Linda Zheng Our booth helper, and indispensible all-around guide to Shanghai
A major highlight of 2006 was our first trip to China, where we exhibited at: MUSIC CHINA , Shanghai (Oct 18-21, 2006)
New, wild, a bit raw still, but exciting!
The Shanghai show promises to take its place alongside NAMM and Musikmesse as a major trade show, an essential annual showcase, and window on the East.
Following the show in Shanghai, Gary and I paid a visit to our friend Paul Kim in Seoul, Korea. Paul and his lovely wife, Micaela, were extremely gracious hosts and showed us around Seoul.
In 2006, Shubb Capos once again won the gold medal in Acoustic Guitar Magazine's annual PLAYERS CHOICE readers poll.
Thanks to all of our loyal users for your support.
In 2006 the Summer NAMM show moved to Austin. Just in case Texas in July wasn't hot enough, we brought in the John Jorgenson Quintet for a magnificent concert of sizzling Gypsy Jazz.
This was one of the liveliest, most fun Frankfurt shows ever for us, thanks largely to some extremely talented performers. SONiA, and Julian Dawson both honored us with performances at our booth.
I was called away by an urgent family matter in the middle of the show, and had to miss Friday and Saturday. But the two days I caught were great, and I understand the rest of the show was killer.
more on NAMM 06...
(1/25/06)
A version upgrade for our original software product, SongMaster.
This significant upgrade to 6.0 includes improvements to the SetMaker and Transposer, expanded use of Words-plus-Chords, new chart layout, tooltips, layout specific menus, email support, more powerful filtered lists, and more.
Year at a Glance 2005
New Magazine ads
Our magazine ads got a new
look in 2005, featuring various selected players who use our products.
Here are some PDFs of our recent ads featuring:
(these PDF files are lower
resolution than those used for print reproduction, but look
fine on the screen.)
Two Millionth Capo
In January of 2005 we unveiled our commemorative capo # 2,000,000!
Our friend Jon Moriarty of 14 karats in Berkeley
helped us with this one. It's solid gold, and
embellished with two diamonds and a lotus sapphire.
We've had fun displaying this beauty at the trade shows — especially at winter NAMM 2005, when I tried it on Martin's Millionth Guitar! see below...
NEW PACKAGING
Around the beginning of 2005 we completed phasing almost all of our products into new, improved packages. Still easily opened and re-closed in a store, the more colorful vinyl clamshells stand out well on a pegboard, while actually taking less storage space than our old package.
A new point of purchase display holds up to 60 Shubb Capos in their new packages.
John Jorgenson, Charlie Chadwick, Stephan Dudash, Rick Shubb
Attendance
was a bit light. We did manage to have several productive meetings,
but the highlights of the show for us were musical. Friday night
we co-sponsored a concert (along with Saga) featuring the John
Jorgenson Quintet.The event was a big success. John's playing
was simply phenomenal, and the whole group just keeps getting
better all the time. Then on Saturday John and the entire group
visited the booth, where they played a few tunes. I got to sit
in on a couple, much to my enjoyment. They stayed for a while
and visited with everyone who came by to hear and meet them.
Also livening up our booth was fingerstyle guitar wizard
Richard Gilewitz, who was kind enough to play a set for
us on each of the three days. If you look carefully, you'll
see that he's using Shubb Capo number two million, our solid
gold, engraved piece of functional jewelry.
Special thanks to my buddy Dick Hardwick for
taking time out of his busy schedule to join us in his home
state. It was great to have him at the booth and on the bandstand,
and to meet some of his friends and family. And thanks to Gary
Swallows, Richard Gilewitz, Charlie Chadwick, Gonzalo Bergara,
Stephan Dudash, all the guys at Saga, and of course my good
friend, John Jorgenson, who makes any event special.
Frankfurt Musikmesse
It was great to meet with old friends and to make some new
ones, too. In 'O5 the dwindling USA Pavilion finally disbanded, so we were "on our own." As it turns out, this wasn't such a bad development. Our new stand location worked well for us, and we
ended up keeping the same spot for 2006.
Our new Capo Noir (original capo in black chrome) was very
well received, as were our other new products: The Talon guitar
stand, and our new Robert Randolph steels. These products are now appearing in music stores throughout Europe.
Our booth at Musikmesse. First year at the new location, the stand looked almost the same this year.
At 2005 Winter NAMM we unveiled Shubb Capo # 2,000,000!
We had a lot of fun displaying this solid gold, engraved, beauty, especially trying it out on Martin Guitar # 1,000,000! (above)
Three new products at one show may not be a big deal to some companies, but it is to us. At the 2005 NAMM show we introduced:
CAPO NOIR Original Shubb capo in black chrome finish
TALON guitar stand for solid body electrics
Robert Randolph Guitar Steel made to the specs of the steel guitar sensation.
This made it a really special show for us, and the booth was jumping nonstop for four days.
We also expanded from a 20' to a 30' booth in '05, and we really enjoyed the added elbow room. It enabled us to have more live music at the booth without discontinuing business meetings.
My good friend Mike Phelan joined us for his first NAMM show at the booth, along with Talon designer Arturo Meuniot, Raul Reynoso, Kelly Jordan, and of course my partner Dave Coontz and my right hand man, Gary Mobley.
We hosted a Friday night event for our international distributors, and once again were fortunate to have John Jorgenson and his quintet. Just when you think guitar playing can't get any better, John amazes you all over again!
2004 was one of the most interesting and productive years
ever for Shubb Capos. We were very busy with product development,
as evidenced by our introduction of 3 new products at the
2005 NAMM show. We expanded from a 20' to a 30' booth at
that show, too.
We also introduced new packaging for almost
all of our products, and new point-of-purchase displays.
We launched a new and different-looking series of magazine
ads which feature players using our capo.
The groundwork for the changes that appeared in 2005, beginning at Winter NAMM, really happened in 2004.
At the beginning of 2004, Kelly Jordan came
on board as my personal assistant. A little over a year
later she moved on to a new career, and I was sorry
to see her go. But in that year she helped me and this company
to become more productive and dynamic than we've ever been.
Thanks, Kelly.
Farewell
to Nashville
In 2005 the summer NAMM show moves to Indianapolis,
then Austin in 06. We said goodbye to Music City in grand fashion.
My good friend, guitar virtuoso John Jorgenson was on hand to
sign some autographs at the booth, and also for a great show Friday night at the Station Inn. (That's me introducing him, above).
He played a fantastic set of Gypsy Jazz along with
violinist Stephan Dudash, Guitarist Bryan Sutton, bassist Charlie
Chadwick, and drummer Bob Mater. They were joined by special guest
guitarist Richard Smith.
Later there was a bluegrass jam, in which John played mandolin
and Bryan Sutton took over on lead guitar. They were joined by
Richard Bailey (banjo) and Andy Hall (dobro), and later special
guest Byron Berline on fiddle.
Article in the February
'04 issue of Acoustic Guitar Magazine
In the issue with Lyle Lovett on the cover
(using his Shubb Capo) there is a nice article about me
and the company. If you missed it, you can read
the article here. (pdf)
2004 Frankfurt Musikmesse
Some business at home forced a last minute decision
for me to miss the Frankfurt show in '04,
but Shubb Capos was capably represented by Gary Mobley. Doing
a trade show solo is hard work. Great job, Gary! This was the final year of the ever-dwindling USA pavilion; in '05 we would step out on our own.
At Winter NAMM 2004 (January) we introduced
our new partial capo, the C8B,
which skips the low E string and covers the other five. We
also introduced a major version upgrade to GigMaster (our software program for working musicians), as well as unveiling
a design change to our Dobro capo.
Summer NAMM in Nashville was a lively show, mostly
due to the event we co-hosted (along with Saga Instruments and
CMH records) at the Station Inn. Special thanks to my old friend
Pat Enright for bringing his group, the Nashville Bluegrass Band,
to Larry Cordle and Lonesome Standard Time, and to Byron Berline
for their great music Friday night.
Stuart Duncan, Byron Berline, Alan O'Bryant at the Station Inn
Musikmesse at Frankfurt was fun and exciting, as always.
There are more dobro players in Germany than I had imagined,
and their response to our new GS Guitar Steel was overwhelmingly
enthusiastic.
(left: discussing the GS steel with Ron Samuels of Marimba One)
At Winter NAMM 2003 we introduced
a new product, the GS Guitar Steel.
It was quite a sensation with all the dobro players we saw,
and there were plenty of them!
Designed by Gary Swallows of Tennessee, who was at the booth with
us on Friday and Saturday, this bar represents a major step in
the evolution of guitar steels. The top is crafted of fine hardwood,
for comfort and control, while the playing surface is machined
of stainless steel for clear tone and durability. From its counterbalanced
handle to its edge, designed to deliver the clean pulloffs today's
players love, every measurement has been carefully considered.
It was really gratifying to Gary to see how well his new bar
was received.
On 6/15/2002, the California Bluegrass Association
honored me with a lifetime membership. A prior commitment prevented
me from attending the presentation which was made at the annual
Grass Valley bluegrass festival. Thanks to my brother Bill for
attending and accepting on my behalf, and my deepest thanks to
the CBA for this great honor. I prepared a short thank-you message,
which my brother read at the presentation, and if you'd like to
read it, click here.
The Summer NAMM show was a lot of fun, as always.
Thanks to Kevin, Dominique, and all the people at NAMM for continuing
to do a first rate job. It seemed like a few years ago, the service
companies at these trade shows felt like adversaries, but the
nice folks at the Freeman Company in Nashville make exhibiting
a pleasure.
The booth was jumping most of the time, and it was
nice to get to meet and talk with many of our retailers; that's
really the essence of the show. Other highlights included visits
from Hillbilly Jim (our good buddy and WWF wrestler), guitar legend
John Jorgenson, and superstar Clint Black, an enthusiastic user
of our capos.
Frank Ford's "field trip" to Shubb Capos
Some of you may know of Frank Ford, luthier and
proprietor of Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto.
He maintains a monster website at "frets.com."
You know he must be a web pioneer to have nailed down such
a great domain name! Part of his extensive site is devoted
to "field trips" he takes to various music related
places, and his coverage of his trip to Shubb
Linda Zheng
