That was quite a trip. We all got in on Wednesday, January 14. We met up for our first Bass Gear Magazine staff meeting at a fine Korean restaurant in Garden Grove, California on Wednesday night. In attendance were Tom Bowlus and myself, Terry Buddingh, Tom Lees and Vic Serbe. My wife Carolina also joined us. Most of us stayed through Sunday night - so we got in every minute of the four show days.

Overall impressions? I’ve been to many trade shows before, but this is my first NAMM. Given the oft heard expression that bassists get the short shrift on gear, I wasn’t expecting too much. I am happy to report - bassists are first class citizens at NAMM. There was more bass gear than I ever expected! Not only in the quantity of bass companies but the amount of bass gear within a large musical instrument company like Peavey or Ibanez. As I spun around some of these larger booths, I could swear that bass gear took up a quarter or a third of the display space! Great stuff.