NAMM 2014

NAMM_27(1)

Live Photos and Gig Review Credit: © Robert Cavuoto

The biggest and best names in musical instruments come to Anaheim, California every winter for 4 days to show off their new products. This year NAMM boasts over 1,500 dealers and over 90,000 registrants.

From world renowned dealers to the up-and-coming, this convention was in no shortage of amazing musical instruments. From what we were told this year’s convention promised to blow the doors off of previous years…and it did.

This was by far the largest convention I have ever attended or covered from a media perspective. The shear volume of booths was overwhelming. I can’t tell you how many times I got lost or started out for one booth and then was taken-in by something at another. I literally was on the convention floor for three solid days, from the minute it opened to the minute it closed and wasn’t fully able to cover every booth or every “happening” at the convention. To put things in perceptive, the Fender booth was so large that they needed their own floor! Fender was a massive convention room which included a Charvel and Jackson workshops, a section for the EVH Wolfgang and 5150 amps and of course the countless Fender Strats.

Being a guitar fanatic, I couldn’t help notice that all the models of this year’s guitars broke the mold on originality. In the past it seemed as if every manufacture tried to duplicate the look and feel of Paul Reed Smith. It was as if everyone was now thinking out of the box from colors, finishes, styles and shapes. I love getting a first hand look into what you will be seeing at your local Sam Ash and Guitar Center.

The convention was also in no shortage of guitar shredders promoting their signature series models with the likes of George Lynch, Steve Steven, and Kerry King just to name a few.

What I hope to share with you in this article are some of my favorite guitar manufacturers and their guitars. It is only the tip of the NAMM iceberg. Enjoy!