Summer NAMM 2000 Report
Part 7
Guitars, guitar stuff, and analog synth funkiness in Part 7 of the Summer NAMM 2000 Report. This is the seventh and final installment of our NAMM report for this summer. You can find the entire report complete with photographs on our Web site in the Publications section.
GIBSON: Four cool new signature electric guitars at the Gibson booth to tell you about. The first: legendary guitarist Gary Moore of Thin Lizzy gets his own Gibson, a Les Paul standard with “Lemon Burst” finish ($2876). Being a huge fan of early Fleetwood Mac maestro Peter Green, the Gary Moore signature guitar is designed accordingly, with a custom pickup set near the neck. The pickup has been set in backwards, giving this axe a distinctive sound, blusey yet blistering. It’s a limited edition of only 1250 models. Second up is an electric bass bearing the signature of Nikki Sixx ($2604), bassist/songwriter for rock monsters Motley Crue. It’s a Thunderbird bass in a “faded” black color, with a sort of thumb rest on the bottom – apparently, Mr. Sixx plays low on the strings, and the thumb rest lets you hold the bass for better balance during stage antics. But the coolest thing about it is that there’s no tone and no volume knobs on the instrument. There’s just a kill switch – all you really need to rock like it’s 1989. The pick guard has an engraving of the Maltese cross. The third signature electric guitar from Gibson belongs in the “it’s-so-obvious-why-hasn’t-anyone-done-this-before” category. It’s the Angus Young signature SG ($2840). Featuring an especially hot pickup in the bridge position, the Angus Young Signature SG features a typically rock n’ roll approach to special edition guitars; a caricature of Angus (with devil horns) appears on the head of the guitar instead of the name. Angus’ signature is engraved on the silver tailpiece. The Angus Young Gibson SG has a run of 1400 copies. The last Gibson signature electric is another SG, an extra-special guitar commemorating rock legend Pete Townsend. The Pete Townsend SG ($4600) is based on the ’68 model that Pete played at Woodstock and used on the monumental “Live At Leeds” album, and comes in an exclusive heavy-duty flight case. This guitar has a run of 250 units. Each unit comes complete with a hand-signed and hand-stamped certificate of authenticity, with Pete’s signature replicated on the back of each individually numbered headstock.
Don’t worry, guitarists. It wasn’t all special editions and limited runs at Gibson. For those of you who like to make an impression on the eyes as well as the ears of your audience while you’re kicking out the jams, the all new line of Gibson “Sparkle Tops” will surely please. The new colors are an emerald Green, a deep, rich Blue, and a bright Diamond ($3837 each). The Green guitar boasts gold hardware while the Diamond and Blue have chrome. Anyone who likes a little flare will definitely appreciate these guitars; under the stage lights they are REALLY dazzling.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Gibson’s line of MasterBuilt “J” Series acoustic guitars, as unpretentious yet musically rich as they come. They run the gamut in price, from the somewhat expensive reissues like the SJ-200 reissue model to the more affordable J-200. What makes these instruments such a good thing for musicians of all budgets is that a decrease in price does not signify a decrease in quality. All the guitars are made with the same excellent materials, fine woods, and detailed craftsmanship; it’s just that Gibson has done away with all the “frills” and extra features on the more affordable models. Keep your eye out for these Masterbuilt acoustics.
LINE 6: And along came a cool amp from the increasingly visible Line 6. They were showing off the Spider Series of combo amps, the Spider 212 ($899), the Spider 210 ($699) and the Spider 112 ($599). All these amps had 6 amp models and 4 user programmable channels, with Smart Control FX giving you fast and easy control of all the essential guitar effects. These combos are extremely lightweight and compact, yet can kick loud enough for your gig. An optional floor board gives you an expanded channel memory (up to 12 channels), Wah and volume pedals, effects On/Off control, and a chromatic tuner. How do the models sound? Brilliant!
It seems like only yesterday Line 6 brought renewed vigor and life to the rhythm section by releasing the Bass Pod. Now comes the Bass Pod Pro ($799), a rackmount version of the bass player’s new best friend. It features 16 bass amp models, 15 bass cabinet models, 24-bit digital outputs, and a whole tone of other cool stuff. Very versatile, and the sounds are excellent.
Finally, there’s the Flextone II HD ($1449), a stereo head for your Flextone II amps. Actually, this isn’t strictly new, just recent, but bears looking into because… well, because it’s a big, freakin’ monster that can’t be ignored. 300 watts of power. 300 WATTS! That’s pretty… well, loud. But if it were just some Neanderthal of an amp we wouldn’t be going on about it. The truth is, it’s a darn good amp, especially for performance, and via Line 6’s ToneTransfer feature, perfectly delivers the different tones and sounds of the Line 6 amp modelers. It’s capable of much more than blowing your ears off. Though it’ll do that, too.
CLAVIA: They unleashed the Nord Lead 3 ($2600), their latest “virtual analog” synth. The Nord Lead 3 features many upgrades from previous models, including an expanded polyphony – 20 voices, making it capable of some extremely fat n’juicy sounds. It also boasts a new interface that looks even better than previous units. It’s practically bristling with rotary knobs for fine tuning your sound. An LCD replaces the old LED display. A new Morph function lets you control defined ranges of up to 26 parameters in a sound, using a single control source, which means you can changes your sound very quickly and smoothly.
Another new instrument was the Nord Electro ($2000). They didn’t have a working unit available, but according to what they told us it’s a 61-note keyboard that will deliver astounding reproductions of classic electromechanical keyboards, like the B-3, for example. The object was to make a compact, portable keyboard ideal for performance, and if it sounds good will be a big help to those lugging their own gear around.
RAXXESS: Next time someone asks what you’re going to do with all that noisy rack gear, tell them you know just where to put it. The IsoRaxx cabinet ($1299) is an excellent – and very organized – way to reduce gear noise in the studio. Essentially, it’s a wheeled cabinet with a clear front panel of Lexan. Inside are shock-mounted rack rails and 1″ acoustical wedge foam lining. Variable speed fans keep your gear cool while a rear panel provides unlimited access and cable passage, plus power distribution. The woodwork is absolutely beautiful too – it would look like a nice piece of furniture in any studio.
OVATION: They had several new models of their distinctive roundback acoustics to show us, including an Adamas SMT with a grey carbon graphite top for a sleek, smooth look. Another version of the Adamas featured a woven graphite top of cobalt blue. The look on this instrument was very interesting, almost a sort of 3-D, holographic look to the soundboard. Of course, what counts is the sound, and like all Adamas guitars the tones were bright and punchy with great sustain. They also had an Adamas Special Edition guitar honoring the Adamas guitar’s favorite daughter Melissa Etheridge. Etheridge has used Ovation acoustics throughout her career, and the Melissa Etheridge Adamas ($2295) is a 12-string guitar with a striking sunburst finish and carbon fiber soundboard. The electronics on the Melissa Etheridge instrument feature the complete Optima system with flexible EQ, anti-feedback notch filter and an on-board chromatic tuner.
Okay, that’s it. The official NAMM report is complete. As we’ve said with nauseating repetition, we know we didn’t get everything. We’ll be following up in future inSync editions with more information and fallout from the show. Until then you can find this complete report in our publications area with photos.