Nice! Looks bad ass to boot.
I know this isn't generally a NAMM type of thread, but I didnt think anyone on the light side of talkbass would give a $h!t about what I had to say, so here is my report. burn after reading:
This will be brief compared to the dude posting 4 pages of pictures, but thought some of you might be interested in my mostly slacker approach to NAMM 2020.
I went to both Niko McBrain and Mike Watt's signings. Mike was really cool and engaging, though I ultimately walked away with out his signature. Just kind of hung out while he chatted with people. Watts a character. Niko? that line was too long. I just got a peek of him, snapped a pic, and left. Same with Nina Strauss. Though I mostly skipped that one because I know I would have frozen or drooled on myself; very attractive and too talented for my feeble mind to handle.
I saw Oli from Cattle Decapitation and Jared from Archspire do bass demos at the Dark Glass booth... Oli inspires me to play more and get better... Jared makes me want to quit playing bass and burn my dead body on a pyre of my personal instruments... he can't be human. (I also saw Dave from Cattle D and Dean & Tobi from Archspire do demos; freakishly talented. I'm not much of a modern death metal guy per se, especially not tech, but there is no denying the next level talent these dudes had)
Don't put your coffee near the Roland keyboard display. I got scolded hard, and the next day there as a barrier around the perfectly useful table.
I saw Wooten perform. He's amazing, though his performance had a couple of "weird" spots???
Dark Glass rep said keep an eye out for cool new $^!t in 2020 and 2021! Didn't say what, but said it was going to be "f-in sick"
Oh, I can (somewhat reluctantly) say the Ultra line of Fender Basses are the best Fenders I have seen or played. Very traditional looking, of course, but very well made. Subtle changes that I think make a difference? Anywho, They are very nice and I found myself really wanting a good old fashioned Fender Jazz (the nut looked and felt even narrower than 1.5) Neck profile is way better than my last Corona CA made jazz too. Anyway, I'm not a hater per se, because I essentially play P-basses, but I haven't wanted a fender in a long time, until now (not that Im getting one at that price) They did a nice job at their "booth" which was really a small village. Their presence was classy and very well done. They had great George Harrison display and an amazing Phil Lynot P-Bass there.
Marshall had some band just shredding on Sunday morning. very small and very young women playing lead guitar and drums; both crushing skulls... all while looking around and smiling like it was just soo soo easy. I couldnt figure out who they were, but it was impressive.
Hosa cables had two kegs of free beer. They are coming out with a new heavy duty and higher end slim patch cable in March... Ill repay them for the beer and buy a couple cables.
Sandberg basses rule. They have killer short scale coming out. They're using some new wood out of Spain and roasting necks in house now; so naturally they built a "jazz" that was under 6.5 lbs. Holy poopie! They also have a new version of the grand dark with luminlay side dots (which is something I would like every factory bass to have). I just love the way their basses play and sound and fell, love that they offer dark glass preamps to... and the people are just excellent.
I spent some time at the Dunable booth. I have been buying basses from Sacha for 6 years, and I can proudly testify that the quality has come to be great. Their home wound pickups sound awesome and they are doing some very high end, beautiful crazy, finishes. If you haven't checked them out, their designs are great. Highly recommend.
The Orange Bass Butler is the awesomerest thing I saw, hands down. I can't wait to have one. Ade Emsley hung out while we demo'd it too. It was a super cool moment. I dont think the demo in the video linked here does it justice even. Maybe because of Vmans style and his personal tone preferences. Anyway, in the booth, through a 4-10, it changed my physical makeup.
The Hiwatt 8x10 is ridiculous. Sounds so huge and somehow really tight. I don't know if its the weird speaker config or because there is a drop of Roger Waters blood in each one, but it's killer.
Earthquaker Pedals are generally excellent. The Hoof sounded great with the Mike Watt Sig Reverend bass. The Plumes too was great with bass. This pedal, the "Sunn O))) Life Pedal™" which I assume was the center of the "satanic company" BS, is excellent and could make so many cool sounds. I loved it. If I didn't have and Orange Bass Butler on the way, Id have this now. It appears I wont be buying it from sweetwater, who does not carry it...
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Multiscale basses are actually easy to play, maybe easier! This blew my mind. I couldn't believe how much I dug it. The Dingwall and Kiesel I played both have me thinking a lot. Very high quality instruments, very comfortable, and the very long scale of the low strings should make down tuning for "doom" a piece of cake. If I hadn't just picked up a first gen Steve Harris, I might be ordering a 4 string NG2 or calling Kiesel about a build. BTW Jeff Kiesel is a really solid guy who treats his artists very well. Im not one of them, of course, but I witnessed this first hand on multiple occasions.
Check out Heil Sound Mics. Kind of crazy on the design side but some nice sounding stuff.
Lopez and Lefty's is a cool place to watch a game within walking distance (1.2 miles ish) with very nice waitresses, solid food, and a pretty good beer selection. Just saying.
There was more cool stuff to report, but not much, and I'm tired, so c'est la vie.
Thanks for the review and debrief. Never considered headless or multiscale, but Ibanez's models look great. Had no idea that EQD was going to do a regular run of the lifepedal. I wanted to try one bad, but not for $400...looks rad too. Honestly I love their stuff, almost every one I've had/have or tried has been a home run in my park. I am glad I don't have too many, otherwise I don't know how I'd fit em all on my board! I'm sure I'd force myself into finding a use for all of em.
I like Sandberg and Dunables offerings, too many basses not enough scratch. The Sandberg tbird and jazz they had at Huber played great!
