Thanks for your hard work and dedication, Brad, and to all the others in your area. We love the coverage!

And that is one sweet looking guitar. If it sounds as good as my Sonoran, I know it is great.

Let's make our continuing 2010 Fender Showcase coverage a bit more interesting by offering up some PRIZES!!

Entering to win is simple – all you have to do is stop by and post here on the forums at any time during our event coverage. Since we're getting a bit of a late start with our giveaway (long story ) we'll go ahead and leave this opportunity open until midnight AZ time on Wednesday, the 20th. Here are the specific prizes and detailed requirements to win:

Grand Prize: our lucky grand prize winner will take home one of our new Dick Dale Signature Malibu™ SCE acoustic guitars!

Second Prize: Our almost-as-lucky second prize winner will enjoy a $250 shopping spree at the Fender.com Online Store -- you'll work with yours truly to pick out what you want and then I'll arrange to ship your loot to you.

In order to be eligible to win either prize you must log in to these forums and submit at least one post any time between now and midnight Arizona time Wednesday the 20th.

Rules & Regulations:

* It’s very important to note that submitting a whole bunch of posts does NOT increase your odds … so please do NOT barrage our online community with a flurry of junk posting activity. Doing so will forfeit your eligibility to win and this is entirely at our forum administrator’s discretion to determine whether a violation has occurred. One post is sufficient to qualify you for entry.

* I'm pleased to report that this giveaway IS open to international participants.

* Any individual who submits content that is in any way in violation of the Fender.com Forum Rules at any time during the course of the giveaway will not be eligible.

* Employees of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (the Sponsor) or any of its subsidiaries, affiliates or agencies, or members of their immediate families, or persons living in same household of each, are not eligible to enter or win. Entrants under sixteen (16) years old must obtain parental consent before accepting a prize if selected as a giveaway winner.

* Any other questions? Feel free to ask right here in the forums!

I was going to add some verbiage talking about the reasons for the delay in getting our 2010 Showcase giveaway posted but user Proteus over on the Gretsch Discussion Pages already did a pretty good of sharing that tale (this is Proteus' text below) -- finally, someone understands our plight!

But I don't have it bad compared to the FMIC web guys. They're working nearly round the clock, lined up at a cafeteria table facing a wall in the little interior tech room which feeds high-speed internet access to all of FMIC at the show.

They were launching eight completely new websites – along with a slew of new products. They had to get all the web stuff up and live on stringent schedules (with persistent oversight from managers with deadlines). They have serious quality and productivity requirements to live up to as well. You can't imagine how hard and long they work putting up FMIC's coverage at the corporate sites, and on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and youtube.

My job is relaxed by comparison – and they're pretty much strapped to their laptops in the webcave, without the chance to get out and meet and greet.