GALLERY: NAMM 2016 Day 3
Stone Deaf's fast-expanding pedal line includes the Kliptonite fuzz/overdrive. The two channel "mirror mix" functionality enables switching between fuzz heavy or overdrive-centric settings. It also features Stone Deaf's excellent parametric EQ and expression pedal frequency control. A pretty potent package, this one!
We saw the newest version of EBS’ Billy Sheehan Signature Drive. In addition to the switchable boost, it has dual effects loops, and a phase inverter switch. Inside there are a few trim pots to adjust various drive and compression parameters, but the biggest news under the hood is the ability to swap out different op amps. It will street for around $250 and be be hitting shelves in a few weeks.
Been hoping for this one for a while--Boss' VB-2W Waza Craft means the return of one of the most delightfully wiggly, wobbly vibratos that ever was. Like the other Waza Craft pedals we've seen, there's a authentic standard mode and a custom mode, which in this case is a deeper, darker vibrato texture. Expect a $199 MAP price when it hits stores.
Alvarez brought their very pretty "Jazz and Blues Series" semi-hollows to NAMM. The AAT34/BGE pictured here is all maple laminate construction with a mahogany center block. The pickups are Duncan Design P-90s. Look for a $599 street price.
Alvarez's "Jazz and Blues" line also includes the very nice arch-back Blues 51E/TSB. The pretty spruce-topped L-OO inspired flattop feels and sounds snappy, husky--and like a pretty good deal at $429 street.
Jean Larrivée Guitars is at NAMM with a treasure trove of acoustic instruments including this pair of new ukes. The concert model on the left sports koa for the soundboard, back, and sides while its soprano partner features Indian rosewood for the back and sides, and spruce on top.
NAMM newcomer, Otis Amps from Chico, CA impressed with their simple, elegant, and screaming little amps. The portable, self contained Starla pictured here is driven by a 6CZ5/6SL7 power/pre section. A Tone Tubby 8" lurks behind the wicker. Pricing, at this point in the young company's life isn't set in stone, but this perfect little slice of amp craft is going for $650 as of this writing.
Otis Amps other new amp is this Trudeau model. The 15 watt beast (let's just say it sounds like it punches well outside its weight class) has two 6SL7 preamp tubes and two 6CZ5 power tubes, which can be switched out for 6973s. The two separate preamps also enable bright/boost switching. It can be run through the onboard 8" speaker or run through the 12" cab. The Trudeau head will be about $850. The cabinet will be about $350.
Cables be gone! Engl Amps new line of pedals uses some magical mojo which allows the pedals to connect together without any patch cables. The trio of distortion boxes goes from classic rock crunch (Retro) to the saturated sound of 80's metal (Reaper). Price is TBA but they will be available in early Summer.
We caught up with Bogner Amplification to check out his new single-channel Goldfinger 54 Phi. In true Bogner fashion, it's a pure rock machine that uses both 6L6 and 6V6 tubes to cop some tweed-style tones. The breakup was harmonically rich and full of warmth. The combo will be around $3k and should be available soon.
EarthQuaker always brings something to NAMM that leaves us itching to play (which is saying something, given the way NAMM leaves you craving silence). But the Spatial Delivery's combination of envelope filter and sample and hold functions enables you to screw with time, space, and tone in insane and oddly conventional and musical ways. Look for a $195 street price.
Boss just announced a new Steve Vai tone capsule for their new Waza guitar head. The capsule re-voices the amp to Vai's specs and brings in some elements of the Legacy amp. The capsule will be exclusive to the Waza amp and will retail for $299 in April.
Dedalo Fx of Buenos Aires, brought their very cool new Tres Tremolo to #NAMM. The pedal has a ton of subdivision and wave shape configuration options (the square wave trem sounds exceptionally yummy.) But it also packs less conventional trem tricks, like the ability to blend optical and solid state tremolo and a cool slow ramp function that you can dial in via a tap tempo switch. It'll be about $180 on the street.
Mooer brought some slightly less micro pedals to NAMM though these latest offerings from the Twin line remain incredibly compact. The 'verbs on the stereo, tap-tempo Reverie range from fairly conventional digital voices to deep, spacious echoes. But they can be modified by any of five modulation voices. Slightly bigger maybe, but Mooer remain masters of mini!
Who likes gain? Jackson Ampworks brought the fire-breathing El Guapo to #NAMM. It packs 100-watts via four EL34 tubes. The first channel is based on a '68 Super Bass and the second channel is reminiscent of a hot-rodded Super Lead. Each channel has independent gain and master volume along with a global voicing switch that moves between a JTM, JMP, and the company's own JXN settings. It will street for $2795 and will be available in a few months.
Tokyo's Vermuram pedals brought this rather enticing brass-bodied clean boost to NAMM. The bass and treble controls add flexibility especially when paired with the top-mounted bass trim control. No definite word on pricing, but you can expect these stateside in early spring.
Universal Audio's Marshall JMP 2203 is a shockingly accurate plugin. It captures the gritty essence of the famed British amps in a easy-to-use digital format. The plugin was developed by Softube exclusively for the UAD-2 and Apollo audio interfaces. It should be available in a few weeks for $199.
Traveler Guitar and ESP Guitars are showing off the result of their recent partnership with the Traveler Guitar LTD EC-1. Based on the LTD EC series, it's a full 24.75" scale travel guitar with LTD-inspired appointments. Features include the ESP-designed active humbucker, locking tuning machines, Traveler's V2 built-in headphone amp, and an auxiliary in to connect to your mobile device for playing along with your favorite tracks.
Kevin Michael Carbon Fiber Guitars is at NAMM with their first full-size carbon-fiber offering. The 14-fret Sable has a 25.5" scale, offset soundhole, a soft-V neck profile, and is outfitted with an L.R. Baggs 9V Element system that's custom EQ'd for Kevin Michael guitars.
Responding to the call of bassists who have been asking for one since the Fly Rig 5 was introduced,Tech 21 NYC came to NAMM with the Bass Fly Rig in tow. This svelte unit features SansAmp technology as its centerpiece but brings so much more with the onboard octafilter, compression, switchable pre/post boost, chorus, and, yes, a chromatic tuner.
Reverend Guitars introduced the Billy Corgan signature model on the NAMM floor to the delight of the 1,000+ attendees who lined up for a glimpse of the Pumpkins guitarist. Available in four finish colors, the axe boast such features as the Railhammer Billy Corgan Humcutters, a chambered korina body, pin-lock tuners, and the eye-catching segmented-aluminum pickguard.
Supro was in the house with a brand-new recreation of a classic, revered amp. The all-tube, high-gain 1x12 Black Magick brings us back to the dimensions, cosmetics, and circuitry of the Supro amps from 1959, just like the one Pagey loaned to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum. The preamp features two channels wired in parallel with independent volumes and a single, shared tone control, and the front-end topology of the original '59 Supro has been streamlined in the 25-watt Black Magick with automatic linking of channel 1 and 2 when using only the first input jack.
Tone King Amplifier brought its rad new Royalist 45 MkII amp to NAMM this year. Like the original, it uses a set of EL34s to conjure JTM45-ish tones, but the new version also has a new "deep" input that avails warmer, rounder clean tones. It also has Mark Bartel's new, improved Ironman II attenuator. A smaller, more affordable version of the standalone Ironman II (not shown) is also available for around $350.
Knaggs Guitars came to NAMM with three revised takes on existing models—semi-hollow versions of the Severn (front left) and Choptank (not shown), as well as more aesthetically traditional takes on Steve Stevens' signature single-cut (front right).
Two-Rock Guitar Amplification's latest NAMM news is its EL84-driven Cardiff head—the company's take on chimey British tones. It features a simple control complement of bass and treble EQ knobs, volume control, and a contour dial that goes from darker and a little compressed at minimum settings to bright and cutting in its nether regions.
Xotic is at NAMM showing off a fine-looking group of new guitars. The XSC California Classic is a Strat-style axe boasting a roasted AAAA maple medium-C neck, a seasoned premium-grade tonewood body, and a set of the company's proprietary Raw Vintage handwound pickups.
Another cool star sighting at NAMM: Charlie Sexton checking out this dapper new Collings Guitars and Mandolins solidbody (more on that later!).
PureSalem Guitars came to Anaheim with three gnarly-as-cuss, limited-edition fuzzes designed in conjunction with 323 Effects. The Attack Captain (left) includes a gate knob and has a bit of a Fuzzrite vibe, the Pink Beard (middle) has a starve knob and 3-position diode switch that may just make it the most versatile of the bunch, and the Honey Bunny serves up Muff-ish vibes. Only 25 will be made, but the company anticipates releasing another series of limited-edition fuzzes after that.
Collings Guitars and Mandolins' latest guitar magic comes in the form of the dapper, ash-bodied 360 LT M, which features a Mastery vibrato and bridge, alnico-pole Lollar P-90s, and a stunning "dog hair" finish.
Breedlove Stringed Instruments' limited-edition Oregon Rogue features a response that's every bit as lovely as the stunning sapphire finish over its solid Sitka spruce top and solid myrtlewood back and sides. Other classy features include herringbone accents and offset fretboard markers. Street price is $1,799.
One of the most intriguing new lines of electrics we've seen at NAMM comes from French outfit Wild Customs. Their booth featured a wall full of about two-dozen head-turners, with the newest being this 25.5"-scale Wildmaster Gold Foil Relic. It features an alder body, 12"-radius neck, and Mojo pickups from the U.K.
Santa Cruz Guitar blew our minds with the beauty *and* the amazing story behind this incredible Ghost Oak flattop. The top wood is spruce that was reclaimed from Alaskan tundra after climate-change caused it to thaw. It has been carbon-dated to 1,000 B.C., and its grain is bluish from being frozen—there's no tint in the finish. Meanwhile the oak back and sides were reclaimed from a Czech Republic sand mine and were carbon-dated as being 8,000 years old. Whoa!
J. Rockett Audio Designs brought a bevy of new stomps to Anaheim, including the Tranquilizer phaser/vibrato, Blue Note overdrive, Hooligan fuzz, SOS buffer (with variable treble response), GTO (Guthrie Trapp signature dirt box), Lenny (which aims for SRV's Dumble Steel String Stinger tones), and the .45, which targets JTM45 tones.
Probably the most insanely customizable guitar at this NAMM was Aclam Guitars' new 20:14, which features full MIDI functionality, a chambered body and piezo bridge saddles for acoustic-like tones, through-body or tailpiece stringing, removable modules for quickly swapping out pickups from the rear, boost functions, concentric tone/volume knobs, and a unique v-shaped neck joint with a an adjustable bolt for changing neck angle to accommodate different bridges. It ain't cheap at around $8,500 dollars, but it's a tweaker's dream—and it sounded remarkably nice in our video demo (still to come).
Zemaitis Guitars' new A24DF 2H Buccaneer Island is based on Ronnie Wood's famed dual-humbucker axe, while the ZAG-200 is a solid-wood acoustic based on a model played by Jimi Hendrix in the late '60s, and the alder-bodied A22B MF bass is one of the company's first 4-string offerings in quite some time.
Relish Guitars Switzerland's new, more affordable Mary guitar features a three-piece sandwich design with a more solidbody-like sound than the chambered Jane model. The innards can be accessed by removing the back, which is held on by seven magnets with rubber cushions. Street prices is in the $2,000s.
Hahn Guitars unveiled its first new guitar design in 10 years. The hand-built 112 is luthier Chihoe Hahn's imagined middle ground between a Tele and a Strat. It features an ashtray bridge, T-style bridge and S-style neck pickup (both by Lollar), and arm bevel and belly carve, and is available in single- or dual-pickup versions. The sub-$2k street price is well under Hahn's usual prices.
The simultaneously elegant and jaw-dropping Sauvage Guitars One-Piece Master is exactly what it says—a stunningly luxurious one-off 6-string whose entire body, neck, and headstock are carved from a single slab of ash olive burl. Its fretboard is of flamed maple, its nut is of fossilized woolly mammoth tusk, its bridge is of the finest Damascus steel, and the pickups are topped with aircraft-grade aluminum fashioned to resemble a fine vintage automobile's rear windows.
Alexander Pedals' two new delays—the Super Radical and the Oblivion—feature extensive controllability via expression pedal, preset selections, tap-tempo, and editing via third-party apps. The Super Rad yields '80s-style modulation, as well as other weird glitchiness, while the Oblivion emulates analog delay, tape delay, multi-head tape delay, and oil-can delay sounds.
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