FEATURES
FEATURES
America the Beautiful 2010 has been a good year for American patriotism. And we don’t just mean annual rituals such as the Fourth of July.
Not Doubting Thomas
Mendello Retires, Thomas Named Fender CEO Former Guitar Center CEO Larry Thomas has a new gig: CEO at Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.
The ‘Spin’ on the DJ Market Whether your store carries a full line of DJ products, just a few or none at all, it’s hard to dispute that these products have carved a major indentation in the MI marketplace.
Music City Mystery Summer NAMM had many highlights, but attendance dropped 4 percent compared to last year. The future of the show is a topic on many minds.
The Canadians’ Club Changes galore took place at this year’s installment of the MIAC show in Toronto. The date changed to May. The location changed. Why were the adjustments made? Did the alterations work?
Floyd Rose Sued Geoffrey McCabe, an inventor and guitarist, has sued Floyd Rose Guitars and distributor Davitt & Hanser Music for patent infringement.
Pay It Forward! You’ve heard enough bad news. We take a look at the fantastic things happening in MI today.
-‘MIM is the Word The Musical Instrument Museum opened in Phoenix to a lot of fanfare. Rebecca Apodaca, an expert on antique instruments, gives you a rundown of the latest thing to hit MI.
-‘Loud and Clear Pro audio products continue to sell. We get the scoop from four top manufacturers.
-‘Open Door’ Policy NAMM makes a big change by allowing member-invited guests on the last day of Summer NAMM.
-Musikmesse A-107K! Attendance at Musikmesse and Pro Light + Sound dipped slightly, but optimism was up.
-It’s in the Cards ! You need to have PCI DSS-compliant terminals to handle credit card transactions by July 1. What are we talking about? Don’t worry, we’ll explain.
-Unplugged Acoustic guitar sales grew dramatically in 2009 and the beginning of 2010. Is this the beginning of a new trend?
-Head of the Class! We shine the spotlight on many of the new companies that launched at NAMM.
-Musicorp Mourns Mike Murphy We honor the sale rep’s life that ended way too soon.
-Is a New Healthcare Plan Just Snake Oil? We take a thorough look at how a new public healthcare plan can affect you and your employees. ?
-Bonanza! Behringer Buys Bosch Brands Behringer’s parent company added the Midas and Klark Teknik brands to its stable.
-The Stars Will Come Out…This Weekend We highlight a few of the celebrity appearances at NAMM.
-What A Long Strange Trip It’s Been!!! We reminisce as we close out the first decade of the new millennium. It was a tough 10 years for many. How about for the music industry though? What’s ahead?
-It’s Voting Time! Here are your nominees for the 24th annual Music & Sound Awards.
-Here We Come to Save the Day!!We provide a plethora of accessories that manufacturers assure you will provide excellent margins.
-For Those Who Make Lesser Publicized Instruments, We Salute You!!For the first time, we pay tribute to instruments and products that get little press coverage. We provide a well-deserved spotlight for these products!

-Kathy How:Now here’s a story you don’t hear connected to MI every day. A woman who grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, studied medicine and later moved to England.
-Sarah Heil:We’ve all heard the stories about people beginning in the mailroom and later becoming the CEO of a major corporation. Those people are rare, but it does happen.
-Sue Avant is a trailblazer. She’s also someone who
has varied interests. And she is, indeed, formidable.
-Mary Ann Giorgio It sure sounds like a great job to cover soap operas like Days of our Lives and speak to celebrities on a daily basis. But MXL’s Mary Ann Giorgio was never comfortable in that industry. She sure is comfortable at MXL Microphones though.
-Fusion Bags For the first time, we feature multiple people in this column. We look at the genesis and growth of the all-women founded business, Fusion Bags.
-Linda Arink is one of the very few female executives at a DJ company. Learn how she became involved and why she hopes we won’t even need to have a column about top industry females in the future.
-Debbe Stephenson stumbled upon MI shortly after college, but is sure glad she did. She’s now president and COO of Pro Co Sound.
-• Mary Peavey
-• Jennifer Tabor
-• Tarina Dunwoodie
-• Stacey Montgomery-Clark.
-• Cathy Duncan
-• Bee Bantug
-• Dale Krevens
-• Melanie Ripley
-• Susan Grund
-• Toby Nady
-• Shawna von Behren.
-• Berenice Chauvet
-• Sue Kincade
-• Tish Ciravolo
-• Vikki Hayward
-• Roxana Ramirez
-• Susan Lipp

M&SR: Do you get much of a chance to shop at the little mom and pop stores these days?
Rubano: When we're on tour, that's what we head out looking for in particular. Particularly Fred [Mascherino, former lead guitarist] would be way more interested in going into a store like that than a big chain store. And I think that's certainly where you find some real gems sometimes. It's always just a more personal thing.

M&SR: What's in your current rig?
Rubano: Right now, where I'm sitting, I can see my Martin acoustic guitar that I bought a little bit more than a year ago, that I love to death and I play every day. I can see my 1972 Fender Jazz bass, which is my favorite bass but one that stays home a lot because I don't want to put it through the crunch of touring. And I can see my custom-made six-string Michael Tobias bass that I have. I also just recently acquired an upright bass; an acoustic bass. I've been playing a lot of that lately. These are just in my bedroom (laughs). But as far as my touring rig, I have a great relationship and a great setup of Aguilar bass gear that I feel like is second to none. From the first time I played it, it was just a hands-down, no-brainer decision that it was the best-sounding stuff. And then I took it on the road and it's been nothing but super solid for me. I really love that stuff.

M&SR: What is your next gear purchase going to be?
Rubano: I went to see a friend of mine play in New York a couple of weeks ago, and he was playing a Fender Mustang bass. It was kind of a unique sound and a different Fender bass than I've seen before. So I've had my eye on those. But lately I've been more in a practicing and writing mode than amassing equipment.

M&SR: Taking Back Sunday played this year's Live Earth concert. Is that a cause you guys are aware of? Do you play "green" instruments?
Rubano: Wow, I actually haven't heard of any of the "green" instruments. That sounds really interesting. But the opportunity to play the Live Earth show is awesome, both because of what the cause is and the sort of all-over-the-world factor. And of course to be sharing the stage with so many huge names in music. But the environmental awareness is something we've implemented into our band lately as far as our touring. It was initially brought to the band by Fred who, in his personal life, is quite conscious of those things. His home runs on green energy and he has a car that runs on vegetable oil.

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