I went to the NAMM show in January, and here's a late report on what I experienced.
The highlight was the music. Totally. The gear stuff you can get tired of after a while. I saw some great shows that really blew me away!
I saw Scott Henderson Trio at the Baked Potato, and that was completely amazing. Scott is such a killer player, and since I'm a big fan of his playing, it was so enjoyable to finally hear his trio live. He had such a ballsy tone, more punchy and bassy than I would have thought, and I mean that in a good way. His Suhr amp was turn up way loud, and through that 4x12, he got a HUGE lead tone. Killer. It was great to hang out with him afterwards and talk gear and whatnot - he's a real nice guy.
I also went to the Morgan Amp Jam, and that was also killer! I saw Kirk Fletcher, Matt Schofield, Tomo Fujita, Josh Smith, Mark Lettieri, Deron Johnson jamming - killer players! I also saw some drunk/stoned players go up and try to jam - it was nothing embarrassing since they could barely stand up.
You may be able to see the back of my head on these videos... I was standing right next to the guy filming.
At the show itself, I saw Oz Noy jamming, I got Allan Holdsworth's autograph, I hung out with the Enigma, and I helped out at the Hell Guitars booth on and off. I also saw Lee Ritenour, Muriel Anderson, Monte Montgomery, Stu Hamm and many other great performers. There's so much to see there!
I met a lot of great people, and I really enjoyed it all. I met up with Anthony Stauffer from Texas Blues Alley (formerly Steviesnacks) and we had a nice chat. I also met up with Brian Porter from Porter Pickups, and Mark Wein from Premier School of Music.
As for gear, I really liked the Fuchs amps I tried. I tested some cool and weird pedals too, for instance this one - the Unpleasant Surprise. It's mean to make foul noises - it's not meant to be a pretty sound! Can be a cool effect. This company makes very cool pedals, check them out at fairfieldcircuitry.com.
I had a nice chat with Jake Hertzog, who's been writing the "Hey Jazz Guy" articles for a guitar magazine. Really nice guy!
Analog Outfitters had some really cool amps that impressed me, same with the Risson amps. Hiwatt has some great sounding stuff too.
Rock'n Roll Relics had some great looking guitars that seemed really good. The Fender and Gibson booths are always fun to browse through - pure guitar porn! The Collings and D'angelico guitars are also super sweet.
I took a bunch of photos with my iPhone, and you can check them out here - https://plus.google.com/photos/+Dolphinstreet/albums/5976589461168554225.
By Robert Renman - www.dolphinstreet.com
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