Introduction
[Jan 22nd 6pm] We’re headed to Anaheim California tonight for the 2019 NAMM show. As long as we can get a cell signal, we’ll be pinging back here with all the latest news and updates as the musical instrument industry unveils its 2019 offerings.
Sunday, Jan 27th 11am
MXR Dookie and Billy Gibbons
We mentioned them back on Tuesday but we got to see these limited runs first hand today.
MXR stuffed Billie Joe Armstrong’s iconic modded JCM800 Marshall Plexi tone into a Stompbox and wrapped it in Green Day’s iconic “Dookie” album art. This run is limited to 2,000 globally and is more than halfway sold out from what we hear. We’re taking pre-orders over the phone and on the website. The Billy Gibbons Siete Santos Octavio Fuzz is the Hendrix Octavio fuzz circuit plus a seven band EQ and killer Billy Gibbons pinstripe artwork. This is going to be a hit.
Green Day Dookie Drive
Billy Gibbons Siete Santos Octavio Fuzz
Chase Bliss Bloops and wins Best of Namm
Blooper: What is the Blooper? Honestly, we’re not 100% sure. It’s a looper but that doesn’t do it any justice. Best we can tell from what we heard (or couldn’t hear), this is a looper without limits. An open source platform capable of growing and expanding to meet the needs of the designers and players. Regardless, we want one.
Automatone Prototype: This collaboration with Benson Amps won a Best of NAMM award and deservedly so. A killer looking, feeling, sounding pre-amp - with flying faders. Come on, the faders move on their own. Enough said.
Keeley Launches 4 New Pedals
Keeley isn’t messing around this year with four new releases announced at the show. Synth, delay, drive, flange, verb and fuzz across 4 new designs:
Synth 1 Signal Triggered Wave Generator
Eccos Vintage Tape Flanged Delay
DDR Drive/Delay/Reverb
Fuzz Bender Three Transistor Hybrid Fuzz
Saturday, Jan 26th 7pm
Dunlop X Pendleton Straps
Dunlop has partnered with Pendleton for a series of limited-edition guitar straps and they caught our eye in the NAMM booth immediately. Since 1863, Pendleton has been manufacturing textiles in the United States for fashion and function, particularly from wool. There are five straps in the series, two are thick wool and three are a little more lightweight. Coming soon to Russo Music
Fuzzrocious Releases two new "Jawns"
Knob Jawn Octave nerds are going to love this pedal that combines digital and analog octave effects with a giant mix knob in the middle.
Saturday, Jan 26th 4pm
Caroline Releases the Somersault & Megabyte
We don't have all of the details yet, but both of these pedals are are a slice of Lo-Fi heaven. Stay tuned for a deeper dive into the latest creations from Caroline Guitars.
Ernie Ball VP Jr Tuner Pedal
Falling right into the “Why didn’t I think of that?” category, Ernie Ball is releasing an addition to their popular volume pedal line. This new design engages a digital tuner on the footboard when you roll down to 0. The screen is sized well enough to see when standing on stage. When you roll the volume in, the screen switches to show your volume digitally so you can replicate settings in the future without the guesswork.
Saturday, Jan 26th 10am
New From Korg
Additions to Volca Line
The Volca line is getting two new members to the family, Volca Drum and Volca Modular two perfect additions to this powerful line of little synths.
The Minilogue XD
The Minilogue XD takes all the bests parts of the Minilogue you know and love and stuffs ‘em in the same size box with the best features from Prologue, all for $619.99
Friday, Jan 25th 7pm
Martin Guitars
Modern Deluxe
Martin takes the classics and gives ‘em just a hair of modern treatment. Key features include carbon fiber bridge plate reinforcement, titanium truss rod, liquid metal bridge pins to name a few. The top and bracing are VTS spec, which previously was not available until you get into the “Authentic” line. All this in a package that looks and sounds like the classic Martins you love.
Martin Sailor Jerry Guitars
Martin partnered with Sailor Jerry to create some wonderfully ornate guitars as a tribute to the tattoo legend, or maybe to a modern rum company? Either way, these must take a while to make
Orange New Releases
Orange dropped two new releases just before the show and pedal nerds are going to be way excited. The Pedal Baby 100 is a true Class A/B Power Amp with 100 watts of headroom that can fit in your carry on for $399!
The Tremlord is the cleanest amp in Orange history. Two wattage settings, “Bedroom” and “Headroom” can handle your whole pedalboard without turning into a mushy mess. High Five for the killer new icons as well, including the trem depth control icon which naturally is a shark fin. Both land in February. Taking Pre-Orders now.
Friday, Jan 25th 4pm
Alternate Reality Series
For those that missed the Moderne last year, and anyone else with a proclivity towards the far-out this series includes a 12-string and a tenor Telecaster as well as a few other stretches of the imagination. Coming later this year.
Light Ash Series
A Jazz Bass, a Telecaster, and a Stratocaster all walk into a bar…This limited series of three guitars – Telecaster, Stratocaster, and Jazz Bass - boasts light ash bodies, all close to or under 7lbs.
Friday, Jan 25th 2pm
Chris Stapleton 62 Princeton
Finally, a Brownface Fender amp back in the line! And with the blessing of Chris Stapelton? We’ll take it. The trem sounds incredible and it comes with a killer cover as well.
Thursday, Jan 24th 6pm
Taylor Guitar
Taylor NAMM Limited Editions
Every year Taylor creates a few limited-edition models for dealers that attend the Winter NAMM Show. This year's offerings did not disappoint. Coming to the stores soon will be a 914ce with Sinker Redwood over Rosewood, 614ce with Torrified Sitka Spruce over quilted maple in a Desert Sunburst and finally, a 414ce with Sitka Spruce over Black Limba with a shaded edgeburst on the back and sides.
Taylor 914ce
Taylor 614ce
Taylor 414ce
Taylor Grand Pacific Updates
We got to play through the entire Grand Pacific line yesterday including the Builder’s Editions. We are very impressed with the almost “organ-like” tones this round shoulder has to offer. Very excited to see that it comes with a unique “tooled-leather” influenced hard-shell case.
Taylor Grand Concert Gets the V-Class Treatment
Very pleased to see that the Grand Concert Series will be the next to get the V-Class Treatment. Upgraded “12” models will be shipping soon.
LR Baggs Align Series Grows
LR Baggs has added two new pedals – Chorus and Delay - to the popular Align Series designed for acoustic guitar players
Mesa Boogie California Tweed
Meanwhile, back home, Mesa Boogie has announced a new line of amps called California Tweed. Check out the details here
New Gibson Acoustic Models
We have a lot more facetime with Gibson tomorrow, but we did buzz through the booth yesterday and the energy was incredible. Fans and employees alike were in great spirits. A quick chat with the acoustic division brought some very exciting news. Coming this year, we can expect to see USA-made solid wood models two solid wood models with nitrocellulose finish at incredible price points between $999 and $1299.
Reverend Greg Koch Signature Models
If you were at our Reverend event in the fall with Greg Koch, you got to see the prototype for his signature guitar. This mighty axe is built around a slightly oversized T-style body with a raised center and comes loaded with Koch’s signature Fishman Fluence Gristle Tone Pickups.
Thursday, Jan 24th 1pm
Gamechanger Audio Pedals now In-Stock
We were lucky enough to meet up with our European friends from Gamechanger Audio today and it just so happens that our first order arrived in the shop around the same time! The Plasma is a unique beast that creates it's distortion with high voltage discharges that you can see in all their glory right through the front of the pedal and the Plus is way more than just a standard sustain. This is a team of dedicated tinkerers that we are happy to bring onboard.
Wednesday, Jan 23nd 8pm
Fender Custom Shop Event
The Annual Fender Custom Shop Pre-NAMM event is packed to the gills with dealers from all over the world hoping for a chance to bring amazing limited and one-off guitars back to their stores. After boarding a plane in NJ at 6am to come out to the coast, we ran out of gas before they drew all the winners but we did stick around long enough to see this Chocolate Sunburst Tele is coming back to Russo Music
Fender Jimmy Page Telecasters
We also got first glances at the production models of the Fender Jimmy Page Telecasters. One has the mirror motif and the other has the dragon motif. Both are on order and landing mid-summer and we will be taking pre-orders soon.
Taylor Custom Shop Event
Taylor hosts a Custom Shop Event every year where dealers get a chance to win some one off and limited custom shop guitars. As per usual, we’re happy to throw our hat in the ring for a chance to bring home some exotic-wood beauties. Check out some highlights of that event and fingers crossed we have some great stuff coming to Russo Music. We also got our first strums on the new Grand Pacific Series. We’re very impressed and will be diving deeper into that today. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, Jan 23nd 4pm
Taylor Announces the new Grand Pacific Series
Taylor continues paving their innovative path through the Builder’s Edition – this year with an entirely new series of guitar, the Grand Pacific. These guitars add So-Cal flare and Taylor craftsmanship to the round shoulder dreadnought design – featuring a new thick-C Taylor neck shape, Wild Honey Burst as a finish option, and three models to start – 317, 517, and 717.
The Rever has returned!
After an overwhelming success of its initial production run, Datachoir and Old Blood Noise Endeavors’ collaborative effort – the Rever, a modulated delay/reverb with momentary reverse function – is available again! This is – once again – a limited batch, so get your hands on one while you can. You can’t reverse time, after all!
Tuesday, Jan 22nd 12 pm
Fender Goes for the Gold with the Brand New American Acoustasonic Telecaster
Acoustic. Electric. Everything in Between. The Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster is a true hollow acoustic guitar with a spruce top and a mahogany back and sides and is loaded with Fishman magnetic and sensor pickups to create a massive sonic pallet. This fantastic guitar couples the comfort of a Telecaster neck coupled with a soft arm contour you might expect from a boutique acoustic guitar. Available 1/24/2019 in stores and online. Check ‘em out!
American Acoustasonic Telecasters
MXR Launches 2 New Limited Edition Signature Pedals
Green Day Dookie Drive: Someone finally stuffed Billie Joe Armstrong’s epic Marshall Plexi tone into a stompbox. 2,000 pieces of iconic punk rock tone available for pre-order now.
Siete Santos Octavio Fuzz: The Jimi Hendrix Octavio Fuzz Circuit gets the Billy Gibbons treatment inside and out with a 7 band EQ and a killer pinstripe paint job. 500 pcs coming in March(ish), available for pre-order now.
Strymon Launches Volante Magnetic Echo Machine
Beautifully designed and engineered, Strymon effects are undoubtedly some of the most coveted stomp boxes on the planet. The latest offering from the California manufacturer hit stores yesterday. Imagine all the controls you would ever want over a tape delay machine, then throw in a ton more stuff. In stock as of me typing this, possibly all gone by the time you click it.