The London International Guitar Show 2018 - Anyone been before?

lewis_grey · October 2018

miserneil said:

I had a really great day at the show, most enjoyable, lots of great comments on my guitars and a few orders too!

Great to see many fretboarders in attendance, including @fretfinder, @guitars4you, @ATB_Guitars, @musicman100, @Winny_Pooh, @lewis_grey, @customkits, @poopot, @FelineGuitars, @iain.reverb ;@RiftAmps, @ThorpyFX plus many other fine fellows from the board who's usernames escape me!

Some serious guitars there too, including a couple of '52 Goldtops that had my head spinning for a while.

A great day all round!

Very impressed with your Juniors, you definitely got the feel of the old ones down. Will have to try one plugged in if the opportunity ever arises! Cool you displayed them next to the real deal for people to compare also.

If that two pickup Special build ever comes to fruition I will watch with great interest...

guitars4you · October 2018

lewis_grey said:

miserneil said:

I had a really great day at the show, most enjoyable, lots of great comments on my guitars and a few orders too!

Great to see many fretboarders in attendance, including @fretfinder, @guitars4you, @ATB_Guitars, @musicman100, @Winny_Pooh, @lewis_grey, @customkits, @poopot, @FelineGuitars, @iain.reverb ;@RiftAmps, @ThorpyFX plus many other fine fellows from the board who's usernames escape me!

Some serious guitars there too, including a couple of '52 Goldtops that had my head spinning for a while.

A great day all round!

Very impressed with your Juniors, you definitely got the feel of the old ones down. Will have to try one plugged in if the opportunity ever arises! Cool you displayed them next to the real deal for people to compare also.

If that two pickup Special build ever comes to fruition I will watch with great interest...

Agree that a great display to feature a hand built replica next to the real thing. Shows what you can achieve in a more affordable package, yet still shows your passion, skill and dedication

fretfinder · October 2018

lewis_grey said:

miserneil said:

I had a really great day at the show, most enjoyable, lots of great comments on my guitars and a few orders too!

Great to see many fretboarders in attendance, including @fretfinder, @guitars4you, @ATB_Guitars, @musicman100, @Winny_Pooh, @lewis_grey, @customkits, @poopot, @FelineGuitars, @iain.reverb ;@RiftAmps, @ThorpyFX plus many other fine fellows from the board who's usernames escape me!

Some serious guitars there too, including a couple of '52 Goldtops that had my head spinning for a while.

A great day all round!

Very impressed with your Juniors, you definitely got the feel of the old ones down. Will have to try one plugged in if the opportunity ever arises!

You could have plugged one into Neil’s little old Matchless on Sunday, it wouldn’t have been very loud at all...

TimmyO · October 2018

I didn't go to this this year but wish I had (instead of the Olympia show which I didn't enjoy)

It's got a great atmosphere - it feels whatever the opposite of corporate is

timhulio · October 2018

Modulus_Amps said:

For those that missed it Karl Golden just put out this video. My Amps feature several times with sound and playing around 7 minutes in.
Shame I did not get to the bottom floor, there are things in the video I would have purchased.

Nice video! Jokes at the Fredric Effects stand @1:35. I have no idea what I was laughing at.

Great to have at least a virtual look around all the other exhibitors, because like at many of these shows, I was flying solo and couldn't leave the table to have a decent look around.

Thanks to any of youse guys who tried or bought Fredric Effects at the show. It was even busier than last year, and I enjoyed myself a lot.

FelineGuitars · October 2018

I thoroughly enjoyed myself at the show, and it was great to catch up with so many of you from on here.

I confess I needed way more time as I was so busy chatting and catching up with folks that I missed some of the stands.

I agree the way it felt wasn't corporate at all and that made it feel nice, especially wih the emphasis on the smaller builders, sellers and home grown products.

I think that the Birmingham show still achieves this even though it is more polished and business like, but that the Olympia show suffered with an overly corporate feel somehow (not due to the exhibitors...but I can't quite figure out why).

I did have one "interesting conversation" with someone on a stand who saw my Feline t-shirt and not knowing it was my company felt the need to tell me how shit they were and that they weren't really made in UK at all.

I didn't reveal anything till he had finished his rant about it (even though his lady friend did suspect that a social faux pas was being made).

A bit of a complete dickhead, possibly spouting nonsense someone else had told him - I did put him right and told him shut up with his BS.

terada · October 2018

FelineGuitars said:

I did have one "interesting conversation" with someone on a stand who saw my Feline t-shirt and not knowing it was my company felt the need to tell me how shit they were and that they weren't really made in UK at all.
I didn't reveal anything till he had finished his rant about it (even though his lady friend did suspect that a social faux pas was being made).
A bit of a complete dickhead, possibly spouting nonsense someone else had told him - I did put him right and told him shut up with his BS.

What a complete plonker. How on earth did he rationalise your stunning instruments not being UK made? I and many others I'm sure have seen your work first hand, and it is both sensational and made in Croydon!

Modulus_Amps · October 2018

terada said:

FelineGuitars said:

I did have one "interesting conversation" with someone on a stand who saw my Feline t-shirt and not knowing it was my company felt the need to tell me how shit they were and that they weren't really made in UK at all.
I didn't reveal anything till he had finished his rant about it (even though his lady friend did suspect that a social faux pas was being made).
A bit of a complete dickhead, possibly spouting nonsense someone else had told him - I did put him right and told him shut up with his BS.

What a complete plonker. How on earth did he rationalise your stunning instruments not being UK made? I and many others I'm sure have seen your work first hand, and it is both sensational and made in Croydon!

Some of the conversations at these shows need to be recorded in a comedy book somewhere, some people are just idiots.

IvisonGuitars · October 2018

guitars4you said:

lewis_grey said:

miserneil said:

I had a really great day at the show, most enjoyable, lots of great comments on my guitars and a few orders too!

Great to see many fretboarders in attendance, including @fretfinder, @guitars4you, @ATB_Guitars, @musicman100, @Winny_Pooh, @lewis_grey, @customkits, @poopot, @FelineGuitars, @iain.reverb ;@RiftAmps, @ThorpyFX plus many other fine fellows from the board who's usernames escape me!

Some serious guitars there too, including a couple of '52 Goldtops that had my head spinning for a while.

A great day all round!

Very impressed with your Juniors, you definitely got the feel of the old ones down. Will have to try one plugged in if the opportunity ever arises! Cool you displayed them next to the real deal for people to compare also.

If that two pickup Special build ever comes to fruition I will watch with great interest...

Agree that a great display to feature a hand built replica next to the real thing. Shows what you can achieve in a more affordable package, yet still shows your passion, skill and dedication

Thanks both, really appreciate this!

I find that it's good to have a 'proper' vintage guitar on the stand, mainly to show that my 'close as possible to vintage' USP is not just bluster and guff....If people have an original there to compare then they are welcome to make up their own minds. It also gives me a chance to share my passion for old Juniors too. I had a couple of different guys during the day on Saturday really taken with it and one chap mentioned a 50's Junior was his 'holy grail' guitar but he'd not want to touch it for fear of breaking it, and it's great to say "NONSENSE, Have a go!!" and hand it over to them and let them have a play for a bit without any pressure sale going on. That's part of the fun of owning vintage guitars for me.

This whole journey has been more about me gaining confidence in what i'm doing and the great comments i'm getting from players, dealers, and on Saturday, from the actual guy who's book I used as a reference when I first started building(!) has been REALLY encouraging. I'm genuinely LOVING it right now!!

Moleman · October 2018

My first time at this show and surely won't be my last!

Haven't been to a guitar show since the days of the old London Guitar Show at the Wembley Conference Centre about 12 years ago. I recall the Wembley show chiefly for being a confused, crowded and overloud mess and put me off going to guitar shows but Sunday was a revelation! Nice venue and not at all a too big or confusing show to navigate with loads of interesting non-corporate stuff knocking about wherever one cared to look. Volume levels were kept sensible also.

Took the opportunity to do a pre-show deal in the preceding weeks with Mark Hopkin of GUITARS4YOU (who I had bought a couple of guitars from a decade ago and corresponded with since but never actually met face-to-face). I must say that dealing with Mark was so straightforward and easy plus he was generous enough to give me a very fair p/ex deal on a used Hamer Studio P90 Goldtop (one of my desert island guitars)! Mark's enthusiasm for guitars and easy way with dealing with customers was just so refreshingly different from the average guitar store owner and just marvellous. Mark had some great string deals in evidence also.

Over at the CHARLIE CHANDLER'S GUITAR EXPERIENCE stall, I was amazed to be warmly greeted by Dan despite not having bought so much as a plectrum off them for a good ten years! CCGX had an absolute pile of hard-to-obtain-in-the-UK boutique USA pickups and parts (Jason Lollar, Lindy Fralin, Callaham etc - must resist, MUST)!!

Having read great magazine reviews of HOUSE OF TONE pickups, I alighted at their stand and found myself talking with the very knowledgeable and informative HOT main man and pickup guru, Matthew Bascetta. Matthew talked me through the options for a S-S-H set for a Nashville style parts Tele that I am collecting parts for currently. I was so impressed that I placed an order there and then.

In a similar vein, I picked up a nice big colour print catalogue (remember them?) from the helpful chap on the ALLPARTS UK stand for later close perusal and no doubt ordering.

The absolute high point was encountering the stunning LP Juniors on the IVISON GUITARS stand. It was great to be able to speak directly to Neil who of course builds the guitars from soup-to-nuts to vintage specs and even had a couple of original, vintage Gibson LP Juniors on hand - should one fancy a direct comparison. I was too nervous to pick up the vintage pieces but having held and examined both of Neil's LP Juniors I must say that I was most impressed with the clean build, quality materials, and nice big, fat neck back contours that were in evidence.

A most enjoyable show and I will most definitely visit again next year!

guitars4you · October 2018

@Moleman ;

thanks for above comments Darren. Glad you had a good day out. Newly married as well so be careful on your guitar spending for the time being. Speak soon

fretfinder · October 2018

guitars4you said:

@Moleman Newly married as well so be careful on your guitar spending for the time being.

Or, an alternative approach - start out as you mean to carry on!

Jez6345789 · October 2018

FelineGuitars said:

I did have one "interesting conversation" with someone on a stand who saw my Feline t-shirt and not knowing it was my company felt the need to tell me how shit they were and that they weren't really made in UK at all.
I didn't reveal anything till he had finished his rant about it (even though his lady friend did suspect that a social faux pas was being made).
A bit of a complete dickhead, possibly spouting nonsense someone else had told him - I did put him right and told him shut up with his BS.

Did he actually apologise or just go off mumbling. Amazes me when this happens there is an amazing amount of ignorance in the world fuelled mostly be the internet. He has probably heard some disgruntled idiot somewhere online go "yeah all made in china mate seen the boxes blokes a dick and then tries to con people he makes them" That then gets ingrained into the idiot who came to your stand as acquired expert knowledge.

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The London International Guitar Show 2018 - Anyone been before?

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