Guitar Shows = Fun!

Thanks to my friends at Nombat Brand Development, my new logo and print materials for Weaver Guitar Straps were ready just in time for the California World Guitar Show in San Rafael, CA last weekend. The booth looked great with my new banner! We arrived at the Marin Civic Center on Friday afternoon for setup. It was very easy to do, thanks to the borrowed grid panels from my friend and fellow artist Katherine Stutz-Taylor.

Folks were extremely nice to us newcomers. My husband went with me; neither of us had been to a guitar show before, nor do we play. There were guitars everywhere and lots of amps and other stuff.

Our neighbor across the aisle, Dewey from Freedom Guitar drove up from San Diego in a van packed with some 84 instruments. His collection gave me something interesting to look at all weekend and he is such an old hand at the guitar business, having been buying and selling for about 30 years! I really enjoyed talking with him during the lulls.

 Brian, from Antique Electronic Supply in Tempe, AZ provided hours of entertainment for my husband and myself! We got lucky having him for a next door neighbor.

This gentleman is Ben Patron who builds guitars and other stringed instruments often from found materials. This over-sized banjo was made from a drum. Here is a really cool article about him and his "Urban Archeology" practice that allows him to build such interesting things.

There were some lovely handcrafted instruments. 

This stunning inlay work was done by Moonstone Guitars of Eureka, CA. 

I talked to Ted of TCT Art Guitars who creates his artwork electronically, and has it applied to electric guitars. I loved the colors in this one and would like to make a strap using it as inspiration.

And here, in no particular order, are some other instruments that I thought might inspire straps.

Blue resonator with abalone inlay from Freedom Guitar.

I love the emerald green of this archtop above and

And the crazy lines of the Gibson basses below! Both were in the booth of Guitar Maniacs of Tacoma, WA. 

And then, probably one of the most curious pieces there. Who plays a Playmate of the Year guitar?

This was one of the huge and varied collection brought by Guitar Showcase of San Jose, CA. 

All in all, it was fun, educational and I sold 1/3 of my inventory. I am definitely going to be looking for more guitar shows to attend this coming year.