We'd predicted that this year's International Music Show (held at London's Alexandra Palace over the May Bank Holiday) would be a pretty good treat for musicians wanting to both see and try a lot of equipment — and we think we were right.

On show were products from the majority of Britain's better known craftsman guitar makers, amplification from companies like Deanvard (with their V-Amps), Marshall, Dynacord and Hi-Watt; keyboards from Casio, drums from Melanie Percussion and Capelle, cymbals from both Zildjian and Paiste — the list was impressive and it was backed by many other makers represented by dealers (notably Fender, Roland and Washburn) plus other companies from the general music business.

Walking round the show it seemed best to let the camera speak for us, to show MUSIC U.K. readers who couldn't attend the I.M.S. this year what sort of things they missed. But first we'd better mention those products which made an impression on us.

We've already said that the custom guitar makers were really out in force this year — and so they were. Guitars were on show from Manson, Chris Eccleshall, Brynn Hiscox, the Kincade Brothers and Overwater. The quality of the instruments they had on show was enough to make a Japanese or American guitar maker's wallet cry — there is no doubting now that guitars made over here represent fantastic value both in terms of quality and price.

"...THERE IS NO DOUBTING NOW THAT GUITARS MADE OVER HERE REPRESENT FANTASTIC VALUE, BOTH IN QUALITY AND PRICE..."

Among the products which we saw that really appealed to us was a new 'roller nut' system on offer from Manson. This replaces the conventional slot nut on guitars with tremolo systems and provides for friction-free string movement without that common problem of the strings sticking in the nut — a far better system than nut/string clamps any day!

Other news from the show was a fine acoustic bass from the Kincade Brothers, Chris Eccleshall's long-awaited prototypes of the models which are shortly to be on the market, made in Japan to his specifications and designs, plus, of course, his own hand-built guitars, which have often struck us as being perhaps the most sensibly priced instruments that you can buy from this sort of maker, albeit that they lack nothing in the way of quality. News from Chris May of Overwater was that he has recently shrunken his range of models, signed a distribution deal with London's E.F.R. Guitars and switched to pickups of his own design, which will be manufactured for Overwater by Kent Armstrong. Hopefully this will result in us seeing a lot more of Chris' fine guitars and basses around in the shops soon.

"...IT WAS AN ELECTRIC SOLID FITTED WITH LED'S IN THE NECK..."

Brynn Hiscox had a most intriguing guitar on his stand. It was an electric solid which he had been commissioned to make, fitted with L.E.D.'s in the neck. This, in itself, isn't new but the L.E.D.'s either respond to the notes you play or, and this is the purpose behind the idea, can be computerised to show beginners the fingering positions for all chords. The designers of this system have promised to keep us posted with developments and we'll report back as and when the idea gets nearer the market.

Also on the guitar front, the Soho Soundhouse had a large display of the latest Fenders and these seemed to be drawing a lot of attention from the Public who, certainly on the Saturday and Sunday, were out in force.

"CASIO'S DECISION TO STAGE THEIR OWN SHOW PAID DIVIDENDS."

Likewise on a retailer's stand were Washburn guitars and basses and these are, as we've said before, a welcome sight back on the U.K. market.

On the amp front the new V-Amp keyboard combos seemed to us, to be an ideally priced range for those players who have just started getting into synthesisers. As ever, the V-amps appear to be extremely reasonably priced and rather nicely made.

"...MELANIE DRUMS... WERE ALSO SHOWING AN ELECTRIC PICKUP SYSTEM..."

Released at the Show was a 50 watt valve combo from Hi-Watt, probably the most unfairly treated amp makers in the U.K. by the the retail trade. Why it is that half the World seems to see Hi-Watt's amps in their shops and we see so little over here is a puzzle that we cannot fathom. All we'll say is that it seems pretty iniquitous to us and we hope that British music shop owners will soon start to display Hi-Watts alongside the other brands that they carry.

On the keyboard front, Casio's decision to stage their own show (rather than relying on a dealer to represent them) paid dividends. One of the best aspects of the I.M.S. is that it allows members of the public to actually try equipment for themselves, and Casio's demo booths were constantly filled with players of all ages seeing what they had to offer.

"THIS WAS THE FIRST CHANCE WE'D HAD TO HEAR SEVERAL OF THE LATEST MARSHALL COMBOS..."

On the percussion front Melanie were drawing crowds with their great low-priced drums but were also showing an electric pickup system which must have appealed to a great number, judging by the sounds and activity coming from their stand. We hope to be checking-out more Melanie equipment very soon.

Still on the percussion side, French manufacturers Capelle attracted a good deal of interest, but not only in their kits because they were also showing the Vigier Guitars and basses (which we reviewed back in issue 15). The 'memory electronic' Vigier guitar put in a brief appearance and Capelle told us that eight of these revolutionary instruments will be in the U.K. by the Autumn — we'll report back on them as soon as we can. Marshall once again demonstrated their commitment to the playing public by taking a massive stand with a special soundproof room. Not only could players try their gear for themselves but they also had a full house nearly every time we went near the stand where demonstrator Colin Harris was playing like a man possessed. A fine guitarist, Colin told us that he was particularly fond of the new transistorised Marshall 50 watt combo (model no. 5201). We can certainly understand why, having heard him playing it! This was the first chance we'd had to hear several of the latest Marshall combos, and although the 5201 walked away with our hearts, the new bass combos also struck us as being especially interesting, offering a superbly defined sound and punchy attack with advanced equalisation in easy to transport packages.

For our part, MUSIC U.K. was there throughout and we met many readers on our stand. We'd like to thank everyone who came along to see us and talk with us about the mag. and, particularly, everyone who came to the free gig we presented on the Saturday evening when guitarist Adrian Legg held a large crowd enthralled with his astonishing playing. Adrian tells us that he will soon have an album on release so we'll let you know the details as and when it happens. We're glad that so many of you came along to see him and that you seemed to enjoy it so much. Next year we'll try and promote more free gigs — seems like you enjoy them! For us a Show like this is really just a chance to meet-up with players of all kinds and talk with them about what a musician's magazine should be doing. Thanks again to all of those who came along to make yourselves known, and put faces to some of the names on the mag's staff — bloody ugly lot, aren't we!

Assuming that next year has another I.M.S. we'll be there (if the security boys don't mug us before we ever get to set foot inside the hall!) and hope you'll be along too. If you were there this year, what did you think of the I.M.S.? How about writing in with your opinions and saying what you think next year's show should have to offer?