NAMM 2018

dindude

So as the dust settles on this years NAMM, what has actually got you counting your piggy bank and will make you part with your cash?

At various points I’ve daydreamt of “needing” the following:

Fender American Original Jazzmaster
Ibanez RG550 (yes really, and in purple neon too)
Line 6 HX Effects 
Bogner Red Mini
Also like the look of the new Godin Summit single P90 Jr style that only seems to appear in one Peach video.

Of course, I need none of them, but a few I will check out.

Also, in a year that Gibson didn’t attend, Suhr made a Gibson, Ibanez made a Suhr, and Fender went bonkers, it was interesting to note the trends.

Seemed to me less talk of boutique vintage inspired, relic’d guitars (Fano’s and the like), and more talk of roasted maple necks, stainless steel frets etc. Could be 1987 there’s so many Superstrats about these days. To go with all those multi FX units too.....

bingefeller

Line 6 HX and Bogner  Red perhaps.   

Alterlifeson

PRS MT15
Fender American Original Strat (just before Namm but still)

guitarfishbay

Plectrum

Nothing really. If I were in a band then the Marshall Origin would be on my must buy list but I'm not and don't want to be. I turned down two invitations to join bands last year. Hopefully there won't be any more as, whilst it's flattering, I find it very awkward saying no.

mbe

guitarfishbay said:

I wish someone would explain Evertune to me. 

Schnozz

The Ibanez RG550 had me reaching too, but then just made me miss my G&L Invader (I never should have sold it...F**k!!).

I'd like the Cort A5 Singlecut, as I started out on an A4 and I'm 30 this year, so the nostalgia is kicking in.

I'm finding it hard to get excited over the Katana Artist and the Marshall Origin, but I would have been tempted by the Katana Air if it was cheaper, because I use my Vox Amplug a lot and that looks to be another step up.

It's been a bit lack luster on the unique builds I think.

tony99

mbe said:

guitarfishbay said:

I wish someone would explain Evertune to me. 

original team from the city of liverpool and founder members of the football league!!

olafgarten

dindude said:

Could be 1987 there’s so many Superstrats about these days. To go with all those multi FX units too.....

At least Reagan isn't selling weapons to Iran this year. 

Fortheloveofguitar

PRS MT15
Victory Kraken preamp
Victory Sheriff preamp
Ibanez AZ242 Premium
GFI Clockwork Delay
GFI Specular Reverb

guitarfishbay

mbe said:

guitarfishbay said:

I wish someone would explain Evertune to me. 

Sure - I wrote a long review post here about one I got installed on a Telecaster, hopefully that will answer your questions.  http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/121100/evertune-bridge-review/p1

As a brief synopsis it works by each saddle being attached to a spring which when perfectly balanced prevents the string from changing pitch.  There's a range at which this works, deep in the range you won't be able to bend strings at all (personally I do not use it this way), and at the top of the range you can't make the guitar go out from playing dynamics but you can easily bend the string beyond the point where it will compensate.  So set up correctly it plays almost like a normal guitar, but you can't send the strings sharp through heavy picking or incorrect finger pressure, and the string won't go flat either after bending or vibrato.

It will suit some players more than others.  But for me personally I think it is the best guitar invention within my lifetime, finally the choice to decouple dynamics and intonation so I can play heavy or light in dropped tunings without the tuning varying between the two extremes, and to be able to have the confidence to be able to drone a string against a chord, or do chord voicings up the neck after a lot of bends earlier in the song and know the guitar will still be in tune.

mbe

Thanks for explaining how to use the Evertune. I'm still wondering what voodoo makes it work from a mechanical point of view.

Shark_Eyes

I'm looking to buy a mini Laney Lionheart and would love to try out some of the new Harmony guitars. I've not trawled through everything yet so there may be something I've missed.

guitarfishbay

It’s the maintaining of constant tension between the spring and the string. I imagine this required some detailed maths and a certain level of engineering in order to get it to work.

When the evertune is active, bending the string causes the spring to counter the rise in pitch by allowing the saddle to compensate 1:1 within the determined range. The saddle physically rocks forwards on the pivot as you bend to prevent the rise in pitch.

stickyfiddle

olafgarten said:

dindude said:

Could be 1987 there’s so many Superstrats about these days. To go with all those multi FX units too.....

At least Reagan isn't selling weapons to Iran this year. 

Sure, but Trump is selling plenty to Saudi...

Teetonetal

I thought there was some interesting stuff at Namm, I liked:

Empress Zoia
Pluse Pedal Plasma
Gurus T7E
Mlkman anp/pedal thing
Fender Jazzmaster
Helix FX

But whilst I could talk myself into buying any of them, none are must haves.

hotpickups

The 2018 Musicman Valentine in red and Tremolo addition has wetted my appetite. Gonna have to wait until May at least though

stickyfiddle

I like the Gamechanger Plasma purely because it looks cool. But I have no use for that kind of fuzzy dirt.  Likewise the Empress Zoia looks astonishing but I don't actually want one of those either. The Marshall Origin does look like good fun, though.

All my GAS at the moment seems to be around 50's Strats, Historic Les Pauls and ES-330s, none of which were a focus of NAMM, for obvious reasons.

mistercharlie

hotpickups said:

The 2018 Musicman Valentine in red and Tremolo addition has wetted my appetite. Gonna have to wait until May at least though

It really does look great. I do wish the Valentine colours were better though. At least red is better than that awful maroon. 

Kebabkid

The new JRad Pedals sounded great in the TPS low-down for 28th Jan
The Milkman Pedal that's a 50W amp with a built-in Class D power amp weighing 2.5lbs!
Fender Parallel Universe guitars - the Troublemaker (ICE Blue HH Tele with double bound body) and the Nashville Elit (2 X Tele pickups and a bridge HB)

And to some popular ones so far, the Ibanez AZ Series and the Helix HX

@hubobulous - there's a Suhr Riot Mini but you probably knew that. On the subject of Suhrs, they've re-jigged their models, and names, so it'll be interesting to see at what price point they come in but I doubt anything will come in sub-£2K.

dindude

Kebabkid said:

@hubobulous - there's a Suhr Riot Mini but you probably knew that. On the subject of Suhrs, they've re-jigged their models, and names, so it'll be interesting to see at what price point they come in but I doubt anything will come in sub-£2K.

Suhr were all over the place I thought this year. They've dropped the Pro name and changed some of the neck shapes and pickups on some of the Pro's but the website isn't updated so it's not really clear yet what all the changes (well minor tweaks) really are.