Hey there
I finally got things organized for this-a look back at the amazing Tokyo Music Instrument Fair earlier this month. The first thing to note is, since they moved to a bigger venue it`s no longer in Tokyo but in Yokohama.
Anyway...off we go.
Here`s a model Zone B from Dragonfly, one of my favorite makers that nobody`s ever heard of. They don`t even have their own website. This
is one of their ultra long scale (792mm or 31.1") guitars, 27 full-size frets. Who needs seven strings. This thing is a blast to play:


You can see more from them at www.harrysjp.com

Lost in the guitar forest-more cool stuff from Dragonfly, and one from Zodiac, another maker of cool stuff:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a236/skipclone1/1259137495_tmp_img-Y25160631.jpg
Some wild stuff from Basslab of Germany-one of the few `no try zones`, although I don`t know what their problem is. Pretty much everything else is `sample till you cramp`:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a236/skipclone1/1259140336_tmp_img-Y25160611.jpg


The Martin corner, also a `no try zone` but, well from L. to R. that`s a
D-76 from 1976, a D-28 from 1954, and a D-28 from 1969:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a236/skipclone1/1259138644_tmp_img-Y25160524.jpg

The Steinway booth. There are several more pianos not visible but, have a seat, play till they close the place:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a236/skipclone1/1259137230_tmp_img-Y25160708.jpg

Roger & Me (sorry about the blurriness). Mr. Mayer finally got over himself and spoke to me like a real person-then he wouldn`t stop. I was worried that I wouldn`t have time to try more stuff out. Nice guy once you get to know him, and of course REALLY knows his stuff. He told me about some things he`s working on, but made me promise not to say any...oh, I have to sneeze ah...ah...AM-PSSSSSS! made me promise not to say anything:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a236/skipclone1/1259136658_tmp_img-Y25160648.jpg

One of the many outstanding performances-once again sorry I couldn`t get a better shot. This person plays insanely fast melodic shred, entirely in an overhand/over the top of the fretboard style-and happens to be blind as well. This was near the ESP booth:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a236/skipclone1/1259138422_tmp_img-Y25160553.jpg


Okay, here`s some more stuff to check out-

I took a photo of some guitars by Frank Hartung, but it didn`t develop for some reason-in any case, gorgeous designs. Check them out here:

http://www.hartung-guitars.com/

One of the things I didn`t get to try-it was sitting right in front of me but I had to go-is the Moog guitar. Sounds really interesting, check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3SsYQrgcyA

Something I did get to try, briefly-the Boss eband js-8. Very cool addition to the band-in-a-box bandwagon:

http://www.bossus.com/gear/productdetails.php?ProductId=1027


I promised these guys I would let the forum know-one of the few importers of rosewood licensed by the Brazilian government. they use recyled, sustainable use wood form houses, etc.:

www.madeirainc.com


This fellow is from Hawaii, really nice guy. He had koa chopsticks for sale, but no guitar picks-kinda disappointing but, anyway if you`re on the lookout for koa this is the man:

www.bigislandukulele.com



Joe X guitars-these guys definitely get the humor award. Their tag line is, `Made in America by Assholes`:

http://www.kitaharagakki.com/joe.html



Anyway, hope you found something interesting there. There`s even more cool stuff but I have to get out of here.

Very cool, Skip!

Thanks for checking it out B.A.-I was starting to wonder if it was a bad idea to bother posting.

Nice! I'd like to check out that Boss JS-8.

Very CoooL, How heavy is the dragonfly compared to another? neck heavy?

I`ve played them several times, haven`t checked for that specifically but they always feel balanced to me. It seems like there would be a nosedive problem but I haven`t noticed one.

Two questions;
1. How is the Zone B tuned?

2. How much does a Weed Sweet Drive cost?

1. There`s five extra frets, so B-E-A-D-F#-B

2. Little under $300.00

Skip,

Looks like you had a good time! I shud try to hit one of these shows next time round. I remember the first time I saw the Joe-X guitars I burst out laughing after reading the headstock, there were half a dozen people in the shop they looked at me & I pointed at the guitar& thought to myself nevermind haha, seen those drgonflies as well!

Well you have to wait till 2011 now, but it`s a highly recommended experience.
There`s another smaller show next year, I`ll get the details to you shortly.

Here`s another guitar, from Landscape. Two years ago I thought it looked better than it played. This time I gave it another shot and it felt better, maybe I took more time with it:
http://www.quest-md.com/ar-201.html

The event next year is in may. It looks interesting
but it`s focused on acoustics.
Anyway here`s the link:

http://handcraftguitar.jp/