PG Editors pick their top gear from the first day of NAMM. See everything from day one in our photo gallery.
Tone King Majesty 45
Tone King mastermind Mark Bartel spent last year in a British state of mind and emerged with a few new amps including this beautiful EL34-driven Majesty 45. It's tricked out with a specially voiced attenuator and a 2 x 12 cab with custom Eminence Speaker 60-watt speakers.
Fender Squier Bass VI
Winter NAMM 2014 means a peek at the new SquierVintage Modified Bass VI--music to the ears of those of us that haven't been able to afford a more expensive version. Nice block inlay too!
Gibson J-15
Gibson brought a couple very cool variations on the classic slope shoulder J-45 shape. This one, the J-15, has walnut back and sides, Sitka Spruce top and a MAP right around $1,500.
Guild M-85 Bass
Guild introduced a number of new models to their Newark St. Collection at NAMM 2014. One of them is the M-85 bass—a semi-hollowbody that sports a mid-’60s look and delivers a big tone via its bridge-position Bi-Sonic-style pickup.
DV Mark Little Jazz
DV Mark unveiled a new compact combo amp called the DV Little Jazz. It has a single 8" speaker and a simple EQ, yet still delivers some big and clean sounds.
Framus Idolmaker
Framus unveiled their new set-neck Idolmaker model at the 2014 show. Its body is a AAA flame maple/mahogany combo, and the mahogany neck is capped with tiger stripe ebony. For electronics, the Idolmaker is loaded up with an SH-PG/SH-11 set from Seymour Duncan.
AXL Belair
AXL Guitars' rad new Belair has a slab mahogany body, a Bigsby B5, and a splittable TV Jones Power'Tron pickup for $749 street!
Supro 1624T Dual-Tone
Supro's new 1624T Dual-Tone features a pair of 6973 power tubes, two channels with volume and tone knobs, a tremolo circuit, and a custom 12" speaker voiced to capture a 1960s Jensen vibe. Input one sends the signal through both preamps, while input 2 operates as a single preamp. Street price is $1,099.
Nik Huber Prototype
Nik Huber Guitars brought a number of guitars to NAMM this year, including this yet-to-be officially named "Prototype." It's a semi-hollowbody featuring mahogany for the body and neck, a flame maple top, and an East Indian rosewood fretboard. For electronics, this bad boy is loaded with a set of Tronbuckers from Haussel.
EarthQuaker Devices Pitch Bay and Terminal
EarthQuaker Devices' new Pitch Bay and Terminal stomps sound freakishly rad, as expected. The former goes for $225 and the latter for $165. Look for the demo vid soon.
Hiwatt Custom Little D
Oz Noy prepares to demo the new handwired, U.K.-made Hiwatt Custom Little D. The dual-EL84-powered head is switchable from 20 to 1/2 watts and features normal and brilliant inputs or one that links both.
FatRat
The new FatRat features distortion, filter, and volume knobs, as well as thick/stock and MOSFET/stock toggles, the latter of which adds a new gain character to the classic Rat nastiness. $299 street
Tausch 665 "Raw"
Tausch brought a new 665 "Raw" model to 2014 NAMM. It features a 25 1/4" scale, a pear wood body, a flamed maple neck, and a pair of Haussel pickups with a 59 in the neck and a TE Broad in the bridge.
Magnatone
Magnatone had a prototype of their brand new Panoramic amp in tow at the 2014 NAMM show. It's a class A, 5-watt little beast that boasts a tube complement of two 12AX7s, a 12AU7, and a pair of 6V6s.
Uncommon Details and Top-Notch Construction At a glance, the 665 looks like a pretty conventional twist on the T-style platform. But the guitar is built around some interesting and idiosyncratic features that translate to a very individual sounding and multi-faceted instrument. Though it appears to be a solidbody, it’s actually a semi-hollow guitar built with a solid center block extending the length of the body. The body’s opaque finish obscures an uncommon tonewood, pear, which is similar in tonality to maple but less bright. In these two respects the Tausch echoes the all-maple bodied, semi-hollow designs by Roger Rossmeisel for Rickenbacker.
Set-neck construction distinguishes the Tausch from the many bolt-on T-style guitars out there. But the 26 3/16" scale is a much more profound and important deviation from T-style convention in terms of feel, playability, and tone. On the back of the guitar, the exposed tremolo cavity reveals a tremolo block crafted from pao ferro, which adds a hint of tonal warmth and reduces the guitar’s weight by 7 ounces.
Like a lot of retro-leaning electrics over the last few decades, the 665 pays homage to Fender’s ’69 competition-stripe Mustang finishes and Le Mans race cars of the period with a set of white racing stripes on the front and back. The paint scheme is complemented by a selection of black plastic components including the pickup covers, toggle-switch cover, and Gibson-style top hat knobs. The silver caps on the knobs nicely accent the nickel bridge and locking Sperzel tuners. Meanwhile, the flamed maple neck (a $500 option) adds a bit of natural elegance to the proceedings. The racing-stripe styling may not sit well with more traditionally minded players and feels a little cheap on such an expensive guitar, but it’s still thoughtfully executed and suits the guitars essentially mid-century informed lines.
Craftsmanship on the 665 is impeccable, which frankly, is what you’d expect from an instrument in this very exclusive price range. The bone nut is precisely notched and the 22 jumbo frets are perfectly crowned and dressed. The nitrocellulose finish has a faultlessly uniform matte texture that is extremely comfortable under the forearm.
Smorgasbord of Tones Weighing a mere six pounds, nine ounces, the 665 feels light and well balanced. Setup and intonation were perfect—smooth, low action and not a single dead spot anywhere. As a player accustomed to 24 3/4"-scale fretboards, I initially found the 665’s long scale to be disorienting and a bit cumbersome. But though I initially feared that more complex chords that are accessible on shorter necks might not be possible on this guitar, the super smooth action made more acrobatic chords easy.
A standard 665 comes with a Kluson tremolo unit, but the review model sported a Callaham system (a $250 option). With its Raw Vintage saddles and pop-in arm, the Callaham bridge is both old-school and modern, and it provides exceptionally smooth performance and tuning stability when the bar is manipulated.
Harry Häussel’s pickups may be less well known to stateside players, but they sound fantastic, and fit the Tausch like a glove. The neck and bridge humbuckers are alnico 2 and alnico 5 units respectively.
Ratings
Pros:
Impeccably built. A killer player that covers a lot of sonic territory.
Cons:
Very expensive. Race car-inspired cosmetics arguably cheapen an extraordinary guitar.
Tones:
Playability/Ease of Use:
Build/Design:
Value:
Street:
$5,250
Tausch Electric Guitars 665
tausch-guitars.com
Through a simple amp like a Fender Blues Junior, the guitar delivers straight-ahead rock rhythm work from the tight and slightly aggressive-sounding bridge pickup; warm, rounded woman tone and dark jazz tones from the neck pickup; and snappy, concise funk tones from the middle pickup. With the coil-tapping options, however, it isn’t too difficult to coax the glassy sound of a Stratocaster or the bright twang of a Tele from the bridge pickup.
Thanks to the extra string tension provided by the long scale, the guitar sounds and feels great in slackened tunings like dropped D. The guitar’s beautiful resonance and articulate voice also means that chords sound massive and detailed with distortion. No matter what the musical setting, though, the 665 maintains a warm, slightly woody, and sophisticated voice that’s no doubt the sum of the semi-hollow construction, set neck, long scale, and the Häussels.
The Verdict Tausch’s 665 is a superlative guitar in all respects. It’s incredibly well built, supremely playable, and possesses a refined voice that can be almost endlessly reshaped by the rangy Haussel pickups and coil-tapping system. With its hefty price tag, the instrument will have a fairly narrow audience. The long scale length may narrow that field further still, despite its many sonic advantages. But players with the means to afford the 665, not to mention a penchant for the unconventional, ought to seriously consider this fine specimen as a vehicle to expand and refine their own playing voice.