NAMM 2012 Coverage

DAY 3: Final Day!

Sadly today is the last day at NAMM for Lisa and I, but we got to check out some pretty sweet gear anyways!

Tama has 3 new finishes in their Silverstar line, these are limited editions, only 88 of each drumset being produced!

They also have a new “Hairline Copper” and “Hairline Black” finishes in their entry level Imperial Star Drumset.

We’ll be getting these in as soon as they’re available! The Silverstar’s are priced the same as the regular ones even for the LIMITED EDITION!

Everyone who plays LAG guitars falls in love with LAG guitars! We are going to be seeing some of the T400 series (their top-of-the line guitars) as well as the 100′s 200′s and 300′s!

Lag, designed in France, is one of the largest growing acoustic guitar companies in the world and has one numerous dealer’s choice awards since it’s introduction 2 years ago.

If you haven’t played one, stop in today! WE HAVE SOME NOW!

Lisa and I got the privileged of seeing George Benson release his new signature guitar! Though we probably won’t see these guitars at Spotts (they sale for over $4000.00!) It was still an AWESOME event! Only 100 people were allowed to view the show (and out of the 100 only about 50 were actually present.)

Lisa got to shake his hand, although I think he was a little more excited to meet Lisa We’ll be putting up an exclusive You Tube video at soon showing the demonstration!

So that’s it, the show is over, my feet/legs/ears hurt, but we had an AMAZING TIME! If you have any questions at all about the show feel free to email me at mark.kephart@gmail.com and I’ll def. get back to you!

From all the individual sales reps and our new/old friends in the music business, have an AMAZING 2012 and keep rocking out and making music!

Stay tuned for some cool new things coming that we didn’t talk about this weekend, we are REALLY REALLY REALLY excited about the new stuff coming soon!

-Mark and Lisa

DAY 2

With another 12 hour day in the books, There are SO many things I’d love to talk about, but I’ll have to narrow it down to a select few…

*From yesterday’s feedback, apparently the pictures were too small, so I made bigger ones today.

Fender Pawn Shop is a SWEET little thang called the Greta! This little 2 watt head sounds amazing and will be perfect for home/studio use! Also, stay tuned at Spotts for some new acoustics that will be floating in (some pictured here, some not!).

The bang for the buck is incredible on these guys!

Fender also has come out with some pretty sweet accessories!

They want to provide the same mentality to their strings, picks, wall hangers, guitar stands, cables, straps, etc. as they have to their amps and guitar lines!

This stuff should be arriving soon!

Their new wall hanger is incredible, has a scratch proof shield that protects your guitar from falling from the wall.

To talk about what’s new from Ibanez would take all night, and lets face it, I need some sleep. From affordable Joe Satriani/Steve Vai signature guitars to sick new metal designs and everything in between. There is definately something for everyone.

Hagstrom has decided to create  a line of electrics that are MADE IN EUROPE! Old Hagstrom fans will be ecstatic!

Last but not least, Don’t ever get into a starring contest with Mick Thompson (from Slipknot)… it doesn’t end very well….

Enjoy the night!

-Mark

DAY 1

The day started out with a trip to the Ernie Ball booth to see what the buzz was all about in regards to this “new string”. They’ve decided to try a new metal in a new series of guitar strings! Cobalt, being a more magnetic metal, will enable the strings to respond “better” to the pickups in your electric guitar. These are going to be something every guitarist will want to try out, and they have them in all the same original gauges as well as bass strings!

At the Peavey booth, we were introduced to a brand new concept when it comes to guitars. Partnering with Antares (the company who does “auto-tune” and makes all the pop stars sing on key…) teamed up to design a completely innovative product. This guitar TUNES ITSELF. No motors, no actually turning of the strings, you literally turn on the guitar, strum it, and hit a button and it’s in tune. This is a completely new technology and is pretty dang amazing to see in person. Though it won’t be available for a few months, it was something I thought everyone would love to know about!

It seems like the reoccurring theme at Namm this year is technology, innovation, and how quickly it’s escalating in the music industry. So we decided to check out “Composite Acoustics” a high-end acoustic guitar line that makes guitars completely out of carbon fiber. Now, I’m an acoustic player at heart, so when I hear of a guitar that isn’t made out of wood, my initial thought is “they must be lacking some tone.” BOY WAS I WRONG! In a sound proof booth, listening to the sheer volume and tone of this instrument, I don’t just want one, I NEED ONE. To have an acoustic that you NEVER have to worry about setting the neck, NEVER have to worry about humidity, NEVER have to worry about temperature, just blows my mind! The neck feels better than most high-end electrics when comparing playability. The dream of having a high-quality camp fire guitar is finally a reality… Again, an item that is out a few months, but It’s too cool to keep a secret.

Digitech has a new ridiculous pedal available. The “I-stomp.” This thing is ridiculous. If you have an Ipad or an Iphone you will want to have this pedal. Basically, you decide on your Apple device, what kind of pedal you want it to be (and there are a TON of them) and then you (with the cable provided) download the info to the pedal. Disconnect your ipad/iphone and you have whichever pedal you decided you wanted! Want a delay for an acoustic show? Downloaded, Done. Want that same pedal to be a heavy metal distortion pedal for your show the next night? Downloaded, Done.

We saw a ton of cool things today that didn’t make this post (I know, I’m probably being Lazy, but it’s been a 12 hour day, cut me some slack!!!!) We’ll be back with another post tomorrow!

Ps. I shook Stevie Wonders hand. Was a pretty amazing feeling. -Mark