"Palmer Amplification brought a few new toys to Musikmesse 2013. The Cab Merger (top left) lets you double your amp's speaker outputs, the Eins 1-watt head (bottom left) has one 12AX7 and one 12AT7 powering tone and volume knobs (there's also a speaker-emulated out), and the Fab 5 head uses a 6V6 and a 12AX7 and has volume, tone, and boost knobs, as well as a 3-position power attenuator."
"Blackstar's new MT Metal series includes the HT Metal 100яa 100-watt, 6L6-driven, 3-channel head with their proprietary ISF voicing control, digital reverb, and master volume, presence, and resonance knobs. The clean channel has its own 3-band EQ, while the two crunch channels share one."
"VHT's new hybrid Super 16 amp has a 12AX7 in the preamp, an 8"" speaker, aux inputs, and impressively dynamic tones."
Marshall brought the studly little 1-watt Offset half-stack to Musiknesse. It features the same circuitry (one 12AX7 and one 12AT7) as last year's 50th Anniversary models but in the old offset chassis design.
Shubb announced at Musikmesse that all their nickel-plated C Series capos (the C1 is shown) will now feature the roller design formerly only found in stainless-steel models.
"Lehle's new Julian is based on the company's Sunday Driver, but it adds parametric EQ, selectable input impedance, and switchable true-bypass or buffered switching."
"T-Rex's new Alberta II Dual Overdrive features two channels, one with a more compressed response, and a second with a more open and dynamic response. Both have level, tone, and gain knobs, as well as normal/fat switches that simulate a 2x12 and a 4x12, respectively."
"Grossmann's SG-Box Silent Guitar Box comes with one mic mount that can be positioned in many configurations, and it ships standard with a Celestion Vintage 30. For an upgrade fee, it comes with a second mic mount and three sets of quick-change jacks and handscrew speaker mounts for swapping speakers in seconds."
"Pretty in Pinkfurt! Fender brought this rad pink-and-paisley Twin Reverb to Musikmesse. Though itуs the only of its kind weуve seen, weуre sure theyуll reproduce it for anyone who gives уem a ring at the Custom Shop."
"VHT's cool new Tube Tester 2 features long leads so you can test a pair of octal tubes the more accurate wayяwhile you're playing. It also has sturdy 3"" metal analog meters and additional test-pin connections for an external digital meterпall for around $100."
"Taurus Amplification brought two new smaller versions of its 60-watt amp pedals to Musikmesse 2013. Available in more straight-ahead rock (shown) and metal versions, both feature two 12AX7-driven channels with independent 3-band EQs, a crunch mode on the clean channel, an effects loop, and a 25-watt mode. "
"Cast Amplification out of Ratingen, Germany, brought this new plexi-inspired 45-watt head to the уMesse. In addition to the expected presence, 3-band EQ, and loudness knobs, it features gain-boost and treble-boost toggles in place of its inspirationуs third and fourth 1/4"" inputs."
Marshall's Stuart Barclay works on a 1959 Super Lead Hardwired head at the company's Musikmesse booth.
"Hughes & Kettner made perhaps the biggest update ever to its venerated Red Box direct-input device. Outfitted with a ground-lift toggle, as well as light/loose, modern/vintage, and large/small switches, and a selectable -26 dB input pad, it doesnуt just aim to sound like a micуd cabяthe company says it makes your direct signal sound like the cab itself."
"Koch Amps brought another one of their great-sounding hybrid amps to Musikmesse. The 50-watt Jupiter 45 2x12 uses two 12AX7sяone in the preamp *and* one in the power ampяand serves up everything from fat, jazzy sounds to blazing rock tones via two channels and a cool dimmer knob that lets you retain great dynamics even at whisper-quiet volumes."
"Orange brought its new Twin Channel series to Frankfurt this year. Available in a 60-watt 1x12 and either a 120-watt 2x12 or head, they feature a 3-mode reverb circuit (plate, hall, and spring), as well as the same preamp that's in the Rockerverb seriesяexcept that op-amps rather than tubes provide the gain."
"Carl Martin's new Tremaniac pedal (left) features stereo outs, dual speed and depth controls, and a pan/dual toggle so you can have two different trems panning between stereo speaker sets, have a different trem playing in each speaker set, or just use it as two different trems to toggle between. The company also introduced the new Andy Timmons signature Compressor/Limiter (top right) and a smaller 4-knob Compressor Limiter."
"In addition to its Crocodile Tail programmable loop/MIDI-out controller, One Control brought a range of pedalboard godsends to Frankfurt. Among the goodies are simpler 4-, 3-, 2-, and 1-pedal loop controllers, A/B boxes, and buffer units."
"Mad Professor's new Royal Blue Overdrive, features volume, drive, bass, and treble knobs, and will be available come summer."
"Duesenberg also brought three new pedals to Musikmesse. The Rev (top left) is an analog-voiced reverb with size, hi-cut, and mix knobs, the Channel 2 (bottom left) is a transparent overdrive with gain, presence, and master knobs in addition to a 3-position deep switch, and the Treble B is a booster with boost and range knobs, the latter of which tunes the EQ curve of the boost."
"Bogner brought four new overdrive/distortion boxes to Muikmesse, and all include smart aesthetics and an internal battery with the option of power supply. The dynamic-sounding pedals range from (left to right) the ""multi-overdrive""/fuzz of the Oxford to the more straight-ahead distortion of the Burnley, the ovedrive of the Wessex, and the compression/boost of the Harlow."
Mesa/Boogie gave the world a peek at the prototypes for the new tube-driven bass heads he mentioned in our May 2013 profileяthe 465-watt Bass Strategy Eight:88 (top) and the 260-watt Bass Prodigy Four:88. Both are powered by KT88 tubes and have active EQ shaping controls.
"Premier Builders Guild also brought the new DуAngelico tube combo to Frankfurt. Powered by two KT66s, the 50-watt, tube-rectified 1x12 is intended to complement the big, fat clean tones provided by its 6-string brothers while also serving up something for blues and blues-rock players. Its control panel features gain, treble, middle, bass, master, reverb, and contour knobs."
"Ruokangas also brought two classy basses with H┼ussel pickups and roasted-wood construction to 'Messe. The P-style Steambass 4-string (left) has an alder body, rosewood neck, and a Wilkinson bridge with compensated brass saddles, while the new 5-string Steambass has two J-style pickups and an Arctic birch fretboard."
"Schertler came to Frankfurt with its new Giulia amp (top) and Magnetico AG6 pickup. The amp features a 1"" dome tweeter, 5"" woofer, 50 bi-amplified Watts, two inputs (1/4"" and XLR, the latter being 48- and 10-volt phantom powered), and a 3-band EQ. The AG6 has a coil and preamp for each string, a volume knob, and a jack for an external input such as the optional Magnetico Air-Mic (shown)."
"Rotosound announced plans for a whole series of retro-styled stompboxes at Musikmesse. Following on the heels of last year's Fuzz, the new Wobbler tremolo uses a vintage optical attenuator and has a cool ""silly germ"" knob that lets you select between either a silicon- or a germanium-transistor signal path."
Premier Guitar editorial director Shawn Hammond oversees planning, management, and execution of all PG articles, videos, audio, and social-media activity. He has a degree in journalism from Brigham Young University, and a long history in guitar journalism predating his tenure at PG.
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's now the multimedia manager maintaining the website and social media accounts, coordinating Rig Rundown shoots (also hosting and/or filming them) and product demos, and occasionally writing an artist feature, all while still shooting/editing video for NAMM-show coverage. Other than that, he spends time with his pitbull and enjoys non-guitar-related hobbies.
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