For the second year in a row, there was a Shubb Capo seen on the Academy Awards telecast!

Counting Crows (with guitarist Dan Vickrey using his Shubb Capo) performed the nominated song Accidentally in Love, from Shrek II.

Arturo Meuniot was on hand all four days to help launch the new Talon guitar stand, which he designed.

 

The 2005 NAMM show was a particularly exciting one for us. We introduced three new products: Capo Noir, Talon Guitar Stand, and Robert Randolph guitar steels. Three new products in one show may not be a lot for some companies, but it is for us. We had a lot to talk about at this show.

Also, we expanded from a 20' booth to a 30'. This enabled us to feature performances and jam sessions in the booth without disrupting business, which was quite a luxury. We were happy with the new setup.

My good friend Mike Phelan joined us for his first NAMM show at the booth, along with Talon designer Arturo Meuniot, Raul Reynoso, Kelly Jordan, and of course my partner Dave Coontz and my right hand man, Gary Mobley.

Our friend, jeweler Jon Moriarty of 14 Karats in Berkeley, helped us with this one. It is solid gold, custom engraved over its entire surface, and is mounted with two diamonds and a lotus sapphire.

I Couldn't resist taking it over to the Martin Guitar booth and trying it on Martin Guitar #1,000,000. The folks at Martin really got into it, too, and we had a lot of fun taking pictures. The solid gold engraved capo looked right at home on this stunning instrument; a collaboration of the master builders at Martin, and inlay artist extraodinaire Larry Robinson.

Get a closer look at Martin #1,000,000...

We hosted a Friday night event for our international distributors, and once again were fortunate to have John Jorgenson and his quintet. Just when you think guitar playing can't get any better, John amazes you all over again!

Too small to see in this picture, but John is using the solid gold, two millionth capo.

Our new 30 foot booth gave us the opportunity for more playing, without disrupting business. We were fortunate to be visited by several talented musicians.

Richard Gilewitz

Luis Villegas, Joe Garcia

Paul Shelasky, Raul Reynoso, Ned Boynton

In past summer shows we've used just a minimal 10x10 booth, but this year we expanded to 20 feet. It was comfortable, and seemed like just the right size for this show.

My dear friends Linda and John Pearse

Attendance was a bit light. We did manage to have several productive meetings, but the highlights of the show for us were musical.

Friday night we co-sponsored a concert (along with Saga) featuring the John Jorgenson Quintet.The event was a big success. John's playing was simply phenomenal, and the whole group just keeps getting better all the time.

Then on Saturday John and the entire group visited the booth, where they played a few tunes. I got to sit in on a couple, much to my enjoyment. They stayed for a while and visited with everyone who came by to hear and meet them.

Stephan Dudash

 

Special thanks to my buddy Dick Hardwick for taking time out of his busy schedule to join us in his home state. It was great to have him at the booth and on the bandstand, and to meet some of his friends and family.

John Jorgenson, Charlie Chadwick, Stephan Dudash, Rick Shubb

Livening up our booth was fingerstyle guitar wizard Richard Gilewitz, who was kind enough to play a set for us on each of the three days.

If you look carefully, you'll see that he's using Shubb Capo number two million, our solid gold, engraved piece of functional jewelry

Gary had a great time at the James Burton Guitar Festival. James and his family were extremely warm and friendly, and made him feel right at home.

The festival was a benefit for the James Burton Foundation, which provides musical instruments for underprivileged children. A good cause!

The talent there was prodigious: Gary was especially inspired by Doyle Dykes, Jerry Donahue, Johnny Hiland, Eric Johnson, and of course, James himself. He's still raving about the abundance of guitar talent at this festival.