While everybody was busy trying to figure out if the national holiday was on the Sunday or the Monday of the July 1st weekend this year,we made the pilgrimage one hour east, to the 2012 Montreal JazzFest and International Guitar Show.It was hard to tell if the show was only slightly smaller this year,but it appeared larger due to the showing of an even larger variety of instruments occupying the several large showooms and halls.The weather was incredible,not to mention the local scenery and of course,it's Montreal ! We shot the usual slew of pics,till the batteries wentdead(finally).This time around,we're going to show you some of the more eclectic & original offerings
that were put up for grabs by the many craftsmen(and women!) from around the world.
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| Give this guy some money so he can get a haircut & a shave(Give generously...) Seriously. | The parking garage below the guitar show had no shortage of Aston Martins,Mercedes,BMW's Jaguars-not a Kia in sight.Hmmm |
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| F-holes? we don't need no stinkin' F-holes! | Built-in arm rests for tired old guitar pickers.... |
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| Take a closer look......... | |
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| you can never have enough harp guitars. | Ditto |
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| A little to the left,no...more to the right | Apparently(?) there's a need for tubular guitars |
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| A view from one of the showrooms | and another... |
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| Nothing to see here,nothing to hide,move along.. | |
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| taking the term "carry-on" to another level | Shades of Billy Gibbons ! |
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| the modern air conditioned guitar | |
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| metric & imperial dimensions don't mix | Okay,well.It started out as a bass |
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| a new jazz archtop from Parker | |
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| Check out the paint job in Godin's booth | One of the crowds for one of the jazz concerts |
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| This is where you end up when you fail the America's Got Talent first round competition. |
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We once again ventured east to Montreal for the 2011 Montreal Guitar Show recently.Held over the July 1-3 weekend,as part of the Montreal JazzFest,this year's show proved to be the best & biggest yet.With guitar builders from every point on the planet it was amazing to see the insanely wide variety of very high quality instruments pouring out of tiny little shops and the countless hours of labour involved to bring them to the marketplace.We shot a
massive amount of pics,so we'll start off with a gallery of some of the more "unconventional stuff" first & we'll add the
more traditional instruments as we move along.Here's some of the highlights from the show-more coming. Enjoy!
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| Travelling incognito-tuck yer shirt in! | Tubular, man....... | But can you sit down with it? |
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| if the Terminator made guitars... | ||
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Looks inflatable,but it's not. |
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| Lutes,Lutes,Lutes,Lute-Fest! | You can never have enough lutes right? | The Godin Multi-OUD.Their latest innovation |
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| The Evertune Bridge-Take a closer look at the strat.. | |
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| James Trussart-ALL metal guitars (no,NOT heavy metal) | |
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| Where it all starts-with some nice planks of wood. | blanks for fretboards and bridges |
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| raw blanks for acoustic guitar tops & sides | some very nice($$$) flamed maple |
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| A view from just one of the acoustic guitar rooms | |
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| A foldable electric dobro style with interchangeable cones! | |
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Well,what's summer without another guitar show and on June 11,I trek'd on down to Ottawa's FIRST (vintage) guitar show.It was a quick skip down the 417 and off at Carling to spend a breezy Sunday afternoon gawking over an eclectic range of gear & goodies that varied between a mix of vintage-meets-pawnshop-meets-yard sale meets-just about anything in between.The fledgling show started out this year with about 30 exhibitors and, with some luck and support could expand to a larger venue for a proposed "sequel" in future.I of course shot pics so feast your eyes here!
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| Hmmm-guys.Do I turn left or right onto Saigon Court? | One of the two main halls crammed with onlookers & rubberneckers(me included)eyeballing all the oldies... |
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A '68 Les Paul for only $16,100.00.Damn.And I was only short a hundred bucks...... |
A Fender 50th anniversary MasterCaster for only $4200.00 Uhmmm-I think I already have one of those...... |
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With this many old tube amps around-you'd definitely need an old tube tester to test all those old tubes right? |
Let's see-A Guild,a Supro and a what's it's name walk into a bar........ |
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| Just wipes clean with some Bon Ami !! | A pair of derelict Gibson amps all by their lonesome. |
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| ping,ping,plink! ahh-NOW we're in tune! | Local builder Fat One Amps-verry nice($$) |
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| a gaggle of odd ducks & orphans. | Fulltone "boutiki" effects pedals |
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| Yup-you read it right-$5400.00 clams | some oldie but goodies(above) and transplant parts(below) |
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We once again made the pilgrimage this July to the Montreal Guitar Show 2010.Below you'll see just some of the unique instruments hand crafted from builders around the world,ranging from the esoteric to the just plain wacky...
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Miac Music Show 2009
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| The last MIAC Music Sh0w to be held at the Pearson | Guess what this guy does for a living | |
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| Day 1 of the show-enter at your own risk.......... | Some new Godin 5th Avenue & Kingpin models | |
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| The latest electric Progession guitars from Godin | The new Dime(bag) Darrell amp from Dean(yes,Dean) | |
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| No need to guess whose booth this is-for sure..... | One of many new graphic Dean models | |
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| The new Bogner Alchemist all tube guitar amps | Just one of the cool interactive demos-this one:Yamaha | |
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| Gary Levinson's Blade guitars, and THD amps | More great looking & sounding drums from TRS Canada | |
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| At least it wasn't Ken & Barbie guitar outfit............ | Blueridge,Trinity River & Kentucky instruments. | |
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| The new BOLT amps from the former Digitech guys | The latest Spider FOUR series amps from Line 6 | |
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| Yes,of course Gibson was there. | As was Taylor,oddly enough directly across from them.. |
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| RainSong fiber-graphite giotars were on display | As were a HUGE offering from VINTAGE guitars. | |
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| Orange amps in full force,along with the Dual Terror | Guitar design guru Trev Wilkinson going over details... | |
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| Great for an Alice Cooper Tribute band! | DW drums-one kit taking up the entire riser. | |
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| Superb new finishes for the latest Hamer guitars | Brand spanking new-Flea basses by (yep) Flea! | |
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| Verrry nice-newest Mapex drum sets | Lighting & mixing consoles everywhere by everybody | |
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| Hey wait a minute.THIS isn't MY porsche........ | Nope-not this ONE either............. |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------JazzFest and the Montreal Music Instrument Show 2009. We once again hit Montreal for the JazzFest as well as the Musical Instrument Show. For a change of pace this year,the Instrument Show was held inside "pavillions" ,arranged in a music village motif.Lots of great performances and gear to drool over,as usual!
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Miac 2008 (updated Aug.31.2008)
It was that time of year,once again to trek on down to the big city of Toronto(that's "Trawna" for all our American friends) for Canada's version of Namm,The MIAC show.Armed with a TomTom GPS(our demi-godsend),we luckily
made great time getting there and about town without getting caught in the crossfire of any drive-byes.Kidding!!
We soaked up some some sun and took another ton of pics from the "show" of which a few are up ,for you to drool over!
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| One view of the show floor and part of the "floor show"... | Tama drums and Orange amplifers in their full glory |
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| PRS guitars with all their current and new models | Taylor guitars displayed their new electric models |
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| Yamaha's wicked,rotating drummer's dream (?) rig. | Newly established Canadian amp builder,Chute Amps |
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| Amazing Canadian built TRS custom drums | Silvertone guitars are back? (again?) |
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| A smurf sized Warwick bass cause you asked for it...... | New MiniStars,the ultimate in portable,travel guitars |
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| The best of both worlds-tele style twang meets LP chunky | Gotta ladder? The Yamaha tower of drums |
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| Strap it good! Canada's Levy guitar straps had walls of straps! | Aria's Limited Edition burled maple top Inspire model |
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| Gary Levinson's fine crafted Blade Guitars | Ashdown bass amplification |
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| Carparelli guitars from Canada's Dot-On-Shaft Company | One of the many outdoor stages to check out PA gear,cranked up |
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| Schecter,Line6,Spector,Shure,etc,all under one "truss rig." | One of several live performances with Aviom monitoring systems |
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Michael Angelo with his new signature Dean double neck performing some amazing guitar work |
How many feet do I need? The innovative Off-Set double bass pedal |
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| The new Yamaha NEXO flying speaker rig | New models from Highland Guitars |
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| New Orange amp models including the new Tiny Terror Combo | Another unique model from the Dot-On-Shaft guitar company |
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| The New DiGiCo console-where's the beer holder? | There was lots of stage & dj lighting,all under digital control |
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| Need a pickguard,these guys have just about anything you'd want. | After several decades,Larivee is once again building electrics! |
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JazzFest/Music Manufacturers Instrument Show 2008 (updated July 13.08)
This year's trek to Montreal for the JazzFest & MMIS was another welcome break,except for the nasty parking ticket
and overpriced "beer a canette" but hey, it's Montreal! The weather was incredible so there was no lack of spectators,
tourists scurrying about between the Place Desjardins complex where the "gear show" was and literally, the streets of Montreal trying to take it all in ..........
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| The giant GM Main stage being set up for the day | What? we're actually early for the show? Go figure.......... |
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| Hmmm-I guess there will be an emphasis on guitars... | Check out the marquetry on this BlueBerry acoustic |
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| A partial view from above the show floor before opening. | Part of Roland's booth (twinkle,twinkle..) |
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| John Suhr brought along some guitars (KA-CHING!) | annnnd some cool little all tube "baby" stacks |
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| An example of John Suhr's craftsmanship | and yet another-verrry ($$$) nice. |
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One of several unique custom guitars at the show that gets auctioned for charity.This is a Godin Montreal model |
And several other one-of-a-kind instruments,all securely displayed within a plexiglass "fishbowl" ....... |
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| Would you like an orange? Check out the "little guys".. | An aerodynamic guitar? Your call..... |
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The always engaging and omnipresent Godin Guitars of Canada booth.Godin showed their latest, verry cool 5th Avenue archtops,Redline II,Passion RG3 and their new Richmond line of retro-ish electrics.And of course, you could check out the latest Seagull and Normans and... |
Why is this guy smiling? Okay.It was inevitable.Roland now has a digital modelling accordion ! We were treated to a barrage of voices,marimbas,brass,percussion sounds- you name it.No word yet though if it actually sounds like an accordion.The world is nearing the end......... |
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| Canadian made Wizard amps at their Canadian launch | Paul Bryan of Korean manufacturer,Indie Guitars. |
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| Jimmy James,doin' da blues at the Wizard amps booth | Hm-Two guys playing THREE instruments.do the math. |
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| Some Ampegs,new Blackheart tube amps by Pietor Belov | Quebec builder Stray Guitars.Clever design & cool looks |
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| No...it's an F played here.I'm tellin' ya! | Quebec builder Latulippe Guitars' new lap steel models |
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| Flying faders finally made affordable--Schwing! | A mini Bartok had something happening at this booth |
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| Stick-man Steve Adelson dazzled once again at his booth | Guess the scale length........ |
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Quebec builder March Guitars "compact" electric guitars. It's amazing how many guitar builders there are in Quebec-must be something in the air.Has to be.......... |
Godin Guitars sponsored a classic rock seminar with Joey Greco showing players and aspiring players how to get started playing a slew of classic rock favorites.Rock on! |
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| What's a festival without a stiltwalker? Gotta a banana? | Some old school Django/Grapelli jazz in the streets.Yes! |
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JazzFest 2007 (updated July 19.07)
This year,instead of our customary trek to the "flatland" of Toronto for MIAC,we decided for a change of atmosphere to
attend the 2007 version of The Montreal Jazz Festival which also happened to feature The Montreal Guitar Show AND the Simms Music Instrument Show.Talk about mixing pleasure with business! Held over the July 6-9 weekend,
with incredible weather,food(have you been to Reubens?I finally met my match in a club sandwhich there),and that definite European atmosphere that Montreal exudes,what more could you ask?
And yes,we brought out camera's so we'd blend in with all the other tourists too. Below are just a few of the highlights.
We shot a tonne of pix of more guitars than we'll ever remember so we'll be rotating shots of those over the next few weeks from world class builders that abound around the planet-no kidding! We also had lots of time to take in some amazing performances at the Jazz Festival by the California Guitar Trio(jaw dropping!) and Don Ross(stunning!) as
well as countless other improptu "happenings" in Montreal's downtown core ensuring you're never be bored.If you
haven't been to the Jazz Festival yet,plan on it for next year!
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The Jazzfest Main stage before the action starts |
Mr Shmooz, before getting trampled by the crowd |
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Stewart Macdonald with tables & tables of guitar parts! |
New archtops with plenty o' soundholes |
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A ruby quilted sparkle top by Demarras |
A very cool flamed maple topped lap steel |
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A spalted top semi,also by Demarras |
Can you say "bookmatched" ? |
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No they didn't melt-that's how they're built! |
Lots of guitars featured side ports this time around |
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Some pretty cool models from Doolin |
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Yeah,but can you play Smoke on the water? |
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One view of the Guitar Show showroom 4th floor |
Need to practice ? |
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One view of the Instrument Show in the lower court |
A future Omar Hakim beating down a Yamaha kit |
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Now.... what does this button do again? |
Ibanez see-thru Vai model |
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Yep,lots of "interesting" body styles |
An improptu jam can happen anytime here..... |
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The always busy Godin Guitars booth |
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Yes,there was even a hip-hoppin' Spiderman..... |
The California Guitar Trio |
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Just one of the crowds gathered at the main stage |
The amazing Don Ross playing to a beyond packed house! |