Namm 2010

[Nitro Express]

Dugan rules. Can't say enough nice shit about that guy.



Edit: I haaaaaaaaaaate that MusicMan style truss rod adjustment! Don't tell me it's convenient, it's ugly!!

I had a good impression of him. How long did you work for him. I thought the whole Van Halen management and road crew were top notch. I was expecting huge egos but there was none. It didn't matter if you were an independant contractor, you were on the team that night you were on the team. Dugan made sure we all got something to eat and the party was at the bass bin. I wanted to check out Ed's stuff but that was off limits and not too friendly over there. It was like they had secrets to hide or something. Anthony and Dugan had a nice open atmosphere and that is where the road crew hung out. Mike was more of that. I never saw Roth until he was onstage, Eddie was a Hermit, Alex did come out to the catering area and seemed to be all business.

[Nitro Express]

My favorite truss rod adjustment is the Fender bullet you see on the 70's Strats. The Musicman/ Peavey adjustment looks like what was on those racks they tortured people on in the old days. I do like the carbon fiber reinforced necks. I've never had to readjust one after it's set up. I never have had to tweak the neck on my Wolfgang ever and it goes from freezing cold cars to warm venues all the time.

[jhale667]

I had a good impression of him. How long did you work for him.

I only worked for him (after being introduced by a mutual friend) a couple of times, think it was in '02-03 (?) when he was doing MA-downtime side work with Weezer and Willie Nelson (of all people), and have spoken with him a couple of times since. GREAT guy. Funny, personable, genuine, not to mention pays well - again, can't say enough good stuff about him. Would work for him again in a heartbeat (y'know, were I not otherwise gainfully employed...lol). He showed me one of his original VH tour roadcases (old spray-painted logo, whole deal) and said something to the effect of "the stories this thing could tell..."

[GAR]

Who is he? I will say I've found him a little too "first person" in the interviews I've seen...like he's "Mr. Charvel" or something...? "This year I decided to go with direct-mounted pickups" and stuff like that? Isn't that kind of thing usually decided by committee?

They were playing up the angle of the San Dimases being the thing to have, and everyone knowing it was the employee's built guitars that got taken to NAMM in the beginning of Charvel, I bet they decided by committee to let the Mr. Charvel guy run his mouth as if he really did have some input.

But no, stylings, options, hardware.. fit n finish, that's all decided in Scottsdale AZ not Corona, CA.

The Employee Touch is a nice angle. Look at the pretend bench they brought and the pretend guitar assembly they thought to show.. it's just for the pictures to fool people into believing that their guitar was assembled and setup by some fat pothead like themselves who got all damn day to sit around playing Pantera riffs and stare at the finish till they reach a trance-state of semistoned slumber.

"That dude's a stoner, he must really care about the things I like in a guitar.. cool."

[Panamark]

Scott the not and Phil leppard are lookin mighty old

[GAR]

I heard Scott Ian is set to audition the part of Mister Green Jeans for the New Captain Kangaroo Show on NBC, but got delisted for having too much Green in his urine if you know what I mean..

[vaijuju]

EVH

[jhale667]

More Fender pics...



Insert "donut" joke here...

[jhale667]

Didn't end up going after all. Ah well, next year.

[jhale667]

Wow, tired of boring gray and black Acoustic foam on your studio walls?





Danos..

[jhale667]

Duuuuuuude...

[jhale667]

"Megastack"

[jhale667]

OK, this is kinda cool...


What NAMM thread would be complete without the Dean girls...



Apparently there was an MA sighting...

[jhale667]

Between the Dean girls and this, now I'm gonna need to go rub one out...

[jhale667]

Hearing I didn't miss much excitement-wise...but found some cool pictures at least..



Would've been cool to see this up close, though...

[jhale667]

Warren Demartini showing off the snakeskin repro signature model in the Charvel booth...



And HOLY CRAP it does look nice (despite the streched scales mentioned)...



Still hate that neck thing.

[Nitro Express]

OK, hate the Wolfgang-style truss-adjustment hack in the fretboard on the checkered one.

You could drop some acid and just stare at both of those guitars and go on a trip.

[jhale667]

You could drop some acid and just stare at both of those guitars and go on a trip.

There was definitely cooler stuff than that there...





Even the flat black ones are cooler IMO...

[jhale667]

After watching that clip of the dude wanking on the snakeskin Charvel a couple of times, I can tell I wanna check out the Duncan RTM pickup that comes in the bridge position of that puppy...even in that shitty clip!

Supposed to be like an A2 JB, without the reputed nasal mid-spike?

[Igosplut]

What's with all the car shit hanging on the walls in some of those booths??

[ZahZoo]

There was definitely cooler stuff than that there...

Even the flat black ones are cooler IMO...

I like those new Charvel guitar stands too...

[Nitro Express]

I like those new Charvel guitar stands too...

A stand that will hopefully cook, clean, and fuck when you are in the need.

[jhale667]

Hmm...think someone outdid the Dean Girls this year...

[ace diamond]

dammit hale..........

[jhale667]

[GAR]

Hmm...think someone outdid the Dean Girls this year...

Those guitars ranged in quality, they had a couple that were well built and a few that were roughly formed and really bad.

.. and then you get these tramps in the way of the aisle. That booth wasnt' really well planned out for space at all.

[jhale667]

Nice footage here...




Being told you could tell the recession took a toll this year...smaller displays, less exhibitors, and reduced traffic...security was stupid tight, and the show staff were bigger A*holes than usual...

[Coyote]

I wonder if spEd ran into Bassplayer there...

[Diamondjimi]

I wonder if spEd ran into Bassplayer there...

I'd love to be there for that!

[jhale667]

I wonder if spEd ran into Bassplayer there...

Define "awkward"....

[GAR]

I wonder if spEd ran into Bassplayer there...

I ignored him. He was at Dean Markley booth because Loud Technologies / Ampeg was bankrupt.

Did see his tech wed. picking up his passes.. hibye no chitchat though. I don't think Ed went this year - no reason to if he's busy recording.

[Nitro Express]

Bass Player is using that new Peavey tube bass head now and their pro touring cabs. It's got a switching power supply which reduces the weight but gives you the classic tone of a big tube head.

[GAR]

Hmm, haven't made my mind up about amps with power supplies like that because I test at full volume and haven't had the opportunity.

[GAR]

My show favorite: the new Gotoh teeny-weeny tuner. It weighs only a few grams and you can screw it down directly to the peghead, no thruhole required.

Didn't see any titanium parts guys, like the world really needs another snakeoil salesman on the floor..

The show letdown: with all the newly-freed up space all over the show from all the music manufacturers dying like flies, you'd think ZVex could get out of the mid-booth tunnel between Hall C and D, but he stayed put. Cmon Zack get it together and get visible!

GIBSON had no booth! The Artist Relations guys from Beverly Hills office managed to share a booth with a distributor on the main floor (!) in the nick of time, some say due to dangerous repercussions of importing illegal / misreported / misstated-species timber which has a few people such as Hartley Peavey scrambling to fund a buyout.

The show SHIT: Behringer, as usual. Fuck them, fuck their crap, fuck the ugly, knock-off shitty products they make and fuck that stupid pair of idiots running the operation - both the German dork circuit makerthief plagiarist, and his chinese financier.

I hope they die of violent traffic-related injuries.

(at least they pulled the JMP and JCM800 knockoffs out of production)

[Hardrock69]

Hatley Peavey funding a buyout of Gibson? Ahh I see.

Easy for you to find with Google. Figures.

Is Peavey Buying Gibson? - Harmony Central Musician Community Forums

Peavey buying Gibson? - Telecaster Guitar Forum

[indeedido]

I ignored him. He was at Dean Markley booth because Loud Technologies / Ampeg was bankrupt.

Did see his tech wed. picking up his passes.. hibye no chitchat though. I don't think Ed went this year - no reason to if he's busy recording.

Unless this is from last year, I'd say he was there.

[Nitro Express]

Your lucky if your Behringer stuff lasts in the bedroom. Take it on the road and it self destructs. I actually watched a Behringer bass amp go up in smoke. The power stages take a beating because they have to put out a lot of juice and still keep the headroom. Bass frequencies just eat up cheap power stages. I would avoid Behringer and Hartk like the plague. Especially if you are taking the stuff around to gigs. It just doesn't hold up.

[Nitro Express]

I tired that new Carvin light weight bass head with the preamp tube you can switch in or out. The thing is great. You can nail any tone and it's $400. MADE IN USA too. I notice Peavey is making their stuff in China. A lot of it. Only the high end is USA made so I'm leaning to Carvin now. I've used their mixers and they are great. If you can't tell I'm in a MADE IN USA kick.

[Nitro Express]

I watched an interview with Hartley and he said he could have sold Peavey off a long time ago and retired a rich man. He says he stays in the business because he still enjoys it. His philosophy is to use new technology to create a quality, affordable product that's useful. He's not so much into selling nostalgia or image. He's into technology and doing something different. I really don't think Gibson fits into Hartley's business model.

[Nitro Express]

In an interview he was showing the Peavey custom shop. He kind of seemed bored and said he had 45 years of tube amp building experience and it really wasn't anything new but customers are interested in boutique amps so they decided to get into the business of doing that. Where he clearly was excited was that new tube bass head with the switchable power supply. Also, the new light weight power amps. He's into new things and he was really excited about that new power supply technology which his engineer on his payroll exclusively designed for Peavey. He went into all the problems with such supplies and how it took them years to get it right and reliable.