NAMM Show For Technicians
Should Technicians Attend?
The 2026 NAMM show stacked up the stats to maintain its claim as the world’s premier music trade show! 60,000 attendees, 8,760 of whom were international attendees from 121 countries. 175 bands performed live. Over 200 educational sessions. 1,650 exhibitors showing 5,400 brands. As a trade show it did not disappoint, but was it worth attending as a repair technician?
From a purely entertainment perspective, NAMM delivers. World class people-watching opportunities abound plus the show floor is littered with famous artists demonstrating products and signing autographs. There were 7 stages around the venue showcasing outstanding full stage productions, and don’t forget to search the local music scene! With all these artists in town, the local venues were bursting with nightly entertainment as well.
This year’s NAMM show had a greatly expanded pro audio and entertainment technology section with a focus on live sound and recording. Over 500 new products were announced during the NAMM Global Media Day. To offset this expansion, however, was a noticeable decline in the number of exhibitors showing brass, woodwind and orchestral string products.
This was my 21 NAMM show. I’ve attended as a retail store owner and repair technician since 2001 and this year was a different show. I sold my retail store a few years ago, but I still attend to offer advice on products to various buying groups. This was more difficult to do this year as the number of band and orchestra manufacturers present was down. Typically there are many manufacturers of various parts present - those who just build a piston cluster or a key manufacturer, but those specialty groups were no longer present. Neither were many distributors who sell various brands to retail store buyers. This lack of product made it more difficult for me to explore and compare various brands and builds from several manufacturers.
What I did do was take a really deep look at the product that was present. I inspected the new models from Yamaha, Eastman, Conn/Selmer, Buffet and many other brands to see what’s changed and then decide if I need to order new parts, or if the screws I have will still fit. Most things still fit by the way. But more than just getting my hands on the product, I took the opportunity to discuss the changes with each brand’s product specialists.
The product specialists are typically experienced players and a bit more nerdy (like us repairers) about what the mechanical differences are. They’ve tested various options and have wonderful insight on how each type of change affects the sound and playability of the instruments they oversee. I’ve gained a greatly expanded awareness of each instrument category by having sincere, in-depth conversations with these specialist and every brand has these people present at NAMM.
I was also able to discuss various concerns with certain brands. For instance, I spoke with Château Winds about some issues with saxophones keys and missing screws. Their Sales & Marketing manager was more than willing to send free parts, including full keys if need be. Many of the brand managers were wanting to work with technicians, to learn from us, and support our efforts to keep their instruments in good working order.
One of my highlights this year was the Networking With The Pros event. NAMM hosted a large music student group this year with clinics and sessions specifically for those coming into the music industry. I was able to volunteer as one of the “Pros” and spend time answering questions about how to get into the music industry. Opportunities like this to give back are priceless and rewarding.
I live a short 6 hour drive from the convention so packing my family and employees in for the drive is an easy decision. The family gets a vacation to sunny southern California and the company pays for it. Would this year's show have been worth the trip across the pond to me… no. If I wanted to just hang out and take in all the live music opportunities, then it’s great. If I wanted to play with a good number (not great number) of wind instruments and find exactly what model I want… then maybe, but the noise on the floor makes product demos difficult. Would I have seen everything I wanted to see, no.
In all, I’m glad I went to NAMM this year. It was great for reconnecting with industry friends, for live music, for meeting a lot of great product specialists from whom I learned a lot, I made good connections with various manufacturers, and I was able to give back to our industry.
- Steve France, Premium Music Products
