NAMM Report, Part Four!

Summer NAMM, Part Four.

J. D’Addario has a couple of new products to make guitar/bass player’s lives just a little easier.  The new Chordmaster is a wonderful pocket size unit with 4500 chords in memory, and it even takes care of the southpaws out there by displaying left handed fingerings as well.  Incredibly simple to use, just choose a root note for your chord on the touchscreen display, and pick which chord you desire from its amazing list. Available immediately for the low price of $39.95, it should be every player’s best friend!

Also available right now from J. D’Addario are the Pro-Winder and Bass Pro-Winder. What could possibly be cool about string winders you ask?  Well not only are they ergonomically designed for great looks and comfort of use, they are an all-in-one tool that also includes wirecutters for your convenience.  Retail $12.99.

Epiphone rolled out some real ‘beauts at the show, each with some of the funkiest body styles we’ve seen. The Apollo, Moderne, Futura, and Comet take their cues from both vintage 50’s and the ultra-mod look of the late 90’s. While these new axes will certainly take you back to bygone eras, they’ll only set you back around $1,700 greenbacks — not bad, considering this flock are some of the first USA-Made Epiphone guitars released.  Be sure to ask Santa for one of the latest Epiphone looker’s, as they’re due to be released just before December.

The Slasher, another recent development from Epiphone, is a tricked-out “Firebird” style guitar with a twist — on-board effects processors. Slasher comes with built-in Distortion and Chorus, with controls for the overall level of effects.

For those out there that own the Johnson J Station there is a FREE upgrade on their website.  Included with the update are 5 new guitar models and 3 new bass models.  And if that wasn’t enough Johnson also has a new version of its J Edit software for the J Station that is now Macintosh compatible.  And don’t you Mac users worry, it is also a FREE download off of their website.   Get them today.

Korg is still generating a high level of excitement over their ground-breaking KARMA music workstation that they unveiled at last winter’s NAMM show. And rightly so. Sharing the same HI (Hyper Integrated) synthesis technology that was introduced with the popular TRITON sampling workstation, KARMA has become one of the best selling keyboards on the market. Now there’s more good news for KARMA and TRITON enthusiasts with the release of Korg’s new 32 Mbyte, two card expansion set, the EXB-PCM 06/07 Orchestra Collection.  In addition to the 193 PCM multisamples stored on the boards, the collection includes a floppy disc containing 256 programs and 256 combination programs that utilize these samples to their fullest. The disc also includes data for 8 new drum kits and 32 arpeggio patterns. The strings include full 38 piece sections, ensembles and solo instruments, all recorded in stereo, as well as “phrase samples” that include run-ups, flourishes, arpeggios and ensemble phrasing in major and minor keys. Brass, woodwinds and orchestral percussion round out this truly remarkable collection. The EM-1 Electribe M Music Production Station is the latest addition to Korg’s popular Electribe series of groove/synth boxes and is sure to be a hit with those looking to create complete dance tracks quickly and easily. Featuring two synthesizer parts and eight drum parts, the Electribe M has “Motion Sequencing”, a Korg exclusive. This allows you to record actual realtime controller knob movements affecting volume, pan, filter cutoff, filter sweep, etc; up to two Motion Sequences per drum part, or three per synth part to create tracks that really come alive. And of course you can sync all your Electribe modules together by simply connecting them with MIDI cables to create a complete production system.

How do you improve one of the greatest sounding effect processors in the world? Update its software. That is exactly what Lexicon has done for the 960L. Version 2.5 software adds several new algorithms including new multi-channel and stereo delays and 96kHz multi-channel and stereo reverbs. Combining the best of the MPX 100 and several new features providing advanced level of operation is Lexicon’s new MPX 200. This is a fantastic sounding 24-bit dual channel processor that is easy to operate but deep in sonic quality. Digital I/O is the icing on the cake for DAW fanatics.

Line6 was showing off a number of new modeling products to be available before Christmas.  Their new Vetta amp, which carries a price tag of $2399, is available both as a head unit (Vetta HD) with 200 watts of power, or as a combo amp with 2×12″ Celestion speakers.  Both models are able to model 2 amps simultaneously, with 20+ new models available which are even better sounding and more reactive!  Visually the units are much more aggressive with a stunning industrial look, with easier to read LCDs for both studio and stage use, and a graphical display of signal routing. With their available XLR outputs, an expansion slot, and optional FBX foot controller for $599 expect to see Santa looking for lots of these. In addition, Line6 had new rack mount versions of their Echo Pro, Filter Pro, and Mod Pro pedals.  All feature sync to MIDI clock and remapping of the tap functions, the Echo Pro even includes the ability to assign different note values. Look for these closer to Halloween for the frightening low price of $699.

Mackie has been hard at work creating two new active speakers for PA.  The SA1521 has both a 15″ RCF woofer powered by a 400 watt amp, and a RCF titanium compression driver powered by a 100 watt amp for distortion free high power output.  Lots of thought went into this cabinet, with special equalization and time/phase alignment for the drivers, for a wonderfully clear sound, electronic protection, and a trapezoidal shape that is extremely small and very well balanced.  Watch out for this powerhouse by the end of fall for $1199! If that isn’t enough power for you there is the SA1232 with over 1300 total watts available to drive its two 12″ woofers, 6″ midrange, and 1″ compression driver.  Including all the same technology as the SA1521, look for this impressive speaker at the end of fall for $1699.