My First Guitar Show...Chicago

[sumed]

Greetings All,

I returned late last nite from my first ever guitar show. It's being held at the DuPage Expo Center in St. Charles, IL (Chicago burb, still going on today) and sponsored by Texas Guitar Shows.

It was a really cool experience for me. I was able to ogle all sorts of guitars I've seen pictures of and read about in books and magazines like "Vintage Guitar". Kind of breathtaking to be that close to some very cool guitars, such as an original Dan Armstrong plexi...like Keef used.

I spent several hours just wandering around looking at each booth or display several times, it seemed like everytime I came back by I saw something I hadn't noticed before. Sensory overload, I suppose.

I enjoyed everything but some things definitely stood out. First was the "Dave's Guitars" area...which was HUGE. Wow, is the best description I have...and now I must find my way into their retail store someday. Here's a picture of some of the Tele's in their area.

http://picasaweb.google.com/edkolkma...67442086799586
http://picasaweb.google.com/edkolkma...67416316995794

Another unexpected highlight was seeing some of the custom archtop builders and their displays...simply stunning.

I had the opportunity at the Antique Electronic Supply company booth to audition the line of Jensen guitar speakers they had (no Blackbird on hand though). I've been extremely interested in the Jensen Neo's and being able to A/B/C/D them was very eye-opening. They had a BassMan head running into a 4/12 with a four way switch box...each speaker was a different model and you could instantly hear the difference as you went from speaker to speaker. I do believe my Twin is going on a weight reduction plan with some Neo's very soon!

Roland had a very cool display and it was fun watching their two reps play and show features of some of their stuff...one cat had an orange sparkle strat that was very cool.

All in all it was a great experience and I highly recommend going to a guitar show if you've never been before.
http://picasaweb.google.com/edkolkma...67472151570674

Two minor surprises though...pickup's were almost non-existant, no boutique cats there at all. Same with boutique pedals and amps. Although there was one guy there with a boutique amp line.