The Guitar Channel

Video: Josh Smith and Tomo Fujita at Eminence - NAMM 2012

Some super tasty playing from Josh Smith and Tomo Fujita at the Eminence booth at NAMM 2012.

Videos: Oz Noy & Tomo Fujita - Interview and Live Clips

From Xotic Guitars & Effects: Some cool gear talk and live clips featuring Oz Noy and Tomo Fujita.

Winter NAMM 2011: Day 0 - Day 1

My NAMM trip this year has already been eventful, and I still have three days left. Here's a wrap-up of the highlights so far.

OHM at The Baked Potato

I arrived on Wednesday evening and drove up to Studio City to catch OHM's early show at the Baked Potato. My buddy Josh met me at the club, and we had a blast watching Chris Poland, Kofi Baker, and Pag tear through a killer set. The band played several new tunes that sounded awesome (despite some funny false starts) - lots of heavy riff-based stuff mixed with Poland's patented clean chordal parts. I can't wait to hear these new tunes on disc. Great way to start my trip.

NAMM: Day One

The first day of NAMM left my head spinning. Saw tons of great gear and players. A big highlight of the day for me was seeing Steve Morse and Dave LaRue demonstrate the new Ernie Ball "Game Changer" technology. I have to say, it's a pretty remarkable product. In a nutshell, it's a system that uses digital technology to change the analog wiring of the pickups. You can essential pre-program any combination of coils you want via a web-based app, and sync that set of sounds to the guitar. It's not modeling - as I understand it, the pickups are already wired to allow for any possible combination of coils- in series or parallel - and the app tells the guitar which wiring scheme to go with. You load up enough sounds to fill the five-way switch and away you go. If you want to switch out one or more of your sounds, you plug the guitar into your computer via USB, play with the different wiring combos until you find the one you want, and sync it to the guitar. You'll also be able to download sounds from other players over the web - such as Morse's favorite combos, etc - and use those on your guitar as well. Very innovative stuff.

My biggest guitar geek-out moment of the day was seeing the James Tyler Guitars booth, and the new Wayne Krantz Edition signature model they are working on. A Tyler rep informed me they are still working with Krantz to tweak some details, so it's not quite ready for production. From all appearances, the guitar is a replica of the black and white Tyler Krantz has   been playing for many years now. It even has a piece of black tape on the headstock just like Krantz's guitar. Really cool. Tyler is showcasing several  other guitars at the show as well, including a killer-looking Mike Landau-inspired "Burning Water" Studio Elite model.

As usual, Fender has an over-the-top booth this year (shocker), and I was really taken with the new throwback Teles they were showcasing; particularly the 60th Anniversary model. I love the necks and beautiful woods they've used on these Teles. Their Custom Shop area was impressive as well - packed to the gills with awe-inspiring examples of the shop's amazing craftsmanship and attention to detail.

Near the end of the day, I interviewed Prashant Aswani about his new album Sonically Speaking, his gear, and other topics. Learned some very interesting, in-depth stuff about his writing and playing as well. I think it will be a great piece - look for it on The Guitar Channel soon. Day two is gonna be a long one. Lots to see at the show of couse, then tonight I'll be seeing Mike Landau's late set at the Baked Potato. Keep an eye on my Twitter feed for some sneak peeks throughout the day.

More pics from NAMM 2011 Day One:

Current Listening

Some of the stuff I've been listening to / watching lately...

Charlie Hunter - Public Domain

Completely solo guitar album in which Hunter performs classic songs that are all in the public domain (and all chosen by his Grandfather!). Amazing stuff. "Danny Boy" alone is worth the price of admission.

Tetsuo Sakurai - Vital World (Review)

Awesome heavy fusion album with Greg Howe on guitar, and Dennis Chambers on drums. Incredible playing from everyone.

Tomo Fujita - Pure

Great jazz/blues album from the Berklee faculty member. Includes Will Lee, Steve Gadd, Bernard Purdie and Steve Jordan.

Black Country Communion

Killer super-group rock album with Joe Bonamassa on guitar, Glenn Hughes on bass and vocals, Derek Sherinian on keys, and Jason Bonham on drums.

Dann Glenn - Eleven Eleven Orchestra

Eclectic fusion album with cool writing. Bassist Jeff Berlin guests on one track.

Chad Wackerman Trio - Hits Live DVD

Excellent live-in-the-studio style DVD from Chad Wackerman's Trio. Includes Mike Miller on guitar and Doug Linn on bass. Can't get enough of this one.