Winter NAMM '97: The Guitar Report
This is not intended to be a complete story of all that went on at NAMM (that would be a huge task!) or to provide all the details on the latest products. Instead, this is a collection of things that I found interesting and pictures of guitars that you probably won't ever have the chance to see in a store. You can click on some of the images to see a close-up version. A number of the Fender guitar images we actually taken at Skip's Music Expo, held in Sacramento shortly after NAMM. You may need to widen your browser to see some pictures.
We're planning on doing something like this for each NAMM, so if you have any suggestions or companies you want to hear from, let us know. Enough talk - on with the show!
It may seem strange to start off with DigiTech - after all, they only make preamps and effects processors, right? Well not any more.
DigiTech got a head start this year holding a press party on Wednesday evening, the night before NAMM officially started. It's purpose - to formally unveil their new Johnson amplifiers.
The preamp section of the Millenium is based to some extent on the 2112 processor, utilizing 2 12AX7's. The power stage is built with bipolar junction transistors, rather than MOSFETs, and it drives a pair of Celestion Vintage 30's for stereo operation. The rear of the amp reveals two expression pedal jacks and MIDI. The amp is rated at 150 Watts.
The preamp controls are angled which makes tweaking patches much easier than bending down to read the display and access the effects. Similar to the 2112, each patch is graphically shown on the display, and buttons on the panel let you quickly turn individual effects on and off without navigating through any menus. The familiar amp controls are also there. One advantage of the Millenium is that once you have dialed in a good sound, you can save the parameters and then experiment some more. All the tone, level, and preamp settings can be restored by simply loading a patch.
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A close-up of the Millenium's interface (a number of familiar amp knobs are
located to the left of the panel as well)
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The case is very durable (but I don't recall exactly what it is). At the press party, they invited anyone to come up and try to cut it or otherwise damage it with a knife. Nobody succeeded.
The 150 Watt stereo Millenium is set for April release, with a list price of $1599. Soon after, the little brother Marquis will be with a list price $1399.
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| The PRS Golden Eagle |
The PRS booth always seems to attract a number of people that just stare in awe, humbled by the display of guitars. New for NAMM was the Golden Eagle guitar. The guitar has a basswood body which is hand carved by Floyd Scholtz. The curly Maple neck has 22 frets, and is adorned by a Brazilian Rosewood finger board with solid gold bird inlays! It comes with McCarty electronics and gold hardware. If you're willing to sink a tidy sum of money into this guitar, you can even choose to have a golden eagle or a bald eagle. If this is a good match for your personality, don't wait too long - they're not planning on producing any more than 10 of these guitars.
Maybe you play rock guitar, but do you really have a rock guitar? If you want to have a very literal rock guitar, then take a peek at these six-stringers from Othon Guitars. Yes, you are looking a real stone, but it's only a thin layer bonded to the body so the weight is kept under control. They offer a variety of stone types, and each guitar is essentially a one-of-a-kind.
Othon Guitars
8838 Greenback Lane
Orangevale, CA 95662
(916) 988-8533
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| The Classic with a Tiger Stone with crystal veining (top) and the Highlander, with a Blue Cloud Stone body (bottom). |
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| The Stow-Away | The Road-Runner |
Reduced-scale and traveling guitars still seem to be popping up. The Stewart Guitar Company was on-hand to show off a pair of instruments - the Road-Runner and Stow-Away. These are full-scale guitars. What makes these guitars portable is that the necks themselves can be easily removed, allowing for a shorter case. The neck fits into a connector on the body, and is fastened by a pair of thumb screws which bring the neck into alignment. The strings do not have to be removed in this process.
The Stow-Away is the more compact of the two guitars, and will even fit into a standard-sized attache case.
Brian Moore guitars are taking a step into the world of MIDI by offering their RMC Midi Ready System on the MC/1, C-90, and C-55 guitars. The MIDI pickup is a piezo pickup in the saddles. The MIDI electronics are built right into the guitars so they won't get in the way or ruin the appearance of the guitar. Interfacing to guitar synths or MIDI products is provided by a built in 13-pin guitar synth port.
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| TC/4 and TC/5 Bass Guitars. |
Brian Moore Custom Guitars was also displaying their TC/4 and TC/5 bass guitars. These instruments were designed with the help of Mike Tobias. The body is swamp ash, the bolt-on neck is maple, and the guitar is topped off with a rosewood fingerboard. Options include a piezo pickup and a MIDI system built in. Basslines pickups are standard (either passive or active), or optionally, a Bartolini pickup system can be ordered. Also standard is a Wilkinson bridge, Sperzel tuners, and a choice of gold or chrome hardware.
http://www.bmcguitars.com/
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| From the depths of the Schecter Custom Shop. KISS in a coffin. (Click for a close-up) |
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