ISSUE 128 JANUARY 2011


COVER STORY 23 ONE RIC PONY


Having brought the first electric guitar to market in 1931, Rickenbacker has gone on to... well, make some of the best guitars in the world. CEO John Hall explains why that is just how things will stay


NEWS


MUSIKMESSE SPONSORS MI RETAIL CONFERENCE, MIKE KETLEY PROMOTED, PHILIP SMITH STANDS DOWN, IAN GILBY STEPS ASIDE


EVENTS 4


THE NAMM SHOW 13 A run-through of some of the goodies on display


MIA AWARDS 18 The UK’s trade sees the good in us all


FEATURES


NEOTECH 27 Function over fashion


33


PETE LUNNEY 29 Strings & Things general manager bids MI farewell


ROTHWELL 33 How does a boutique manufacturer step up without losing quality?


OYSTER HOUSE 37 Now with four titles and two shows, the Devon publisher looks forward


WAYNE BLANCHARD 41 Marketing guru questions the need for new gear


41 SECTOR SPOTLIGHTS


GUITAR FX 47 The weird, the wonderful and the powerful


ELECTRIC GUITARS 55 The vast sub-£500 market examined


RETAIL 75


CHAPPEL OF BOND STREET 75 Celebrating 200 years in MI retail


REGULARS: DISTIE PROFILE 10 I WOKE UP 44 RETAIL NEWS 71 LOCATION REPORT 78 PRODUCTS 63-68 CODA 88 EDITORIAL COMMENT


You are still here – and that means you are doing something right.


W


ould it be misplaced for me to wish you all a Happy New Year? I certainly hope not, but I can’t help thinking that seasons greetings might just grate with


some as the economic situation continues to grind us down. In February 2010, my editorial comment took a look back over 2009 and saw that the MI trade in the UK had survived relatively unscathed. Back then, the Government was still printing torrents of new cash to make up the shortfall from the ocean of wonga that had been poured into the black hole of debt our banking institutions had thoughtlessly punched into our lives. At the time I had an uncomfortable feeling that the next year would be when MI really felt the crunch. Looking back over 2010 now, it seems that once again, MI has pulled through with remarkably few scars. Yes, sure, it is tough out there on the front line and a good number of MI retailers are no more. But there is also a significant number of start-up stores that have opened during the past year and, importantly, not a single supplier has gone under (although I seriously suspect that business for some is lot more precarious than they are willing to let on). So, while not wishing to be some sort of prophet of doom (and in my defence, looking at what I said a year ago, I am a pretty shit one) it might be that 2011 is the year the UK’s MI trade could feel the bite of the recession. The new Government’s cuts will kick in (along with the VAT


rise) and will mainly affect the public sector and education. These are two key portions of our business and the knock-on could be painful. The good news is, as NAMM’s president, Joe Lamond said at last year’s NAMM Show, you are still here – and as you are still here, that means you must be doing something right. Whatever that might be – and I am certain there are many different measures being taken – it is probably a good time to analyse what you are doing in order to do more of it. With our thinking caps on, it is certainly possible that I will be looking back on 2011 and confirming myself as truly the crappest prophet of doom that has ever bewailed warning to the world. I’d certainly drink to that. In the meantime, I hope you have had a superb Christmas, that you have a productive visit to the NAMM Show and that the New Year is happier than your wildest expectations.


Andy Barrett Managing Editor


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