Korora’s new harmonic tremolo was a trip. The Merlo offered three different EQ profiles, three different sine waves, and tap tempo. During the demo we heard everything from subtle and warm to choppy and unsettling. The color control acts somewhat like a tone knob by adding in more harmonic content. Streets for $249.
One of the more impressive pedals from #NAMM was the Revv Amplification G2, which completes the trilogy of G series pedals. It’s a stand-alone version of the company’s green channel and we had Nashville ace Shawn Tubbs do a jaw-dropping demo. It’s a low-to-medium gain setup with two different gain modes and a three-band EQ. It streets for $229.
Valvetrain amps launched a signature powered cab with legendary Nashville guitarist Michael Britt. These cabs are designed to work with modelers to give more of a real amp feel onstage. Britt is known as one of the go-to sources for high-quality Kemper profiles, so the collaboration was natural. The cab comes loaded with an Eminence Red, White, and Blues speaker and will street for $1549.
One of the more impressive designs at the NAMM show was this Contour SG6 by Gillett Guitars. It’s a hybrid design with a pair of magnetic pickups along with a transducer under the bridge so you can cop both electric and acoustic tones pretty easily. Around back you can see the unique string-through design that gives the body more resonance. Pricing will be around $5800 depending on options.
Guess what we learned from ever-so-nice and badass guitarist and amp designer Dylana at 3rd Power Amplification at NAMM today? Apparently 6V6 tubes were originally designed for car stereos! They also sound killer in the new 25-watt Dirty Sink 1x12 combo. It features British-style controls—gain, volume, bass, mid, treble, and presence—plus an easily accessible top-panel effects loop and the company’s proprietary hybrid master volume, which yields cranked-amp tone and dynamics even at whisper-quiet volumes.
We’ve seen lot of electric travel-guitar designs over the years, but Ciari Guitars’ new Ascender is probably the most impressive. Developed in conjunction with Nashville luthier Joe Glaser and founder Jonathan Spangler’s extensive contacts in the field of sophisticated medical tools, the 24 3/4”-scale Ascender can go from tuned-up and ready to play to being stowed under the seat in front of you in a matter of seconds. How? A single lever releases string tension and the strings seem to magically stay in place as the neck folds back 180 degrees. Prices start at about $2,900 for beech- or alder-bodied models with Duncan humbuckers.
Electro-Harmonix came to Nashville NAMM with the Dirt Road Special ($399 street), which is something of a reboot of the short-lived ‘70s amp but with a few cool new tricks up its sleeve. Featuring 40 watts of MOSFET power, the 1x12 serves as a great pedal platform but can also dish out a bit of dirt at higher settings. It also has several built-in ambience options hailing from the company’s Holy Grail Reverb pedal.
Gamechanger Audio got quite the hometown-hero boost at Nashville NAMM this year: Third Man Records and JackWhite teamed with the Latvian innovators for a new version of their existing bug-zapper-inspired fuzz pedal. The Plasma Coil features the same electrified xenon-gas-filled tube as the original Plasma Pedal but swaps the blend knob out for a 6-position octave control. Octave modes can be activated on the fly with the new momentary footswitch, or engaged in tandem with the normal fuzz effect via a back-panel switch (not shown).
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