Fun Accessories

[Anderton]

The PikCard is a credit card-sized card that fits in your wallet and has four "emergency picks" you can punch out (and put back into the card for storage). The picks are actually pretty good, but no thumbpick version yet :)

The same company also showed a "PikDisk," which is a CD-sized piece of plastic with 10 punch-out picks.

[Anderton]

I liked this too: An all-purpose guitar tool from Michael Farley. It has a string cutter, bridge pin puller, allen wrenches, and screwdriver blades...it lists for around $35.

[Anderton]

Another Michael Farley thing: MightyBright lights. The first image shows a really bright LED-based light designed to go anywhere, so you can look behind a rack, or make it to the stage when the lights are down without falling. I have one and it really is convenient to have around.

The second image shows a light designed for those reading sheet music in a darkened environment, as it has two little "antenna" you can position over each page of an open sheet music score. He demonstrated the roadworthiness of the lights by smashing them against the wall, which I captured on video for your viewing pleasure.

[Anderton]

Here's a product called "Kickstand." It attaches to the end pin of your guitar, and folds up behind it when not in use. When you need to use it, just open it up...you don't take it off the guitar, so it's always available. It's around $30, rumor has it the Slash uses one. Pretty useful, actually.

[Anderton]

I think this is the last of the things I saw at Michael Farley's booth: Entertainer's Secret, a throat spray without benzocane or any of that other stuff...the main ingredients are aloe vera gel, deionized water, dibasic sodium phosphate, glycerin, etc. Anyway, he gave me a sample which was a good thing, because my voice was starting to go toward the end of the show and I thought what the heck...although it's not a miracle worker, it did make my voice feel a lot more comfortable, and helped counter the drying effects of the air conditioning in the hall.

[Anderton]

While not a totally new product, the Mighty Moe puts an amp inside of a strap. It's no stack of Marshalls, but it can be surprisingly loud. And it's not limited to use with guitar; I was talking with one violinist who used it to give a little boost to her violin.

[Anderton]

And here's a product that was actually controversial: VAM's mic thingie. What this supposedly does is send some of your vocal back to your ear so you can hear yourself better. I checked it out, and it did indeed make it easier to hear myself, but couldn't really determine how well it would fare under really loud stage conditions.

So what made it controversial? Some people thought it was a joke, but I talked to one vocalist who does choir work and he was ready to buy one on the spot. And they also used booth girls to attract attention, which some people construe as meaning the product itself isn't strong enough to attract people...

We'll see how it all shakes out.

[Anderton]

I don't know where there were a bunch of new stand concepts all of a sudden, but here's another one from Peak. It folds down to a fairly small size (image 1), and when you open it up, it can hold a guitar or bass vertically
(image 2). But it can also mount on the wall to hold a guitar (image 3).

[MikeRivers]

And here's a product that was actually controversial: VAM's mic thingie. What this supposedly does is send some of your vocal back to your ear so you can hear yourself better. I checked it out, and it did indeed make it easier to hear myself, but couldn't really determine how well it would fare under really loud stage conditions. I was wondering what it does to the polar pattern of the microphone. It can't be good. And it sure looks silly, even sillier than a head-worn boom microphone.

No question that it does channel a little acoustic sound back to your ear, but it not only looks like a cheap plastic telephone, it sounds like one as well, not very natural at all. I suppose it's a modern day version of the British pub singers I knew from the '60s who would cup a hand over one ear and joke about it, but it did help them to find a harmony.

The literature on this one is close to the top of my "dumbest of show" pile.

[G Geezer]

So when do we get to see that stuff?:lol:

[FocusPlayer]

The Entertainer's Secret spray used to be called Moisture10 and was developed with Dr. Quisling - a well know Throat doc in Nashville.
I use it in the peek of allergy season - esp if I'm having to take an antihistomin.

[FocusPlayer]

OH, sorry, I just found the spell check <G>

[BiggSteve777]

The Entertainer's Secret spray used to be called Moisture10 and was developed with Dr. Quisling - a well know Throat doc in Nashville.
I use it in the peek of allergy season - esp if I'm having to take an antihistomin.

I've been using it for 4 or 5 years and it's been Entertainer's Secret (http://www.entertainers-secret.com/index.html) for as long as I've known.
The stuff really works!!!

[Dave Jones]

Craig - Dave from PerfSong, here. As always - great seeing you at the show!

I haven't gotten ahold of my VAM yet, but I am still anxious to hear it. Jaime Vendera, from TC-Helicon's Voice Council, is endorsing the VAM and claims it allows him to hear himself sing with his drummer flailing. Granted, he's a metal singer that breaks glass for fun, but being a drummer that has to Don Henley it a lot of the time, I'm looking forward to trying it myself.

I agree that fixing the VAM onto a 58 seems like it might be a bad idea for accurate response, but you can also hold the VAM in front of your chin or clip it to a seperate mic stand where it will interfere less with the sound heading into the grill and still do its job.

I'll let you all know what I hear!

[FocusPlayer]

BiggSteve, yup, Dr. Q gave me my first btl back in 1987 - but it's been E.S. for quite awhile. I'd love to say it helped with my snoring too... but my wife says "NO" <G>

[Hawkeye]

The second image shows a light designed for those reading sheet music in a darkened environment, as it has two little "antenna" you can position over each page of an open sheet music score. He demonstrated the roadworthiness of the lights by smashing them against the wall, which I captured on video for your viewing pleasure.

I bought these for my jazz ensemble bandmates. They all like them, and the light is more or less adequate for a darkened environment clipped on to a music stand. The light weight and portability are big plus factors. They fold up and are small enough to toss into a guitar case or gig bag. No messing with AC cords either.

[marsguitars]

Another Michael Farley thing: MightyBright lights. The first image shows a really bright LED-based light designed to go anywhere, so you can look behind a rack, or make it to the stage when the lights are down without falling. I have one and it really is convenient to have around.

The second image shows a light designed for those reading sheet music in a darkened environment, as it has two little "antenna" you can position over each page of an open sheet music score. He demonstrated the roadworthiness of the lights by smashing them against the wall, which I captured on video for your viewing pleasure.

That looks pretty cool! I've been meaning to get a music stand light for years, but the only ones I could find were either chean'n'nasty 'book lights' or very expensive orchestra lights - the MightyBright looks great. :thu:

[marsguitars]

And here's a product that was actually controversial: VAM's mic thingie. What this supposedly does is send some of your vocal back to your ear so you can hear yourself better. I checked it out, and it did indeed make it easier to hear myself, but couldn't really determine how well it would fare under really loud stage conditions.

So what made it controversial? Some people thought it was a joke, but I talked to one vocalist who does choir work and he was ready to buy one on the spot. And they also used booth girls to attract attention, which some people construe as meaning the product itself isn't strong enough to attract people...

We'll see how it all shakes out.

I guess this is the modern version of Folk singers who sing with a finger stuck in their ear!

[leopardstar]

And here's a product that was actually controversial: VAM's mic thingie. What this supposedly does is send some of your vocal back to your ear so you can hear yourself better. I checked it out, and it did indeed make it easier to hear myself, but couldn't really determine how well it would fare under really loud stage conditions.

So what made it controversial? Some people thought it was a joke, but I talked to one vocalist who does choir work and he was ready to buy one on the spot. And they also used booth girls to attract attention, which some people construe as meaning the product itself isn't strong enough to attract people...

We'll see how it all shakes out.

this is by no means new, as when i was in the 8th grade drama class (i'm 52 now) we used these to get use to the sound of our voice's
:D