Anyone attending NAMM 2022? Gear predictions?

Jeremy Bender

Jeremy Bender

Platinum Member
Curious why the same location each year when this is held? There's convention facilities in other locations in a variety of cities across the country.
 
DrumEatDrum

DrumEatDrum

Platinum Member
Jeremy Bender said:
Curious why the same location each year when this is held? There's convention facilities in other locations in a variety of cities across the country.
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NAMM is usually held in January.

And it's in Southern California because the weather is nice in January. While most of the country is dealing with snow, rain, and general cold temperatures, it's still relatively sunny in Anaheim in January.

Also:
Los Angeles/Southern California has traditionally been a major hub for music manufacturers.

Most imported instruments from Asia come through the ports in and around Los Angeles.

There was a time when every music manufacturer had at least a satellite office in the area.
Roland, TEAC, Yamaha, Paiste, Fender, DW, and others still have their main US office in Southern California. Others, like Sabian, Zildjian, Tama, etc have a satellite office in the area.

And then, while NAMM will deny they have anything to do with record companies, and where music stars live, the fact is Los Angeles has traditionally been on the music capitols of the world with every major music label having a significant presence in the Los Angeles area, and being an area where a large number of musicians live.

Of course, over the past several decades there has been a shift to Nashville, and hence, (pre-Coivd) the Summer NAMM show is usually in Nashville.

And lastly, tradition and logistics: It's easier to plan an event in the same location with the same knowns every year than it is to plan around a new location with unknown factors every year.
 
PorkPieGuy

PorkPieGuy

Platinum Member
I wish Ludwig would bring back the copper rose mist wrap. Or heck, just come up with some cool sparkles that won’t be discontinued in 6 months.
 
Jeremy Bender

Jeremy Bender

Platinum Member
Thanks for that explanation DrumEatDrum. Having never attended, I assumed it was simply a drum show and a place to showcase instruments by manufacturers.
 
M

MaskingApathy

Member
Jeremy Bender said:
Curious why the same location each year when this is held? There's convention facilities in other locations in a variety of cities across the country.
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They also have a deal with the Anaheim Convention Center and city of Anaheim to do it there every year, since NAMM is one of the biggest events of the year that they host. It's because of NAMM that they built a new addition onto the building a couple years ago.
 
DrumEatDrum

DrumEatDrum

Platinum Member
Welp, that was a near waste of time.

No major stick manufacturer had a booth.
Pearl, Sabian, Drum Workshop (and their various owned brands), Mapex, Sonor, Premier, Evans. Pork Pie, Noble & Cooley, Trick, and many more all had zero presence.
Remo and Zildjian merely had an office for meetings, but no products or displays.

Yamaha, Tama, Ludwig, Paiste, and Aquarian all were there, but with much smaller booths than normal.

There was a good handful of small obscure manufacturers there, but far less than normal.

The entire drum area was a mere tiny fraction of booth space compared to past years.
 
TK-421

TK-421

Senior Member
DrumEatDrum said:
Welp, that was a near waste of time.

No major stick manufacturer had a booth.
Pearl, Sabian, Drum Workshop (and their various owned brands), Mapex, Sonor, Premier, Evans. Pork Pie, Noble & Cooley, Trick, and many more all had zero presence.
Remo and Zildjian merely had an office for meetings, but no products or displays.

Yamaha, Tama, Ludwig, Paiste, and Aquarian all were there, but with much smaller booths than normal.

There was a good handful of small obscure manufacturers there, but far less than normal.

The entire drum area was a mere tiny fraction of booth space compared to past years.
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I just got back from NAMM and was thinking the exact same thing. Complete 100% waste of time. I think the most random podunk Guitar Center would have been 1000x better.

I know we’re at the tail end of a global pandemic, but if the manufacturer/product showings are going to be this dismal, why bother putting it on at all?

This may be my last NAMM ever.
 
harryconway

harryconway

Platinum Member
I got roughly 15 years of NAMM shows in. 1990 - 2005. Glorious times. Sometimes hedonistic times. But, the times they have a changed.
 
J

jdavis

Member
I've been going to these things since the 80s and this was by far the worst NAMM I've been to. At least Paiste was there so my kid and I could whack cymbals for an hour, LOL. I was supposed to go back today but I passed. Hope they get their sh*t together for next years show.
 
Jeremy Crockett

Jeremy Crockett

Active Member
J

JCRW

Junior Member
Disappointing to hear about NAMM '22 and the lack of presence and products there but it's honestly not surprising to hear. I think it is going to be a few more years until the pace picks up and more companies increase their production and roll out new products. If there was one thing I was hoping for, it was an announcement that Sabian would re-open their Custom Shop but I think the roll out of the Anthology line took up all their resources... maybe 2023 we will see the Custom Shop and Refresh Programs return.
 
River19

River19

Senior Member
Perhaps with global supply chain challuengesbeing what they are, introducing anything new now requiring new components etc. is incredibly risky. Other industries are lucky if they can keep getting components and raw materials in inventory to maintain long running product lines with very established supply chains. I can't imagine the uphill battle it would be to introduce something significantly new and then trying to actually ship and deliver those new products when companies are struggling to manufacturer and deliver existing product lines.

Just my $0.02
 
D

drumsallday

Member
DrumEatDrum said:
Welp, that was a near waste of time.

No major stick manufacturer had a booth.
Pearl, Sabian, Drum Workshop (and their various owned brands), Mapex, Sonor, Premier, Evans. Pork Pie, Noble & Cooley, Trick, and many more all had zero presence.
Remo and Zildjian merely had an office for meetings, but no products or displays.

Yamaha, Tama, Ludwig, Paiste, and Aquarian all were there, but with much smaller booths than normal.

There was a good handful of small obscure manufacturers there, but far less than normal.

The entire drum area was a mere tiny fraction of booth space compared to past years.
Click to expand...
From what I hear most of the manufacturers are of the opinion that with even more reach of the internet and youtube type exposure they don't need to attend NAMM. It is kind of a dinosaur. Your list of NON-attendees seems to be even further proof of that.
 
Cmdr. Ross

Cmdr. Ross

Silver Member
TK-421 said:
I'll be there. As for gear predictions, I'm going to go out on a limb:
  1. John Good will premiere DW's latest-and-greatest-limited-edition-once-in-a-millennium-better-than-sliced-bread line of drums that sound like... drums.
  2. Yamaha will once again take over the Anaheim Marriott ballroom to showcase a new line of drums with yet another lug design that detaches from the shell when changing heads, saving you approx. 2.5 seconds with every head change (unless you lose one of those lugs, in which case it adds approx. 5 months to your head-change time).
  3. Tama will unveil another line in their legendary Starclassic series that is exquisitely built, sounds like how angels playing drums would sound—and is hideous to look at due to the questionable finishes offered.
  4. Pearl will once again take over that 2nd-floor ballroom with drums that precisely copy the sound of other manufacturers' drums (i.e. Gretsch USA), since they can't seem to come up with their own uniquely identifiable sound.
  5. Sonor will revert to their slotted tuning rods for all drums henceforth, turning millions of "normal" drum keys into fancy paper weights.
  6. British Drum Co. will show up with the same drums as the last NAMM, touted by representatives who sound strangely like Bond villains.
  7. Mapex will unveil the "floatiest" and most highly engineered tom arm ever imagined. Unfortunately, each tom arm is the size of a small school bus and costs about $80,000.
  8. Vox will show off their weird kit with the bass drum that looks like it partially melted. Plenty of people will snap pics, but no one will actually care to play it.
  9. Zildjian will show off their new As and Ks that sound just like their old As and Ks.
  10. Sabian, having seen the error of their ways, will revert back to their old logo and will publicly behead the leader of the PR agency that designed that monstrosity.
  11. Meinl will beg people not to play any of their cymbals, because they sound a LOT better in recordings and videos than they do in person.
  12. Ludwig, being the least innovative drum company in existence, will show off the exact same lines of drums they've been selling for decades.
  13. Premier will... oh forget it. There's no way Premier is going to NAMM.
  14. Finally, Gretsch (now owned by DW) will have a paltry showing of drums in the DW booth, so as not to overshadow the DW kits on display (since Gretsch drums sound SO MUCH BETTER than DWs).
I think that about covers it.
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This. All this!!
Been there & it's always the same stuff with a new color/logo/twist that doesn't make it any better than the version I already have.
Add the redonkulous amount of crowds & how loud the vendor floor is, and it makes for an expensive, yet lackluster event.

The classes are always a welcomed deal. Having the opportunity to learn from top-of-their-field people only benefits me in the long run.
 
C. Dave Run

C. Dave Run

Silver Member
Perhaps if it was an open to the public event there would be more draw. If I made drums, I'd want to show them off to potential customers, not just other industry folks.

I know if it was open to the public, lots of us would be interested in attending.
 
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