User:Oss666/Guitar Summit

The Guitar Summit is a trade show focusing on stringed instruments, primarily electric guitars, bass guitars, acoustic guitars, guitar amplifiers, effects pedals and accessories. Since 2017, it has taken place once a year over a three-day weekend in September and is held at the m:con Congress Center Rosengarten in Mannheim, Germany. The event is organized by the German magazine Gitarre & Bass with local support from the City of Mannheim and mg: mannheimer gruendungszentren gmbh.

Concept
The Guitar Summit is a trade fair for end customers on the topics of guitars, basses, guitar and bass amplifiers and effects devices. The event is based on an integrated concept consisting of a festival with live concerts, master classes, workshops and a trade show. In addition to workshops and concerts, the Guitar Summit is accompanied by an exhibition where various manufacturers and distributors of stringed instruments showcase their products. The Guitar Summit exhibition is divided into several thematic areas that provide an overview of the market for the musical instrument industry. One of the areas is dedicated exclusively to guitar and bass amplifiers, while the other areas focus on electric guitars, basses, acoustic guitars and effects pedals.

Workshops will be held in each area on stages acoustically separated from the exhibition. Workshop topics range from different guitar playing techniques to songwriting, recording tips and self-promotion. All workshops are included in the price of the ticket.

Additionally to the workshop program, Master Classes with a limited number of participants can be booked separately. These sessions are more detailed and in-depth, and are held in small groups.

A Do-It-Yourself area will give visitors the opportunity to build guitar amplifiers, electric guitars or effects pedals with professional instruction. Concerts are held at the end of the event days. The musical program covers a wide range of genres: rock, blues, metal, jazz, singer-songwriter or acoustic fingerstyle.

The exhibition is designed as a "silent show". This means that, apart from the Guitar and Bass Amplifier area and the workshop stages, testing and demonstrating the musical instruments on display is only permitted via headphones in almost all areas of the exhibition. This will help to keep the noise level down during the event so that attendees and exhibitors can communicate with each other.

2017
The first Guitar Summit took place from September 8 to 10, 2017, with about 300 exhibiting brands. About 4,500 visitors came to the m:con Congress Center Rosengarten in Mannheim. 106 workshops were held on 6 stages, each lasting 30 minutes. In the Guitar and Bass Amplifiers area, for example, visitors were able to combine different guitar amplifiers with guitar cabinets at the touch of a button using a switching system. In the area for electric guitars and basses, a separate Boutique Area was dedicated to the guitar and bass builders of the European Guitar Builders e.V. (EGB). They were able to showcase their creations at a shared booth or at their own booth.

Among the participating artists were Guthrie Govan, Victor Smolski, Jen Majura, Thomas Blug, Jon Gomm, and the German post-rock band Long Distance Calling.

2018
The second edition of Guitar Summit, which took place from September 7-9, 2018, featured almost 400 brands displayed by about 200 exhibitors. There were approx. 6,200 visitors. The number of stages was supplemented by a "Headphone Stage" in the exhibition area, where the sound was transmitted wirelessly to the headphones of the audience. This additional stage increased the number of 30-minute workshops to 160. For the first time, master classes were offered separately from the workshops. Also new was a do-it-yourself area where attendees could build their own guitar amp with professional instruction. In the Guitar and Bass Amplifier area, guitarists and bassists had the opportunity to combine a selection of amplifiers with different cabinets.

The following artists have been booked for the concert and workshop program of the festival Phil X, Uli Jon Roth, Marcus Deml with his band The Blue Poets, Stu Hamm, Pete Thorn, Sommerplatte with Hanno Busch and Claus Fischer.

2019
The third edition of Guitar Summit was held on the weekend of September 27-29, 2019. About 8,600 visitors attended, and the number of exhibiting brands was about 470. The duration of the workshops was increased from 30 to 45 minutes, and the number of workshops was reduced to about 100. For the first time, acoustically isolated test cabins were installed in the exhibition area.

Participating artists included: Paul Gilbert, Billy Sheehan, Jeff Berlin, Fredrik Åkesson from Opeth, Henrik Freischlader and many others.

2020
In 2020, Guitar Summit was not able to take place in its usual format due to the spread of the Corona virus. Instead, Guitar Summit Webcamp, a digital and interactive guitar community event, was held on the weekend of November 28-29, 2020. In addition to a virtual tradeshow and on-demand workshop program on virtual stages, the event featured a hosted live stream of several hours of interviews, workshops and product demonstrations. In addition, YouTube influencers joined the live stream to help shape the program. Attendees were able to interact online with manufacturers, guitar luthiers, artists, the editorial team of German Gitarre&Bass magazine and each other.

Contributing artists included Misha Mansoor, Dave Ellefson, Gus G, Paul Reed Smith, and others.

2021
Also in 2021, the Guitar Summit could not take place as usual as due to the pandemic of the Covid 19 virus. A digital event was not possible because of the last-minute cancellation.

Web links

 * guitarsummit.de, website of the Guitar Summit