NEWS  

Here's our (late) June update from MusicYo. Not a whole lot to report. No major official announcements or updates.

GM's -> Production still ongoing. Finally getting into a groove and inventory seems to be good. About a half dozen 12-strings will be posted for sale "any day now". Those bodies are done and in final assembly right now. No word on exact pricing or color/configs. I'd say expect an even mix.

BOUND GM's -> They've started making a small run of these. Production staff has found the binding to be especially labor intensive. The forearm contour slant is really tricky. A limited number of these could be available in the next couple months.

WOOD-BODIED GL -> As reported before we'll see this creation sooner rather than later. Chances are good it'll hit the market in the next 2-3 months. Interest from Japan in this model is particularly strong and that has pushed the project forward. Since they really only need to refine the body wood styling (they'll be using the M/S necks and all the same hardware as the GM's) a long lead time for development isn't necessary.

XQ's -> A few bodies are being made locally (at a nearby Gibson plant) so these could be making an appearance within the next month. Again they've settled on HAZ Labs active dual tone circuits and EMG pickups for now. They will be offering both 4 and 5 string versions, with about a 50/50 split in inventory.

i>OTHER NEW MODELS -> They are currently working with Ned on several ideas. Hope is that they will make an appearance 4th quarter. No insight if this is new hardware, new model, refined body styles, or a combination thereof. As always we'll report what we know as soon as it's available.

PARTS -> I've confirmed I will be heading down to Nashville for NAMM. I've set aside one day to meet the MY staff & do a plant tour, but it's mostly to go through what they've got left from the trailer. Far as I know there are two wrapped palettes containing smaller sized boxes and two standing storage drawer bins of unlabelled parts. I can't take requests per se as I'm unsure what's actually there. However I've read every post here and have also gotten inquiries by email so I'll try to keep those needs in mind as I'm going through stuff.

I've also mentioned the TT arms. They are looking into perhaps finding a US based supplier or reasonable substitution. They've also indicated they will need to place an order with Zen-On soon, and I would expect them to order extra arms from them as well.

SPIRITS -> Still selling well. Turns out someone other than Cort in Korea is making the Spirit line as well. I didn't dig to find out who it is exactly (though the easy money is on Samick). I've heard no complaints about a drop in quality but will keep my ears open just in case.

MusicYo was able to get the GT Pro included into an upcoming Guitar Player review of travel guitars. Intial word is they got a favorable review.

NAMM -> Again I will be going to Nashville show and plan on taking a digital camera with me. Will try to get lots of shots of the Steinberger & MusicYo
facilities as well as obligatory shots of Ned. Honestly there wasn't much interest in a formal Steinberger event though I will try to take in a bit of the Kramer Konvention to see how it's done on a larger scale.

Will try to give a comprehensive report when I return.
Posted by andyyak 7/3/2003 10:57:43 PM