Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. We may earn a commission on any affiliated purchases.

NAMM

To go or not to go, and the perils of the no-show.

“The NAMM Show is quickly approaching!”

That’s either a battle cry or a warning, depending on your perspective, heard biannually in the music industry. (At least in non-pandemic years.) The most universal analogy I use for NAMM is: “Think of it as Comic-Con for music gear.” For many of us in the instrument business, the trade show seems to be constantly looming. In addition to convention preparations always occupying the back of our minds, I feel it has also created pressure for companies to release products around its schedule, if not almost dictated it.

Read MoreShow less

When Louis Cato received this Univox LP-style as a gift in high school, it needed some major TLC. A few years later, it got some practical upgrades and now makes regular appearances with Cato on The Late Show.

Photo by Scott Kowalchyk

The self-described “utility knife” played drums with John Scofield and Marcus Miller and spent time in the studio with Q-Tip before landing on Stephen Colbert’s show as a multi-instrumentalist member of the house band. Now, he’s taken over as the show’s guitar-wielding bandleader and is making his mark.

It’s a classic old-school-show-biz move: Bring out the band, introduce them one by one, and build up the song to its explosive beginning. It’s fun, dramatic, audiences love it, and that’s how every The Late Show with Stephen Colbert taping starts.

Read MoreShow less

Miss our NAMM Videos? We have you covered! See them all here in one place to find your next gear obsession.

Read MoreShow less
Paoletti Guitars Stratospheric Loft Series SSS & Nancy Loft Series Demos | NAMM 2022

Watch how a very long legacy of Italian winemaking informed the design of a pair of new guitars.

Read MoreShow less
Godin Session R HT Pro & Derry Grehan Signature Tread 1 Demos | NAMM 2022

The company celebrates their 50th anniversary with a signature model from a Canadian rock legend and a powerhouse HSS-loaded double cutaway.

Read MoreShow less