Below is a link to the photos I took today. I didn't take a ton, but I'll be back on Sunday for a bit and will shoot more and will add them.
For me, there weren't a lot of stand-out items. A few items of the top-of-my-head:
- The new Romero Creations line of solid top/laminate body is really impressive. I had the pleasure of hearing them played. Andrew Kitakis will be sharing videos at some point. These are exceptional values.
- The Kala Elite line continues to really, really impress me. These are wonderfully executed instruments and not afraid to go a bit outside the box in aesthetics.
- Blackbird introduced a size 0 guitar with cutaway body. It was really impressive.
- I didn't get a photo but will Sunday; the Kanile'a 2017 Limited Edition is a cedar top/walnut body (going off memory here).
- Saw the Martin Centennial ukes. A Style 3 made in Nazareth and a Mexico-made basic model. They also had several customs displayed, including a sinker mahogany soprano that was really something special. And priced as such (over $4k).
- There was a cool metronome you wear on your wrist which vibrates instead of clicks. It's called Soundbrenner Pulse. You can rotate the dial to change tempo. You can also control it with a phone app. And the app can control multiple wrist devices so all members of the band can be synched. ;-)
- Takumi, the distributor for Kiwaya, LoPrinzi, DaSilva, its own Takumi line (super nice stuff and price really well), and several very small Japanese luthiers had a tables of eye candy. Andrew picked up a number of nice instruments, including an all koa TODA, which will be on HMS before too long.
Anyway, here are some photos:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/132994836@N07/49BcK4
