Gear 4
Year of the Supercharged Guitar: D’Angelico’s Deluxe Collection
We’re always looking for trends at the NAMM show and this year there were quite a few. One big trend we noticed: 2016 is shaping up to be a great year for progressive guitars. Recent and upcoming releases from major players like Fender, Gibson, D’Angelico, and Ernie Ball Music Man are adding hot-rodded parts and upgrades — some […]
Bryan Adams’ Vintage Martin Defaced at Cairo Airport
It’s been a weird 2016 for Martin Guitars. Following the misguided destruction of a priceless 145-year-old Martin guitar by Kurt Russell on the set of Quentin Tarantino’s film The Hateful Eight, came this news from Egypt: According to the Daily Mail, After a show at the Giza Pyramids, Bryan Adams was set to depart Cairo, […]
Korg Volca FM Now Out in the Wild
Korg is coming through for us today. In January, most of us were left hanging on for more info about the volca fm. Although the minilogue stole the show, the Korg volca fm truly came out of left field. When everyone and their keyboard-playing mama is jonesing for the next analog synth, here’s this Cracker-Jack-sized miniature digital synth, […]
Year of the Supercharged Guitar: Gibson High Performance Series
We’re always looking for trends at the NAMM show and this year there were quite a few. One big trend we noticed: 2016 is shaping up to be a great year for progressive guitars. Recent and upcoming releases from major players like Fender, Gibson, D’Angelico, and Ernie Ball Music Man are adding hot-rodded parts and upgrades — some […]
Update: Axl Rose Set to Replace Brian Johnson for AC/DC’s Remaining U.S. Tour Dates?
Update (March 23): When last we heard, AC/DC singer Brian Johnson was having a rough time continuing to front the Australian hard rock band. At first, his largest setback was his hearing – or impending lack thereof – as doctors warned him against “total hearing loss.” The plot thickened as comedian Jim Breuer, a close […]
Year of the Supercharged Guitar: Fender American Elite Series
We’re always looking for trends at the NAMM show and this year there were quite a few. The rebirth of analog synthesizers may just have reached its peak this year with Korg’s Minilogue and Arturia’s MatrixBrute making big sawtooth waves at the show. Another thing we noticed: 2016 is shaping up to be a great […]
303 State: A History of the Roland TB-303
The Roland TB-303 houses one of music’s most singular sounds. Scroll down a bit and hit play on Phuture’s “Acid Tracks.” What do you hear? That knocking beat of the TR-707 gives way to what sounds like a bass line contorting itself from within. Slippery, percolating, and squelchy, it’s the sound of an unique instrument being pushed to […]
Jimmy Page and Les Paul “Black Beauty” Reunited?
It looks as though Jimmy Page will get to join Peter Frampton, B.B. King, George Harrison, Bob Seger, Zakk Wylde and other guitarists who have lost and later recovered iconic axes. Page’s guitar, a 1960 Les Paul Custom “Black Beauty”, was stolen in 1970 while Led Zeppelin were on tour in the months leading up to Led Zeppelin […]
The 16 Coolest Things We Saw at Winter NAMM 2016
Our crew is back from NAMM 2016 and still buzzing from all the awesome stuff we saw. There were so many photos from our coverage of the show that we wanted to condense it all into the best of the best. So here (in no particular order) are the 16 coolest things we saw at NAMM […]
