NAMM 2025 is only days away – and, at the time of writing, it’s still going ahead in face of the ongoing LA wildfires – which means brands, gear nerds and industry folk alike are readying themselves for another installment of the world’s most prestigious instrument trade show.
This year’s NAMM is set to be a particularly notable edition, though, because it will see the return of several big companies – Gibson, Marshall and Fender included – who were absent from previous events.
However, punters expecting to see Fender exhibiting flashy new electric guitars and acoustic guitars on the show floor as it had in the past are set to be in for a rude awakening when the Anaheim Convention Center opens its doors next week.
In a new interview with Zak Kuhn, Fender CEO Andy Mooney shared some additional details surrounding the firm’s highly anticipated return to NAMM – and it looks like showgoers will be left missing out.
“I think we really missed the personal interaction with the dealer base. That, I think, is the single biggest thing,” Mooney replies when asked about Fender’s return. “Even though we’re going back, what I felt had happened at NAMM – which is what had happened in my two previous lives at Nike and Disney – is that trade shows take on a life of their own.
“It becomes Booth Wars – ‘My booth has to be bigger than your booth’ – and you end up spending tons of money for a very short period of time. We were kind of thinking, ‘Is this the right way to go forward?’
“For Covid, we were compelled to do something differently and what we found during Covid when we did the online events, we were able to do them at much less cost but reach deeper into the organization.”
However, taking everything online meant that Fender eventually began to miss the in-person, face-to-face exchanges that NAMM helped facilitate, meaning a return was inevitable. That return, though, came with heavily shifted priorities and a new outlook on the show itself.
Mooney goes on, “We missed that personal interaction, so we’re going back but we’re going back for one purpose only, which is really to spend time with the dealer base and converse with them to listen what’s on their mind, and for us to communicate to them where we would like to take the industry and take the brand.”
As such, don’t go hunting for a Fender booth at NAMM this year: you won't find one.
That Fender will be changing its approach to NAMM, even though it is technically a participating party in this year’s show, doesn’t come as much of a surprise. After all, Mooney has gone on record in the past to discuss his frustrations.
“In our case, it costs to set up the booth, have everybody there – that’s a substantial bill,” Mooney once told Guitar World. “What happens during NAMM which always used to make me pull my hair out is, we’d only get to spend an hour with major retailers.
“We weren’t reaching deep into the organization, and you couldn’t really romance the products or anything.”
Head over to our dedicated NAMM 2025 news and rumors hub to keep up to date in the lead-up to this year’s show.
