Welcome back to the Bass Gear Weekly! After a bit of a hiatus, I am excited about bringing back BGW – and just in time for the Summer NAMM Show! While not as big and glitzy as the Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, the Nashville show has its own charms. The show itself is more relaxed, allowing for more intimate visits with exhibitors, and there are always some gems to be found which might have been overlooked at the more audacious Winter Show. And of course, Nashville is a town that is alive with music seven days a week. Even a quick bite for lunch often involves a live band performance. The Show starts this Friday, June 18th, and runs through Sunday.
BGM photographer, Steve Burkhalter, has his Nikons locked and loaded, and we will be uploading pics daily to our “Summer NAMM 2010” photo gallery. Several of us will supplement Steve’s photo montage with our own meager efforts, so you will be able to see the Show from a variety of perspectives.
You may or may not be aware that Bass Gear Magazine also has our very own YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/BassGearMagazine). In addition to show coverage from Winter & Summer NAMM, Musikmesse, etc, you’ll find some other fun videos featuring such things as watching luthier Pete Skjold shape a neck, or seeing what happened when I brought a bunch of killer all-tube heads down to Phil Maneri’s shop in Columbus, Ohio. More videos are going up all the time, so be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date.
When Ed Friedland joined the BGM team back in issue #4, he brought with him a ton of experience as the premier “video review guy” for all things bass-related. His first BGM video reviews were the sneak peak [Tom Clement 5-string Preview] and full review [Tom Clement 5-string Full Review] of an amazing Tom Clement fretless 5-string. In issue #5, Ed reviews the Ernie Ball Big Al 5-string, and his preview clip is currently viewable at [EBMM Big All 5-string Preview]. The rest of the BGM reviewers will start putting up more video reviews, as well, so stay tuned!
Well, I’m off to get ready for the trip to Nashville, but we’ll check back soon!
Tom Bowlus
Editor-in-Chief