NASHVILLE & SUMMER NAMM 2003 - Part 2

Here's the second installment of "The Trip". . .

Saturday

I had called Hap Kuffner to get a pass to the show.  Hap was one of the four founding partners of Steinberger Sound and still works with Ned as the Int’l Sales arm of NS Design.  He also represents many other brands – Aguilar, EMG, PRS to name a few.   I’ve been talking with Hap for years now but like everyone else involved had never met him.  I figured if anyone had connections it'd be Hap, and he said getting one should be no problem.  So I  called Hap early on Saturday to get my pass.  It seems he and the other staffers had forgotten my pass at the NS Design booth.  Since his hotel was a block away from ours we agreed to walk over there together for the start of the show (10:00 AM).  I borrowed Phil Langley’s exhibitor's pass to get in since I obviously didn't have mine.  

Hap is a trip – he’s one of those guys who seems to know EVERYONE!  We saw a couple of the EMG guys in the lobby of his hotel and walked over to the show with them.    Again Hap knows so many folks he had exchanges with probably 20 people as we headed towards the NS Design booth on the main floor.  Ned wasn’t there yet but I got to meet David Kowalski with NS Design.  I’ve talked to David dozens of times over the past few years (he usually answers the phone when I call) and got to check out the entire NS line with him.  David has been doing construction & assembly through setup, though it’s mostly setup now that the entire line is made in the Czech Republic.  Also met and chatted with Stuart Spector who always shares booth space with Ned.


The NS Design & Spector booths.  That's Stuart Spector in the foreground.


The NS Design cello on the left and a pair of CR EUB's on the right.


NS Design violin & violas in front; cello in the rear.

A short time later Ned shows up.   The big moment – meeting “The Master” for the first time.  We walked over and Hap says “Ned – this is Andy Yakubik”.   I held out my hand to shake his, but Ned reaches over and gives me a great big hug.  “It’s so great to finally meet you!”  I know Ned as a pretty reserved guy, so I must admit it’s a moment I won’t soon forget - it was a warmer reception than I could have ever hoped for.  We chatted about a whole bunch of things (especially the parts I went through the day before) for probably 15 minutes.  However, the show was starting and I had a meeting off-site at 10:30 AM.  Ned asked what I was doing later (kept my plans open) and he invited me to dinner.   That wasn’t an invitation I would ever pass up, so I agreed to meet back at his booth when the show ended at around 5:00 PM.


Stan Jay / Mandolin Bros. (left), Ned Steinberger (center), Hap Kuffner (right).
All three were founding partners in the original Steinberger Sound Corp.


Ned and Stuart in a moment of levity.

So off to my meeting.  This one was with Jim Rosenberg at the Gibson Café.  For those that don’t know the story, Jim is the head of Epiphone and basically the #3 guy in the entire Gibson operation.  MusicYo and Steinberger are currently managed by Epiphone.  Jim’s been with Epiphone since they resurrected the brand in the late 80’s.  After leaving Epiphone and spinning off MusicYo around '99, he's been brought back to running it all again under the same banner.  I call him every month for our updates, so I’ve talked with him by phone countless times into addition to regular emails as well.  But again this was my first meeting.

Since I'd talked with Jim so often, this was admittedly more of a familiar follow-up call than a formal interview or business-type meeting.  The Gibson Cafe' is closed during NAMM for Gibson business only.  They have displays and "refreshments" downstairs, while the upstairs is reserved for meetings.  When I arrived Jim was chatting with Dave Berryman, President of Gibson and #2 right under Henry Juskiewicz.  Since I had previously seen a picture of him I was able to pick him out of the crowd and walked over.  He figured it was me, we greeted each other, and we immediately jumped into discussing my previous day at the plant.  We then talked about the new stuff I saw and some other things that arose in discussions from the previous day.  Dave Berryman stayed there quietly listening for probably 5-10 minutes of the conversation.  It was interesting to see his expressions during some of the talk, especially when it came my comments about production ideas, costs, etc.  Dave left and we walked back into a curtained are to talk some more.  We spent maybe 10-15 minutes more talking about Steinberger and the show.  He was especially appreciative of the time I spent at the plant and thanked me twice for going the extra step and organizing what was left over for them.   At the end he invited me to the Epiphone show that evening, so I happily accepted the pass and headed back to NAMM.

Again my plan was to be sure and introduce myself to other people I’d talked to for years but had never met.   The EMG booth was first.  Met a few more of those guys, though Rob Turner, president of EMG, was a very busy guy (in meetings most of the day) so I didn’t get to meet him until later in the day.   Next stop was Lorenzo German / Klein Electric Guitars. 


Klein Electric Guitars.
That's Lorenzo German on the right explaining his masterpieces.

Lorenzo was a trip – very laid back with a sarcastic sense of humor (which I appreciate).  His approach to the show was interesting.  He is located around the stairwell, and spent much of his time hanging out near the railings about 20 feet in front of the booth.  When someone came up to the booth he generally left them alone.  If they picked up a guitar (he had 4 there) he goes over and plugs it in for them.  He had another guy there in the booth to explain stuff, but again it was a very non-aggressive approach to be sure.   Because of that we got to talk at length about Steinberger, his line and even a bunch other non-Steinberger stuff .  Since he was at the stairs I found myself stopping by several times as I made my way through the show.

Ironically Moses Graphite has the booth right next to Lorenzo.  I say ironic because Lorenzo used Moses necks until he had a falling out with them about some quality issues several years back.  I spoke with Steve Mosher (president and founder) for probably 20 minutes, going over some questions I had, his approach to the show.  Surprisingly they don't show their finished products there.  The reason is they'd prefer to supply OEM products..  With lots of gear to try out the booth gets crowded with guys wanting to play them, and they miss the opportunity to talk to manufacturers.  It was very clear Steve’s got a definitive goal for what he’s doing.  I’d known this before but that was even more evident in talking with him there.  Not necessarily Steinberger related, but it’s interesting to me to get inside these guys’ heads a little.   


 A Chapman Stick demonstration at the Moses Graphite booth.
The graphite Stick bodies are made by Moses and assembled by Chapman.

Let me say I didn’t run from booth to booth.  The NAMM show is absolutely huge, and you can’t help but stop and look around at all the gear.  It’s like the world’s biggest guitar store and just walking 100 feet I found myself going in and out of booths and rooms.  

So it’s about 1:00 PM and I’m standing at the middle stairway not far from the Klein & Moses booths.  Up comes Charlie Johnson, one of the MusicYo webmasters.  He asks how things are going.  We chat a little and he mentions he hasn’t had lunch.  Realized I was a bit hungry, and asked if he minded if I joined him.  We left the show buildings and walked over to a Mexican place not far away (I don’t remember the name or location).  Again, Charlie was a nice guy and very gracious.  The topic of discussion flowed from Steinberger to MusicYo to personal background & interests.  After lunch we walked back to the show.  He had some things he wanted to see (as did I) so we parted and went our ways.

By now I had visited most of the folks I had made a point to see.  Now was the time to take the show in for myself.  I got a program, figured out what I wanted to see, and made a plan of attack.  Again the show is huge and even when I'd be making my way to the next booth I wanted to see, I found myself stopping maybe a dozen times.

I'm only a bass guy so I won't bore everyone with all the details.  Here are some highlights:

Now, I'm sure a few of you are wondering, what about Ed Roman?  Well, as always Ed was there.  I did joke with many folks that I should run by and introduce myself just to see what would happen.  I was inclined to.  Passed by his booth once when visiting Gibson (he was just opposite theirs), but there were too many people in front of him and I didn't want to wait - I had other folks I needed to see first. I did make it a point to head over later in the day but by then he wasn't there.  Unfortunately my real name wasn't on my badge. If it had been I would have just walked up and said nothing and watch for his reaction.  I'm sure it would have made an amusing story.  Maybe next time.

By about 4:00 PM I had seen what I came to see.  I decided to go back to the room and change for the evening.  Headed back to the show just as it was winding down and got the NS Design booth about 15 minutes before close.  Ned was there and asks "so what do you have in mind for dinner?"  I'm game for anything, and deferred to him for recommendations.  We decided to head out with a group of the NS Design folks, Hap Kuffner,  Rob Turner from EMG and

 a few of his guys.


Back at the NS Design booth.  From left:
Stan Jay / Mandolin Bros., Rob Turner / EMG, Ned, Stuart Spector, Hap Kuffner.

Five o'clock.  Hap has suggested a local Bar-B-Q place that's supposed to be great and everyone is in agreement.  The show is over for the day and we head towards the exits.  This is where I must admit things get a little surreal for me.  Let's face it - I've easily devoted hundreds of hours to reporting and documenting these non-traditional instruments.  Here I am basically one-on-one with the guy who's designed every single element of them!   The discussion flows, from the day before at the factory to the what I saw at the show.   

On the winding staircase up Ned says there is one story he had to tell me.  It seems that Ed Roman is in the same hotel.  Ed spots Ned in the lobby and comes up to him.  He's bragging about how he came to town early and canvassed the local music stores.  He came a across a mint XL2T that he bought for $1100.  Ned said he immediately thought of me and felt a little bad when hearing this.  Ned then asked him what he could get for it.  Ed's reply?  $3800!  Ned asks if that's accurate.  I told Ned I thought that was way high, but then again every Steinberger Ed sells has a hefty markup.  I then went on to explain the average prices of instruments on eBay and general availability.

Another interesting piece - Hap had dug up some old Steinberger stuff.  He pulls out a plastic sheet with slides in it.  "Take a look at these" he says and hands them to me.  I hold them up to the light and immediately recognize them.  They are the old proofs from the photo shoot of Sting holding an L2 fpr the cover of Guitar World (July '82).  We were able to pick out the shot they eventually went with.  Ned gets a kick out of it too.  That cover helped create even more buzz for the company when it was up and coming.

We make our way out of the Convention center and just down the street to the restaurant.  Again the conversation touches on a great many things, mostly the new instruments I saw.   Ned asks my opinions and we talk more about the new hardware, design ideas, etc. 

We get the to the restaurant.  It's a down-home type place where you get your food and bring it back to the table.  Very relaxed atmosphere.  The EMG guys head off to another table, while I sit with Ned, Hap, David from NS Design, and Chris Kuffner, Hap's son who helps man the NS Design booth at the NAMM shows.  At this point I'm figuring not everyone wants to talk about Steinberger all day, so the talk ebbs and flows about a great many personal and professional things.  

I must say one of the more "interesting" moments is when I mention about how I got into this whole Steinberger thing.  To make a long story short, part of it has to do with my having to give up gold because of a shoulder injury.  Hap mentions that he just picked up the game at the age of 50.  I ask him about this and we start talking golf for a bit.  Ned interjects that he's never understood how golf is played, so I begin explaining the rules of the game and it's appeal.  Course layout, hole layout, clubs, swings and scoring.  I do think he was still was kind of shaking his head afterwards.  Though I tried to do a thorough job, trying to explain the subtleties of golf in 2 minutes is a bit difficult.

So we finish eating, and decide to head over to the Epiphone event.  Basically Gibson/Epiphone has taken over the Havana Lounge.  It started at 7:00 PM and the featured entertainment was Sevendust later in the evening.  Luckily I already had my VIP pass from Jim Rosenberg, so I tag along for the walk.  It's mostly idle chatter at this point but that's fine with me.  We get to the event and the line is long.  Hap mentions he'd like to drop off his briefcase.  I've got my backpack with camera & files as well.  Since Hap's hotel is only a block from mine I talk him I'd walk over with him.

Again, Hap is a true industry insider and has been in the MI business for nearly 3 decades now.  We talk a bit about Ned, about NS Design and about Steinberger past & present.  Can't recall all the details now, but it was a pleasant 15 minute walk to be sure.

I drop my things off at the room and head back to the Havana.   No more lines when I get there, so I head on up.  I find Ned playing pool with Rob Turner in one of the back rooms.  The NS Design crew is hanging out nearby.  I also see Debbie Orsland and say hello to her again.  

At this point I can tell that Ned and Rob are enjoying what I call "B Time", so I decide to lay back.  I wander around the room and who do I find at the bar?  Brady Bargenquast.  I'm not an industry insider, so it's nice to see a familiar face.  Brady says hello and offers to buy me a drink.  We sit and talk for what seems only a few minutes but probably was closer to hour.  Again Steinberger features prominently in the discussion, but much of it is more personal this time around.  We also chat with a few of the Gibson Labs folks there as well.  They all give Brady a hard time about his affection for Steinbergers, and it was funny to see them give him grief and ask me "what the big deal with these things?"

I had tried to keep an eye out for Ned, but it seems time had gotten the best of me.  On the way over he had mentioned he needed to go see one of his artists (an endorser of the NS violin) at a local club at 9:00.  It was well past 8:30 now.   I head to the other side of the room, where David confirms Ned has headed out.  "He says he tried to look to say goodbye,  but thought you'd already left" he adds.  Obviously that news kind of bums me out.  But, time to move on.

I decided to head up front to catch one of the opening acts.  Playing at the time were the Trailer Park Troubadours.  They've got an interesting anlge.  The lead singer looks like a ska/lounge singer with a brightly colored suit and pompadour hair.  The rest of the band are more like regular guys.  And all of their songs (far as I can tell) are about trailer homes.  Classic lines like "it ain't home 'til you take the wheels off".  They also did a cover of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" that was quite amusing.  The singer held up a cutout of Bob Dylan's head and sang the first verse in a Dylan-esque incomprehensible drawl.  The lead guitarist then holds up a cutout of Axl Rose's face and proceeds to do his best Guns N Roses impersonation.  It was pretty amusing and had the place going.

It's getting close to 10 PM and I thought it might be time to head out.  So I figured I'd take one last trip around to see if I spot anyone.  Lo and behold who do I find at the pool area bar but Richard Akers.  Again Richard is the production manager for Steinberger, and greets me with a big hello.   We chat a bit and I ask "you got some time to talk?"  He's all ears at this point and I'm more than happy to oblige.

Richard and I chatted over the next few hours about Steinberger past, present and future.  I gave him history on a great many things.  We talked about design & manufacturing improvements and the new instruments on the way.   next to spending time with Ned, this was the 32 highlight of the trip for me.  Getting a chance to talk Richard's ear off and get inside his head was invaluable.  I think I now understand how things will be playing out in the upcoming months.  Richard is "into" Steinbergers now too, and I'm sure he enjoyed the time and discussion as well.

I must add that during the initial part of our conversation he introduced me to Tofer Maverick.  The first words out of Tofer's mouth are "What three things do we need to do to increase sales of Steinberger?"  I must admit I was a bit taken back how pointed the question was.  Turns out Tofer's official title is "Director of Asian Quality & Procurement; Epiphone, MusicYo and Wurlitzer".  I must also admit that question was quite an ice breaker, and Richard and I talked with Tofer about a great many things (including some answers to his question) for at least 30 minutes.

Towards the end of the evening (well past midnight, probably closer to 1 AM), Sevendust took the stage for a semi-acoustic set.  They are Epiphone endorsees, and after a few of their songs headed to the front of the place to catch the show.  I got to hear most of it, though the place isn't set up for music so I really didn't see anything.  Met a couple of folks from D'Addario and we obviously talked a bit about Steinberger strings.   When the set ended the place was closing so I graciously thanked Richard for his time and headed off to the room.  I was leaving early the next morning so at this point my trip (save the drive home) is done.

Look for Part 3 - Conclusion & Final Thoughts to be posted in the next week. . .