NAMM 2018 most promising offerings

NAMM 2018! I dig this time of year. Despite the fact I haven't been to NAMM in several years I always look forward to see what's new. This year has been particularly exciting and I thought I'd go over a few things that have caught my eye.

AMPS

The Marshall Origin 50- Take Marshalls well thought out but expensive hand wired amp and build it with PCBs overseas and you get a killer looking, plexi based pedal platform with a few modern options. At this price point these should sell amazingly well.

Synergy Amps- Bruce Egnater has taken his modular preamp design and worked with the gurus behind Freidman, Fryette, Morgan and others to make an amazing tool for both the studio and the stage. Word is even Bogner is getting involved.

PRS Mark Tremonti Amp- Mark has been working on this for a couple of years. A 15 watt Archon lunch box head! With 2 6l6s it has better cleans than most lunch box heads and a massive high gain sound.

EVH 5150 III 50w- While not exactly a new amp they have added dual concentric knobs for channels 1 & 2. This was a deal breaker for some people and a welcome addition to the line.

GUITARS 

Ibanez AZ Prestige and Premium- Ibanez has spent the last few years searching out the opinions of up and coming shredders like Martin Miller and Tom Quayle. The outcome is a new guitar that is being compared to brands like Suhr and Tom Anderson. I really want to try out one of these.

Ibanez Nita Strauss signature guitar - Long time Ibanez endorser and current Alice Cooper hired gun Nita Strauss has become the first female to have a Ibanez signature guitar. Based on her custom shop S series model it has an EKG fretboard inlay and a gorgeous blond burst finish that looks sick!

EVH Wolfgang Standard- Not a new guitar but I love the new Blue Frost color I've never wanted a $500 Chinese made guitar so badly.

PRS S2 Studio- Adding to the S2 range PRS now have a HSS model that sounds stunningly beautiful. Still made in the USA but cheaper than their core models the S2's have been a big hit for them.

PEDALS

Andy Timmons pedals- Andy Timmons is such a great player and has amazing tone in his fingers. So it comes as no surprise that pedals with his name on them tend to sell. Xotic has re-released the BB preamp Andy Timmons edition and JHS has added another gain switch to the AT Drive. I'd love to see another JHS/Keeley combo with Andy's AT Drive and Keeley modded Blues Driver (SPM) in one box.

The Friedman Wah pedal- With LEDs, a three voicing switch for classic, modern and extended range and a high quality designed buffer (with option to turn it off) this might be the wah I've been dreaming of.

Keeley Pedals- Robert Keeley and his team are blowing it out of the water again. The new Aria is a dual pedal with his famous Keeley compressor and tweaked TS pedal, the Duet has his version of the Boss Blues Driver with a delay/reverb and the long awaited ECCO delay pedal which should be available later this year. My wallet can't handle following Mr. Keeley on social media.

MULTI-EFFECTS 

Line 6 HX- Line 6 took the Amp modeling out of the Helix and left you with a world class effects processor that you can four cable with your amp for live gigs. This is a better version of the M9 that ended up on so many pro boards.

Fractal Audio AxeFX III- The bar has been raised on what many people consider to be the gold standard of Amp modeling the last few years. The AxeFX III has FOUR processors among other improvements.

PICKUPS

Fishman's Fluence pickups keep picking up endorsers left and right as people try them. I'm not sure if they are for me but I'm fascinated with the tech behind them.

One thing I'm starting to notice is that big brands like Ibanez, Marshall, and Boss are waking up to what the boutique builders have been doing for a few years. They aren't copying them but actually seem to be talking to their end user and asking what they want in a product. Let's hope this trend continues.

Five Signature Guitars I would buy

Signature guitars are occupy an interesting space in our strange musical world. On one hand playing what your heroes play is kind of cool. On the other hand most of us get into music to express ourselves and to find our own voice. It used to be that signature gear didn't mean that the artist really played that guitar, that it was just a name and a paint job but these days most artist won't put out gear that they won't use.

EVH red stripe- One of my closest friends owns the black and white version and another one of my close friends owns the bumble bee, so I kind of have to get the red one don't I? There are several versions of this guitar but the red is my favorite, and I'm pretty sure I'd put some 5150 stickers on it. I really dig the wolfgangs too but if I had to choose I'd get one of these. I've read some mixed reviews but everyone of these I've played has been amazing.

Keith Merrow KM-7- If your into shred guitar and don't know who Keith Merrow is go to youtube right now and type in his name. Keith made a name for himself 1st playing along with his own music, then demoing gear on youtube and then making music with other shred heavy musicians. This guitar comes in 6 and 7 string versions and they have an extended scale making down tuned riffage pop a bit more. I really dig the Lambo Orange version of this guitar with the carbon fiber binding but that new green one with the sustainer looks pretty awesome too.

Zach Myers PRS- This is hands down the best looking PRS SE guitar in the line up. It looks like a custom shop model and the SE series are the best built budget models on the market. There are a few different versions but that Trampas green has a unique look to it and the satin finished neck feels great. Say what you will about Shinedown but they have carved out their own notch in a time period where many hard rock bands are struggling to stand out.

Jim Root Jazzmaster- All of the Jim Root models are pretty killer. These USA built guitars are straight forward hard rock machines. They aren't made to look pretty but somehow make me think of a killer built hot rod. I would love to get that flat black Jazzmaster and let a friend of mine do some pin striping on it. Check out more of Jims gear here.


Andy Timmons AT10- If you spend a moment looking around on my blog you'll know I'm a big fan of Andy Timmons. He always inspires me to to work on my craft and his signature guitar has much of the same features I've been looking for in my own guitars. The new White one with the Rosewood board is my current favorite. check out more of Andy's gear here.

David Grissom Gear Guide

ADHD's Gear Guides at any Budget. I'm a firm believer that the tone comes from the hands. If your trying to achieve a certain guitar hero's tone you have to not just have the chops but you've got to get down their style of attack with your picking hand as well. That said every step you take toward finding the right gear is often very inspiring and WILL get you closer to “that” sound. I'm going to break these down into Guitars, Pickups, Pedals and Amps.

David Grissom Gear Guide

David Grissom is not one of the more famous guitar heroes in the world of guitar. But among those in the know he is deeply respected for his tone, tasty chops and resume. He has a unique style that blends Texas Blues with Americana and Nashville chops. He has played with Joe Ely, John Mellencamp, Buddy Guy, and The Allman Brothers Band as well as being a musical director for the Dixie Chicks among others. As with many players his style of playing is more important than his gear choices. 

Guitars- David Grissom was an early adopter of PRS guitars in an effort to stand out in the Texas Strat crowd. Finding a guitar that falls somewhere between Strats and Les Pauls while still retaining and vintage tone and feel. 

PRS DGT

PRS DGT- The Paul Reed Smith David Grissom Tremolo model began as a custom ordered McCarty model with a tremolo. David then had the neck reshaped the knobs changed and the pickups custom wound to sound more like the pickups in an old 335 he had. While doing sessions in Nashville several players started ordering guitars with the same setup from PRS so Mr Smith finally made it it's own signature model.

PRS S2 Custom22

PRS S2 Custom 22- Unlike the custom 24 the Custom 22 pickups are wound closer to vintage sounds. The S2 models are made in the USA and even though there have been a few cost saving measures they keep everything that is important to the tone.

PRS SE Custom 22- The PRS SE line is made overseas but Mr Smith was adamant that the quality had to surpass other lines made in south east Asia. They really are great guitars for the money.   

Pickups- David's choice of pickups are a vintage voiced humbucker. On his signature guitar they used PRS unique coil split that still keeps the hum in check. You will have to look on eBay or Reverb  for them because at this time they are not available through retailers without buying the whole guitar. 

Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates set- Made to replicate the pickups in Billy Gibbons favorite 59 Les Paul these are an excellent cost effective replacement set for vintage humbucker tones. 

Seymour Duncan Vintage Blues set- A little cleaner and smoother than the Pearly Gates set the Vintage Blues uses the popular Seymour Duncan 59 pickups and make an killer drop in replacement set for anyone wanting a great PAF sound.

Pedals- David likes to play around with pedals but keeps things pretty simple. He likes several delays and a couple of boost pedals to push the amp. A chorus and sometimes a tremolo round out the set. He says he'll throw a wah in the front if he needs it. Everything goes into the front of the amp. 

Psionic Audio Telos Buffer/Overdrive/Boost- The Telos pedal that David has been using for a while uses a fantastic buffer as well as a clean boost and drive pedal. The reviews on it are really great.

Xotic EP Booster- While not exactly a neutral boost the EP booster has become a favorite booster of
players everywhere. The boost circuit was taken from an echoplex another studio trick of famous tone seakers. David loves using to push his amp and other pedals past crunch and into distortion.

Fulltone Plimsoul- The Fulltone Plimsoul is renowned for being a versatile overdrive with a ton of amp like gain. One of the neat features is a blend knob that brings in a harder clipping section.

Joyo Ultimate Drive- The Joyo Ultimate Drive is an exact clone of the Fulltone OCD. It's known as a very versatile amp like overdrive pedal. While the OCD is better made the Joyo it is a favorite pedal of budget boards. I did a review of it here, and while it's not my favorite pedal I keep it a round for adding a vintage flavor drive when I need it.

Arion Chorus- The Arion Chorus pedal is one of those secret weapons that shows up on boards all the time. David uses a modded pedal that has true bypass to get an organ sound when he plucks chords. The original version sounds killer and is cheap.

Line 6 DL4- David like versatile delays and has used this as well as a Line 6 M9 both of which sound great and are programmable. But he has also warned that they are not the most road worth of tools.

Amps- David likes straight forward vintage style amps. No effects loops or no scooped tones here.

PRS DG30- David worked hand in hand with PRS's famed amp designer Doug Sewell for several years to develop a 30 watt and 50 watt version of an amp with a blend of vintage Marshall's and Vox's. The result is a beautiful and fantastic sounding set of amps that he makes sound like gold.

Vox AC15- Vox is one of the original big three amp builders and has carved out their unique sound in the amp world. They have several AC30's and AC15's at all price points.

Egnator Tweaker- The Egnator Tweaker became the darling of guys on forums for a few years and
with good reason. They are versatile, well made, and sound very good for the money. They also play great with pedals.

Obviously there are a lot of great pedals out there but these are a great place to start your tone search.

Does it matter how fast can you tune?

I saw this a while back and while the whole thing is pretty interesting but the part that amazed me was at 9:17. Tony McManus retunes that guitar into an open tuning in about 10 seconds. So I timed myself, it takes me about 60 seconds to tune my guitar maybe a little more depending on what I'm doing. So I think that tuning a guitar to an entirely different tuning in 10 seconds, by ear, is pretty impressive. But then when I'm watching a free lesson on youtube where someone is tuned a half step down and people are complaining about it being in a different tuning I just can't believe it. First off it's a free lesson! Often, with the half step down thing its a Stevie Ray Vaughn or Jimi Hendrix song which was played in half step down to begin with. Secondly it's just not that hard. I'm not trying to call anyone out here but think about it. If it takes you longer than 60 seconds to retune your guitar maybe, just maybe, you should practice tuning your guitar. I'm not trying to be an egotistical guy here either. When I saw Tony McManus do that I knew I had work to do. I have several guitars but because of my kids I only leave two out at a time. One in standard tuning and one in half step down. One in my living room and one in my office. I used to grab the other one if I needed it but now I make myself retune no matter what. Locking system? who cares, let's stop making excuses. Honestly if it's to much trouble, give up on the instrument now, and I'm not saying that to be mean but really retuning a guitar is pretty easy. If that's the toughest thing you have to do today thank the guitar gods for your blessed life.