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GALLERY: People of NAMM, Part 3

Colorful personalities caught on candid camera from the showroom floor.

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The Winter NAMM show is supposed to be an industry-only event that’s closed to the public. But when it comes to the actual attendees, there seems to be a generous definition to the phrase “industry-only.” They come in packs and tribes and oftentimes they dress up so that fellow tribe members will know them. The metal heads are well represented, as are the hipsters, the hippies, and the just plain hip. They arrive, show off, and bond. They also seem to laugh a lot. Here they are!

FINNEAS, known for his Grammy Award-winning collaborations with Billie Eilish, collaborates with Fender on his signature Acoustasonic.

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Pure nickel wound strings designed to capture classic tones. Available in popular gauges (9s and 10s), these strings are intended to offer rich, warm tones and longer string life.

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Big New York may have six strings, but he’s leading from the low end.

Bandleading on bass offers a unique challenge. Here’s how one player rises to the occasion.

Bassists are natural leaders, both rhythmically and harmonically, but filling the foundational function doesn’t always lend itself to becoming an actual bandleader or solo artist. For most of us, that’s just fine. We’re perfectly happy holding it down and creatively keeping things together. (Of course there are plenty of exceptions: Stanley Clarke, Les Claypool, Meshell Ndegeocello, Thundercat, and Victor Wooten, to name a few.)

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L-R: Gibson’s Cesar Gueikian, Mesa/Boogie’s Randall Smith and Gibson’s JC Curleigh, pictured when Gibson acquired the brand in 2021.

Photo Credit: Gibson

Over three-and-a-half years after Randall Smith sold Mesa/Boogie to Gibson, Smith has completed his time with Gibson as the brand’s master designer and pioneer. Through his ground-breaking work at Mesa/Boogie, Smith was responsible for innovative modifications that gave small amplifiers more input gain, making them much louder, as well as creating an all-new high-gain distorted guitar tones.

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