Half the fun of going to NAMM for some people is playing spot-the-celeb. I myself saw the ghost of Paul Stanley signing autographs (though at first I thought it was Cher, I kid you not,) had a nice chat with Stray Cat bassist Lee Rocker, and managed to scoop a TV crew from the Today show at the Daisy Rock booth. Yes, it's true, Gearwire made the Today show wait in line while we interviewed Daisy Rock artist Nikki O'Neill. Aren't WE the prima donnas?

My chat with O'Neill was very interesting. The NY-transplanted-to-Cali singer/songwriter does a little bit of everything, including some session work for some very famous reggae names I'll save for later. O'Neill did a Daisy Rock guitar demo for us, and dished some excellent advice to struggling musicians. She says that early efforts to teach guitar were a bit uneventful until she carved out a niche for herself as a music teacher specializing in helping women learn. "When I start making a niche for female students, it just exploded. It just snowballed with a university class in New York City, and then it grew to being a panelist for different women's music conferences."

After that, O'Neill says, her teaching gigs took off, and since them she's been in demand in places as far away as Sweden. The trick, she says, is to find a specialty and devote yourself to it.

Another interesting conversation I had on the floor at NAMM on Friday was with Ronnal Ives, who was showing off the brand-new Mackie D4, that company's first 4-channel DJ mixer. Ives says the D4 is one of the only DJ mixers on the market with firewire out option. The D4 also offers 14 streaming channels out of the mixer, due out in the second quarter of '07. Ives was running a series of guest DJs through the Mackie booth, showing off the capability of the D4 combined with Traktion 3 software.

Ives offered a bit of advice for up-and-coming DJs who want to invest in a pile of gear. Ives says, "MacBook Pro is definitely 'the ish' and definitely what I like to run when I'm on the road. But if you can't afford a Mac, certainly there are PCs, but as long as you know the ins and outs of computers!" In other words, brace for the crash, kids! Ives also says you PC users should never travel anywhere without some backup vinyl. That's good advice for MacBook Pro users as well, but since PCs are known for going into a crash at precisely the wrong moment. . .you get the picture.

Stray Cat bassman Lee Rocker was great fun to talk to, and he was happy to show off his skills on the upright bass. These days, Lee Rocker is singing the praises of King DoubleBass, which had a Lee Rocker signature model on display at NAMM. Rocker says, "I'm not a technical guy, but I know the sound I'm looking for, so it's really a matter of King Bass building them and me trying them. . . and going for a sound that for me is a traditional upright bass sound with a bit more power to it."

The King DoubleBass series boasts a truss rod in the neck. Is this standard for all upright basses or is the truss rod an innovation? "I think it's an innovation," said Rocker, "I'm not sure, but I know what the problem is with the (bass) neck separating from the body." Lee Rocker has a reputation for standing on his basses in concert, so it's no surprise that he's keen on a durable instrument.

The parade of big names at NAMM continues daily, but the one I'm keen on is the Saturday to-do with Bootsy Collins. If I can elbow my way past the throng of funk-o-philes, that report should be quite fun. Day Two of NAMM isn't over at the time of this writing, so there are many more updates to come. Stay tuned.