It is amazing to see where Friedman is now and I think Splawn should at least be closer to that kind of success. I mean just less than 10 years ago, there was no Friedman production amps, pedals, guitars, etc., etc. Dave was on the cusp of something big but he was still modding amps. Somewhere along that timeline, Dave used his connections and it took off like a freight train.

Friedman was in LA and got his products into the hands of major rock stars. I don't know that Splawn ever got that type of high visibility placement.

Yep. Before he started modding amps, wasn’t he doing racks and custom pedal/switching boards? Definitely a ‘foot in the door’ situation for him..which he smartly took advantage of. Some older gear/amp online boards have posts by Dave asking advice about circuits..of course these are old like 20 yrs ago lol.
Good on him for where he is today..he builds some killer amps.

Yeah before the Amps, he was building racks for popular artist. IMHO he is in line with Pete Cornish or Bob Bradshaw....Dave being from Detroit gets extra respect in my book as i'm from Detroit too. All of that ass kissing aside he's a very smart guy & great at what he does.

 

[skoora]

Considering the pool of possible retailers for your wares has shrunk significantly why go to that effort and expense when you can do so much more on-line. The convention concept won't stay relevant to the musical instrument market much longer

 

[ClintN667]

Kinda like how the internet has killed finding steals at pawn shops

 

[311boogieman]

Most has already been said and I agree with the Internet cutting into people's business and the NAMM ROI just isn't there part.

Like John was saying, Scott Splawn doesn't see the reason in NAMM for him. I read somewhere that he likes his business small and wouldn't be able to keep up with demand if he advertised heavily. He HAS been very prolific lately on FB which is good I guess. I also think that if he expanded any further, he'd have to give up some control on certain aspects of the business and I'm guessing he doesn't want to do that. He likes everything just the way it is.

He builds amps for himself and his customers, and is not really into it to make a million dollars. That's my take. He is super customer focused though - as pointed out. But yeah, it seem Dave has knocked it out of the park with his expansion.

 

[romanianreaper]

Friedman was in LA and got his products into the hands of major rock stars. I don't know that Splawn ever got that type of high visibility placement.

Yeah I think the highest, and might be different now, was a guy that was playing guitar for Stephen Pearcy's solo band.

 

[romanianreaper]

Yep. Before he started modding amps, wasn’t he doing racks and custom pedal/switching boards? Definitely a ‘foot in the door’ situation for him..which he smartly took advantage of. Some older gear/amp online boards have posts by Dave asking advice about circuits..of course these are old like 20 yrs ago lol.
Good on him for where he is today..he builds some killer amps.

Oh yeah, that was his primary focus. He had done mods for EVH, Slash, etc. back in the day. Like I said, I talked to him on the phone probably around 2011 and the fact I could even get a hold of him blew my mind, but this was right before the Friedman tornado started. If I remember right, the "Marsha" was just starting.

I have alot of respect for Dave not only as a guitarist but as someone who has dealt with understanding how business and customers work. He could have put out the BE-100 and maybe one other amp and called it a day. Thankfully, he is forward thinking and has expanded not only the amps but doing guitars, pedals, etc., etc. I mean, even the Buffer Bay and the Power Supplies, etc. All trying to expand.

 

[romanianreaper]

He builds amps for himself and his customers, and is not really into it to make a million dollars. That's my take. He is super customer focused though - as pointed out. But yeah, it seem Dave has knocked it out of the park with his expansion.

I actually respect him for that. It is so easy for people to get so overworked that they forget about family and other priorities. I guess my only thing is it would be cool to see someone like him getting more visibility but like you said, that would create a flood of orders, etc.

 

[Racerxrated]

Friedman was in LA and got his products into the hands of major rock stars. I don't know that Splawn ever got that type of high visibility placement.

Yeah I think the highest, and might be different now, was a guy that was playing guitar for Stephen Pearcy's solo band.

I do remember seeing Shinedown way back in 04 or so and I saw a Splawn on stage.....