In order to ease “too much information anxiety,” the GP staff opted not to publish online press releases of the hundreds of products released at NAMM. Instead, Editor in Chief Michael Molenda, Senior Editor Art Thompson, and Associate Editors Matt Blackett, Barry Cleveland, and Jude Gold focused on what they felt were some of the hippest guitar tools unveiled at the show—cool stuff on which GP readers might crave some immediate intel.

In addition to the individual editor’s comments, we have posted the manufacturer’s Web site, as well as any available links to our innovative “LiveFrom NAMM” site. Originally developed by Reality Digital to post real-time photo, video, and text snippets online from concerts, festivals, raves, and other events, the editors of GP, Bass Player, Keyboard, and EQ employed the technology to upload content live from the NAMM show as it all happened. At press time, more than 150,000 hits have been recorded—and that represents a lot of people hungry for new gear news!

So, although the following list is an abbreviated accounting of what debuted at NAMM, obsessive data zealots should not worry. The staff will attempt to review and report on all the new guitar, recording, educational, and live-performance products throughout 2008. For now, here are the gear goodies that initially sparked the enthusiasm of the GP editors.

Ampeg J-20 Jet

By Art Thompson
This natty reissue of Ampeg’s classic 1x12 combo features a super neat handwired circuit, dual 6V6 power tubes, and the pulse-a-licious “Bias Vary” tremolo circuit. Now where’s that Reverberocket? www.ampeg.com

Blackheart Hothead BH100H and Blackheart Killer Ant BH1H

By Art Thompson
The Killer Ant lets you rock out with tough tube tone at whisper volumes thanks to its dual 12AX7s and beefy transformers. The Hothead is 100-watt blaster that packs dual channels and delivers a stout range of happening clean and high-gain tones. Think boutique on the cheap here, as both models are the brainchildren of one of noted tube-amp designer, Pyotr Belov. www.blackhearteng.com

Boss GT-10

By Michael Molenda
Boss is constantly evolving its GT line, and the GT-10 is the latest in its battle-hardened platoon of floor multi-effects processors. I’ve used most of the GTs onstage and in the studio, and while their learning curves can be a bit arcane, they’ve never failed to deliver the goods. Thankfully, the GT-10 offers an intuitive EZ Tone feature that should up the immediacy quotient—as well as the fun factor. It has also traded in its goth black attire for a sleek silver-and-gray chassis, and has been pumped up with more tone-shaping power. www.bossus.com
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Carvin SH550/SH575

By Michael Molenda
Carvin’s semi-hollow workhorse is more like an Arabian stallion—it’s that beautiful. It’s also a model that can entrance sweaty club players in need of a kick-ass electric, as well as sonic adventurers seeking new dimensions of tone. You just have to choose your ride. The SH550 is the plug-and-play model, while the SH575 includes Graph Tech Synth Access electronics—as featured in Carvin’s NS1 model—that puts orchestras, soundtrack pads, and other keyboard and synth sounds at your fingertips. www.carvinguitars.com
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Carvin X100B Series IV

By Michael Molenda
Carvin is celebrating its past by relaunching the X100B amps that debuted in 1982. These babies have gained a fair share of respect throughout the years, and haven’t been available since 1994. The new Series IV line will reportedly offer full- and half-stacks, as well as a 2x12 combo. Official release date is April 1, 2008. www.carvinguitars.com

CoreX2 DIY Cables

By Michael Molenda
Core One’s Ted McCann seems to always be developing cool and whimsical ways to deal with everyday needs. His company’s DIY Kit ensures that custom-cable making is far from a chore. You just cut the cable to the desired length, and screw on the jack. Of course, a few other cable companies also offer simple solutions to personal cable making, so Core upped the fun factor by offering several fabulous jack designs—everything from dice to a grenade to a spark plug and a pistol. You can also buy bulk cable emblazoned with crosses, skulls, and stars. www.coreoneproduct.com
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Creation Audio Labs MW1 Studio Tool

By Barry Cleveland
This amazing gizmo is a DI box, impedance matcher, re-amping tool, signal booster, and more. It also lets you patch your stompboxes into your recording mixer for tracking and mixing. www.creationaudiolabs.com
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Danelectro Cool Cat Pedals

By Jude Gold
Replete with vintage refrigerators and reissue Dano guitars, the Danelectro booth at Winter NAMM ’08 filled its corner of the monstrous Anaheim convention center with a glowing retro vibe. The booth’s soundtrack was enhanced by these nine new Danelectro Cool Cat pedals—all of which have a decidedly non-retro feature (true-bypass switching), and a very retro feature (metal housing). Luckily, the prices are still retro, and almost as low to the ground as the pedals are—$29 and up. Flavors include Distortion, Tremolo, Fuzz, Metal, Transparent Overdrive, Vibe, Chorus, Drive, and Metal II. I didn’t get to test them all, but from what I did hear, you can’t go wrong with the dimensional, prismatic tones of the Vibe, Tremolo, and Transparent Overdrive pedals. www.danelectro.com
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DigiTech HardWire Pedals

By Michael Molenda
The HardWire line of pedals is almost a new division for DigiTech—in fact, you won’t even find the DigiTech name on the super-tough casings. According to DigiTech’s Rob Urry, the HardWire line was based somewhat on the Harley-Davidson model. In other words, these pedals aren’t like consumer-level Honda or Kawasaki motorcycles, and they’re not hand-built, customized Orange County Choppers. What they are, are exquisitely built stage machines that are a cut above the ordinary. The classy, recording-console-style control knobs are much like the giddy wonder of a Harley’s bountiful chrome, and the HardWires’ technical grace is heralded by the line’s high-voltage operation that ensures consistent tone and expanded input headroom. This badass posse includes Stereo Delay, Overdrive, Stereo Chorus, Distortion, Stereo Reverb, Metal Distortion, and Chromatic Tuner models, and every pedal is true bypass. www.digitech.com
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DigiTech Triad Harmony Pedal

By Michael Molenda
Utilizing the technology that DigiTech’s Vocalist line has employed to produce vocal harmonies from a single voice, the Triad brings smart, multiple-harmony generation to guitarists. Now, you can use one guitar to craft something like Brian May’s expansively layered guitar textures, or do the Thin Lizzy dual-lead bit with just your guitar. The Triad is a dual stomper—like DigiTech’s JamMan—that designates the left pedal for Harmony On/Off and key select (hold and strum guitar), and the right pedal for Memory Select and tuner on/off (hold). Vocal harmonies include third, fifth, octave above or below, unison, and detune. www.digitech.com
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DiMarzio D Activator-X

By Matt Blackett
The D Activator-X humbucker from DiMarzio is the latest evolution of their screaming-hot X2N pickup. The D Activator-X boasts similar, meaning insanely high, output but still miraculously cleans up somewhat if you roll your volume control down. Look out! www.dimarzio.com
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Dunlop EVH Wah Wah

By Art Thompson
With its black-and-yellow striping job there’s no mistaking the EVH Wah. The cool stuff happens inside however, as Dunlop painstakingly recreated the exact circuit—including the unique taper of the potentiometer—in Mr. Ed’s actual pedal. The result is a great sounding wah that’s unlike anything you can get anywhere else. www.jimdunlop.com

Duesenberg D-Caster

By Barry Cleveland
Besides being a super high-quality instrument with great tone, the D-Caster sports a small spring-loaded Swell Pot lever that lets you swell the volume or create wah effects manually by pulling it upwards toward the strings. Zounds! www.duesenberg.de
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Duesenberg Multibender

By Barry Cleveland
This incredibly cool device (reminiscent of a Bigsby Palm Pedal) literally puts the two main pedals on a pedal-steel guitar in the palm of your hand. It fits on Fender Telecasters and several Duesenberg models, as well as being standard hardware on the company’s new Lap Steel. www.duesenberg.de

Egnater Tourmaster Amps

By Barry Cleveland
The Tourmaster is a highly versatile 100-watt tube amplifier available as the Tourmaster 4100 head or the Tourmaster 4212 2x12 combo. Its four channels are actually independent amps, and you can vary the output power level for each channel via the unique Power Grid switching system. www.egnater.com

Electro-Harmonix Holy Stain

By Michael Molenda
Not for the faint of heart, the Holy Stain can combine reverb, pitch shifting, and tremolo with drive and fuzz. All of the effects are interactive, as well, so even minute knob twists can elicit spasms of weird wonderment. This is one of those pedals that inspires new sounds, new songs, and new ways to disturb left-brain-controlled zombies. Hooray! www.ehx.com

Electratone No. 1

By Michael Molenda
Who doesn’t dig choices? The No. 1 serves up three separate effect modules, each with three different flavors of roar (distortion, fuzz, and overdrive), and dedicated Gain, Tone, and Volume controls. The analog, true-bypass multi-pedal also includes a speaker-simulated direct output, and a handy Boost control that kicks out up to 20dB of gain. It’s built like a tank, and kind of priced like one, too, with a $699 retail. But there’s definitely something going on here if you’re a fuzz fanatic, overdrive overlord, or distortion despot. www.electratone.net
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EMG-81TW & EMG-707TW

By Jude Gold
EMG’s flagship 81 active humbucker is now available as the EMG-81TW. This new configuration delivers the same full-sounding humbucking tone of the original, but is also wired for coil-tapping for those players who want to be able to split the coils (via a push/pull pot or the like) to hear just one half of the pickup. Also available in a 7-string version, the EMG-707TW. www.emginc.com
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Ernie Ball Music Man John Petrucci Baritone

By Jude Gold
This new signature-series Ernie Ball Music Man John Petrucci model is longer than all previous—and its strings much fatter—because it’s a 27.5"-scale baritone. Petrucci so loves his custom long-scale Ernie Balls that his favorite guitar company decided it was time for a production version the masses could enjoy. The neck plays great, with even (low) action throughout, and the guitar features a fulcrum tremolo system—a rarity on baritones—which allows for everything from vibrato to dive-bomb pyrotechnics à la Petrucci. www.ernieball.com
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ESP Signature Models

By Michael Molenda
The folks at ESP must have been drinking pure inspiration last year, because the crew debuted 50 new guitars and basses at NAMM. Talk about overachieving! Some of the hippest models in the mass ESP attack were signature models by Jon Donais of Shadows Fall, Jeff Hanneman, Michael Padget, and a totally wild and funky Richie Sambora. www.espguitars.com

Euphonix Artist MC Mix and MC Control

By Barry Cleveland
If you thought that Euphonix products were only for the well-heeled elite, think again. The MC Control gives you a customizable control surface with four touch-sensitive faders, eight touch-sensitive rotary controllers, 12 assignable soft keys, transport controls and more. The MC Mix adds eight more faders and encoders. Both use Ethernet connections for speed and resolution that leaves MIDI-based DAW controllers in the dust—and it’s about time! www.euphonix.com

Farley’s Essentials Nick Vail StagePlayer

I happened upon Nick Vail as I was drifting through NAMM’s Hall E—the infamous “mad scientist” arena—and I was captivated by his simple and elegant approach to a singer/songwriter’s need for someplace to sit, and someplace to park a guitar, banjo, or bass during breaks (or during a turn at the piano or other instrument). The StagePlayer is portable as hell, weighs only ten pounds, and can support up to 250 lbs. www.farleysessentials.com
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Fender New American Standard Series

By Michael Molenda
Evolution was the call to arms at the Fender booth, as the iconic guitar company unveiled a revamped American Standard line that includes a Stratocaster, a Telecaster, a Precision Bass, and a Jazz Bass. Each model was rebuilt from the ground up, with every tonal element from woods to bridges reassessed to deliver a better sounding—and better playing—instrument. At the launch, NAMM attendees were also treated to a pretty terrific video that featured players such as Jeff Beck discussing why they dig their Fenders. Sure, the film was a marketing tool, but I’ll listen to Beck talk about his tone, technique, and love of Stratocasters any day.
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Fishman Artist Series Jerry Douglas Aura Imaging Pedal

By Art Thompson
Fishman’s first ever signature pedal uses Aura Imaging technology to replicate a variety of miked sounds created in the studio by Dobro master Jerry Douglas. From what I heard at NAMM, this thing makes a pickup-equipped resonator guitar sound so sweet and open you’ll swear it is miked. Wow! www.fishman.com

Godin 5th Avenue

By Michael Molenda
Robert Godin is an unabashed archtop freak, and his giddy joy over his company’s 5th Avenue was extremely apparent as he beamed across the guitar’s display. Constructed from Canadian wild cherry, the guitar truly seems like a labor of love. It also sounds and plays great. www.godinguitars.com
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Godin Passion RG-3 Series

By Michael Molenda
The light and wonderfully balanced RG-3s are designed for the single-coil zealot who wants a fine handcrafted instrument. These guitars are pretty loud acoustically—they even rang out nicely amidst the undulating crowd chatter at NAMM. To best enhance the guitar’s electric tone, Godin developed a new GS-3 single-coil pickup. www.godinguitars.com

Groove Tubes Spacestation SFX MK2

By Jude Gold
You haven’t heard true stereo until you’ve basked in the 300-degree three-dimensional sonic field created by this new and improved Spacestation from Groove Tubes. Called the Spacestation SFX MK2, the powered stereo monitor uses GT’s SFX technology—two speakers set out-of-phase and off-access by 90 degrees, plus some snazzy electronic encoding—to turn virtually any room into one giant “sweet spot” where everyone hears the same dimensional stereo mix. For a company that specializes in tubes, this is a surprisingly cool solid-state offering. www.groovetubes.com
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Hamer Blonde Korina Models

By Michael Molenda
No new Hamer models here—just a sweet and totally superb new finish on some old favorites. Do yourself a favor, and click the link below. And then try not to drool all over your best t-shirt.
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Hammond Leslie G37

By Art Thompson
Specially designed for guitar, the G37 rotary speaker cabinet features a built-in 100-watt tube/solid-state amp and has two 147-style rotors that are voiced for 6-string tones. You just plug in and go with this baby, and the lush, shimmering sounds it produces are absolutely mesmerizing. No pedal can do what the G37 does. www.hammondorgan.com

Henman-Bevilacqua S1

By Art Thompson
The S1 I tried at this company’s poshly decorated booth played beautifully and sounded incredibly clear and ringing. Every aspect of this guitar has been rendered with a great deal of care and precision to create a one-of-a-kind instrument that straddles the line between music-making tool and piece of fine sculpture. www.henbev.com

Hughes & Kettner Statesman Series

By Michael Molenda
Delivering British and American versions of classic ’60s and ’70s tube tones is the mission of these machines. The amps are extremely dynamic, and are armed with 12AX7 preamp tubes, and—depending on the model you choose—EL 84, El 34, or 6L6 power tubes. Accutronics spring reverb, a boost function, and custom-designed Eminence speakers are also onboard. www.hughes-and-kettner.com
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Ibanez 30th Anniversary George Benson

By Jude Gold 
Gold and silver flakes are part of the special finishing process—a traditional process carried on by a small Japanese firm that’s been in business for over 400 years—that makes this special guitar all the more worthy of the name it bears—George Benson. A 30-year relationship celebrated! (Benson also celebrated by actually performing live at the Ibanez booth on Friday, Jan. 18th, 2008.) www.ibanez.com
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Ibanez Steve Vai Jemini Dual Distortion Pedal

By Jude Gold
With two discreet modes, the signature-series Steve Vai Jemini dual distortion pedal from Ibanez covers a wide range of Vai-approved distortion tones, from biting, near-clean tones to full saturation. Cool LED alert: A super-hip illuminated ring around each knob makes all your settings visible on even the darkest stages, not to mention adds some visual wow factor that complements this pedal’s already super-psychedelic multi-color metal casing. www.ibanez.com
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IK Multimedia Stomp IO

By Barry Cleveland
This new “pedalboard” for controlling AmpliTube and Powered by AmpliTube plug-ins not only gives you all the same control that’s available via keyboard and mouse on your computer, it comes with a bundle of software that includes AmpliTube Jimi Hendrix. www.ikmultimedia.com
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Joe Meek FloorQ Optical Compressor Pedal

By Barry Cleveland
The FloorQ—not really an EQ, but they couldn’t resist having a product with a pun for a name—packs the sounds and control flexibility of a Joe Meek optical rack processor into a pedal. Guitar and bass have always been the primary beneficiaries of this particular Meek tweak—and now that sexy squash is at your feet. www.joemeek.com
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Keeley Vintage and Modern pickups

By Matt Blackett
From the connoisseur of tone that gave us the Keeley Compressor (and a bunch of excellent pedal mods), Robert Keeley, we get these hand-wound beauties. You can choose between models with different outputs and either alnico II or alnico V magnets (Relic, Neo-Vintage, or Modern), or you can call for an interview and have them custom-wind a set to your specs! www.robertkeeley.com
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Kulick Design GP-1 Pure Preamp/VA-1 Power Amp

By Barry Cleveland
The GP-1 has three channels with three very different modes, all of which sound great, and the company will customize sounds to your personal specifications on request. The 100-watt VA-1 allows you to swap out different types of tubes, further customizing your sound. And the speaker cabs look really cool, too. www.kulick-design.com
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Larrivée RS-4 Solidbody Electric

By Matt Blackett
The RS-4 represents Larrivée’s re-entry into the electric guitar world. The 25 ½"-scale single-cutaway sports a Tone Pros bridge, Lollar pickups, and bumblebee caps. The same great quality we’ve grown to expect in their acoustics is apparent in this guitar. www.larrivee.com
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Looperlative Audio Products LP1 Stereo Looper

By Barry Cleveland
Likely the last word in looping, the LP1 gives you eight completely independent stereo loops that may be programmed in an astonishing variety of ways for near total control of your sound. It’s pricey, but worth every penny. www.looperlative.com
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Mackie Hotwire

By Michael Molenda
Greg Mackie inserted a guitar-workstation level of armament into the Hotwire, and all that stuff is brilliant and wonderful and awesome. I’ll even mention most of the features in a second. But the mind-blowing, crazy-ass shazzam aspect of the Hotwire is that it’s a 120-watt tube amp that weighs just 24.5 lbs. I picked it up 17 times just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming, and I was laughing like a fool throughout the entire routine. If this baby was round and shiny, I could almost bowl with it! Oh, yeah—besides its light weight, the Hotwire also offers class A/AB mode switching, two 12AX7A tubes, onboard digital effects, a custom-voiced 12" speaker that can be switched to an American or British emphasis, a 1.35" Celestion neodymium compression driver, 4-band EQ with selectable British or American tone stacks, switchable output power (1 watt, 2 watts, 4 watts, 8 watts, 16 watts, 30 watts, 60 watts, 120 watts), 96 user presets, a Buzz filter for eliminating single-coil noise, an onboard tuner, and tons more goodies. Whew! www.mackiehotwire.com

Marshall 1959RR Randy Rhoads

By Barry Cleveland
Marshall examined Randy’s custom head and recreated all of the original factory mods for this Limited Edition Signature Series Super Lead 100 amp in white. www.marshallamps.com
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Martin OMCRE acoustic with Babicz Continually Adjustable Neck

By Matt Blackett
Babicz Guitars’ Jeff Babicz gets a well-deserved blessing from the most respected company in the history of acoustic guitars with the Martin OMCRE: a beautiful acoustic that features the revolutionary Babicz Continually Adjustable Neck. An excellent blend of vintage and modern, old-school and new-school. Bravo. www.babiczguitars.com
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Moog MP-201 Multi-Pedal

By Barry Cleveland
Got lots of Moogerfoogers or MIDI and C/V devices you’d like to control all at once? Would you like to swap one switchable expression pedal for several? This ingenious little hummer does all that and much, much more. www.moogmusic.com
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MXR Carbon Copy

By Matt Blackett
The MXR Carbon Copy analog delay is the latest offering from Dunlop. It features 600ms of delay provided by bucket-brigade chips—the holy grail of echo technology. They throw in modulation (on the echo repeats only) at no extra charge. www.jimdunlop.com
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MXR M159 Stereo Tremolo

By Art Thompson
Essentially a reissue of the Dunlop TS-1 tremolo, the M159 adds some new twists, such a discreet stereo input and output jacks, 18-volt operation, and a secondary footswitch that inverts the waveform at the stereo out—creating a vibacious ping-pong trem effect. The separate in and outs also let you have two different instruments running through the M159—a novel thing in the world of trem pedals. www.jimdunlop.com

Old Dog X-Cabinet

By Michael Molenda
Okay, I’m an admitted industrial-design freak, so the X-o-licious silhouette of these cabinets absolutely appeals to be on a “Hey, it’s different” level. But there are other cool bits stuffed into this baby’s Baltic birch frame, as well. It’s loaded with four Celestion Vintage 30 speakers, a plug-and-play jack eliminates any guessing at ohm ratings, and a high-frequency diffuser eliminates any hiss produced by the speakers. www.olddogproducts.com
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Paradis Diguit Firewire Guitar

By Barry Cleveland
Besides being a gorgeous guitar with unique styling, a switch that adds two frets to the low E string, a 50 year-old Brazilian rosewood neck, and a custom polyphonic pickup—the Diguit has a multi-channel FireWire connector. www.rolfspuler.com
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Peavey ReValver MKIII

By Michael Molenda
This was definitely one of the most mind-blowing software tools debuted at NAMM. It’s deep. Real deep. As you work from one of ReValver’s 15 amp models, you can basically “mod” your chosen amp down to the circuit level. You can add or subtract tubes, calibrate bias and voltage, goof with components, and even do nutty and esoteric tweaks such as starving the plate. It’s pretty wacky, but the interface is easy to understand, and you don’t have to be an amp designer to work the parameters—you can just mess around until you dig the sound. You also get a battery of virtual stompboxes and effects to further inspire sonic explorations. The massive power available here can be blissfully corrupting. www.peavey.com
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Peterson Body Beat

By Art Thompson
Touted as the world’s first “feel it” metronome, the Body Beat transmits tempos to practically any part of your body you desire via its unique Vibe Clip. If don’t need a kick in the hip to get in the groove, the Body Beat can do audio or visual cues as well. www.petersontuners.com

Planet Waves Modular Snake

By Jude Gold
On the surface, Planet Waves appears to be in the musical accessories business. Really, the New York company is in the solutions business. They’re always striving to make everyday products and tasks easier. Case in point: their new Modular Snake systems, which function like conventional XLR stage snakes without the big box. Simply choose the optimally-sized Planet Waves Core Cable (currently available in 5', 10', and 25' segments) and the appropriate Planet Waves Breakout multi-connector end pieces (available in XLR male or female, TRS, or AES/EBU), and voilá—no more clunky, expensive cable box on stage. www.planetwaves.com
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Notion Music Progression Music Software for Guitar

By Matt Blackett
This is an amazingly intuitive, full-featured notation program, designed to be totally guitarist-friendly. You can write in standard notation or tab, record and enter info from a MIDI guitar, keyboard, or a mouse, and hear realistic playback after you do. It even comes with a built-in amp simulator so you can hear your rock tracks really rock! www.notionmusic.com
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Primacoustic Recoil Stabilizers

The Recoil Stabilizers are placed under your monitor speakers to eliminate acoustic coupling that can mess with precise sound reproduction. A lot of studio owners use common foam pads for the same reason, but foam literally has nothing on the dense and heavy Recoils. It all seems like voodoo, but the Recoils immediately improve clarity, imaging, and low-end tightness. I heard it myself! For about $200 a pair (street price), you might just make your crap speakers sound like $2,000 studio monitors. Don’t take my word for it—try ’em! www.primacoustic.com

PRS Acoustics

By Art Thompson
PRS introduced lots of cool new guitars at NAMM, including a couple of gorgeous Chesapeake flat-top acoustics. Crafted on a built-to-order basis by Private Stock luthier Joe Knaggs, these steel-string beauties featured stunning woods and inlays. The word is that PRS is planning to launch a line of production acoustic guitars sometime in the near future, so stay tuned. www.prsguitars.com

Radial Edge CLA and HBR

By Michael Molenda
Wonderfully de-evolved from Radial’s fabulous ToneBone series of multi-parameter distortion pedals, the two Edges (Classic and Hot British) are simple to use, and they rock like muthas. You get two levels of gain (rhythm and lead), as well as a bypass function. www.radialeng.com
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Randall Kirk Hammett Signature Series

By Michael Molenda
Anything Metallica does is usually big news, and an amp line that nails Hammett’s rhythm and lead tones is going to launch quite a few players into ecstasy. Hammett worked with Randall to design some tube heads, personal versions of the company’s interchangeable MTS modules, 15-watt practice amps, custom speaker cabinets, and a limited-edition half-stack. www.randallamplifiers.com

Reverend Pete Anderson

By Michael Molenda
I love all guitars, but I have a special affection for big, bangin’ rockabilly-style boxes, and Pete Anderson’s signature model as sleek and sexy and rumble-rific as it gets. Pete said he designed the guitar to handle everything from rock to country. “They’ll be skeptical when I pull this out on a country gig,” he said, “but when they hear me play it, they’ll be believers.” I can’t wait.
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Rivera Venus 3

By Art Thompson
This new single-channel 6V6-powered 15-watt amp immediately caught my eye with its sweet look and hip features, including a Mid knob that pulls to toggle between tweed and blackface Fender-style sounds. Toss in a 10" Eminence Vintage Gold speaker, a half-power switch, and Accutronics spring reverb, and this pint-sized combo is a potential killer for smaller gigs or recording. www.rivera.com

Rocktron Banshee 2

By Jude Gold
For those who love the talk box sound but aren’t fans of the hassle and risks involved with traditional talk boxes, the Rocktron Banshee has been a wonderfully convenient way to get those cool vocalized Walsh/ Frampton/Sambora sounds without requiring power-amp output signal from your rig. (With plenty of volume, the Banshee’s onboard driver can send a juicy, overdriven tone through the tube with enough power to all but rattle the fillings out of your molars.) The Rocktron Banshee 2 adds two modern and uber-hip features: an effects loop—yes, on a talk box!—and the ability to still send your guitar signal to your amp WHILE the talk box is doing its magic with that long tube, a microphone, your mouth, and the P.A. system (or whatever the mic is plugged into). www.rocktron.com
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Schecter Hollywood

By Art Thompson
Flaunting some of the best aspects of classic NoHo (North Hollywood to all you non SoCal folks) guitar design, the two new Hollywood models are bold, through-neck axes that sport maple/wenge/walnut necks and double cutaway mahogany/maple bodies with transparent black or red finishes. Powered by Duncan humbuckers they’re the retro muscle cars of the Schecter line. www.schecterguitars.com

Seymour Duncan Power Grid Distortion

By Matt Blackett
More than two years in development, the Power Grid Distortion is a high-gain, solid-state pedal that features a powerful, flexible 3-band EQ section for sculpting sustaining hard rock tones. www.seymourduncan.com
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SKB V & Explorer Cases

By Jude Gold
V cases are tough to come by ... or, perhaps were tough to come by until now. SKB, a major supplier of the world’s instrument and gear cases, has not only released a hardshell molded case to fit your Gibson Flying V (or Dean or Jackson V, etc.), but also a case for the lightning-bolt shaped guitar known as the Gibson Explorer, which fits Firebirds and similar shapes as well. Both cases feature SKB’s new trigger latches and TSA-friendly locks—locks the TSA and only the TSA has special keys for that can unlock your case without damaging it. An unconditional guarantee from SKB sweetens the deal. www.skbcases.com
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Source Audio Soundblox Multiwave Distortion

By Matt Blackett
From the guys who gave us the incredibly cool Hot Hand Phaser/Flanger (the motion controlled thingy where you wear a ring and then manipulate the effect with your hand movements), we now get the Soundblox Multiwave Distortion. This pedal goes way beyond what a normal distortion box can do by applying distortion separately to different frequencies for all-new tones. www.sourceaudio.net
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SPL USA 2601 Transducer

By Barry Cleveland
This all-analog load box/cab simulator/miking simulator converts the speaker output from your amp into a line-level signal for recording (or feeding a stage mixer), and offers tons of tone and I/O options. www.soundperformancelab.com
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Steinberger ZT3 Electric Guitar

By Barry Cleveland
Ned Steinberger’s latest innovation features a locking tremolo system that allows you to move between five different tunings—D, Eb, E, F, and F#—by simply manipulating the tremolo arm—and it works as a regular Trans-Trem tremolo in the E position. Wow! www.steinberger.com
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Taylor Builder’s Reserve Solidbody

By Matt Blackett
This super-limited (only 60!) solidbody from Taylor not only sports gorgeous walnut front and back and a unique inlay but it comes with a photo history that will take you from the grove where the tree was felled through the entire building process. www.taylorguitars.com
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T.C. Electronic Nova System

By Jude Gold
If you’ve ever had an interest in T.C. Electronic’s flagship, full-featured guitar effects rig, the G-System, but wanted something a little smaller in size and price, you’ll be pleased to know that the Danish company (which, by the way, has recently merged with Gibson) has announced Nova System, a new floor-based all-in-one guitar solution that uniquely combines refined analog distortion and overdrive with the advantages of digital control and tons of effects from G-System. Nova System is intended for any guitarist who wants setup simplicity without sacrificing tonal fidelity.

Says TC in a press release: “What makes Nova System so remarkable is NDT Nova Drive Technology—an innovative drive and distortion circuit that offers true analog sound under preset and expression control. While the drive circuit is 100 percent analog and physically separated from the digital effects, its controls are digital. This way the drive effects can be tweaked, stored and recalled in exactly the same way as any of the digital effects, and the amount of distortion can be controlled in real time by hooking up an expression pedal.

“Nova System houses six high quality effects blocks taken straight from G-System. It features compression, EQ, Noise Gate, Modulation, Pitch, Delay and Reverb, all programmable and storable in 60 user presets. The 30 factory presets take advantage of the wide range of versatile effects combinations and are designed to get the guitar player started right out of the box.

“The Nova System overdrive emulates the classic overdrive originally only found in tube amps. The range goes from slightly warm and subtle overdrive to high gain for screaming leads, but retains excellent chord clarity even with complex voicing ....

“Completing the feature list, the Hi-Z and balanced input plus balanced stereo outputs, and the two footswitch layouts—preset and pedal—with an option for adding a G-Switch for further control.” www.tcelectronic.com
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Tech 21 Character Pedals

By Michael Molenda
Tech 21’s Andrew Barta is one of the kings of analog emulation, and he has launched a series of pedals voiced to deliver iconic amp tones—the Liverpool (Vox style), Blonde (Fender style), British (Marshall style), California (Mesa-Boogie style), and VT Bass (Ampeg bass-amp style). The pedals’ Character control uncorks different timbral accents from within each amp sound—such as an added mid boost, or a bit more snarl without having to reach for the Drive knob—and the simulations sounded pretty darn accurate. Want to toss four guitar “amps” into a gig bag? Well, this is the way to go.
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Trussart Steeltop

By Art Thompson
A couple of particularly lovely Steeltop models (which feature backs made of mahogany or alder) on display this year were inspired by trips that Trussart recently took to Africa and China. Nobody fashions metal like Mr. Trussart, and both instruments were beautifully engraved with motifs that reflect the iconic artwork of those cultures. The China-inspired model even featured antique Chinese coins surrounding the controls. (Note to self: I must have a Trussart someday.) www.jamestrussart.com

TV Jones Guitars

By Michael Molenda
This was another big surprise—TV Jones guitars. They’re totally retro-approved, and they sounded fabulous. It was a treat hearing the late Chet Atkins’ stage and studio partner Paul Yandell picking on the guitars (click the first LiveFrom link below). The models shown at the show—which included the Spectra Sonic and the Model 10—were loaded with Jones’ Classic and Power’Tron pickups. Sweet. www.tvjones.com
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Ultimate Support MC-90 Custom Mic Stand Series

By Art Thompson
The ultimate in onstage bling, these new stands may be a costly way to keep a mic at lip level (they run upwards of $400), but topped with such objects as a big chromed Celtic cross or a hand grenade with a “spoon” that squeezes to adjust the height, they are the perfect accoutrements for spicing up your stage look. www.ultimatesupport.com

Vox Joe Satriani Signature Effects

By Michael Molenda
Darrin Fox broke the news in GP’s August 2007 cover story on Joe Satriani that something was afoot with Vox. At NAMM, the partnership went above ground with an announcement that Satriani and Vox are working together on a line of signature effects pedals. The cool thing is that Satriani isn’t just designing these pedals for you—he plans to use these boxes onstage himself. In other words, they have to adhere to Joe’s stratospheric tonal standards, as well as deliver all the sounds he hears in his head. Summer 2008 is the expected release date for the first pedals in the line, which are reportedly a wah and a distortion. www.voxamps.co.uk
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VHT Sig X amp

By Matt Blackett
This three-channel monster from VHT is a direct response to players’ requests over the years. Voiced differently from the ground up, the Sig X (as in “Your Signature Here”) provides an unbelievable amount of voicing options to totally personalize your tone. A gorgeous clean sound, an unreal “brown” sound, and a vicious lead tone are only some of the possibilities with this beautiful (and loud) amp. www.vhtamp.com
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Vox Virage

By Michael Molenda
Art Thompson and I were given an early sneak peek at the design stage for this new-generation Vox guitar, and it was a thrill to see how it ultimately leapt off the CAD renderings as a real steel-and-wood tone machine. The Virage obviously isn’t as funky looking as some of the ’60s-era Vox models, but there’s still some retro cool in its f-hole design, fretboard inlays, knobs, and Bakelite-style pickup covers. The Virage also has some very sexy and ergonomic curves, and when I played it in the Korg booth—through the new Pandora PX5D—it felt really good, and its innovative 3-way Pickup Mode switch (which selects Clean, Crunch, and Lead modes for each pickup; or think classic single-coil, P-90, and humbucker) easily gave up a bountiful variety of tones. www.voxamps.co.uk/virage
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Waves iGTR

By Barry Cleveland
This pocket-sized device gives you three Waves amp models, three modulation effects, and three ambience effects—and lets you patch in your iPod or other sound device for jamming along. www.waves.com
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Way Huge Electronics

By Michael Molenda
Jeorge Tripps is a respected and beloved boutique stompbox designer, and his Way Huge pedals—with groovy monikers such as Swollen Pickle, Aqua-Puss, and Red Llama—delighted effects zealots during the company’s original lifespan from 1992 to 1999. So it was pretty hot stuff to see that Dunlop has partnered with Tripps to relaunch the Hugeness. The models shown at NAMM included the Fat Sandwich Harmonic Saturator, the Pork Pie Soft Clip Injection Overdrive, and the Swollen Pickle MKII Jumbo Fuzz. www.wayhuge.com
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Zoom ZFX Amp Modeling Software

By Michael Molenda
The ZFX package includes the S2t USB interface that’s loaded with a 12AX7 tube, two XLR inputs, and onboard phantom power. The software side of the equation serves up 12 guitar-amp models, five bass amps, 16 cabinet choices, four microphone options, and 41 virtual stompboxes. You also get Cubase LE recording software. www.samsontech.com
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