I went a day late to NAMM this year and had a lot of meetings, so I didn't get to walk the floor as much as I did my first time. Still, it was a blast and I saw great gear, live music and lots of shredding.
Some highlights:
George Benson at the Ibanez booth. My camera went dead right when I walked up, of course.
Gorgeous handmade, custom Pinstripe Drum Set from Pearl. Handpainted by Nub from Orange County Choppers.
Liquicy Cymbals from Hammerax. I have to say, I am not a drummer, but these were very cool and had a really interesting ripple feel.
Hot Hand from Source Audio is pioneering motion-controlled effects. This is nifty. You wear a special ring that enables you to control your effects with your hands. Click here to see Chuck from the band Moe trying it out. Seeing it makes more sense than reading about it. I want this for my electric violin!
Joe Satriani and Herman Li from Dragonforce on stage with his Hot Hand Effect during the Ibanez Guitar Jam.
Bartolini known for pickups and electronics was sharing a booth with Spalt Instruments in LA which makes really beautiful guitars and basses. One of the things I like about going to NAMM is being able to check out boutique products--some of which we sell, and some we don't, but hey that doesn't stop me from looking at them.
Musician's Friend is a sponsor of the John Lennon Bus. I was getting a tour of the bus which is very cool btw from Brian Rothschild who is the Executive Director of the program and we accidentally interrupted a video shoot on the bus with Bruce Greenwood who donates his time to the cause. Yes, I met him and he was quite nice. No, I did not say how much I liked him in that TV series "Nowhere Man" (even though I did!). I don't watch "John from Cincinnati" on HBO but that is the show he's on now.
The John Lennon Bus was right behind one of the outdoor stages at NAMM. I saw YES frontman Jon Anderson with the amazing School of Rock students.
Here they are performing "Starship Troopers," but they also did a couple of other tunes. Later that night, the School of Rock kids performed in the Marriott lobby. The highlight was one of the kids rocking "Institutionalized" by Suicidal Tendencies. What a classic song.
Someone told me this was the Joe Satriani guitar. I can't confirm or deny it.
Spent quite a bit of time in the Roland booth playing digital pianos, including this DP-990 with 3D Sound Control which they say is as close as you can get to a concert grand. I am not sure I can vouch for that, but the sound was impressive.
Fender booth was packed as usual. Custom Shop Guitars video here.
I ended up missing John Mayer and Heart and in the flurry of meetings, gear, music, sore feet, getting hit on, standing in long lines, and hanging with a lot of people I didn't know, I did manage to enjoy myself. :)
I leave you with Ozomatli at the m-Audio booth. I really really like this song which is called "Can't Stop Now." Makes me want to dance, every time I hear it.
For all of my pictures from NAMM 2008, click here!
And for more videos and photos from this year's NAMM, check out HarmonyCentral.com's in-depth coverage of NAMM 2008. To pre-order NAMM 2008 products, including these gorgeous Ibanez guitars, click here.
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