Winter NAMM 2018 (ultra Pic-heavy)

[Holdsg]

Lakland was showing a Ltd edition Skyline in a very nice ice blue metallic with unique pearl/abalone inlays.

 

[wintremute]

So I got my badge, I walk out of the badge tent, and I'm immediately in the food truck area. Who do I see? our own @Passinwind!

I didn't stop at any of the food trucks, but here are the choices:

NAMM doesn't officially open until 10 am, but they'll let you into the lobby. That's where I saw this:

 

[wintremute]

Going with the theory of "just act like you belong", I sauntered into Hall D. Here's some pre-show peaks:

And, since it was so early, the Ibanez booth was pretty empty. I climbed to their 2nd floor to take some shots so you can see how big this place is. This is just a part of Hall D.

 

[Holdsg]

More Spector. Yes, I’m kinda obsessed.

 

[Holdsg]

Some headless Keisels

 

[wintremute]

Normally the Ibanez booth is packed, and I have trouble getting pics. It seemed like they were pretty much done setting up their basses, so I took advantage of the solitude to make them the first booth - saith the Ibanez Fanboi.

 

[wintremute]

More Ibanez:

 

[wintremute]

And even more Ibanez!

My favorite new Ibanez. It's gorgeous.

 

[lz4005]

No square for mullets??

From my NAMM experience it would be comb-over mullets.

 

[wintremute]

On to Rickenbacker:

I go hunting for someone to ask about the 5-string, and I find this guy! Instead of kicking me out this year, he accepted my offering of carrots. This 5-string is wider at the nut than their previous version. It comes in natural and a very sexy matte black. Check out those crazy new pickups, too.

 

[wintremute]

The question for Reverend was: Do you plan to make the Mercalli 5 in different colors? According to Ken, he goes with 3 colors per year. This year it's Turquoise, Orange Flame Maple, and Black. He said the Turq is pretty much the standard, and probably won't change next year. The other two might, depending on how demand goes. Nothing is set in stone, and he does what he wants. I like his style.

 

[wintremute]

These guys only had 1 bass, but it was quite lovely.

Minarik

 

[wintremute]

Next up was the interesting Sonusphere. Those suckers are LIGHT! They seem like they'd be great for coffee-house gigs, and stand-up bass. They even come with their own gig bag that. They're so light, even a skinny old guy can carry one around with no problems. I'm realizing as I post these that I never actually took a pick of the cab. I suck.

I asked the guys to show me what basses their demoing with:

I finally got some pics of their speakers.

 

[wintremute]

Over at GHS strings @TonyP- and his guitarist Scott were singing the praises of GHS. Brite Flats are my favorite, so they were preaching to the choir.

It's TB's @Jon Moody manning the camera. I bet this interview will be on their website or YouTube channel.

 

[wintremute]

Random TB member sighting: @lowendmafia

 

[wintremute]

So, at the Mark Kendrick booth, I was talking with the man himself. He showed me his new bass pedals, but I asked him when he's going to make a bass guitar. He said that Rudy Sarzo keeps pressuring him to do it, and he thinks that he will start designing one this spring. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

The bass pedals are the 3 in the middle row.

 

[wintremute]

FGN

 

[wintremute]

At the Ashdown booth, I got to check out the new Geezer amp.

The Little Stubby was out.

These combos with the built in kick back were pretty nice, too.

The Geezer amp is frickin' HEAVY. Weight. Pounds. Mass. The gravity pulls it towards the center of the earth like crazy. However, this Rootmaster was super light. Seriously light. I asked if they could make the Geezer light like this, and I got hit with the "we can't say anything" silent face, and hints that "they're thinking about it".

 

[wintremute]

What did Bartolini have in their booth to show off their stuff?

 

[wintremute]

The MTD booth is always cramped, and crammed full of beautiful basses. One of the most challenging to get good pics.

This dude was super chill, and ready to just chat. But when he was playing, man it was nice.