{"id":53745,"date":"2017-01-27T21:52:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-28T02:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=53745"},"modified":"2017-03-16T08:41:43","modified_gmt":"2017-03-16T13:41:43","slug":"the-namm-show-report-january-19-22-2017-anaheim-ca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2017\/the-namm-show-report-january-19-22-2017-anaheim-ca\/","title":{"rendered":"The NAMM Show Report January 19-22, 2017 Anaheim, CA"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alissa Ordabai<\/span>
\n– Sr. Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Commerce, artistry, and technology come together every year in Anaheim, CA for the world\u2019s biggest annual music industry event. As if to prove that popular music remains the main driving force in product innovation, rock stars descend en masse on the small Orange County town to testify to the excellence of the most cutting-edge music instrument brands. Meanwhile, manufacturers meet dealers to get business done for the year ahead. The concept works so well that it remains unchanged for over a century: the NAMM Show has been taking place in Anaheim each year since 1901. These days, of course, the 4-day event is not just a glorified power mall: it also includes seminars, lectures, and education sessions on subjects ranging from copyright protection to online marketing. But the core of the show\u2019s purpose remains the same \u2014 to present the latest music instruments and sound equipment to dealers and to do so with as much swagger and aplomb as possible. <\/p>\n

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The Ernie Ball booth this year epitomized the attitude: 10-foot billboards displayed legendary names and iconic images to make sure 107,000 attendees from 125 countries got the message. And indeed, Ernie Ball became one of the busiest booths at this year\u2019s NAMM.<\/p>\n

Known the world over for its durable strings, Ernie Ball in 2017 introduces Paradigm Strings and describes them as \u201cthe most advanced guitar strings ever created.\u201d Available both for acoustic and electric guitars, Paradigm Strings deliver up to 37% more tensile strength and up to 70% more fatigue strength than usual string sets. Plasma-enhanced wrap wire ensures resistance to corrosion and Everlast nano treatment repels sweat, buildup, and oils. <\/p>\n

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Superstar endorsers who held signing sessions at the Ernie Ball booth also helped to attract crowds. Guitar virtuosos Steve Vai, Tony McAlpine, Albert Lee, Chris Broderick, Paul Gilbert, John Petrucci, and Steve Morse all had crowds of fans line up for hours for autographs and selfies. <\/p>\n

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\"\"Steve Morse this year marks his 30th anniversary with Ernie Ball Music Man and to help celebrate the occasion, Sterling and Brian Ball presented Steve the second-ever guitar produced in the line. \u201cSteve still owns and plays the first guitar made for the series, so Number One and Number Two were reunited for the first time in 30 years,\u201d said the Ernie Ball website. <\/p>\n

Talking about anniversaries, Ibanez this year delivers a new George Benson 40th anniversary signature model. The GB40THII features a solid source top, flamed maple back and sides, maple set-in neck, gold hardware, and a narrower hollow body. <\/p>\n

Other Ibanez signature models this year included Steve Vai\u2019s new JEM777, Kiko Loureiro\u2019s KIKO10BP-TGB, Paul Gilbert\u2019s PGMM31- WH, and two Paul Stanley models: PS120L-BK and PSM10-BK. <\/p>\n

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The new limited edition JEM celebrates the 30 anniversary of Vai\u2019s relationship with Ibanez and comes in 3 wacky colors with a basswood body and a slim, five-piece JEM maple\/walnut neck. \u201cWho would have thunk that a dayglo skinned guitar with a hand holding monkey grip would have such legs!\u201d Vai wrote on his Facebook page earlier this week. <\/p>\n

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Kiko Loureiro\u2019s new signature guitar comes in beautiful transparent gray burst finish, flamed maple top and alder body, maple\/walnut neck, and rosewood fretboard. Pickups in the neck, middle, and bridge positions are DiMarzio KIKO originals. <\/p>\n

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In contrast to Loureiro guitar\u2019s price tag ($1,999), Paul Gilbert\u2019s new signature guitar is only $499 and features simpler specs: maple neck, poplar body, maple fretboard, and Infinity pickups in neck and bridge positions. <\/p>\n

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Overall Ibanez showed 55 new models at this year\u2019s NAMM. The most notable new products included the new dreadnought style acoustic in its Artwood series which uses thermo aged tonewood for the bridge and the bridge plate; limited edition curly maple premium models; and two new RG models featuring beautiful poplar burl top over a basswood body, a slim-grip, 11-piece neck and a wedge fretboard with stainless steel frets. <\/p>\n

\"\"Over in the heavy metal land, Jackson, ESP, and Schecter are going head-to-head this year with signature models by superstar shredders. Jackson is boasting new artist signature models by Phil Collen, Marty Friedman, and Gus G. Ex-Megadeth guitarists Friedman and Chris Broderick (who also had a signature Jackson guitar released in 2016) held signing sessions at the Jackson booth, drawing enormous crowds. <\/p>\n

The Marty Friedman Jackson MF-1 features a mahogany body with 3.4\u201d plain maple top, one-piece mahogany set neck and rosewood fingerboard with 22 wide medium jumbo frets. Pickups are Marty Friedman EMG MF signature humbuckers. The guitar is also equipped with two tone and two volume knobs, a 3-way toggle switch, and a TonePros adjustable Tune-O-Matic Style bridge with Gotoh\u00ae stop tailpiece and Schaller\u00ae locking tuners. X Series Signature Marty Friedman MF-1 has a more affordable price ($699.99 vs. $3,199.99), but doesn\u2019t include the TonePros bridge. <\/p>\n

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Jackson\u2019s new Dinky models also turned heads this year with the new Pro Series. The Pro Series Dinky DK3, DK3M, and DK3QM are fitted out with an HSS pickup configuration with JB TB-4 humbucker in the bridge position and the new Strat SSL-6 single-coil in the middle and neck positions. There are master tone and volume knobs, a five-way blade switch, and a Floyd Rose double-locking tremolo bridge. All three models have a one-piece bolt-on maple neck with scarf joint and graphite reinforcement rods, 12\u201d-16\u201d compound radius fingerboard with 24 jumbo frets, and thumbwheel truss rod butt adjust. <\/p>\n

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At the ESP booth, the star attraction was the new Kirk Hammett Demonology signature guitar which features not only an enigmatic sigil decorated finish but impressive specs: neck-thru construction, alder body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, Floyd Rose bridge, EMG 81\/60 pickups. The recommended price is $1,640. <\/p>\n

Although Hammett was not present at this year\u2019s NAMM, the ESP booth nevertheless became jam-packed for performances by George Lynch and Gary Holt. George Lynch ESP signature model did not get an update this year, but Gary Holt\u2019s did with a TonePros locking TOM bridge and tailpiece. <\/p>\n

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Also, Volbeat\u2019s guitarist Rob Caggiano updated this signature ESP for 2017 with quilted maple top and silver accent colors. <\/p>\n

Among the artists getting their first-ever signature ESP this year are John Campbell of Lamb of God (his LTD JC-4FM is based on the Stream body style) and Brian \u201cHead\u201d Welch of Korn. Welch\u2019s 7-string LTD SH-7T includes the EverTune constant tension bridge, Fishman Fluence pickups, and a neck-thru-body design with flamed maple top over the basswood body, a 3-piece maple neck with ebony fingerboard, and see-thru-purple finish. <\/p>\n

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Lars Frederiksen of Rancid gave a talk and took audience questions at the ESP booth to announce his first ESP Signature Series guitar. It is a set-neck model based on the Viper body style and includes Seymour Duncan Lars Signature pickups, Gotoh tuners, and TonePros locking TOM bridge and tailpiece. <\/p>\n

Next door at Schecter Guitar Research Al Jourgensen of Ministry held a signing session in support of his new Schecter Triton guitar which Jourgensen played on all three anti-Bush albums and which he describes as an \u201canti-idiot gun of choice.\u201d The guitar\u2019s body is shaped to form a \u201cW\u201d (Bush\u2019s middle initial) and features mahogany body, mahogany neck, ebony fretboard, and Schecter USA San Andreas\u2122 pickups in neck and bridge positions. <\/p>\n

Other heavy hitters to make appearances at the Schecter booth were Zakk Wylde and Kings X along with Michael Anthony. Wylde and Kings X played at the Schecter party at the Grove club in Anaheim on Saturday, January 21. The show was not open to the public, but tickets could be purchased at the Schecter booth. Schecter also asked anyone interested in this concert to donate to the \u201cTake Me Home\u201d animal rescue in order to receive tickets \u2014 a nice touch in line with the company\u2019s faultless reputation. <\/p>\n

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A few new Schecter artist models include acoustics from Synyster Gates and Robert Smith, two new Keith Merrow models, a Diamond Series DJ Ashba, and a beautiful Solo II from Mark Gemini Thwaite. <\/p>\n

Talking of parties, Gretsch surprised this year not only with an array of great new instruments but also a concert at the Observatory in nearby Santa Ana in the evening of day one. Here Jeff Beck shared the stage with fellow guitar legend Duane Eddy playing heart-warming Fifties style rockabilly. <\/p>\n

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Gretsch debuts a Duane Eddy new signature model in its 2017 catalog. It comes in white pearl and black lacquer (both with white binding) and features DynaSonic pickups in the bridge and neck positions. Tru-Arc bridge matches the radius of the fretboard. Another Gretsch tribute model this year is the Cliff Gallup Signature Duo Jet, which Jeff Beck played at the Observatory concert. It is a replica of Gallup\u2019s 1954 Gretsch Duo Jet and has all the original features such as DynaSonic pickups in bridge and neck positions, rosewood fretboard, compensated aluminum bridge with aluminum base, a Bigsby B3BBST vibrato tailpiece with black painted trough, and fixed arm. The heavily chambered construction makes it extremely light. <\/p>\n

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This year Gretsch also honors AC\/DC\u2019s Malcolm Young with a G6131MY-CS Custom Shop Malcolm Young “Salute” Jet. It is an accurate recreation of Young\u2019s famous No. 1 guitar \u2014 a 1963 Jet Firebird from which Young stripped away the red finish and removed two of the three pickups. It has a double-cutaway chambered mahogany body with maple top, white binding, mahogany set neck, and a 12\u201d-radius ebony fingerboard with a bone nut and 23 medium jumbo frets (including zero fret). The pickup is TV Jones TV Classic at the bridge, wired with three \u201cG-arrow\u201d controls (pickup volume, master volume, and master tone). <\/p>\n

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Kiesel Guitars revealed two unmissable signature guitars this year: Jason Becker JB24 and Greg Howe GH3. The stunning finish of GH3 is what catches attention first in this 24-fret bolt-neck guitar. The clas- sic Kiesel Bolt guitar concept has been improved here with Hipshot\u2122 hardtail bridge. The guitar body is alder and the neck is Eastern hardrock maple with tung oil finish, inline headstock, 2-way adjustable truss rod and dual carbon-fiber rods for additional stability. The fingerboard is ebony, 14\u201d radius. With pickups the options are three S60A single-coil pickups; optional Kiesel Lithium single coils; or optional Seymour Duncan Little ’59 mini-humbucker.<\/p>\n

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Greg Howe gathered a large audience this year not only at the Kiesel booth but also with his performance at DV Mark which the fans could hear through wireless headphones. This meant a superb listening experience while not interfering with the goings-on at neighboring booths. <\/p>\n

Howe\u2019s signature DV Mark DV LITTLE GH 250 amp produces both clean and distorted tones from the two channels with separate controls. The head is extremely portable (2.6 kg in weight) but offers enough power and headroom to suit big stages. The amp also features an onboard reverb and an FX loop to interface with external effects. <\/p>\n

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The Jason Becker Kiesel signature guitar is another stunner this year. The JB24 is a new version of the “Numbers” guitar Becker designed but was never fully produced. \u201cBecause of the widespread acclaim of Carvin Guitars’ JB200C Jason Becker Tribute Guitar,\u201d says the Kiesel website, \u201cand our long relationship with Jason, creating a new and improved version of this well-known but seldom-seen guitar was a logical step for the Custom Shop.\u201d JB24 features swamp ash body with tung oil finish, tung-oiled hard rock maple neck with maple 14\u201d radius fingerboard, 2-way adjustable truss rod and dual carbon-fiber rods, premium Carvin Guitars locking tuners, and Seymour Duncan pickups: SH-2n in the neck position, STK-S7 in the middle, and Becker Signature Perpetual Burn in the bridge position.<\/p>\n

With so much going on at various guitar booths, it was still impossible to overlook the major change introduced by Fender for 2017. Fender\u2019s new American Professional series is replacing American Standard. Some of these guitars and basses are already in use by musicians such as Duff McKagan and Dhani Harrison. All instruments in the new series are handcrafted in the U.S. and include new Stratocaster, Telecaster, Precision Bass and Jazz bass guitars, as well as new models \u2014 Tele Deluxe, Jaguar, and Jazzmaster. The launch includes 16 models and 92 SKUs in 11 colors. Prices range from $1,399.99 to $1,599.99. <\/p>\n

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Another surprise from Fender is a line-up of limited-edition Exotic Collection guitars in uncommon tonewoods sourced from unexpected places, such as, for example, the Buckstaff Furniture Company in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The series include Malaysian Blackwood Tele- caster 90; American Professional Pine Stratocaster, Jazzmaster, and Telecasters; and the American Professional Mahogany Tele Deluxe ShawBucker. <\/p>\n

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Over in the amplifier land, Laney Amplification made waves by announcing a Tony Iommi LA100BL amplifier, LA412 cab and a TI-Boost pedal. Both the amp and the pedal are recreations of Iommi\u2019s original amp he used on the first Black Sabbath album. The amp is all hand wired point-to-point and has a hand-drilled turret board and an original box frame output transformer. The controls are gain one, gain two, treble, middle, bass and presence. The pedal features more functions than the original, with a drive and volume control, low and high frequencies, and a mid switch. <\/p>\n

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\"\"The Engl booth also saw plenty of star action with Marty Friedman presenting his signature amp head, the Inferno. It\u2019s a 100W head with four EL34 valves and four ECC 83 pre-amp tubes, two channels (each with a gain boost switch and a bright switch) and a noise gate onboard. “The sound I got on the Inferno album was done with a combination of the Engl Special Edition, Powerball, Steve Morse Signature and the Invader amps,\u201d says Friedman. \u201cThe Engl engineers analyzed what I was and wasn’t using from each of these amps to get those monster tones, and they created a ‘Frankenstein’ out of those amps customized to the types of tones I like to use.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Greg Howe signature amp was not the only attraction at the DV Mark booth this year. The Kiko Loureiro multiamp won approval by the Megadeth guitarist who praised its tone, dynamic response, effects, and 500W power. The amp offers a diverse range of soundscapes defecting Loureiro\u2019s wide vocabulary of genres, sonic tones, and timbres. <\/p>\n

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Another success at this year\u2019s NAMM was the new Sonzera series by PRS Guitars, which features Sonzera 50 Watt Combo, Sonzera 50 Watt Head and Sonzera 20 Watt Combo. Each model has a clean and lead channel with independent controls producing a wide range of tones from clean to overdrive. The 3D clean channel generates a variety of \u201cchimey\u201d tones, while the lead channel offers a bigger punch. The lead channel\u2019s circuit allows to set it up like a boosted clean channel and tone controls can also be tweaked to make the channels sound like two different amplifiers. Says Chris Robertson of Blackstone Cherry: \u201cI ended up recording the entire new Kentucky album with the amp.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Far from being just a giant showcase for the newest music technology, NAMM also enables musicians, engineers, and producers to learn more about integrating it into their daily work. NAMM\u2019s TEC Tracks Sessions provided full solid 4 days of 70 lectures, seminars, and demonstrations on sound technology, studio production, and live sound with the biggest industry names appearing as keynote speakers. <\/p>\n

Legendary producer Eddie Kramer (Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin) held his Mix With The Masters session on January 20 from a professional mixing studio set up right on the main exhibition floor. <\/p>\n

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The prestigious NAMM TEC Awards which annually celebrates the best in professional audio and sound production, took place on January 21 honoring producer Jack Douglas with a Hall of Fame induction. Douglas was the producer behind the Aerosmith classic album Toys in the Attic. So it was only fitting that Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry performed on the night, together with his Aerosmith bandmate Brad Whitford, and his Hollywood Vampires bandmates Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp. <\/p>\n

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Opportunities to network and to keep up to date on all the latest industry developments were also provided during lectures and seminars at the NAMM Idea Center in the ground floor lobby. With topics ranging over subjects such as social media marketing, video storytelling, building a fan base on YouTube, and even hit songwriting strategies, these sessions proved to be an invaluable addition to the educational aspect of NAMM. <\/p>\n

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While during daytime NAMM attendees are busy working and learning, the organizers are making sure that evenings remain reserved for fun and great live music. On day one the Nissan NAMM Grand Plaza Stage hosted Richie Sambora and Orianthi, then on Friday night, the NAMM Foundation\u2019s Celebration for Music Education welcomed former centerfielder for the New York Yankees and Turnaround Arts music education advocate, Bernie Williams, and his All-Star Band. And on Saturday, The NAMM Foundation and The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus presented Ronnie Spector and The Ronettes. <\/p>\n

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Always a hugely successful event, both for domestic and international participants, the NAMM show continues to be the unmissable one-stop meeting point for the popular music industry not only to do business, but to strike friendships, establish new contacts, and create networks between artists, technology innovators, journalists, educators, and retailers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alissa Ordabai – Sr. Columnist — Commerce, artistry, and technology come together every year in Anaheim, CA for the world\u2019s biggest annual music industry event. As if to prove that popular music remains the […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":53795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6971],"tags":[12150,13047,11925,12606,10594,10603,69,10636,13046,13048,738,13045,757,340,13044],"class_list":{"0":"post-53745","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-main-articles","8":"tag-12150","9":"tag-anaheim","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-ernie-ball","12":"tag-esp","13":"tag-fender","14":"tag-george-lynch","15":"tag-greg-howe","16":"tag-january-19-22","17":"tag-laney","18":"tag-marty-friedman","19":"tag-report","20":"tag-steve-morse","21":"tag-steve-vai","22":"tag-the-namm-show"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}