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NAMM 2012
January 19-22, 2012
Anaheim, CA
http://venomboy.kodakgallery.com/gal.../9842594670103
Look at all the pictures at the above link and write your own damn captions. BAH! That would be too easy. I see Mord has dragged you and your craven bannermen out of your sky cell. Have some summerwine, grab a wench (hopefully the Clan Lannister has left some with teeth behind for you).
This year's NAMM came with a dire warning of rain. Rain? In January? In Southern California? Aye the gods are cruel. My first NAMM (2002, 2003?) featured 80 degree weather. Thankfully the only two days I attended were still 70 degrees or so. Thursday is usually the slow day of the show with very few crowds and even fewer signings; this is usually a good thing. However. This also made the appearance of two species even more apparent. The first being That Aging Guy. Let's just make that a broad category for anyone in an old blazer, tight jeans (not the same as skinny jeans…these are the kind that just don't fit), typically punctuated by on what women would call a muffin top but I'll just call EEEW, some sort of cowboy-ish boot, shirt unbuttoned usually to mid chest. Hair? Lots of it, with the last stylist appointment July of 1989. The second being Hipster Douchebag. The word douchebag implies that there is another type of hipster, but trust me, there isn't. More annoying than Simpsons Comic Book guy with none of the genuine, well-earned arrogance, just learned on the internet superiority; the learned fact is hidden because they would never admit to learning anything from a source that their non-neckbeard kindred would learn from. What sits atop a neckbeard? Usually some sort of ironic hairdo, be it a frizzy semi-fro or some jumbled mess of behead, which looks like it's covered by something that was released when they were giving…whoops. Wrong forum! Speaking of breasts, I have no objection to the female kind. And while men technically have breasts, I don't need to be reminded of them by a deep v-neck Happy Days shirt. Sports coat? Only if it's from a thrift store. That Aging Guy wears tight pants, and even though the muffin top is slowly pushing them down, the pants are at least designed to be worn somewhere near a hipbone. The hipster's pants are usually skinny jeans that are sagging. It's a very odd mix of suffocation and prison culture. Ever wonder where your old towels go? Into reclaimed cotton slip-on shoes. The more burlap-y the better.
I can't think of anything better than to move on and describe the good parts of the show. How's the wench, laddie?
Engl Amplifiers company had a new vintage vibe amp head called a Retro Tube, complete with interchangeable colored faceplates. The appearance is still very Engl, with a metal grill, but the tolex feels a bit Splawn-ish (who by the way were unfortunately not at NAMM). I can never tell if we're allowed to play these amps at NAMM. They always ask me if I want a demo. Yes, I would like to demo it, not your Guardian of the Vale. Fortunately the good folks at Bogner had a nice Uberschall Twin Jet that I got to test my viking metal chops through. No v-necks near this amp. Bogner continues to add unique tolled coverings and a vintage vibe with a series of smaller amp heads with minimal controls. This got me thinking. You heard it first: I am designing a new amp. Powered by a candelabra bulb, it won't have a volume control, just a tone knob. And not a chicken head knob. A nipple knob. That will go from "creamy" to "tasty". The more Guitar Face you make, and the more P90 pickups you have, the more complex the harmonics will be. And just to throw everyone a loop, it will have 2 effects loops that aren't switchable. And it will have a big ol' GAIN knob that starts where the mighty Uberschall leaves off. If you adjust the tone control on your guitar, the amp's lone transistor will sense this, and play Venom flanger sounds until you regain your senses. And you can only play it through a 3x12 cabinet. It's called The Lunchable and ships with a bottle of Kool Aid and a pack of Cheese Nips. Cheese shaped like nipples.
While we're on the subject of oddities, how about that 10-string Kahler bridge? WAH WAH WAH Floyds are better. Listen up Brad Gillis, the sheer number of moving parts act as a sonic transducer that re-amplify every vibration of the string. Kahler also had a few guitars with what appeared to be a Floyd-ish appearing bridge that operated on a cam. Just bizarre. The Hanneman ESP with camo finish in their booth played pretty nicely, and low frets aside, the new BC Rich Guy Marchais guitar is pretty decent too.
Dean Guitars continues to push limits of decency with yet more tribute guitars. They had Dimebag's original Concrete Sledge guitar and the obligatory production version of it on display. And the Tommy Bolin Z with Kanji characters graphics. Money grubbing criticism aside, it looked nice, as do most of the Dean finishes. It seemed that almost everything was a limited edition run. And for only $12,000 you can have an Uli Jon Roth model guitar, which did feel like a million bucks. Nice scallops, nice finish. If it had an Ace Frehely smoke incense shooter I just might shell out the money for it. All the Dean customs played very well and were very well built. A few years ago most of them had finish cracks and awful setups. The only cracks visible at this booth were those of the Dean Girls.
The Peavey booth could have used some more eye candy. Maybe I was lazy and didn't pay too much attention but it seems like they offer far less guitars than they did in the past. They have a huge booth footprint with some new pointy guitars that I wouldn't play. And they own Budda amps. Charvel, once known for helping carry on a semi-pointy guitar revolution (ask Guitar Center Management, who were EVERYWHERE at the show, they lived it) had a booth on a separate floor from sister company Jackson. They were on the main floor showcasing their new import Desolation line. The interwebs are in an uproar over these Schecter lookalikes. I played most of the models and I'm not terribly impressed. Fit and finish was good, the figured tops (rice paper or real wood?) all looked nice. But these guitars suffer from that low-ish shiny fret syndrome that plagues almost every import guitar at the show. Do all the guitar companies hire the same child worker to file down all the frets on these guitars? The Japanese made Pro-Mod series had a very different and better setup than the Desolation series. I love the Pro-Mods, they feel right. The Desolations, while I wouldn't send them to the dungeons, I can't bring myself to like them. The custom Charvels were all behind a velvet rope, one step away from the ESP strap-them-to-the-wall mentality. Most were super strats and a bit on the tame side. Some figured tops, but even the 7-string versions were a bit too simple visually for my tastes. If they play anything like the Charvels from NAMM 2010, then I'm sure they'll make lots of people happy.
Randall, Washburn, and Marshall never really make me happy. Randall had a small wall of amps including the Scott Ian hipster deluxe Dharma Initiative model, the Nuno Parents' Stereo model, and a really hairy and beastly George Lynch Headhunter model, covered in George's hair from the early 1980's. Also adorned with bits of wood, miniature skulls, guns, and other Things You Can Put Your Weed In. I'll give Randall credit for design experimentation. The Paul Stanley V's were cool and fortunately I didn't have to wear pumps to reach them. Washburn used to have a lot more guitars, but this time the Parker Fly models took up most of the floor space. Taking up space in Marshall's booth was a giant wall of Marshalls. That you couldn't play. The new lunchbox heads were on display (though not as cool as The Lunchable™). I wonder how they sound? I guess I'll never know.
Thankfully Guthrie Govan at the Vigier booth knows all and was happy to chat with myself and Kevin Brubaker from Brubaker Guitars. And was happy to send my buddy Jeb a video shout out. We talked about the forthcoming Great Guitar Escape in New York this summer and how Paul Gilbert is the mastermind behind this class.
Fortunately the BC Rich staff showed class when showing their wares at their booth, unlike previous years where they were often rude liars. Little did they know they were talking to the inventor of The Lunchable©. Lets start with the import guitars. They all look good, have similar neck profiles leaning on the thinner side. Same ultra shiny and often super low frets as the Charvel Desolation series. In fact, one of the higher end Kerry King V's was bordering on fretless. Compared to the limited handmade KK anniversary V…well there was no comparison. Great fat meaty frets and proper thick neck profile. There were very few handmade BC Rich guitars at this show, but they all were very nice. Great fit and finish, and the setups were really nice. There was a red Mockingbird built by Bernie Rico Jr. (headstock date was 2009 but BCR was marketing this as a 2011 model). There was a non-Jr. Mock next to it that only felt a little different. Similar necks and fretwork. Maybe the Jr. one had slightly lower action and slightly crisper bevels? The two Biches (guitars, this isn't the Dean booth) were really nice. The trans black one with blue anodized hardware played just as nice as the trans purple 10 string version next to it. All these had thinner necks than my handmade BCRs but were still very comfortable and responsive. Beautiful figured wood and for having nice maple tops were pretty lightweight. The only import guitar I really liked was the Lita Ford Widow tribute with black widow body graphic and fret markers. Thankfully the kept the reverse headstock with rosewood cap. There was actually fret life on this guitar and it was built with the proper neck angle for the (GASP!) Kahler tremolo. Many of the import Warlocks suffer from varying body shapes. Some have the point in the crotch, others a rounded crotch. The worst crotch was on the Matt Tuck flying V, which was more like a flying U. Pee-u!
Not resembling a crotch or body part in any way at the next door Premiere booth was the huge Nicko McBrain "Give Me 'Ed Till I'm Dead" signature drum set for a MAP price of $9995. Each drum was adorned in black and white Eddie Head graphics. I'm not good with math and couldn't count the number of drums but there were a lot of them. Supposedly only 10 of these will be available in the USA. They also had a few more Maiden model drumsets in varying colors and with different Eddie motifs. Nicko himself showed up for repeated unannounced signings at this booth. Even the aforementioned Hipster Douchebags would stop and marvel at this set and the presence of the man who invented the intro to Where Eagles Dare. I met him twice during the show and he's just as crazy and funny as you'd think he'd be. I asked one of the Premiere staff if Nicko would play the drums; he told me if he did he wouldn't get off the bloody kit. I said that's the point. Nicko signed some posters and DVDs for my kids and was kind enough to give them a video shout out, telling them that if they practice enough, they might get to be as good as Mike Portnoy. He took extra time with all the ladies as well, that rapscallion scoundrel. "Allo' love! Well, well, well! Chantilly-Upon-Pipaninny!"
James Trussart's rusted masterpieces were there, just like last year. All hole-y and metal and stuff. Cool designs. I'm not sure how they'd sound. I find it ironic that these metal guitars might not be the best choice for metal. Maybe we'll need to supply Trussart with The Lunchablé next year.
Every year Carvin does a great job with their insanely consistently built instruments. They might not be the sexiest guitars but damn if the action and build quality isn't perfect on every one of their instruments. They had the obligatory 8 string and quite a bit of 7 string guitars as well, as did Schecter. Year after year I think Schecter has the best imports to show. They showed a new line with thinner bodies and necks, which goes contrary to what I love about most Schecters which is the thicker bodies and more substantial necks. My friend Jim at the booth walked us through all the custom guitars, which included one of Prince's symbol guitars. Jeff Loomis has a new signature V and there's a variety of satin finish models available in most of the shapes they offer. As usual the black cherry and dark blue finishes were awesome across all the models.
Diezel had their largest booth ever, showcasing their new Hagen head. I really wanted to love this amp but the low end just felt flabby. Again, not talking about the Dean booth. Maybe I needed to make more guitar face? I felt that the Herbert had less gain than their marketing touts. But the VH4. Holy mother humper. This is a melee and joust in a box. The NAMM Sound Police even came by and told us to turn it down. I don't know if I would have been able to turn any of the Orange amps down because nobody was playing them and I got the impression that they weren't allowing anyone to play them.
I played most of the Ibanez models. And there were a lot. I think they beat ESP for making the same guitar over and over and over and over. Not too many fretless wonders or typical import feeling necks and finishes; this is good. But I have no idea what the difference is between their $4000 model guitars and $400 models that look almost the same. Across the board the paint and finishes are great…except for the painted on body binding of the new Mick 7 abomination. Ibanez is trying out some new pointy models which would have looked bad even in the 1980s. Have they not learned from the Axstar series? Stick to the Destroyer and Iceman please. Some of the new guitars were attempting to be a Jackson Warrior. Attempting. Claude Schnell at a nearby booth didn't attempt anything but too look marvelous.
Next to the Diezel VH4 was the second most marvelous amp at the show, the mighty Brunetti Revo series. 3 channels of…here it comes…I've been on Suhr forums too long…TONE HEAVEN! The XL Revo is powered by EL34s while the XL Revo LTD has a new lead channel and 6550 tubes and has switchable power output. Lots of gain, lots of sustain, lots of bite. A bit grainy but in a good way. The Brunetti staff, from Italy were some of the nicest people at the show even though we pretty much couldn't understand anything we told each other. I did score a nice olive green Brunetti t-shirt though. Not heavenly were the Steavens amps from Germany. They looked like metal beasts but sounded a bit too muddy in the low end. No matter what I did, I couldn't dial out the flub. The Steavens guy was super nice and informative though. Nearby was the DBZ Guitars booth. There really wasn't anything here that I have not seen before. One guitar had a leather covering on the back of the neck that felt awful.
Moving to the basement I saw a one-handed bass player performing. Yes he played with one hand (the fretting hand) because he only had one hand; his right hand was missing. Aye the gods are cruel. Also missing were a lot of guitars at the Heritage booth. They had a few hollowbody models and two LP style models.
Filled with lots of guitars was the GMP booth. I've heard a lot about the quality of these guitars and they do live up to their reputation. Most area really heavy with necks on the thicker side but very comfortable and playable. The jumbo frets were a tiny bit too low for my tastes but the tradeoff was super low action. All the paint jobs and finishes, whether they were Asian dragons or beautiful stains, were impeccable due to owner Dan Lawrence and crew. The checkerboard pattern on the upper horn of the Roxie model was flawless: perfectly masked and straight shapes. I told Dan that he was going to paint my Moser that I had on order and he immediately said, "Please tell me it's not a Bastard V." I smiled and said, "Blame him" (Rodney, the designer of the Bastard V) who was standing next to me. I told Dan I was thinking of body binding and I think he considered strangling me for a few moments. Joking aside, Dan was very talkative and informative. GMP makes a killer custom guitars at very reasonable prices.
I played a Modulus bass for the first time. The carbon fiber necks are very stiff but smooth and comfortable. I really like the unique figuring on the necks.
It would be great to know how an ESP Guitar feels, but as usual, they're strapped to the walls. Who makes more of the same guitar, ESP or Ibanez? At the entry of their room were a number of insane custom guitars. One was a grim reaper winged contraption that I'm sure would be almost impossible to hold. The Chris Compston painted horror movie poster motif guitars were very nicely crafted with lots of attention to detail and wonderful period-correct typography. If you want to know what shapes ESP had, pick one from another company, and make about 12 versions of each in every finish imaginable. Slightly upgrade the woods and components on the LTD models until they magically become ESP models. Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman has a new LP style guitar with obligatory (GODS NO!) Kahler bridge. The LTD version had a countersunk bridge, and a lot of drop from the end of the fingerboard to the body, while the ESP version had very little drop, no countersinking. Why am I telling you this? The LTD had super low saddles, which pretty much starts to remove sustain from a Kahler equipped guitar while the ESP version had the proper high saddle angle. Their booth is impressive because of the sheer number of guitars and quality of design that goes into all their marketing materials but it feels like the same thing every year.
It's been my habit to visit Jackson at the end of the day year after year because the room is less busy at this time. This year Jackson had a number of custom guitars with lots of options like highly figured woods, Bare Knuckle pickups, and the obligatory demonic medieaval grafixx. Most of the customs were master built by Pablo Santana who was also one of the most informative guys at the show. He built a lot of the guitars with thicker than normal necks and had a all the neck specs memorized. I picked up the new Phil Collen guitar and he said, "Nut is .946" and twelfth fret is 1". Apparently Phil Collen's own guitars have even thicker necks. He encouraged me to play all the guitars even though they were all sold and behind a velvet rope. Compared to the production USA instruments, the action was lower, the fret work better and they just felt nicer. The Chris Broderick and Scott Ian models were my favorites because of the overall feel. I wasn't too crazy about the new X Series but I liked them more than the Charvel Desolation series. Maybe if I hadn't played the Pablo guitars first…those just ruined everything for me. I like the look and feel of the nearby EVH model guitars but those narrow frets just kill it for me. After playing so many guitars, it all becomes a blur and it's time for dinner and drinks.
Some friends and I had dinner in Downtown Disney then headed to the Marriot for some drinks. Zany amp designer Reinhold Bogner was at the outside patio, just like last year. I asked him where a mutual friend was, Reinhold called him and said, "Ya, Jim whe ah you? My friend ees lookink for you. Wass your name? (Art, I tell him). Ya Art de Fart." Gotta love the Germans. The Hilton bar was packed and loud as usual, so we decided to retreat back to our Hobbit holes.
Day 2 started with a trip to the Blackstar Amps demo room where I played one of their 3 channel amps and got a demo of the line out features of one of their tiny combos. All of their amps have a nice line out that when run thru a PA give a pretty amazing sound. Gus G when on Ozzfest ran the line out from a 200 watt head and used his 4x12s for stage volume. I was impressed with the head I played. Lots of gain, very clear and articulate; it didn't feel like a ripoff of other amps. It's not super saturated but still works well for metal. The amp I wasn't fond of was the Budda Bully. Like the Blackstar, it had plenty of gain but the voicing was just a bit fat and not as crisp as I would have liked. Alex Skolnick was signing at the Budda booth and he encouraged me to attend the Broderick/Skolnick guitar retreat because it'll be more metal than the Paul Gilbert retreat.
Legendary guitar dude Grover Jackson has a new company, GJ2 Guitars. They're all CNC'd and come with a really nice blue G&G case. The currently available shape is a super strat type with 2 hums and a Floyd Rose bridge. The necks are thicker than a typical Jackson; Grover told me their modeled after a old (crap was it a Les Paul?) neck. The frets were jumbos and very meaty. He said he's learned a lot about building and has the perfect formula for nut and fret hight for super low action. I'll give it up to Grover for the lowest, most consistent action at the show. He said he went back and forth over putting .009 or .010 gauge strings on the guitars and I told him he did the right thing with the .009's and thicker necks. He said too many people get hand cramps with a thinner neck and that thicker necks are more comfortable. I played a super heavy all rosewood model with titanium bridge saddles. List price: $7000. Yikes. He knows these guitars aren't cheap and said he's pricing them in the same range as other quality customs. Like Dan Lawrence and Pablo Santana, Grover was super cool, very polite, and very informative.
While walking by the Randall booth we spotted George Lynch sitting, holding one of his hand carved guitars, in front of a wall of amps, unplugged. It didn't appear to be a formal signing but he was happy to chat at take pictures with everyone. Back near the GJ2 booth was a guitar hanger company that had a really old, probably mid to late 1970's, B.C. Rich Seagull. It felt and played great and had a really nice broken in feel. Down in the basement I finally got to play some Anderson Guitars. Like a PRS or a Suhr, they're pretty simple and almost bland in terms of styling, but the craftsmanship is amazing. Most were Strat shaped and there were a few LP type models. All the quilts and finishes were top notch, the fretwork was great, and overall playability was flat out great. I didn't quite know what to make of the Yngwie Malmsteen model acoustic guitars with scalloped fretboards from Ovation. I don't think I ever played an acoustic that was as heavy as a Les Paul. I guess it needs all the extra wood for the fookin' fury you can unleash on it. Or maybe it was filled with a lot of donuts.
On our way to the TC Electronic booth we met Uli Jon Roth signing at the Blackstar booth. I'm pretty sure he was wearing clogs. At the TC booth both Doug Aldrich and Derek Sherinian were signing. What pissed me off about a lot of the signings was the Douchebag Acquaintance that upon passing, would always say hi to the artist then engage in a, "Oh sorry, I just wanted to say one thing…" and force all of us who were in the REAL LINE to wait even longer. Doug was gracious as always an even remembered when my friends and I hung out with him at The Grove during a Dean NAMM Jam two years ago. There were quite a few cougars in line hoping to get good mental picture for their later that evening pretend Slide It In date with him. Derek was cool as well. Across the aisle a very weathered Chris Holmes (ex-WASP) was talking to the aforementioned Cougars. Ahem. Moving on to EMG we met Dave Ellefson again. I think he was at every booth simultaneously at this NAMM. Back at the Jackson booth we spotted Warren DiMartini in the Fender Guitars area, carefully looking at each model. He's a very quiet guy and we talked about some of the early concerts back in 1984 and 1985. He then checked out all the Jackson guitars and seemed really interested in most of them.
Even though I had Dean NAMM Jam passes to see Testamant headline at The Grove, I didn't want to sit thru Jackyl and Wayne Static (I know, WTF?) for an 11pm Testament set. So we went to the nearby Sheraton Hotel for the Sabian party, which featured a 2 all star jam lineups, one with Alan Holdsworth, and a headlining band featuring Mike Portnoy, Tony MacAlpine, Billy Sheehan, and Derek Sherinian. The hotel ballroom was packed; we spotted Shawn Drover (Megadeth) and during the show I stood next to Rob Caggiano (Anthrax). The Portnoy band ripped through a number of cover songs, one being a Jeff Beck song, another being a MacAlpine song, and finally closing with a Dream Theater song sans vocals (which some would argue is the only way they should be played). During songs Portnoy talked to the audience (surprise!) and was very gracious and thankful. He originally didn't want to play the show but was talked into it by the other guys. The Dream Theater song was my favorite because of all the intense playing. I love Sherinian's keyboard sounds and tone. I've never heard MacAlpine play; he's a monster on the 7 and 8 string guitars. He played the Petrucci solos pretty much note for note. During their set, Rob Caggiano and I exchanged glances and with that Jeebus Mother-f'er These Guys Can Play look. After the show we met former Death Angel drummer Andy Galeon (Bay Area represent, yo!). By this time we were pretty exhausted and headed back to the hotel.
I think overwhelming is the best way to describe the show. So many guitars, artists, craftsmen…it's almost impossible to take it all in during a two day trip. Do I take pictures, do I play guitars? After a while everything starts to play and feel the same. However, it's the only place in the world you can play all this great great gear in one place. The performances and concerts are always inspiring and I always walk away wanting to become a better player.
January 19-22, 2012
Anaheim, CA
http://venomboy.kodakgallery.com/gal.../9842594670103
Look at all the pictures at the above link and write your own damn captions. BAH! That would be too easy. I see Mord has dragged you and your craven bannermen out of your sky cell. Have some summerwine, grab a wench (hopefully the Clan Lannister has left some with teeth behind for you).
This year's NAMM came with a dire warning of rain. Rain? In January? In Southern California? Aye the gods are cruel. My first NAMM (2002, 2003?) featured 80 degree weather. Thankfully the only two days I attended were still 70 degrees or so. Thursday is usually the slow day of the show with very few crowds and even fewer signings; this is usually a good thing. However. This also made the appearance of two species even more apparent. The first being That Aging Guy. Let's just make that a broad category for anyone in an old blazer, tight jeans (not the same as skinny jeans…these are the kind that just don't fit), typically punctuated by on what women would call a muffin top but I'll just call EEEW, some sort of cowboy-ish boot, shirt unbuttoned usually to mid chest. Hair? Lots of it, with the last stylist appointment July of 1989. The second being Hipster Douchebag. The word douchebag implies that there is another type of hipster, but trust me, there isn't. More annoying than Simpsons Comic Book guy with none of the genuine, well-earned arrogance, just learned on the internet superiority; the learned fact is hidden because they would never admit to learning anything from a source that their non-neckbeard kindred would learn from. What sits atop a neckbeard? Usually some sort of ironic hairdo, be it a frizzy semi-fro or some jumbled mess of behead, which looks like it's covered by something that was released when they were giving…whoops. Wrong forum! Speaking of breasts, I have no objection to the female kind. And while men technically have breasts, I don't need to be reminded of them by a deep v-neck Happy Days shirt. Sports coat? Only if it's from a thrift store. That Aging Guy wears tight pants, and even though the muffin top is slowly pushing them down, the pants are at least designed to be worn somewhere near a hipbone. The hipster's pants are usually skinny jeans that are sagging. It's a very odd mix of suffocation and prison culture. Ever wonder where your old towels go? Into reclaimed cotton slip-on shoes. The more burlap-y the better.
I can't think of anything better than to move on and describe the good parts of the show. How's the wench, laddie?
Engl Amplifiers company had a new vintage vibe amp head called a Retro Tube, complete with interchangeable colored faceplates. The appearance is still very Engl, with a metal grill, but the tolex feels a bit Splawn-ish (who by the way were unfortunately not at NAMM). I can never tell if we're allowed to play these amps at NAMM. They always ask me if I want a demo. Yes, I would like to demo it, not your Guardian of the Vale. Fortunately the good folks at Bogner had a nice Uberschall Twin Jet that I got to test my viking metal chops through. No v-necks near this amp. Bogner continues to add unique tolled coverings and a vintage vibe with a series of smaller amp heads with minimal controls. This got me thinking. You heard it first: I am designing a new amp. Powered by a candelabra bulb, it won't have a volume control, just a tone knob. And not a chicken head knob. A nipple knob. That will go from "creamy" to "tasty". The more Guitar Face you make, and the more P90 pickups you have, the more complex the harmonics will be. And just to throw everyone a loop, it will have 2 effects loops that aren't switchable. And it will have a big ol' GAIN knob that starts where the mighty Uberschall leaves off. If you adjust the tone control on your guitar, the amp's lone transistor will sense this, and play Venom flanger sounds until you regain your senses. And you can only play it through a 3x12 cabinet. It's called The Lunchable and ships with a bottle of Kool Aid and a pack of Cheese Nips. Cheese shaped like nipples.
While we're on the subject of oddities, how about that 10-string Kahler bridge? WAH WAH WAH Floyds are better. Listen up Brad Gillis, the sheer number of moving parts act as a sonic transducer that re-amplify every vibration of the string. Kahler also had a few guitars with what appeared to be a Floyd-ish appearing bridge that operated on a cam. Just bizarre. The Hanneman ESP with camo finish in their booth played pretty nicely, and low frets aside, the new BC Rich Guy Marchais guitar is pretty decent too.
Dean Guitars continues to push limits of decency with yet more tribute guitars. They had Dimebag's original Concrete Sledge guitar and the obligatory production version of it on display. And the Tommy Bolin Z with Kanji characters graphics. Money grubbing criticism aside, it looked nice, as do most of the Dean finishes. It seemed that almost everything was a limited edition run. And for only $12,000 you can have an Uli Jon Roth model guitar, which did feel like a million bucks. Nice scallops, nice finish. If it had an Ace Frehely smoke incense shooter I just might shell out the money for it. All the Dean customs played very well and were very well built. A few years ago most of them had finish cracks and awful setups. The only cracks visible at this booth were those of the Dean Girls.
The Peavey booth could have used some more eye candy. Maybe I was lazy and didn't pay too much attention but it seems like they offer far less guitars than they did in the past. They have a huge booth footprint with some new pointy guitars that I wouldn't play. And they own Budda amps. Charvel, once known for helping carry on a semi-pointy guitar revolution (ask Guitar Center Management, who were EVERYWHERE at the show, they lived it) had a booth on a separate floor from sister company Jackson. They were on the main floor showcasing their new import Desolation line. The interwebs are in an uproar over these Schecter lookalikes. I played most of the models and I'm not terribly impressed. Fit and finish was good, the figured tops (rice paper or real wood?) all looked nice. But these guitars suffer from that low-ish shiny fret syndrome that plagues almost every import guitar at the show. Do all the guitar companies hire the same child worker to file down all the frets on these guitars? The Japanese made Pro-Mod series had a very different and better setup than the Desolation series. I love the Pro-Mods, they feel right. The Desolations, while I wouldn't send them to the dungeons, I can't bring myself to like them. The custom Charvels were all behind a velvet rope, one step away from the ESP strap-them-to-the-wall mentality. Most were super strats and a bit on the tame side. Some figured tops, but even the 7-string versions were a bit too simple visually for my tastes. If they play anything like the Charvels from NAMM 2010, then I'm sure they'll make lots of people happy.
Randall, Washburn, and Marshall never really make me happy. Randall had a small wall of amps including the Scott Ian hipster deluxe Dharma Initiative model, the Nuno Parents' Stereo model, and a really hairy and beastly George Lynch Headhunter model, covered in George's hair from the early 1980's. Also adorned with bits of wood, miniature skulls, guns, and other Things You Can Put Your Weed In. I'll give Randall credit for design experimentation. The Paul Stanley V's were cool and fortunately I didn't have to wear pumps to reach them. Washburn used to have a lot more guitars, but this time the Parker Fly models took up most of the floor space. Taking up space in Marshall's booth was a giant wall of Marshalls. That you couldn't play. The new lunchbox heads were on display (though not as cool as The Lunchable™). I wonder how they sound? I guess I'll never know.
Thankfully Guthrie Govan at the Vigier booth knows all and was happy to chat with myself and Kevin Brubaker from Brubaker Guitars. And was happy to send my buddy Jeb a video shout out. We talked about the forthcoming Great Guitar Escape in New York this summer and how Paul Gilbert is the mastermind behind this class.
Fortunately the BC Rich staff showed class when showing their wares at their booth, unlike previous years where they were often rude liars. Little did they know they were talking to the inventor of The Lunchable©. Lets start with the import guitars. They all look good, have similar neck profiles leaning on the thinner side. Same ultra shiny and often super low frets as the Charvel Desolation series. In fact, one of the higher end Kerry King V's was bordering on fretless. Compared to the limited handmade KK anniversary V…well there was no comparison. Great fat meaty frets and proper thick neck profile. There were very few handmade BC Rich guitars at this show, but they all were very nice. Great fit and finish, and the setups were really nice. There was a red Mockingbird built by Bernie Rico Jr. (headstock date was 2009 but BCR was marketing this as a 2011 model). There was a non-Jr. Mock next to it that only felt a little different. Similar necks and fretwork. Maybe the Jr. one had slightly lower action and slightly crisper bevels? The two Biches (guitars, this isn't the Dean booth) were really nice. The trans black one with blue anodized hardware played just as nice as the trans purple 10 string version next to it. All these had thinner necks than my handmade BCRs but were still very comfortable and responsive. Beautiful figured wood and for having nice maple tops were pretty lightweight. The only import guitar I really liked was the Lita Ford Widow tribute with black widow body graphic and fret markers. Thankfully the kept the reverse headstock with rosewood cap. There was actually fret life on this guitar and it was built with the proper neck angle for the (GASP!) Kahler tremolo. Many of the import Warlocks suffer from varying body shapes. Some have the point in the crotch, others a rounded crotch. The worst crotch was on the Matt Tuck flying V, which was more like a flying U. Pee-u!
Not resembling a crotch or body part in any way at the next door Premiere booth was the huge Nicko McBrain "Give Me 'Ed Till I'm Dead" signature drum set for a MAP price of $9995. Each drum was adorned in black and white Eddie Head graphics. I'm not good with math and couldn't count the number of drums but there were a lot of them. Supposedly only 10 of these will be available in the USA. They also had a few more Maiden model drumsets in varying colors and with different Eddie motifs. Nicko himself showed up for repeated unannounced signings at this booth. Even the aforementioned Hipster Douchebags would stop and marvel at this set and the presence of the man who invented the intro to Where Eagles Dare. I met him twice during the show and he's just as crazy and funny as you'd think he'd be. I asked one of the Premiere staff if Nicko would play the drums; he told me if he did he wouldn't get off the bloody kit. I said that's the point. Nicko signed some posters and DVDs for my kids and was kind enough to give them a video shout out, telling them that if they practice enough, they might get to be as good as Mike Portnoy. He took extra time with all the ladies as well, that rapscallion scoundrel. "Allo' love! Well, well, well! Chantilly-Upon-Pipaninny!"
James Trussart's rusted masterpieces were there, just like last year. All hole-y and metal and stuff. Cool designs. I'm not sure how they'd sound. I find it ironic that these metal guitars might not be the best choice for metal. Maybe we'll need to supply Trussart with The Lunchablé next year.
Every year Carvin does a great job with their insanely consistently built instruments. They might not be the sexiest guitars but damn if the action and build quality isn't perfect on every one of their instruments. They had the obligatory 8 string and quite a bit of 7 string guitars as well, as did Schecter. Year after year I think Schecter has the best imports to show. They showed a new line with thinner bodies and necks, which goes contrary to what I love about most Schecters which is the thicker bodies and more substantial necks. My friend Jim at the booth walked us through all the custom guitars, which included one of Prince's symbol guitars. Jeff Loomis has a new signature V and there's a variety of satin finish models available in most of the shapes they offer. As usual the black cherry and dark blue finishes were awesome across all the models.
Diezel had their largest booth ever, showcasing their new Hagen head. I really wanted to love this amp but the low end just felt flabby. Again, not talking about the Dean booth. Maybe I needed to make more guitar face? I felt that the Herbert had less gain than their marketing touts. But the VH4. Holy mother humper. This is a melee and joust in a box. The NAMM Sound Police even came by and told us to turn it down. I don't know if I would have been able to turn any of the Orange amps down because nobody was playing them and I got the impression that they weren't allowing anyone to play them.
I played most of the Ibanez models. And there were a lot. I think they beat ESP for making the same guitar over and over and over and over. Not too many fretless wonders or typical import feeling necks and finishes; this is good. But I have no idea what the difference is between their $4000 model guitars and $400 models that look almost the same. Across the board the paint and finishes are great…except for the painted on body binding of the new Mick 7 abomination. Ibanez is trying out some new pointy models which would have looked bad even in the 1980s. Have they not learned from the Axstar series? Stick to the Destroyer and Iceman please. Some of the new guitars were attempting to be a Jackson Warrior. Attempting. Claude Schnell at a nearby booth didn't attempt anything but too look marvelous.
Next to the Diezel VH4 was the second most marvelous amp at the show, the mighty Brunetti Revo series. 3 channels of…here it comes…I've been on Suhr forums too long…TONE HEAVEN! The XL Revo is powered by EL34s while the XL Revo LTD has a new lead channel and 6550 tubes and has switchable power output. Lots of gain, lots of sustain, lots of bite. A bit grainy but in a good way. The Brunetti staff, from Italy were some of the nicest people at the show even though we pretty much couldn't understand anything we told each other. I did score a nice olive green Brunetti t-shirt though. Not heavenly were the Steavens amps from Germany. They looked like metal beasts but sounded a bit too muddy in the low end. No matter what I did, I couldn't dial out the flub. The Steavens guy was super nice and informative though. Nearby was the DBZ Guitars booth. There really wasn't anything here that I have not seen before. One guitar had a leather covering on the back of the neck that felt awful.
Moving to the basement I saw a one-handed bass player performing. Yes he played with one hand (the fretting hand) because he only had one hand; his right hand was missing. Aye the gods are cruel. Also missing were a lot of guitars at the Heritage booth. They had a few hollowbody models and two LP style models.
Filled with lots of guitars was the GMP booth. I've heard a lot about the quality of these guitars and they do live up to their reputation. Most area really heavy with necks on the thicker side but very comfortable and playable. The jumbo frets were a tiny bit too low for my tastes but the tradeoff was super low action. All the paint jobs and finishes, whether they were Asian dragons or beautiful stains, were impeccable due to owner Dan Lawrence and crew. The checkerboard pattern on the upper horn of the Roxie model was flawless: perfectly masked and straight shapes. I told Dan that he was going to paint my Moser that I had on order and he immediately said, "Please tell me it's not a Bastard V." I smiled and said, "Blame him" (Rodney, the designer of the Bastard V) who was standing next to me. I told Dan I was thinking of body binding and I think he considered strangling me for a few moments. Joking aside, Dan was very talkative and informative. GMP makes a killer custom guitars at very reasonable prices.
I played a Modulus bass for the first time. The carbon fiber necks are very stiff but smooth and comfortable. I really like the unique figuring on the necks.
It would be great to know how an ESP Guitar feels, but as usual, they're strapped to the walls. Who makes more of the same guitar, ESP or Ibanez? At the entry of their room were a number of insane custom guitars. One was a grim reaper winged contraption that I'm sure would be almost impossible to hold. The Chris Compston painted horror movie poster motif guitars were very nicely crafted with lots of attention to detail and wonderful period-correct typography. If you want to know what shapes ESP had, pick one from another company, and make about 12 versions of each in every finish imaginable. Slightly upgrade the woods and components on the LTD models until they magically become ESP models. Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman has a new LP style guitar with obligatory (GODS NO!) Kahler bridge. The LTD version had a countersunk bridge, and a lot of drop from the end of the fingerboard to the body, while the ESP version had very little drop, no countersinking. Why am I telling you this? The LTD had super low saddles, which pretty much starts to remove sustain from a Kahler equipped guitar while the ESP version had the proper high saddle angle. Their booth is impressive because of the sheer number of guitars and quality of design that goes into all their marketing materials but it feels like the same thing every year.
It's been my habit to visit Jackson at the end of the day year after year because the room is less busy at this time. This year Jackson had a number of custom guitars with lots of options like highly figured woods, Bare Knuckle pickups, and the obligatory demonic medieaval grafixx. Most of the customs were master built by Pablo Santana who was also one of the most informative guys at the show. He built a lot of the guitars with thicker than normal necks and had a all the neck specs memorized. I picked up the new Phil Collen guitar and he said, "Nut is .946" and twelfth fret is 1". Apparently Phil Collen's own guitars have even thicker necks. He encouraged me to play all the guitars even though they were all sold and behind a velvet rope. Compared to the production USA instruments, the action was lower, the fret work better and they just felt nicer. The Chris Broderick and Scott Ian models were my favorites because of the overall feel. I wasn't too crazy about the new X Series but I liked them more than the Charvel Desolation series. Maybe if I hadn't played the Pablo guitars first…those just ruined everything for me. I like the look and feel of the nearby EVH model guitars but those narrow frets just kill it for me. After playing so many guitars, it all becomes a blur and it's time for dinner and drinks.
Some friends and I had dinner in Downtown Disney then headed to the Marriot for some drinks. Zany amp designer Reinhold Bogner was at the outside patio, just like last year. I asked him where a mutual friend was, Reinhold called him and said, "Ya, Jim whe ah you? My friend ees lookink for you. Wass your name? (Art, I tell him). Ya Art de Fart." Gotta love the Germans. The Hilton bar was packed and loud as usual, so we decided to retreat back to our Hobbit holes.
Day 2 started with a trip to the Blackstar Amps demo room where I played one of their 3 channel amps and got a demo of the line out features of one of their tiny combos. All of their amps have a nice line out that when run thru a PA give a pretty amazing sound. Gus G when on Ozzfest ran the line out from a 200 watt head and used his 4x12s for stage volume. I was impressed with the head I played. Lots of gain, very clear and articulate; it didn't feel like a ripoff of other amps. It's not super saturated but still works well for metal. The amp I wasn't fond of was the Budda Bully. Like the Blackstar, it had plenty of gain but the voicing was just a bit fat and not as crisp as I would have liked. Alex Skolnick was signing at the Budda booth and he encouraged me to attend the Broderick/Skolnick guitar retreat because it'll be more metal than the Paul Gilbert retreat.
Legendary guitar dude Grover Jackson has a new company, GJ2 Guitars. They're all CNC'd and come with a really nice blue G&G case. The currently available shape is a super strat type with 2 hums and a Floyd Rose bridge. The necks are thicker than a typical Jackson; Grover told me their modeled after a old (crap was it a Les Paul?) neck. The frets were jumbos and very meaty. He said he's learned a lot about building and has the perfect formula for nut and fret hight for super low action. I'll give it up to Grover for the lowest, most consistent action at the show. He said he went back and forth over putting .009 or .010 gauge strings on the guitars and I told him he did the right thing with the .009's and thicker necks. He said too many people get hand cramps with a thinner neck and that thicker necks are more comfortable. I played a super heavy all rosewood model with titanium bridge saddles. List price: $7000. Yikes. He knows these guitars aren't cheap and said he's pricing them in the same range as other quality customs. Like Dan Lawrence and Pablo Santana, Grover was super cool, very polite, and very informative.
While walking by the Randall booth we spotted George Lynch sitting, holding one of his hand carved guitars, in front of a wall of amps, unplugged. It didn't appear to be a formal signing but he was happy to chat at take pictures with everyone. Back near the GJ2 booth was a guitar hanger company that had a really old, probably mid to late 1970's, B.C. Rich Seagull. It felt and played great and had a really nice broken in feel. Down in the basement I finally got to play some Anderson Guitars. Like a PRS or a Suhr, they're pretty simple and almost bland in terms of styling, but the craftsmanship is amazing. Most were Strat shaped and there were a few LP type models. All the quilts and finishes were top notch, the fretwork was great, and overall playability was flat out great. I didn't quite know what to make of the Yngwie Malmsteen model acoustic guitars with scalloped fretboards from Ovation. I don't think I ever played an acoustic that was as heavy as a Les Paul. I guess it needs all the extra wood for the fookin' fury you can unleash on it. Or maybe it was filled with a lot of donuts.
On our way to the TC Electronic booth we met Uli Jon Roth signing at the Blackstar booth. I'm pretty sure he was wearing clogs. At the TC booth both Doug Aldrich and Derek Sherinian were signing. What pissed me off about a lot of the signings was the Douchebag Acquaintance that upon passing, would always say hi to the artist then engage in a, "Oh sorry, I just wanted to say one thing…" and force all of us who were in the REAL LINE to wait even longer. Doug was gracious as always an even remembered when my friends and I hung out with him at The Grove during a Dean NAMM Jam two years ago. There were quite a few cougars in line hoping to get good mental picture for their later that evening pretend Slide It In date with him. Derek was cool as well. Across the aisle a very weathered Chris Holmes (ex-WASP) was talking to the aforementioned Cougars. Ahem. Moving on to EMG we met Dave Ellefson again. I think he was at every booth simultaneously at this NAMM. Back at the Jackson booth we spotted Warren DiMartini in the Fender Guitars area, carefully looking at each model. He's a very quiet guy and we talked about some of the early concerts back in 1984 and 1985. He then checked out all the Jackson guitars and seemed really interested in most of them.
Even though I had Dean NAMM Jam passes to see Testamant headline at The Grove, I didn't want to sit thru Jackyl and Wayne Static (I know, WTF?) for an 11pm Testament set. So we went to the nearby Sheraton Hotel for the Sabian party, which featured a 2 all star jam lineups, one with Alan Holdsworth, and a headlining band featuring Mike Portnoy, Tony MacAlpine, Billy Sheehan, and Derek Sherinian. The hotel ballroom was packed; we spotted Shawn Drover (Megadeth) and during the show I stood next to Rob Caggiano (Anthrax). The Portnoy band ripped through a number of cover songs, one being a Jeff Beck song, another being a MacAlpine song, and finally closing with a Dream Theater song sans vocals (which some would argue is the only way they should be played). During songs Portnoy talked to the audience (surprise!) and was very gracious and thankful. He originally didn't want to play the show but was talked into it by the other guys. The Dream Theater song was my favorite because of all the intense playing. I love Sherinian's keyboard sounds and tone. I've never heard MacAlpine play; he's a monster on the 7 and 8 string guitars. He played the Petrucci solos pretty much note for note. During their set, Rob Caggiano and I exchanged glances and with that Jeebus Mother-f'er These Guys Can Play look. After the show we met former Death Angel drummer Andy Galeon (Bay Area represent, yo!). By this time we were pretty exhausted and headed back to the hotel.
I think overwhelming is the best way to describe the show. So many guitars, artists, craftsmen…it's almost impossible to take it all in during a two day trip. Do I take pictures, do I play guitars? After a while everything starts to play and feel the same. However, it's the only place in the world you can play all this great great gear in one place. The performances and concerts are always inspiring and I always walk away wanting to become a better player.
and the "new" Kramer Sustaniac
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