ShopBot has exhibited at The NAMM Show for many years in a row with plans to return in 2026! Can we call ourselves “regulars”? With more and more folks remembering us from past shows, we think it’s reasonable to take on that designation. The ShopBot CNC luthier community is growing. The NAMM Show is a big reason for that growth.
Manufacturing musical instruments and accessories is an ever-changing world and CNC machines are becoming more and more common from the hobbyist in their garage all the way to some of the biggest production shops in the world, and everything in between. ShopBot staff is full of enthusiastic music lovers in addition to being passionate about CNC technology. We prepare new CNC samples and demos to share at every trade show. Here’s what we had going on this time around:
The 2025 ShopBot CNC booth at The NAMM Show was dynamic and exciting this year with a variety of sample CNC work from musical instrument makers and suppliers. We had two new booth guests with primo sample items on display from Patrick Sawyer of Pisgah Banjos who brought a bunch of new samples from his Asheville North Carolina shop, including rough cut necks, engraved brass, a Delrin nut, and a few walnut arm rests. And we had demos running on both CNC machines with samples from our newest partner, StewMac. Our sample slideshow was updated and displayed on our flatscreen TV at the booth and that video is now on our YouTube channel. View the long form sample slideshow video here!
We displayed the ShopBot Desktop CNC machine with air cut demos of StewMac-created inlay work. This example was created at StewMac HQ with headstock veneer sized for a Ukulele and recon stone, which was arranged beautifully in their koi fish design. This was the very first project completed with the help of StewMac’s new ShopBot Desktop MAX ATC that they started using only a few weeks before The NAMM Show. They also created and supplied us with a semi-hollow PRS-style guitar body without the carve top to display on the MAX ATC at our show booth for another air cut demo and an exact replica with the carve top installed. The third example for StewMac was made from cut files from StewMac’s Ultimate Luthier’s Tool Chest project. We created a few sample shadowboards from that project that house luthier tools sold by StewMac. ShopBot also used a design created by StewMac for a sample aluminum engraving that can be applied to their guitar effects pedal enclosures.
We had a steady stream of visitors and we all had opportunities to walk the show and see new and familiar faces and brands. Our booth setup was one of our best displays yet. We’re going to be hard-pressed to top this show! But I have a feeling we will think of some fun and innovative CNC features to present at the next show. One thing’s for sure, we plan to have guest musical artists performing with ShopBot-made instruments next year. You heard that right! See you in 2026!
