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NAMM 2024 Editors' Picks: Day 1

NAMM 2024 Editors' Picks: Day 1

PG editors pick their favorites from NAMM day 1.


Ted Drozdowski - Editorial Director

Alvarez FYM74 Yairi Masterworks

And Alvarez has also updated its famed Yairi series—think Jerry Garcia—with slightly lighter bracing to increase resonance and projection, and gone all-in with its fine-tuned Yairi Masterworks Series. The FYM74 pictured, one of approximately 150 to be crafted, is a crown jewel. Company CEO Chris Meikle discovered the motherlode, a ration of California redwood that sat in the company’s manufactory for 40 years on a trip to Japan. And thus, this model. The top is redwood, of course, and the back and sides are solid East Indian rosewood. The bridge and fretboard are ebony, the bracing is Alvarez’s FST6 hard-carved, forward shifted system, and there’s an L.R. Baggs Hi-Fi pickup under the hood. This beautiful, limited edition runs in the neighborhood of $3,699.

Radial Nuance Select

Radial, whose products for studio and stage include the famed Tonebone preamp, has just released the Nuance Select studio monitor controller—in time for NAMM 2024. The aptly named Nuance allows you to silently switch between two sets of monitors and a subwoofer, has dual stereo inputs with an aux out, two independent headphone amps, and ultra-low distortion of transparency. The tag? $699.

Celestion Pulse XL

Celestion’s got the big bottom covered with their new line of bass speakers, the Pulse XL series in 15", 12", 10" and horn. Punchy, responsive, with rich full frequency sound and articulation, they boast long voice coils for a deeper bass sound and greater clarity, wound with round copper for the right taste of treble, formed on heat retardant polyimide. Hit celestion.com for more.

Nick Millevoi - Senior Editor

Huss & Dalton Electric Guitars

You know Huss & Dalton from their rich history as a boutique acoustic builder, but their electric offerings are on display here at NAMM. With singlecut and doublecut options, they start around $5,000. To customize your own build, you’ll want to reach out to your dealer or direct to the company about wait times.

Seymour Duncan Powerstage 100 Stereo

Seymour Duncan’s Powerstage 100 Stereo takes their portable—and lightweight!—line of power amps to the next level with more power, more EQ, and, of course, stereo capabilities! Priced at $599, they’re available now.

Aguilar AG Preamp

Aguilar’s AG preamp delivers the high fidelity tone of their AG series amps straight to pedalboards, with its bright and deep voicing. A great pairing with their SL 110 cabs. And their range of pedal offerings got a facelift to match. For pricing and availability, contact your Aguilar dealer.

Jason Shadrick - Associate Editor

Martin Inception Maple

Martin took a look at their recipe for making acoustic guitars and tweaked it a bit for their Inception Maple series. They come with a walnut neck and bridge, L.R. Baggs Anthem electronics, and an interesting new bracing system. They are available now for $3,999.

Revv G50

Revv was looking to create an amp that sits between their Generator 120 and the G20. The result was this feature-packed G50. It’s a 3-channel monster that includes many of the features found in the 120, but at a more affordable price. It dropped today for $2,099.

Kemper and Zilla announce the immediate availability of Zilla 2x12“ guitar cabs loaded with the acclaimed Kemper Kone speaker.

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Featuring a preamp and Dynamic Expansion circuit for punch and attack, plus switchable amp simulations.

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Photo by Chuck Brueckmann

Creed extend their sold-out Summer of ’99 Tour with 23 additional dates.

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A thick, varied take on the silicon Fuzz Face that spans punky, sparkling, and full-spectrum heavy.

Dimensional, thick variations on the silicon Fuzz Face voice. Surprisingly responsive to dynamics at most tube amp’s natural clean/dirty divide. Bass control lends range.

Thins out considerably at lower amp volumes.

$185

McGregor Pedals Classic Fuzz
mcgregorpedals.com

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Compared to the dynamic germanium Fuzz Face, silicon versions sometimes come off as brutish. And even though they can be sonorously vicious, if dirty-to-clean range and sensitivity to guitar volume attenuation are top priorities, germanium is probably the way to go. The McGregor Classic Fuzz, however, offers ample reminders about the many ways silicon Fuzz Faces can be beastly, sensitive, and sound supreme.

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