control , NAMM did not hold back anything with regards to the educational and entertainment offerings . On offer were more than 200 educational sessions , from NAMM U for retailers , to TEC Tracks , AES , and A3E sessions for the pro audio crowd , and a lot more . As well , on two big outdoor stages , plus stages in the lobbies of the neighbouring hotels , some immensely talented live bands played throughout the day and night . We should give a special shout out to two bands in particular that blew us away ; Hawaiian folk-pop group Streetlight Cadence , and west coast soul / funk / rock band Down North . Also , props to Bay Area metal band Hemorage for their guerilla-style concert in a parking lot where they played out of a converted minibus . It was one of the coolest things we saw at The NAMM Show and it wasn ’ t even officially part of the event .
So , by the standards of most other events , The 2022 NAMM Show was still pretty damn big , but it was more digestible than the mammoth event we ’ d become used to in the pre-pandemic years . For our new guitar-obsessed assistant editor , Manus Hopkins , who was experiencing his first NAMM Show , there was still an awful lot to experience !
The other immediately-noticeable thing was that some of the big guys weren ’ t exhibiting , such as Fender , Gibson , Roland , or PRS Guitars . As well , some companies like Godin Guitars or Yamaha reduced the size of their usual space ( Godin from a dedicated room on the second floor of the convention centre to a booth in the main hall , and Yamaha switched from its usual huge room in the Marriott to a still-very-big room on the third floor of the convention centre ).
What the CMT team heard consistently , however , especially from the small- and mid-sized guitar companies , was that without the household names sucking up all the attention , it spread the wealth and made the show that much more valuable to them .
“ It ’ s been two years since we ’ ve come here for NAMM and it ’ s important for artists and dealers to see that we ’ re still there and we ’ re bringing out new models again . We ’ ve been working very hard , we ’ re actually increasing our factory right now in Canada , so we ’ re very proud to be here ” Simon Godin , CEO of Quebec-based Godin Guitars , told CMT from the show floor . “ It ’ s smaller but still a very good show . It ’ s nice to see all those artists and dealers and build that relationship . NAMM is not just for business anymore ; it ’ s gone beyond . It ’ s about relationships and our fans really like Godin Guitars , so they come and appreciate and we just show them the new stuff and they ’ re like , ‘ Wow , that ’ s amazing .’”
Or another way of thinking about it is , “ more tread , less rubber ,” the phrase used by Rob Hofkamp , the Toronto-based director of North American operations for Void Acoustics .
“ It ’ s really good to be back at NAMM , seeing all of our industry friends and colleagues . And while the attendance is down significantly , and the show presence is a lot
DENNIS STAFFORD AT NAMM U
smaller , I think of it like this : more tread and less rubber ,” he said to CMT near the end of the final day of the show . “ What I mean is , the clients who are here , they ’ re here to do business , and the industry is here to do business , but there ’ s a lot less rubber . I think it ’ s better . It was the same for InfoComm last fall and it ’ ll be the same for InfoComm this year in Vegas . There will be fewer people there , but they ’ ll be better quality people who are there to do business and that ’ s why we ’ re here .”
And for a first-time attendee like Ben Shipley , technical and operations support manager at Kelowna , BC-based Flock Audio , that usual NAMM Show feeling was still present . “ I love
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