Tweet
Having been to at least 4-5 NAMM shows over the past few years and having skipped a few years, I wasn't terribly excited to attend this year's NAMM. How many more ghoul/graveyard Jacksons can one see? How many more ESP's and BC Rich's tied to stands can one not play? How close can you get to Ed Roman before passing out from the stench of his bed of lies and plagiarism? I was still wiped out from my prior weekend in Vegas at the 2010 CES show followed by general debauchery and illegal in countries that adhere to the Warsaw pact activities. My buddy Rich told me a few days before that he scored my wife and I some passes to a Uli Jon Roth all star jam show; I've never listened to his music much and was wondering if the show would would be filled with Dream Theater and D&D fans with the obligatory Slave Leia (post-triplate delivery) in attendace, passing out Jaeger shots.
My wife and I arrived in Anaheim at 8am and proceeded to fuel up at iHop with all you can eat pancakes with a side of wet bacon (see Ed Roman, above) and sausage-like substance. The walk to to the convention was a bit farther than anticipated, which hopefully burned off the maple syrup coagulating in my belly. We got to the show and headed immediately to our benefactor's booth (Brubaker) to check out the cool basses and catch up.
Feeling the need to witness more Dimebag exploitation, my wife and I headed to the Dean booth. Eric Peterson, Michael Amott, and others were scheduled to sign in a few minutes; the line was short so we decided to get in on the action. I've haven't been too impressed with Deans over the past few years especially since the Deans at NAMM 2008 were pretty poorly set up and had some flaws. I didn't get a lot of hands on time with the guitars but I was a bit more impressed this year. The Eric Peterson import V played really well as did the USA Razorbacks and Vs. The Dave Mustaine Zero relic guitar was pretty heavy but felt pretty nice in my hands. The 7 string V with Kahler had a lame issue: recessed Kahler and no neck angle. Kahlers need a neck angle and high saddles otherwise there's not enough pressure over the saddles. It was a nice looking guitar though. The new Uli Sky guitars looked cool but were attached to the wall. These (I think) were prototypes and priced at something like $9k. Uh, pass. A couple of the guys who signed really liked my Maiden shirt. I pointed out it was a Maiden FANCLUB shirt, therefore I was cooler and more important than them, which they laughed at. Michael Amott (Arch Enemy) was cool, Eric Peterson does't talk much but was intrigued by my Flip video camera. He asked me which one to buy and all about it's features. Advantage: nerds. My wife said she had to take a picture of me with the Dean Girls to make my guy friends happy, so I obliged. Dean had a few lame guitars, which included some superstrats and Telecaster type guitars. I just don't think of Dean when I see those guitars. I hear that Dime sneezed on a piece of NAMM bathroom papertowel and that the mucous pattern will become a new Razorback finish.
Speaking of finishes, the handmade BCRs looked really nice but were tied to their stands. Given the reputation (or lack thereof) BCR has with a lot of its customers, you'd think they'd WANT you to play the expensive guitars so they can prove their worth. A few years ago there were WALLS of handmades. Now there's walls of imports. There was a really nice black cherry to blackburst Bich 10 that caught my eye. The KK Wartribe with marbled finish was beautiful but the inlays were still a little sloppy (not as sloppy as the one I own). You'd think they'd pay a little more attention to a guitar that they will list at probably $8k but took their TJ factor pennies to build. The imports looked nice and played well but suffered from the same ultra polished, low frets that seem to plague most Korean guitars these days. A wide, low, shiny fret is not a jumbo fret anymore. That being said, the Zoltan Bathory models (shout out to Hungary, yo!) were pretty cool. Very substantial, thicker necks, and just a nice, solid feel. I did like the new Gunslingers in yellow and green but preferred The Mad Hungarian models. The Ironbirds....sigh. Good to see a neck thru import Ironbird, but is it really too hard to get a MK1 body? The painted bevel version just looks lame to me. The Bich, Eagle, and Mock models were fairly decent. I think if you want an import BCR, you probably can't go wrong with one of them. I'm just not fond of the actual company these days.
As we're leaving the BCR booth, my wife points and says, "Hey isn't that the gross man you don't like over there?" Ladies and gentlemen, Ed Roman, looking like The Grimace after being covered in rubber cement and rolled in Wookie fur. Was that a vest or a tablecloth he was wearing? His teeth (by teeth I mean crusty rocks) kept distracting me. Should I ask him why he intentially breaks copyright law by stealing others' guitar designs and sells them as his own? Should I kick him in the ass like RacerX from the Jackson forum did a few years ago. Nah, I'll just ask him for a picture and I'll flip the bird at the camera. Mission accomplished. Hey Ed, look, a McRib on the floor!
Finally free of the clutches of The Leprechaun of Las Vegas (they're always after me Lucky Charms and gay porn...Jackson/Charvel Forum inside joke) I passed the Mesa Boogie booth (cool little lunchbox amps), the Orange wall of cabinets), and the Fryette wall of amps, which was right by VHT. The Ibanez booth was pretty cramped and filled with the usual bevy of skinny and thin guitars. They had a lot more Xiphos models (plural Xiphii?) including a NAMM model doubleneck. The corner of the booth featured a bas relief sculpture of a Passion and Warfare-esque Steve Vai. I guess the one of him with the missing ribs (removed by Marilyn Manson) fellating himself in a yoga position didn't make it to the show. I would love for Ibanez to bring back the old school early 80s set neck Destroyers so we can all play The Number of the Beast in unison. I can't say much else about the Ibanez guitars...very consistent in build quality, and every model at virtually every price point.
Cort had some Gene Simmons Axe basses. Um, okay. Not a fan of Kiss but I'd like to be buried with one to cover my Kiss Condom. A Gene impersonator was hanging out near the basses so I got a few shots with him. I ran into Clammy from Exciter on my way to Carvin, where I met up with Rich (Demented Ted from the Dinosaur Rock Guitar forum). As in the past, the Carvins were really nice and some of the most consistently built and set up instruments at the show. Beautiful finished, super low action. Just great guitars.
Just down the aisle, Alex Skolnick (Testament) and Gus G (Firewind, Ozzy) were signing at the Seymour Duncan booth. Both guitarists were super nice and allowed a lot of pics and video. We then made our way to Schecter where we checked out the new 8-string guitars (yes, 8-strings, not just for bassists anymore!). The Schecter imports were among my favorites at the show. Sure they bling them out with a bit too much abalone but they necks are nice and chunky and they just don't feel cheap. Some of my favorite playing guitars at the show were the DBZ Guitars, which Dean Zelinsky (formerly of Dean Guitars) now runs. Some of the shapes are a bit odd and look a little kooky. But I really like how the sides and tops are sculpted in really unique ways and how some of the guitars even had giant metal emblems attached. DBZ makes everything from dragon-slaying pointies to Nugent-esque fat and round guitars. One of the guitars had a laser etched snakeskin pattern on the top of it. Some of the Soloist type guitars were closer to a Les Paul in thickness and had the same type of body sculpting as the Dean Soltero. The imports played just as nicely as the USA guitars; like the Schecters, the imports felt really substantial and not cheap. One of the DBZ guys told me that they sent some USA luthiers to Korea to do setups and make sure the guitars leave the factor ready to play, not just ready to sell. Many of the imports have a MAP of $699-$899, which is a pretty good deal. If I was in the market for a new guitar, I'd really consider one of these. Again, not to disappoint you internet pervs, my wife shot some pics of the DBZ Girls. Diamond Amps is somehow connected to DBZ; they had flame maple amps that were matched to some of the guitar finishes. Pretty cool to be able to get a green guitar and a green amp.
Next door to DBZ was a booth that had a replica of a famous recording booth; they even had the exact same type of old school amps, mixers, reel to reel decks, etc. The guy who ran the booth said all the props were supplied by a Hollywood prop house. They had an actual drum from the Sgt. Pepper movie and best of all...the actual Stonehenge from This is Spinal Tap. They should have built an altar to that prop. I would pray at it daily and drink unicorn blood. From a straw made of baby angel bones. Across from the most holiest of altars was the Dommenget booth. For those of you that don't know Dommenget builds guitars for De Scorpions. You see dat mikrofon up in de air? You seeeee eeeeet??? Jew keep me ranning! Bik sitty, bik sitty niiiiiiite. The guy at the booth had Matthias Jabs' name tag on. But was about 100lbs heavier than him with curly hair and no Stryper pants. I played one of the doublecut guitars (I think our Wee Leprechaun pal builds copies of these made of Fairy Tree wood). Not a bad playing guitar, but nothing special. The acoustic flying Vs were pretty cool in a big, hollow, pointy guitar with rounded points kind of way. I played a few minutes then the booth guy played some Flamenco style leads. So I left weeping. I really had a blackout.
We finally made it to the Fender room on the 3rd floor. For years Fender has been on the 2nd floor but I guess they graduated this year. I'm not much of a Fender fan so I immediately made for the Charvel and Jackson areas. Charvel's booth was made to look like a Charvel workshop, complete with workbench and various old school posters including one of Bo Derek and...d20 roll please...HEATHER THOMAS. The vintage vibe would have been complete with a Markie Post in 2-piece bikini poster (don't try to pretend like you don't remember that episode of the Fall Guy). On Night Court Markie might have looked like Jo Polniaczek's life partner and pet hermaphrodite but she was the dirty little secret on the Fall Guy. Speaking of being in love, how 'bout them Charvels? 2 years ago I felt the custom Charvels had really high action and a lack of mojo. This year, they played as nicely as they looked. All the necks felt identical and had a really nice satin finish. Finally, a company that still believes in thick, bacon slab fretboards! My favorites were the hardtail flametops with the orange-ish burst and one with a flamed rosewood top. The body had a pearl-ish binding on the top sides, which was a classy touch; it couldn't be seen from the top of the guitar. I need this guitar, so donations to the cause are welcome. Also cool was the satin finish snakeskin model and the skull finish guitar with the skull-etched pickguard. I played a few of the USA Production Series; the neck profile was identical to the customs with more of a raw finish. I think I might need one of these guitars too.
Speaking of needs, we all need the new Jackson Randy Rhoads replica/anniversary guitar. For those of those under a rock, the first Jackson guitar was built for Randy Rhoads; it was a white offset-V shape that eventually morphed into the RR we all love today. This guitar is an exact relic'd replica of Randy's Jackson (not Randy Jackson, they can't afford to build one that big), down to all the scratches and wear and tear. Priced at $12,619.56, which is Randy's birthday, and limited to 60 pieces, I'm sure they will sell out quick! Jackson had a ton of custom guitars with all kinds of wild paintjobs ranging from monsters, patterns, flames...you name it, there was probably a variant of it there. I got to play the Adrian Smith model Jacksons; they were cool but I liked the feel of the Charvels a bit more. Jackson has been experimenting with some new shapes, some based on existing shapes like the Warrior and Kelly, with more points and cutouts. For the most part, I feel these shapes are a bit too clunky and a bit unrefined. It's hard to do pointy really well and not look immature or derivative. The Warrior-based guitars worked the best. All the guitars were flawless in terms of playability, fit, and finish. I really liked the neck profile on the Mark Morton Dominion guitar...nice and thick. Even the rounded body shape was comfortable to play on.
Towards the end of the day, I saw John Petrucci at the Ernie Ball booth but the line for him was longer than a Dream Theater song combined with an internet messageboard debate on how Petrucci plays without feeling. We finished off the day at the Brubaker booth and decided to have a rib and onion loaf dinner at Tony Roma's. Dinosaur Rock Guitar contingent present: Jeb (Jebudda), Rich (Demented Ted), Mark (Duojett), and my wife (Wife). Geeky guitar talk ensued. Fortunately we couldn't call this a true sausage party since a female was present.
My wife and I arrived in Anaheim at 8am and proceeded to fuel up at iHop with all you can eat pancakes with a side of wet bacon (see Ed Roman, above) and sausage-like substance. The walk to to the convention was a bit farther than anticipated, which hopefully burned off the maple syrup coagulating in my belly. We got to the show and headed immediately to our benefactor's booth (Brubaker) to check out the cool basses and catch up.
Feeling the need to witness more Dimebag exploitation, my wife and I headed to the Dean booth. Eric Peterson, Michael Amott, and others were scheduled to sign in a few minutes; the line was short so we decided to get in on the action. I've haven't been too impressed with Deans over the past few years especially since the Deans at NAMM 2008 were pretty poorly set up and had some flaws. I didn't get a lot of hands on time with the guitars but I was a bit more impressed this year. The Eric Peterson import V played really well as did the USA Razorbacks and Vs. The Dave Mustaine Zero relic guitar was pretty heavy but felt pretty nice in my hands. The 7 string V with Kahler had a lame issue: recessed Kahler and no neck angle. Kahlers need a neck angle and high saddles otherwise there's not enough pressure over the saddles. It was a nice looking guitar though. The new Uli Sky guitars looked cool but were attached to the wall. These (I think) were prototypes and priced at something like $9k. Uh, pass. A couple of the guys who signed really liked my Maiden shirt. I pointed out it was a Maiden FANCLUB shirt, therefore I was cooler and more important than them, which they laughed at. Michael Amott (Arch Enemy) was cool, Eric Peterson does't talk much but was intrigued by my Flip video camera. He asked me which one to buy and all about it's features. Advantage: nerds. My wife said she had to take a picture of me with the Dean Girls to make my guy friends happy, so I obliged. Dean had a few lame guitars, which included some superstrats and Telecaster type guitars. I just don't think of Dean when I see those guitars. I hear that Dime sneezed on a piece of NAMM bathroom papertowel and that the mucous pattern will become a new Razorback finish.
Speaking of finishes, the handmade BCRs looked really nice but were tied to their stands. Given the reputation (or lack thereof) BCR has with a lot of its customers, you'd think they'd WANT you to play the expensive guitars so they can prove their worth. A few years ago there were WALLS of handmades. Now there's walls of imports. There was a really nice black cherry to blackburst Bich 10 that caught my eye. The KK Wartribe with marbled finish was beautiful but the inlays were still a little sloppy (not as sloppy as the one I own). You'd think they'd pay a little more attention to a guitar that they will list at probably $8k but took their TJ factor pennies to build. The imports looked nice and played well but suffered from the same ultra polished, low frets that seem to plague most Korean guitars these days. A wide, low, shiny fret is not a jumbo fret anymore. That being said, the Zoltan Bathory models (shout out to Hungary, yo!) were pretty cool. Very substantial, thicker necks, and just a nice, solid feel. I did like the new Gunslingers in yellow and green but preferred The Mad Hungarian models. The Ironbirds....sigh. Good to see a neck thru import Ironbird, but is it really too hard to get a MK1 body? The painted bevel version just looks lame to me. The Bich, Eagle, and Mock models were fairly decent. I think if you want an import BCR, you probably can't go wrong with one of them. I'm just not fond of the actual company these days.
As we're leaving the BCR booth, my wife points and says, "Hey isn't that the gross man you don't like over there?" Ladies and gentlemen, Ed Roman, looking like The Grimace after being covered in rubber cement and rolled in Wookie fur. Was that a vest or a tablecloth he was wearing? His teeth (by teeth I mean crusty rocks) kept distracting me. Should I ask him why he intentially breaks copyright law by stealing others' guitar designs and sells them as his own? Should I kick him in the ass like RacerX from the Jackson forum did a few years ago. Nah, I'll just ask him for a picture and I'll flip the bird at the camera. Mission accomplished. Hey Ed, look, a McRib on the floor!
Finally free of the clutches of The Leprechaun of Las Vegas (they're always after me Lucky Charms and gay porn...Jackson/Charvel Forum inside joke) I passed the Mesa Boogie booth (cool little lunchbox amps), the Orange wall of cabinets), and the Fryette wall of amps, which was right by VHT. The Ibanez booth was pretty cramped and filled with the usual bevy of skinny and thin guitars. They had a lot more Xiphos models (plural Xiphii?) including a NAMM model doubleneck. The corner of the booth featured a bas relief sculpture of a Passion and Warfare-esque Steve Vai. I guess the one of him with the missing ribs (removed by Marilyn Manson) fellating himself in a yoga position didn't make it to the show. I would love for Ibanez to bring back the old school early 80s set neck Destroyers so we can all play The Number of the Beast in unison. I can't say much else about the Ibanez guitars...very consistent in build quality, and every model at virtually every price point.
Cort had some Gene Simmons Axe basses. Um, okay. Not a fan of Kiss but I'd like to be buried with one to cover my Kiss Condom. A Gene impersonator was hanging out near the basses so I got a few shots with him. I ran into Clammy from Exciter on my way to Carvin, where I met up with Rich (Demented Ted from the Dinosaur Rock Guitar forum). As in the past, the Carvins were really nice and some of the most consistently built and set up instruments at the show. Beautiful finished, super low action. Just great guitars.
Just down the aisle, Alex Skolnick (Testament) and Gus G (Firewind, Ozzy) were signing at the Seymour Duncan booth. Both guitarists were super nice and allowed a lot of pics and video. We then made our way to Schecter where we checked out the new 8-string guitars (yes, 8-strings, not just for bassists anymore!). The Schecter imports were among my favorites at the show. Sure they bling them out with a bit too much abalone but they necks are nice and chunky and they just don't feel cheap. Some of my favorite playing guitars at the show were the DBZ Guitars, which Dean Zelinsky (formerly of Dean Guitars) now runs. Some of the shapes are a bit odd and look a little kooky. But I really like how the sides and tops are sculpted in really unique ways and how some of the guitars even had giant metal emblems attached. DBZ makes everything from dragon-slaying pointies to Nugent-esque fat and round guitars. One of the guitars had a laser etched snakeskin pattern on the top of it. Some of the Soloist type guitars were closer to a Les Paul in thickness and had the same type of body sculpting as the Dean Soltero. The imports played just as nicely as the USA guitars; like the Schecters, the imports felt really substantial and not cheap. One of the DBZ guys told me that they sent some USA luthiers to Korea to do setups and make sure the guitars leave the factor ready to play, not just ready to sell. Many of the imports have a MAP of $699-$899, which is a pretty good deal. If I was in the market for a new guitar, I'd really consider one of these. Again, not to disappoint you internet pervs, my wife shot some pics of the DBZ Girls. Diamond Amps is somehow connected to DBZ; they had flame maple amps that were matched to some of the guitar finishes. Pretty cool to be able to get a green guitar and a green amp.
Next door to DBZ was a booth that had a replica of a famous recording booth; they even had the exact same type of old school amps, mixers, reel to reel decks, etc. The guy who ran the booth said all the props were supplied by a Hollywood prop house. They had an actual drum from the Sgt. Pepper movie and best of all...the actual Stonehenge from This is Spinal Tap. They should have built an altar to that prop. I would pray at it daily and drink unicorn blood. From a straw made of baby angel bones. Across from the most holiest of altars was the Dommenget booth. For those of you that don't know Dommenget builds guitars for De Scorpions. You see dat mikrofon up in de air? You seeeee eeeeet??? Jew keep me ranning! Bik sitty, bik sitty niiiiiiite. The guy at the booth had Matthias Jabs' name tag on. But was about 100lbs heavier than him with curly hair and no Stryper pants. I played one of the doublecut guitars (I think our Wee Leprechaun pal builds copies of these made of Fairy Tree wood). Not a bad playing guitar, but nothing special. The acoustic flying Vs were pretty cool in a big, hollow, pointy guitar with rounded points kind of way. I played a few minutes then the booth guy played some Flamenco style leads. So I left weeping. I really had a blackout.
We finally made it to the Fender room on the 3rd floor. For years Fender has been on the 2nd floor but I guess they graduated this year. I'm not much of a Fender fan so I immediately made for the Charvel and Jackson areas. Charvel's booth was made to look like a Charvel workshop, complete with workbench and various old school posters including one of Bo Derek and...d20 roll please...HEATHER THOMAS. The vintage vibe would have been complete with a Markie Post in 2-piece bikini poster (don't try to pretend like you don't remember that episode of the Fall Guy). On Night Court Markie might have looked like Jo Polniaczek's life partner and pet hermaphrodite but she was the dirty little secret on the Fall Guy. Speaking of being in love, how 'bout them Charvels? 2 years ago I felt the custom Charvels had really high action and a lack of mojo. This year, they played as nicely as they looked. All the necks felt identical and had a really nice satin finish. Finally, a company that still believes in thick, bacon slab fretboards! My favorites were the hardtail flametops with the orange-ish burst and one with a flamed rosewood top. The body had a pearl-ish binding on the top sides, which was a classy touch; it couldn't be seen from the top of the guitar. I need this guitar, so donations to the cause are welcome. Also cool was the satin finish snakeskin model and the skull finish guitar with the skull-etched pickguard. I played a few of the USA Production Series; the neck profile was identical to the customs with more of a raw finish. I think I might need one of these guitars too.
Speaking of needs, we all need the new Jackson Randy Rhoads replica/anniversary guitar. For those of those under a rock, the first Jackson guitar was built for Randy Rhoads; it was a white offset-V shape that eventually morphed into the RR we all love today. This guitar is an exact relic'd replica of Randy's Jackson (not Randy Jackson, they can't afford to build one that big), down to all the scratches and wear and tear. Priced at $12,619.56, which is Randy's birthday, and limited to 60 pieces, I'm sure they will sell out quick! Jackson had a ton of custom guitars with all kinds of wild paintjobs ranging from monsters, patterns, flames...you name it, there was probably a variant of it there. I got to play the Adrian Smith model Jacksons; they were cool but I liked the feel of the Charvels a bit more. Jackson has been experimenting with some new shapes, some based on existing shapes like the Warrior and Kelly, with more points and cutouts. For the most part, I feel these shapes are a bit too clunky and a bit unrefined. It's hard to do pointy really well and not look immature or derivative. The Warrior-based guitars worked the best. All the guitars were flawless in terms of playability, fit, and finish. I really liked the neck profile on the Mark Morton Dominion guitar...nice and thick. Even the rounded body shape was comfortable to play on.
Towards the end of the day, I saw John Petrucci at the Ernie Ball booth but the line for him was longer than a Dream Theater song combined with an internet messageboard debate on how Petrucci plays without feeling. We finished off the day at the Brubaker booth and decided to have a rib and onion loaf dinner at Tony Roma's. Dinosaur Rock Guitar contingent present: Jeb (Jebudda), Rich (Demented Ted), Mark (Duojett), and my wife (Wife). Geeky guitar talk ensued. Fortunately we couldn't call this a true sausage party since a female was present.
Comment