Well, the day started off with a slight hiccup as I thought we’d arrived without our wristband passes, despite having checked they were in the box many times! But they were found right at the bottom thankfully though.
Once up and running we were in a nice spot upostairs in Hall 4. Big thanks to Gail and Peter, the organisers, who made it very easy – binbags, electrical sockets and table with paper tablecloth included.
Noise levels were a lot better than in other shows – didn’t have to turn things up too much to demo but plenty of guitary background ambience. We were near the ‘cigar box’ guitar stands which can be loud but weren’t this time!
It was great to interact with all levels of guitarist at the show and find that the Decoder has something for everyone. This was my 4th show with the Mode Decoder and me and my jam buddy (and stand manner) Colin really enjoyed chatting about, and demoing the Mode Decoder to everyone we met. The response was overwhelmingly friendly and sales were very good as usual. Better than sales though was finding out that the word is slowly starting to get around.. Several people came by to let us know how useful they found it and we saw many new people and witnessed the ‘lightbulb’ moment during the demoing. The feedback was very brilliant again – very positive and encouraging.
Unlike previous shows, I think I have now relaxed quite a bit as the anxiousness that no one would ‘get’ or ‘like’ the Mode Decoder has well and truly vanished!
Comments were along the lines of
- “That’s a really clever way to show information”
- “I like it!”
- *heads nodding*
- *smiles*
I usually might ask if someone played guitar – which was probably a fairly safe bet since we were at a guitar show! But the answer was often ‘a bit’ or “I strum a little’ or ‘so-so’, which was good for me as being no great guitarist myself, I was able to show how it was possible for someone like me (and them) with little knowledge, to use the decoder to play along to pretty much any music.
Specific comments I remembered were:
A customer who hadn’t bought from me in Birmingham, but had spoken with me about it there but whose friend had bought one. They both came to the stand with a group of some friends and I was so pleased that having seen his friend write a song with his, now thought it was wonderful I smiled broadley as he said to the group “This guy is a genius!” and then explained the whole idea to them. Very satisfying indeed. I think its fair to say that many musicians have had this experience with the device and it is wonderful to think you can cut through the theory and still play great guitar!.
Another customer was an experienced guitar teacher who said that yes, he knew how to play the modes – no problem…then he paused and with a big smile said “But I’ve just got to have one!!”
By far the most suitable person to have one that sunday was Kevin, who was currently learning the modes with his guitar teacher and had been tasked to write a modal solo. He said that this woul help him to see how the modes worked and he was going to use it to write the solo … but not tell the teacher just yet and see if he could amaze him with his new ability!
Had some nice comments about my Fender Marauder too – still love it and am quite pleased that it has been discontinued!
Sadly as I arrived home I found we had to call out an emergency electrician and the days profits were wiped out!!
Never mind! – See you next show. 🙂
Sion.