Fender Roadshow coming February 2016

[wokkaboy]

ok review on the night. They introduced a new segment with the band had Rod Mcormack as special guest playing banjo, mandolin and acoustic guitar with Greg Koch was entertaining. Then they pulled out all the electrics and new amps. Band was fantastic but being the first Australian show wasn't very polished but the band played some cool tunes.
They had a few new ideas most the new bass and guitar models had a curved neck plate and a truss rod at the heel end. They also tried to promote a guitar that wasn't relic'd but 'worn in'.
They promoted the newish Hendrix model strat with reverse headstock but Greg broke a string on the first song and then it sat on a stand for rest of the night and he played about 4 Hendrix and SRV covers on a tele.
They had a couple of new amps to show sounded pretty good.
Overall the band were great but Fender didn't really have any new exciting products or features to show

[Brendan]

Yhep - also zip, zilch and nada about basses....

[Rabbitz]

Well for anyone attending Sydney tonight - Mrs Rabz and I will be resplendent in our PBG t-shirts.

Don't be shy - come over and say Hi.

[wokkaboy]

good stuff Rabz, glad your PBG shirts arrived. You will love the band and Greg is a real comedian as well.
Have a close look how much fingerboard is behind the 22nd fret with the notch for the truss rod adjustment wheel. Be lucky to be 2mm

Rod McCormack is very talented, he is very cool on banjo and mandolin

[Rabbitz]

Just back from the roadshow.

It was well worth getting off my aging backside and venturing out.

As per the Perth edition it started with rod McCormack picking on Banjo, mando and acoustic. I've worked with Rod over the years and he is a wizard - if you get to see him, check just how light he is with his right hand, so light and such control.

Rod was then joined by Greg Koch, both playing the new Fender 00 acoustics. Some mighty fine picking. The new acoustics are a light year away from previous tinny Fender acoustics. These had real tone, and a heft to their sound. Maybe not for everyone, but the ones on stage were impressive.

After a couple of jams they were joined by the rest of the band.

What followed was a treat.

Koch is a magician. Some of playing was simply gobsmacking.

Throughout there was a constant feed of information, not just sales stuff, but a lot of the design philosophy, technical discussions about pick up, valves, how to get sounds out various amps.

A bit of a serious discussion about the why's and wherefores of the relic movement. Suffice to say I have shifted slightly in my dislike for it. (It didn't hurt that the relic'd units they had were simply outstanding, especially the white washed strat.)

They even got the Fender Aust Bass Guru to talk about the basses...

As I said a real treat.

The performance part of the evening finished up with a couple of Hendrix tracks, and it was clear it was as much fun on stage as in the room.

The decks were then cleared for anyone and everyone to have a hands on. All of the kit was up for viewing and handling.

I had a very close look at the inlay work on the banjo and mandos. Breathtaking in both design and execution.

Had a quick chat with Rod, and as Mrs Rabz is still unwell (Ross River Virus) we headed home.

The relic'd strat I looked at had a price sticker on the back - a tad under $5k. Not sure if this is AUD or USD. Out of my league but by crickey it's well and truly on my wish list.

We were seated about half way back (next to the sound desk - where else would a roadie sit?) and had a great view over the crowd. It was a strange sort of gig. Everyone was sitting and intently watching and listening. None of the usual distractions at the gig - no wankers carrying on, no pissheads acting the fool.

There were eight year olds to eighty year olds in the room. A really fun night.

Now, one new feature of the American Elite strat range, which is intriguing, is a bypass switch which allows you to bypass the tone, volume and capacitors and feed the Shurebucker bridge pick up straight into your amp. Greg did a few demo's of that - it seriously has some pure fun potential.

Just gotta work how where to get the 5k for that strat...

[andrewdosborne]

Sounds like a great night Rabbitz. Was it in the Sydney Metro? A good venue for this. I ended up camping this weekend and my pray for rain was not answered.. So next time

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk

[Rabbitz]

Hi Andrew,

Yes the Metro was pretty much an ideal venue.

Well, 'cept for the fact that it is (and always has been) a bit of a dump.

[wokkaboy]

glad you enjoyed the night Rabz. I thought for a free night it was fun and learnt a bit about the latest gear.

Any other forumites going to any shows in other states ? Please let us know what you thought of the show !

Greg must have read Bman's comment about nothing about bass guitars and included it in your show lastnight !

[Maddogm]

I'm sitting here waiting for the Melbourne show to start, they have basses on stage at least

[wokkaboy]

good stuff Maddog, enjoy the show, sounds like the bass player went through some models at the Sydney show