NAMM what gives?!?

[packrat]

The alpha omega ultra with sim is new, no?

 

[BaltBass5]

I guess maybe I'm a bit of the mindset that I could really care less about the Ultra High End $4K stuff or the Entry level stuff.

IMO the average pro bassist is in the $1500 - $2k range for Basses and the $2-$3k range for rigs.

Why are so many bass companies concentrating on these high end Basses that look like tacky cadillacs? Lol

 

[MDBass]

The Darkglass, and Tech21 aren't really new....

The Darkglass AO Ultra (with graphic EQ and uploadable cab IR's) and the Tech 21 dUg pedal are absolutely brand new

 

[Savage_Dreams]

The Tech 21 dUg pedal.

- John

exactly. for me thats the show all right there!

but honestly, i cant really think of any other new bells and whistles i need to see on a bass. so called "innovation" just for the sake of being new and innovative does nothing for me. its like the concept cars at car shows that everyone knows will never actually happen.

 

[MDBass]

I guess maybe I'm a bit of the mindset that I could really care less about the Ultra High End $4K stuff or the Entry level stuff.

IMO the average pro bassist is in the $1500 - $2k range for Basses and the $2-$3k range for rigs.

Why are so many bass companies concentrating on these high end Basses that look like tacky cadillacs? Lol

The new Dave Hollingworth signature for Chapman is incredible and is going to retail for $1300ish, the new DBird standard from Dingwall may be even more so and retailing for $1500ish

 

[40Hz]

Dingwall has a bunch of new stuff, including the only T-bird design in history to actually balance properly and sound good.

Not too much bias there considering your profile's signature line.

 

[MDBass]

Not too much bias there considering your profile's signature line.

He's not wrong though: the DBird is something else.

 

[bucephylus]

Almost NO love for bassists.

Ibanez released a bunch of new Basses.

Way Huge released the Pork Pickle

Blackstar released some combos for bass

Ampeg released 2 new bass pedals

Fender found a way to rerelease more 3TS, Natural and Olympic White Jazz and P Basses and raise the price hundreds.

Not much else. Disappointing!

To be fair....

Look at the overall trend in bass guitar the last 4 or 5 years. What do we see right here on Talkbass? The past couple of decades, which saw development of 5 and 6 string basses, have taken a pause as MANY bassists have returned to the Precision Bass and tube amplifiers. Both of which require no new marketing efforts. Far bigger efforts have been going on in the areas of modeling, in ear monitoring etc; and I'd bet if you poke around NAMM for those kinds of products, you would find a lot more buzz. Of course, those types of products are not specifically bass-centric; but, they do figure prominently into a working toolkit for a gigging bassist.

I mean, seriously, why would you put a lot of emphasis on radical new bass guitar designs, when your market data says bassists are buying P Basses and derivatives?

I think there are some very cool looking new bass gear items. The Bergantino HG410, the new Aggie and Genzler cabs. Mike Tobias is there. Roger Sadowsky is there. Fodera is there. Pat Wilkins is there. Not sure what I'm missing; but, as a bassist, those all seem pretty hip to me.

 

[Pdaddy1978]

Was Carol Kay there this year with her folding tables pitching her lesson book's and stuff?

 

[I am Soma]

I wish people complained more.

 

[40Hz]

I personally think there's less for bass relative to guitar because bassists don't really need all that much more than what we've already got.

Some intrepid souls continually to try to push the envelope on our behalf. And the rest of the music world promptly pushes us right back into our long established and necessary role within the larger scheme of musical things. Because somebody's got to stay down low in the frequency spectrum and do those magical things we do. There's just no getting around that. And us getting bored with doing our main job doesn't change anything.

I was thinking recently about how much would I absolutely need as a working bassist when it comes to gear. And I realized while sitting in a room full of bass related stuff I own that (if I were being honest) all I'd really need is an amp, a cord, and a bass. And pretty much any amp, cord, and bass I own would work.

tl:dr - There's less stuff for us because you don't really need a lot of stuff to be a bass player. And the stuff we already have gets the job done.

 

[inanimate_carb]

Went to NAMM for years, because I had to go due to work. Will not go again. NAMM is mostly a way for people who don't work in the music business to pretend that they DO. IMHO...

For those keeping score, this post is the winner.

 

[40Hz]

He's not wrong though: the DBird is something else.

Wouldn't know. I never met one.

But I also disagree with the dig about no prior TBird ever sounding good. There's many who would disagree with that. There's legions who admire the classic TBird tone.

 

[Lobster11]

For those keeping score, this post is the winner.

Sorry, I voted for @Michedelic's "Mohini was playing live 4 feet away from me; that's all that matters."

 

[Garret Graves]

Aguilar is all bass, they have at least one new pedal.

 

[Garret Graves]

Mohini was playing live 4 feet away from me; that's all that matters. Same thing will happen today with Chuck Rainey. I can't complain.

Amen!- had this view of her and Gergo Borlai at the Baked Potato Tuesday- neener neener

 

[fhm555]

NAMM has been increasingly irrelevant over the years as social media and the internet have become the main avenue for company interaction with customers. There just isn't really any reason to debut something big at NAMM when you can have the same outreach any time of the year.

While it is good to have the convenience and flexibility of social media as a way to roll out new product, there is no substitute for talking one on one with the maker while holding a thing in your hands and arriving at your own conclusion based on your impressions versus the hype, flattering photos/vids, and pitch heavy rhetoric with which new items get introduced on all the social media i consume often enough to be aware of what ads on those platforms look like.
There is also the trend these days to just take the manufacturers copy and paste it to your commerce site. I go looking for a yellow lefthanded widget launcher and every link in my search leads to the same three photos and two lines of description.
Without talkbass and events like NAMM, I doubt i'd ever want anything i didn't see in my local market. I've never been to NAMM but i'm neither a manufacturer or wholesaler/retailer of music gear so i don't really see the point. I have however worked in trade show production for both closed and open shows so i've seen first hand how important the one on one, hands on and flesh pressing aspect of the concept is. A large number of the smaller exhibitors will do most or all of their yearly business at a place like NAMM so trade shows definitely have their place. For a principled business looking to thrive, especially a small manufacturer, the right trade show is the best advertising bang for the buck available to those folks.

 

[bkbass2000]

With the success of the Mesa subway 115 I am kind of surprised that few are trying for a piece of the mid priced lightweight 15 market. Every one is jumping in on the 112. Maybe it will take another year for the implementation to come to market. I am also surprised that Ampeg hasn't redesigned their lightweight heads yet. I agree that we have an amazing variety of choices these days and I am very happy with the gear I have, but it's always fun to look and try new stuff.

 

[MDBass]

Wouldn't know. I never met one.

But I also disagree with the dig about no prior TBird ever sounding good. There's many who would disagree with that. There's legions who admire the classic TBird tone.

That's a classic appeal to authority fallacy, as "many" could simply be wrong

All good though, there's a shoe for every foot, different strokes for different folks, etc.

 

[James Collins]

It is clear to me that companies don't need to give us much love. First, there are way fewer bass guitar players than guitar players. Second, every bass guitar rig is the same as it has been since 1970. So every new release looks basically the same as the old equipment. Third, if the posts on TalkBass are an indication, a minority of bass guitarists see value in anything that costs more than $500.

Note the above paragraph is an exaggeration meant to emphasize how most people want a Fender Jazz or Precision bass (or clone) with a single amplifier (type doesn't matter) and no effects for as cheap as humanly possible. It is tough to cater to a small group that is okay using guitar effects and doesn't see beauty in bolt on necks and pickguards even if they are tort (blasphemy, I know). Hell, most bass guitarists buy 1 set of strings during their lifetime.