NAMM predictions

[laxu]

Some brands hold off until Saturday, Ibanez is known for doing that, starting way back when they announced the JEMs in ‘87, but I’m not sure who else does it though.

I watched Ola’s pre-show walk-thru and man, the whole 2nd floor used to be guitars/amps/effects from one end down to the arena at the other end with all the wind/band instruments downstairs on the first floor, now the whole middle of the 2nd floor is empty with a bunch of guitars on one side and the wind/band stuff on the other end. Lots of brands partnering up on booths. I’m very curious how much longer NAMM will be a thing. Haven’t seen the Gibson/Fender halls yet, or if they’re even halls/floors this year.

A lot of companies have figured out it's better to spend that money on online marketing rather than a NAMM showcase. I would expect that even for dealer relations there's only so many you can market to when those are starting to consolidate to bigger companies like Sweetwater or Thomann.

Huge tradeshows seem to be going away. E3 was cancelled which was the biggest video game related tradeshow and that's an industry that should be doing very well. I'd give NAMM a year or two at best.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

A lot of companies have figured out it's better to spend that money on online marketing rather than a NAMM showcase. I would expect that even for dealer relations there's only so many you can market to when those are starting to consolidate to bigger companies like Sweetwater or Thomann.

Huge tradeshows seem to be going away. E3 was cancelled which was the biggest video game related tradeshow and that's an industry that should be doing very well. I'd give NAMM a year or two at best.

Again, I wouldn't read tooooo much into it. Based on Fender's product cycle, I imagine that waiting until April to unveil new stuff just....doesn't work. And a NAMM where stuff has not only already been released/announced but has been in stores for a month or two...really doesn't make sense.

 

[JiveTurkey]

There are sometimes later reveals, but doubtful in a year this slow. Sites like musicradar are really the best places to.look at for NAMM news rather than fora

I did a scroll through there and it looked like @TJontheRoad would be happy with the offerings? Very synthcentric from what I was seeing?

I believe @JerEvil is en route or going sometime this year?

 

[Fireproof]

I did a scroll through there and it looked like @TJontheRoad would be happy with the offerings? Very synthcentric from what I was seeing?

I believe @JerEvil is en route or going sometime this year?

Yeah, no game changers that I could see on Music Radar.

Not much really caught my eye in general.

Anything new from Line 6??

 

[JiveTurkey]

Yeah, no game changers that I could see on Music Radar.

Not much really caught my eye in general.

Anything new from Line 6??

Not so far? I think there was a new Yamaha guitar that got unveiled? It's pretty darn tame this year from all I've seen. Not too surprised at that either.

 

[ragingplatypi]

I did a scroll through there and it looked like @TJontheRoad would be happy with the offerings? Very synthcentric from what I was seeing?

I believe @JerEvil is en route or going sometime this year?

I feel like getting synth/ambient tones from a guitar without a midi pickup is the most exciting thing these days because of recent innovations and the fact that we’re not over saturated with offerings yet.

10 years ago I was excited about dirt pedals, now the only excitement is the moment I have the excuse to buy one because there are so many (sooooo many) choices.

 

[ragingplatypi]

Not so far? I think there was a new Yamaha guitar that got unveiled? It's pretty darn tame this year from all I've seen. Not too surprised at that either.

The new Yamaha is a flagship acoustic.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I feel like getting synth/ambient tones from a guitar without a midi pickup is the most exciting thing these days because of recent innovations and the fact that we’re not over saturated with offerings yet.

10 years ago I was excited about dirt pedals, now the only excitement is the moment I have the excuse to buy one because there are so many (sooooo many) choices.

Yeah I'm curious to see if Roland has a new GR something or other this year.

 

[ragingplatypi]

Yeah I'm curious to see if Roland has a new GR something or other this year.

They could save a bunch of money by just putting out ads for the SY pedals saying “Hey people! Remember these?”

 

[ragingplatypi]

They could save a bunch of money by just putting out ads for the SY pedals saying “Hey people! Remember these?”

or do like everyone else and come out with bold new colors.

 

[TJontheRoad]

I did a scroll through there and it looked like @TJontheRoad would be happy with the offerings? Very synthcentric from what I was seeing?

I believe @JerEvil is en route or going sometime this year?

NAMM is a complete dud this year. I'm only overwhelmed by the level of underwhelm I'm feeling. There's nothing new of interest. Actually, there's almost nothing new period. Yamaha was rumered to be coming out with a new AN-X synth. They even had a trademark applied for it. Not at NAMM even though they have a large display.

Superbooth in Berlin is next month and that's where all the new eletro toys are getting the most attention these days. NAMM is basically dead.

 

[Foxmeister]

NAMM is a complete dud this year. I'm only overwhelmed by the level of underwhelm I'm feeling.

One NAMM, we will all just be whelmed!

 

[deathbyguitar]

Yamaha was rumered to be coming out with a new AN-X synth. They even had a trademark applied for it. Not at NAMM even though they have a large display.

I've been dying for them to release an updated equivalent of their DTX Multi-12 percussion pad. I use that as a mini drumkit live and it rules but the interface is torture and the built-in drum sounds are super bad by today's standards, not to mention only having 64 MB for sample storage. It's an excellent MIDI controller though.

 

[laxu]

Yamaha announced interesting wireless headphones that claim only 4ms latency: https://usa.yamaha.com/products/mus..._accessories/yh-wl500/index.html#product-tabs

That's pretty cool, though they seem to be pretty expensive.

 

[Rocco Crocco]

Yamaha announced interesting wireless headphones that claim only 4ms latency: https://usa.yamaha.com/products/mus..._accessories/yh-wl500/index.html#product-tabs

That's pretty cool, though they seem to be pretty expensive.

Sweetwater has them for $350. My wife bought me the WAZA Air headphones a couple years ago so I would not buy these. The Yamahas are $100 cheaper then the Boss so if you already have a modeler it may be a good investment.

Playing with wireless headphones is 1000x better than wired.

 

[James Freeman]

Beyerdynamic has redesigned the M series.
Cosmetics, except the M88 which gets a new (old) silver triple layer grille like the old 60's to 90's pre-TG had.

 

[Lysander]

This is quite sexy.

 

[laxu]

This is quite sexy.

A lot of features I would never need but seem cool. Big plus for having top mounted jacks in such a small form factor.

 

[Digital Igloo]

Gibson, Fender, PRS aren't there this year. Not sure if it's a "NAMM is irrelevant" issue or a "NAMM in late April doesn't really work for us" thing.

Nor last year. UA, Roland/BOSS, and Strymon didn't have booths either. Hung out with Sean and Mark from Strymon and Tom Cram from DOD/DigiTech too. Yesterday was way more of a "getting the band back together" kind of day, at least for me. Not much in the way of industry trends either.

On a positive note, while there appeared to be around the same number of vendors as last June (which was WAY down from the previous NAMM in Jan 2020), attendance seemed WAY UP from the last one. So maybe our death knells have been premature?

Anything new from Line 6??

Yamaha showed their new 4ms latency headphones hooked up to Helix in our little corner of the Yamaha booth. NAMM landed between release cycles this year and we'd rather spend our NAMM budget on engineering resources, like Fender, Gibson, PRS, etc.

Might be back later, as I really miss the big Helix Users Group party on Friday night.

 

[Fireproof]

Nor last year. UA, Roland/BOSS, and Strymon didn't have booths either. Hung out with Sean and Mark from Strymon and Tom Cram from DOD/DigiTech too. Yesterday was way more of a "getting the band back together" kind of day, at least for me. Not much in the way of industry trends either.

On a positive note, while there appeared to be around the same number of vendors as last June (which was WAY down from the previous NAMM in Jan 2020), attendance seemed WAY UP from the last one. So maybe our death knells have been premature?

Yamaha showed their new 4ms latency headphones hooked up to Helix in our little corner of the Yamaha booth. NAMM landed between release cycles this year and we'd rather spend our NAMM budget on engineering resources, like Fender, Gibson, PRS, etc.

Might be back later, as I really miss the big Helix Users Group party on Friday night.

Just saw the Yamaha Headphones. Pretty cool and would be interested if I didn’t already have Boss Wazas.