Here are two new examples of what the Martin Custom Shop is turning out. On the left we have a CEO-7 with a spruce top and mahogany back and sides. On the right is a Grand J12-16GTE, a 17" 12-string jumbo model.
PG's 2012 Editor For a Day contest winner Mason Stoops demos two new pedals from EarthQuaker Devices: The Depths and Arpanoid. The latter is a polyphonic pitch arpeggiator that Mason says sounds like a "robot motorcycle!"
EarthQuaker's The Depths pedal is a 5-knob vibe pedal with voice control, rate, throb, intensity, and level controls. The Arpanoid polyphonic pitch arpeggiator uses 8 different modes that covers major and minor sounds.
Eastman's new E10-SS is a slope shouldered beaut' built in the old school styleââ¬âadirondack spruce and mahogany back and sides.
Luthier Nelson Joyce of Swan Song Guitars showed us his new Four Directions 5-string bass line. The 34-inch scale length basses feature 24 frets, a swamp ash body, Jason Lollar pickups, Moe West-designed preamps, and handwound strings by Curt Maggan.
Little Walter Amps unveiled an 80-watt head with two KT120 tube amps, which are capable of 150 watts together and designed to be distortion-free.
Every Little Walter amp is named individually according to who it's made for. Pictured here is "Oakley," in honor of Berry Oakley.
The amp-in-case guitar returns (without the case this time) but Silvertone's new 1449 looks great in that cool black sparkle, sounds delicious, and is about a million times more tuning stable than the original that launched a million garage bands.
This year marks Born Custom Guitars first time exhibiting at a NAMM show. The new luthiers are based out of Denver, Colorado, and build their guitars out of reclaimed and salvaged wood. Pictured here is a single-cutaway constructed from a two-thousand-year-old Redwood tree stump in Oregon. Itâs outfitted with Mike Snider custom pickups.
CEC Amplification had the one and only Johnny Hiland at their Summer NAMM booth today to kickoff the release of his signature Road Dog amp. This 100-watt reverb machine has four 6L6s, three 12AX7s, and an EF86. âI literally called my wife from the basement the first time I tried it out and said, âHoney you gotta hear this! Thatâs not a pedalâthatâs IN the amp,â Hiland told us.
Fuchs' Cerberus Tri-Mode Overdrive has separate output and input controls and is available exclusively through Guitar Center.
Chicago's Daredevil Pedals fuzzified the Nashville atmosphere with killer and unique twists on several '60s fuzz circuits. But the Atomic Cock, which is essentially a wah circuit with a gain control and wah pot controlled via a standard pot and knob generated some of the nastiest and most distinctively tones at the show. Super versatile, hand built and just 130 bucks, it's one of the best deals at Sunmer NAMM too.
El Rey Effects unveiled two gnarly fuzz pedals at Summer NAMM today. The Fuzz De La Muerte is a silicon-based fuzz with an onboard gate and 3-way color selector, allowing for broad fuzz tonal tweaking. The Mystic is reminiscent of dirty â70s fuzz boxes and has an adjustable clipping switch to adjust voicing.
The Retronix Series from J. Backlund is a Korean line of both basses and guitars. The basses feature three customwound pickups and a 5-way selector switch, while the 6-strings have two customwound humbuckers, 5-way selector switch, locking tuners, and a custom tremolo.
The Loar brought this very sinister looking, but very mellow sounding spruce and maple LH-280-c hollowbody. It's not all jazzy chill tones with this big guy though. That bridge humbucker will growl like a wildcat. And at $499 on the street it's a deal.
Lotus Pedal Designs introduced the Iceverb, a digital reverb that features glamor and intensity controls. Should be available in late July for $179.
Musicvox introduced the MI-5 Custom Special amp. It's powered by EL-84 tubes and comes in at 30 watts.
Silvertone's new Jupiter, which will be available in November, features Duncan design humbuckers and a vey cool blend knob that's a breeze to use on the fly for cool phasing-like effects. Pretty cool for 479 bucks in the street.
Vox's booth at Nashville was aglow with candy colored Tone Garage analog stompbox series, which includes the Double Deca delay, Strike Fuzz, Flat 4 Boost, Straight 6 overdrive and V8 distortion. The Straight 6 and V8 both feature a single 12AX7 tube.
Wampler Pedals introduced the Velvet Fuzz, a simple three-knob fuzz pedal that emulates the tones of David Gilmour and Eric Johnson. It will be available exclusively from Pro Guitar Shop for 45 days, beginning on July 18th. Street will be $199.97.
Tessa is a Nebraska native whose career in journalism has taken her from the Midwest to the Middle East and back. In addition to writing about music for publications like SPIN, Tessa has worked as an arts editor and investigative news reporter. Her most challenging role to date was working as a managing editor tasked with reinventing a lifestyle magazine in the Middle Eastern country of Qatar. She currently lives in Music City, Tennessee.
Charles Saufley is a writer, editor, and musician from San Francisco. He has been the gear editor at Premier Guitar since 2010 and previously served as an editor at Acoustic Guitar magazine.
Since attending a Dave Matthews Band concert as a teenager, Jason has been into all things guitar. An Iowa native, Jason has degrees in Music Business from Minnesota State-Mankato and Jazz Pedagogy from the University of Northern Iowa. Since then, he has spent time doing everything from promotion at an indie music label to organizing guitar workshops all over the country. Currently, Jason lives with his wife, son, and daughter in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Chris Kies has degrees in Journalism and History from the University of Iowa and has been with PG dating back to his days as an intern in 2007. He maintains the website and social media, occasionally writes an artist feature, regularly hosts Rig Rundowns, and shoots/edits video for NAMM show coverage. Other than that, he spends time with his pitbull and enjoys non-guitar-related hobbies.
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