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Summer NAMM 2015: Editors' Picks – Day 1

An inside look at the gear that caught our ears during day 1 of Summer NAMM.

Analog Outfitters Scanner

This glorious spinning, twirling plexiglass mechanical monster is the Scanner from Analog Outfitters, who build beautiful amps from recycled Hammond Organs. This time around they're repurposing Hammond vibrato units and mating them to a spring reverb. The unit is expression pedal controllable (stupidly fun!!!) but also has line and XLR outs so you can use it as outboard gear in a studio. At $1,599 it's not cheap but MAN it sounds fantastic.

Spaceman Effects Voyager I and Orion

Zak at Spaceman Effects has always very deftly fused practicality and classic sounds with a touch of wooly and weird. This year he unveiled the $349 Voyager I tremolo (with triangle and square wave settings and an envelope. He also brought the Orion, an amazing 6.25 x 4.75 " spring reverb that sounds massive at even the most extreme dwell settings. Both are an absolute blast! Well done Zak.

Taylor 326e-6 Baritone

Early days here at Summer NAMM 2015, but the rich honey lows of the Taylor 326e-6 baritone will stay with us for a long, long time. The combo of the Honduras mahogany top and sapele back and sides is a perfect combo for the long scale tones.

Jackson Ampworks Continuum

The crew over at Jackson Ampworks brought the Continuum controller to NAMM. They had a prototype last year but this finished model has tap tempo bias trem, rhythmic subdivisions, and modulated reverb. The spacious and cinematic 'verb is astounding and the stuttering trem effects are jarringly authentic. It will be available in August for $499.

Recording King RD-216

Recording King entered the torrefaction game with its usual dazzling combination of fair prices and sweet tones. The RD-216 has a lovely solid Adirondack top (torrefied of course) and layered mahogany back and sides. Just 499 bucks on the street.

Bootleg Guitars GS Custom

Bootleg Guitars had their new SG-style GS Custom in tow.. It has a mahogany body, mahogany neck topped with a rosewood 'board, and is packed with a trio of Filter'Tron-style "Harvey-trons."

Wampler Pedals Low Blow

Wampler Pedals brought some love for bassists to NAMM with their first offering for low enders. The Low Blow features two clipping modes: Smooth brings more of an overdrive while jagged is akin to distortion. A 3-band EQ delivers plenty of tone control and the notch-filter switch helps to clean up cabinet woof without having to turn things down.

DOD MeatBox and Gonkulator

DigiTech/DOD resurrected two gloriously grody pedals from the '90s that had gained a cult following among noise connoisseurs since their discontinuation. The MeatBox sub generator and the Gonkulator ring modulator sound as nasty as you hope, feature a sturdier build and more reliable true-bypass switches, and go for 99 bucks.

DynaMount

DynaMount beat their Kickstarter goal by 50 percent in order to debut their new "robotic" mic mounts at NAMM. Their app-controlled motors let you adjust grille proximity, lateral positioning, and mic angle from the convenience of a studio control room, etc. Shipping in October, Dynamount models range from approx. $200 to $600.

Wifo RemoFinger

Wifo from Seoul, South Korea, brought the slick new RemoFinger to NAMM. Consisting of a foot-controller and a separate console, RemoFinger uses the company's own proprietary Touch Pointer technology (top) and the latest ZIGBEE wireless technology—which reportedly uses less power than Bluetooth while switching faster—to enable you to switch settings on any apps (e.g., GarageBand) on Apple and Android devices. The Touch Pointer technology conducts current equal to the human finger in order to yield more traditional hands-free operation. RemoFinger will ship in November for $159, but for a limited time you can get it for an Early Bird price of $79 on Kickstarter.com.

Pittsburgh Modular Synthesizers Patch Box

We're pretty stoked about first-time Summer NAMM exhibitors Pittsburgh Modular Synthesizers, who brought the super-tweakable, super-rad Patch Box, a $349 (street) switching shell that can power up to six Eurorack-format effect modules (not included) for an insane variety of sounds. Pittsburgh's own modules—which range from LFOs to filters, analog phasers and delays, digital reverbs, and more—range from $99 to $399.

The Spirit Fall trio: drummer Brian Blade (right) and saxophonist Chris Potter (center) joined Patitucci (left) for a single day at The Bunker. “Those guys are scary. It almost puts pressure on me, how good they are, because they get it really fast,” says Patitucci.

Photo by Sachi Sato

Legendary bassist John Patitucci continues to explore the sound of a chord-less trio that balances melodicism with boundless harmonic freedom—and shares lessons he learned from his mentors Chick Corea and Wayne Shorter.

In 1959, Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and John Coltrane’s Giant Stepstwo of the most influential albums in jazz history—were recorded. It’s somewhat poetic that four-time Grammy-winning jazz bass icon John Patitucci was born that same year. In addition to a storied career as a bandleader, Patitucci cemented his legacy through his lengthy association with two giants of jazz: keyboardist Chick Corea, with whom Patitucci enjoyed a 10-year tenure as an original member of his Elektric and Akoustic bands, and saxophonist Wayne Shorter’s quartet, of which he was a core member for 20 years. Patitucci has also worked with a who’s who of jazz elites like Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie, and Michael Brecker.

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The National New Yorker lived at the forefront of the emerging electric guitar industry, and in Memphis Minnie’s hands, it came alive.

This National electric is just the tip of the iceberg of electric guitar history.

On a summer day in 1897, a girl named Lizzie Douglas was born on a farm in the middle of nowhere in Mississippi, the first of 13 siblings. When she was seven, her family moved closer to Memphis, Tennessee, and little Lizzie took up the banjo. Banjo led to guitar, guitar led to gigs, and gigs led to dreams. She was a prodigious talent, and “Kid” Douglas ran away from home to play for tips on Beale Street when she was just a teenager. She began touring around the South, adopted the moniker Memphis Minnie, and eventually joined the circus for a few years.

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In our third installment with Santa Cruz Guitar Company founder Richard Hoover, the master luthier shows PG's John Bohlinger how his team of builders assemble and construct guitars like a chef preparing food pairings. Hoover explains that the finer details like binding, headstock size and shape, internal bracing, and adhesives are critical players in shaping an instrument's sound. Finally, Richard explains how SCGC uses every inch of wood for making acoustic guitars or outside ventures like surfboards and art.

We know Horsegirl as a band of musicians, but their friendships will always come before the music. From left to right: Nora Cheng, drummer Gigi Reece, and Penelope Lowenstein.

Photo by Ruby Faye

The Chicago-via-New York trio of best friends reinterpret the best bits of college-rock and ’90s indie on their new record, Phonetics On and On.

Horsegirl guitarists Nora Cheng and Penelope Lowenstein are back in their hometown of Chicago during winter break from New York University, where they share an apartment with drummer Gigi Reece. They’re both in the middle of writing papers. Cheng is working on one about Buckminster Fuller for a city planning class, and Lowenstein is untangling Austrian writer Ingeborg Bachmann’s short story, “Three Paths to the Lake.”

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