London International Music Show (LIMS)

Sound Unlimited - London International Music Show LIMS

London Guitar Show, Drummer Live, Sound Recording & Technology Show and Unplugged Show. Brought together in one venue for Trade, Education and Public.

Orange Amps

The Orange 40th Anniversary has introduced some great products. The long awaited Tiny Terror Combo, OR50 Custom Shop and the AD5.

The 16 4x12 Cabs making up each side of the Orange Cube looked fantastic. Infact, the boldest stand there!

It was great to chat with Ady Ainsley about the new British Made amps and the Chinese imports. His enthusiasm is a huge driving force with his fantastic designs.

“The HUGE Orange Cube covered the Marshall logo and 12’ Zak Wilde picture. Some one had a sense of humour when doing the floor plan...”

Orange Tiny Terror Combo
Orange AD5
Orange OR50
Orange 212 Open Back
Orange 412 Anniversary

Hardwire by Digitech

Digitech going boutique? Branded purely as “Hardwire” with no sign of the Digitech logo on them, these new pedals are set impress! Digitech have gone down quite a different route here, best known for high quality digital multi-effects, they have now started producing true bypass, high voltage operation, road-worthy stomp boxes. We got our hands on them at LIMS and from a first impression they feel very well made. We will review them in the near future... ETA unknown but hopeful for September.

“Built like tanks in oversized metal casing. They will last the test of time and beer we feel”

MISSING BRANDS?

Sure it is a big expense for companies to put on shows like this. But we feel it is less about money with many of these big names. The problem in some cases is

most likely because the resposability is on the distributor to fund the show. Westside distribute Martin, AER and Mesa Boogie but surely this is all the more reason to put on a stand and show off this great product?

Ampeg and Hughes & Kettner are again huge brands which need to be seen! Remember this show is for both Trade and Public. If the Shops don’t see it they are less likely to stock it, so that leaves the end user with no where to try it.

Gibson.. An iconic brand which has undergone a recent change to self distribution in the UK. Gibson are expecting shops to hold vast numbers of guitars using 40% of wall space! I feel they are a little hypocritical by not attending.

George L’s cables

In our continued search for boutique products we spent some time talking to the owner of George L’s cables at LIMS. Leesa Gifford gave us an in depth run-down of the entire range and the concept behind George L’s instrument cables. When a company has endorsees such as Eric Johnson you have to question what the fuss is all about, Eric Johnson isn’t just going to settle for any old cable!

George L’s cables

In our continued search for boutique products we spent some time talking to the owner of George L’s cables at LIMS. Leesa Gifford gave us an in depth run-down of the entire range and the concept behind George L’s instrument cables. When a company has endorsees such as Eric Johnson you have to question what the fuss is all about, Eric Johnson isn’t just going to settle for any old cable!

George L’s will keep your signal pure and clean, with such a massive range of options these DIY cables can be cut to fit your pedal board with a very simple, effective system that only requires a flat-head screw driver. Perfect for keeping your pedal board neat and tidy with the purest signal.
We will be placing our first order with George L’s very soon.

Marshall Amps

Marshall had what can only be described as their own kingdom at LIMS! With such a massive range of amps on display and constant traffic of people buzzing around the stand, Marshall are still high in the ranks of the amplifier kings.

The biggest eye-catcher on the Marshall stand for us was the hand-wire range. These authentically-built, vintage style amps look like classic Marshall and scream that classic Marshall tone.

Fender

As always, the stand looked great. The Custom Shop were our favourite with some stunning relic pieces.

The amp range as solid as always but we would love to see more of the amps made in the US. The old Hot Rods just sound better...?

Taylor Acoustic Guitars

Taylor have recently changed their distributer in the UK to sell via Fender. We were keen to see the stand and were very immpressed.

Obviously, the guitars are stunning but the particularly brilliant part was that there were guys from Taylor US there. They lived and breathed the product and loved talking about it and couldn’t wait to let you try them.

We love this enthusiasm and hope Fender will push this brand as well as it deserves.

“Taylor Solid Koa - Rich only came back three times to play it.. Bless”

“Solid Walnut. This electric was stunning. Look at the holes in the wood, an aquired taste but it brings a real character to the instrument.”