The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) held its 122nd annual trade show at the Anaheim Convention Center from April 13 to April 15.
The 2023 show featured numerous product announcements from major guitar and equipment manufacturers, including new guitar models from Ibanez and Godin, a Vox Amps collaboration with Queen lead guitarist Bryan May, and showstopping guitar pickups from L.R. Baggs and Seymour Duncan. Eastman Guitars introduced its new Celestine Blue Juliet LA guitar, while Japanese guitar manufacturer ESP showed off new models and artist collabs.
The long-enduring convention, first held in Baltimore in 1901, has taken place in Anaheim every year since 1976. Although it is one of the world’s largest music trade events, the NAMM Show saw a dramatic decline in attendance after the COVID-19 pandemic. Attendance dropped from over 115,000 attendees in 2020 to only 46,711 in 2023, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.
The event’s struggles in the wake of the pandemic have meant the departure of longtime NAMM Show mainstays. Electric guitar icons Gibson Brands and Fender Guitars have historically had a dominating presence at the show, with Fender famously unveiling its legendary Jazzmaster guitar at the 1958 NAMM Show, according to a blog post from “Andertons Music Company.” However, both companies have remained absent from the event since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The convention center’s main showfloor held booths and product showcases for thousands of companies visiting from over 120 different nations. Despite the lowered attendance, the event hosted a massive showfloor, occupying all five of the convention center’s main halls, as well as its upper floors and surrounding areas. As reported by Tradefest, 2,180 booths exhibited various musical instruments, audio and recording equipment, turntables, amplifiers, pickups and pedals.
High-end acoustic guitars priced up to tens of thousands of dollars were displayed on the showfloor at C.F. Martin & Company’s interactive cornerstone booth. The booth — a replica of Martin’s historic factory in Nazareth, Pennsylvania — featured musical guests Zach Comtois and Angela Petrilli.
Over 150 artists and bands from around the world performed on the show’s two main stages, as well as dozens of other spaces around the convention center. Genres ranged from Mexican Mariachi, to English folk, to traditional Hawaiian music and everything in between.
The NAMM Show also featured its familiar percussion section, where hundreds of drummers hammered away throughout the weekend on drum sets and cymbals. Guests experiencing sensory overload, whether it be from the sound or crowds, could escape to one of the main showfloor’s soundproof rooms.
The lower-level showfloor at Hall E, reserved for exhibitors in the audio industry, spotlighted an immense booth from Shure. In comparison, audio giants Sennheiser and Audio-Technica, which had major appearances at Hall E in past years, have had a notably smaller presence since the convention’s 2022 return.
Jonathon “Boogie” Long, a blues rock singer, guitarist and songwriter, came to the NAMM Show from Hammond, Louisiana as an endorsed artist, and he commented on the new products on display.
“It’s great, Two-Rock Amplifiers have been great, Vemuram Pedals are amazing — a pedal company from Japan. There’s some great guitar companies like Shabat Guitars,” Long said.
Long also noted the size and attendance at the convention this year.
“It’s a little small this year. Fender wasn’t here, Gibson wasn’t here, but it was still a good turnout and I think it’ll be bigger next year,” Long stated.
The 2023 NAMM Show concluded on April 15 and will return from Jan. 25 to Jan. 28, 2024 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Josh Cain is a Photo Editor for the 2022-2023 school year. He can be reached at jbcain@uci.edu.
