Your InSync Team has returned from the heady clamor of the NAMM Show floor to bring you this third installment of the NAMM Report. As always we’ve gone to great lengths to bring you the finest Winter NAMM 2002 has to offer, so without further preamble. . .
Extreme guitar effects coolness was going on at the DigiTech booth, where they were taking their new GNX3 Guitar Workstation out for a test run. The GNX3 is a real step up from the power and flexibility of the GNX1 and GNX2 – and those processors were no slouches, either. Aside from containing all the great features of the two previous models, the GNX3 includes a “patch mode,” letting you use two entirely different presets simultaneously. You can assign these presets to your left and right output for incredibly rich stereo sound or use the expression pedal to crossfade between two presets. The GNX3 contains 80 user presets and 80 factory supplied with seven footswitches the user has access to all effects and presets at a moments notice.
Of course, when it comes to guitar sounds, no one does it quite like Line 6. This year, they were taking their standard-setting guitar amp modeling to a whole new level with their new device, GuitarPort. Listen carefully: GuitarPort is a unique combination of hardware and software tools that will connect your guitar and PC in a way you’ve never imagined before. Ten impeccable amp models, based on classics like a ’53 Fender Wide Panel Deluxe or a ’94 Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, cover a huge spectrum of inspiring tones. GuitarPort’s built-in audio player lets you jam along with your favorite CDs and MP3s, but that’s just the beginning. Get this: with the optional GuitarPort Online Service, you get hundreds of classic killer tracks recorded in the world’s top studios. These are classic, recognized tracks you grew up loving; some of them may have inspired you to pick up the guitar and become a musician in the first place. On the GuitarPort Online Service, these tracks have had the guitar removed from the mix, giving you the opportunity to step into the shoes of your favorite guitarist! The backing performers aren’t just anonymous studio musicians, either. Imagine playing Hendrix tunes with original Band of Gypsies members Billy Cox and Buddy Miles, tracked in New York with Eddie Kramer himself at the board. It’s possible with GuitarPort! Also very cool – each track’s setup includes the appropriate amp model, right down to the actual settings used on the original! The GuitarPort Online hosts an ever-expanding library of excellent, memorable music.
If all this new guitar effects technology is making your head swirl and you’re longing for the days when a guitar was a guitar and an amp was an amp and everything knew its place, you’ll dig what was going on at the Gibson booth. In a move that’s sure to raise a few eyebrows, this seminal guitar manufacturer has “changed” their Les Paul Standard. We can hear you now: “Changed their Les Paul Standard?! How can you change a ‘standard’? The world makes no sense to me anymore.” Actually, what Gibson did was go back to the original 50s model and made the Les Paul Standard even more authentic. Now it looks and sounds even more like the original, with aged nickel hardware instead of chrome for that 50s sound. Available in several different colors and neck styles, the LP Standard features a single-bound figured maple top, solid mahogany back and neck, and a single-bound, 22-fret rosewood fingerboard with pearl inlays.Alesis was definitely back in a big way, demonstrating a couple of cool new pieces of gear. If you’ve wanted 96k for your HD24 hard disk recorder, the EC-2 is an absolute must-have upgrade option. The EC-2 96kHz A/D/A converter board upgrade option for the HD24 incorporates state-of-the-art 24-bit analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters capable of greater than 110dB dynamic range and providing ultra-low distortion, even at nominal sample rates of 44.1kHz and 48kHz. Fully balanced analog I/O is provided on 1/4″ TRS jacks. When installed, the EC-2 will replace the current converter boards in the HD24 with new boards capable of recording and playing back twelve channels of audio at nominal sample rates of 96kHz and 88.2kHz, as well as 24 channels of audio at standard sample rates of 44.1kHz and 48kHz. So if you’re looking for the cleanest sound possible out of your HD24, you’ll love the EC-2!
But perhaps even cooler is the PicoVerb, a reverb and effects unit the size of a graham cracker with the power and punch of a tank! The sound you get out of this tiny thing will knock you over. Designed for the budget-minded (not that there’s anything remotely “budget-minded” about the sound), the PicoVerb offers 16 multi-effects presets including chorus, flange, delay, chorus/reverb, rotary speaker simulator, and more; and 24-bit analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion.
This concludes the third installment of the NAMM Report. Coverage continues tomorrow in Part Four! Please join us.