All the latest music gear gets trotted out at the massive industry expo in Anaheim, California. Were talking five or six football fields worth of the newest guitars, amps, basses, drums, mikes, keyboards, sousaphones, electric oboes think Guitar Center cranked up to 11. Its pretty intense.
What follows is a list of the coolest, most creative stuff we saw at this years NAMM Show in January. These arent in-depth reviews, but we did get to play with, touch and listen to scores of different products, including everything shown here. If we were cut from lesser moral cloth, these are the things we would have smuggled out under our overcoats.
(Oh, the NAMM name? The show is put on by the National Association of Music Merchants.)
Minarik Lotus Double-Neck
Guitar maker M.E. Minarik is known for his wild designs, but this gorgeously lysergic double-neck version of his classic Lotus takes the space cake. The looks are outrageous: The mother-of-pearl binding, fretboard inlays and the intricately carved figures of Hindu gods and goddesses had us wishing wed brought the bell bottoms and the incense.
The Lotus is all mahogany under the quilted maple top, so the gold Tone Perfect pickups give off a nice, warm, Gibson-style sound. Standard, Chinese-built Minarik Lotus models start at around $500. This fitted out, fully custom, U.S.-built double-neck version runs upwards of $3,500.
Moog Taurus 3
Few instruments scream Prog Rock Explosion louder than the Moog Taurus. The 13-note, foot-controlled synth-bass pedal board (like those found on organs) powered the low end for 70s prog champs Rush, Yes, Genesis and Pink Floyd. The fat, stadium-rumbling low-frequency tones of the vintage units have been faithfully recreated by Moog Music, and are supplemented in the Taurus 3 by 52 additional factory presets and 48 user-programmable presets.
This thoroughly modern steel-and-wood update (which costs $2,000) also has full MIDI capability and gobs of digital and analog ins and outs. Moog is only making 1,000 of them, so youll have to act quickly if you want to ace that cover of The Trees.
DPA 4099 Instrument Mike
If you have a Martin guitar, vintage Getzen trumpet or some other priceless instrument you want to set up for performance or recording, look no further than the Danish Pro Audio 4099. DPA has crafted what is essentially a tiny shotgun mike and fashioned it to a gooseneck mount and a padded clamp thats safe enough for the most beloved of axes.
We heard this mike get up close and personal with an upright bass at NAMM. It was clear, vibrant and well-rounded way better than a pickup. Plus, for $600, you can avoid having to drill holes in your old wood.
Burriss Amps
Low-powered Lunchbox guitar amps give you gritty, toneful sounds at civilized volumes. Theyre also lightweight, portable and inexpensive, so its no wonder they were all the rage this year at NAMM. Burriss amps are handmade in Kentucky, and theyll impart a bit of that bourbon-and-barbecue vintage rock n roll vibe into anything you play through them.
Designer Bob Burriss makes two models, the smooth and glassy Royal Bluesman and the hotter, drier Dirty Red (around $1,000 each). Both are Class A, 18-watt hand-wired boxes with six tubes inside. The Royal Bluesman has vibrato and reverb built in, and the Dirty Red has a special output that can power your pedal board.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
