Jennifer’s Bloggallery

I always look forward to the National Association of Music Manufacturers, (NAMM), trade show in Anaheim, California. Every year zillions of instrument manufacturers set up shop to show their wares to prospective retailers from all over the world. It’s a cacophony of sights and especially sounds for 4 days in the cavernous Anaheim Convention Center.

I was first introduced to the craziness back in the ’80’s by Tommy Tedesco. We used to play for Fender or Gibson guitars every year. Tommy was probably the busiest studio guitarist the world has ever seen. He hired me for my first record date after Jimmy Bruno introduced us soon after my move to L.A. in 1983. I was always fascinated to witness the cavalcade of famous musicians who came by to pay homage to Tommy. I met so many players from such varied sectors of the music business. Tommy always encouraged me to be visible at the NAMM show, it would only be a matter of time until the companies would take notice and realize that I could be an asset. My touring schedule would expose their products to people all over the world!

Being a left handed bassist it never seemed feasible to me that an instrument company would be interested in having me as an endorsee. Was I ever wrong about that! My first endorsement was with a string manufacturer who went out of business almost immediately. I didn’t like those strings anyway. But the left-handedness paid off when Hofner, the maker of the Beatle bass that the left-handed Paul McCartney played, hired me to play in their booth. My first instrument endorsement was fortunately for a company that also owned a violin manufacturer called Paesold. I took my favorite old Czech bass to their luthier and we collaborated on design options. I chose the violin corner model. Soon I was playing the Paesold String Bass! For the last 5 years I’ve played my Paesold model 596V on every gig. I’m crazy about it.

Tommy’s prophesy came true, companies started to notice. Now I could pick and choose. Raezer’s Edge speakers, Acoustic Image amplifiers, Wilson and the Realist Pickups, Audioquest cables, and now La Bella strings have all jumped on the bandwagon and I’m happy and proud to be associated with them all. Every piece of gear that I use or play is the very best in my opinion, it’s not as though I’m some sort of corporate shill, I truly endorse because these are the products I feel are the best!

The 2005 NAMM show was one of the most interesting shows that I’ve played. For the first time I was hired to play solo bass for The Music Group, the parent company which owns Paesold and Hofner. They set up a huge booth that contained a concert space modeled after the Cavern Club, (the Beatles’ incubation location in Liverpool). Every day at noon I played unaccompanied for an hour or more. Lots of old friends and new and old fans came by to say hello. Jimmy Bruno and I reprieved our duo at the Sadowsky booth a couple of times, guitarist John Stowell and I played some interesting duo sets, and some great musicians, including Jeff Linsky, Mike Smith, Dick Weller, Justo Almario, and Sid Jacobs sat in. Rick Jones of Acoustic Image brought along his new “New Yorker” combo amp and speaker for me to demonstrate. It’s an amazingly small unit with incredible natural sound reinforcement. Jason Torreano of Paesold brought along a full size viol model bass that was a big hit amongst all the bassists who sat in. It all made me think back to those earlier years when I tagged along with Tommy Tedesco. He would be so proud!

Jennifer Leitham
February 1, 2005