Hey, folks....not much to report...Yamaha wasn't at the Summer show at all...no drums, guitars, basses, keyboards...NOTHING.
Other majors also decided to stay home. Gibson wasn't there, and many of the high end boutique amplifier builders and drum manufacturers took a pass.
Casio was there with mainly digital pianos, and Rowland was there, mostly pushing organs. They did have a D-70, but both times I visited the booth, the guy there to demonstrate was on a break or demonstrating a portable organ.
Since we were there representing a client, we didn't get much attention, since our badges identified us as show participants, and folks in the booths were trying to corner buying customers (store owners, catalog reps.).
Bootsy Collins and Victor Wooten were big hits in the St Louis (Ampeg) booth, and I was pleased to see that Giannini is back in the US market.
Confronted Saga about the problem I've had with defective guitars and have been promised some action (or, they were probably trying to just make me go away).
Concession was, it was a "dud" of a show. Nothing really new on ANY front.
It was a disappointment..
Russ