NAMM’s usual flood of news makes it easy to miss some of the announcements made at the show. So, ever considerate, here’s a few which you may have missed over the last few days…
Yamaha went big
The Japanese giant brought more than 100 new products to the show.
New Keyboard products include the Disklavier Enspire models, the world’s most technologically advanced piano, along with an expanded line of TransAcoustic pianos. New digital pianos include the DGX-660 and the Piaggero NP12 and NP32. New portable keyboards include the PSR-A3000 world keyboard.
Yamaha Band & Orchestral unveiled the new all-wood Yamaha Electric Violin. Yamaha Winds debuted a Xeno anniversary trumpet and trombone, two Geyer-style horns, the EXII Alto Saxophone, three series of flutes and two professional trumpet models. While, Yamaha Percussion also releases two new concert snare drums.
Yamaha Guitars celebrated its 50th anniversary with seven new Revstar electric guitars, Yamaha’s re-entry to the electric guitar market. The FG800 acoustic guitar series replaces the country’s best-selling FG700 series. To commemorate the anniversary, Yamaha released the limited edition FG180-50th, evoking the company’s famous Red Label models.
Yamaha Drums redesigned the renowned Recording Custom set with input from Steve Gadd, and introduces new DTX700 and DTX900 electronic drum kits.
Bösendorfer showed the Oscar Peterson Signature Edition Piano, plus the Butterfly Piano, the 280VC concert grand model and the Grand Bohemian Piano, the most opulent piano in the world.
Steinberg, also located in the Marquis Ballroom, demonstrated Cubase Pro 8.5 digital audio workstation software and the UR22mkII audio interface.
New Vintage electrics
New to the Vintage electric guitar range are four new models.
The V6H models feature an alder body with book matched flame maple veneer tops, hard maple necks with rosewood fingerboards and pearloid dot inlays.
The Wilkinson designed Alnico V WHS single coils in neck and centre positions are matched to a Wilkinson WHHB double coil at the bridge. Finished in a tobacco burst, with three ply white/black/white pearl scratch plate, the V6H is also available with the Wilkinson WVC vibrato system.
Also joining the Vintage range are the V6P models which have all the same features, but are supplied in a flamed cherry burst and with the inclusion of three Wilkinson WP90SK stacked P90 style pickups.The VP6 also has a vibrato option, utilising the Wilkinson WVC system.
Schimmel and Pearl River partner up
German piano manufacturer Schimmel and the world’s largest piano manufacturer (by volume), Pearl River, have entered into a strategic alliance.
Both parties will carry out in-depth cooperation in terms of capital, brand, technology, and marketing.
Pearl River is well-known and has an efficient and well-organised sales network in China. Schimmel, the number one piano manufacturer in Germany and Europe, is one of the renowned traditional brands in Germany, with a long brand history. Its main markets are Germany, Europe, and North America.
“This move is opening a whole new chapter in our 130-year history as a family business. Together with Pearl River, we want to realise the opportunities of strategic cooperation, to have a powerful combination and complementary advantages,” says Hannes Schimmel-Vogel, managing director of the company.
New Billy Sheehan bass pedal
EBS and UK distributor Sound Technology announced a new Billy Sheehan Signature Drive Deluxe bass pedal. Following the multiple awards of the original Billy Sheehan Signature Drive, the Signature Drive deluxe is a fully analogue pedal with the ability to customise your own signature drive via user replaceable op-amps.
Busy show for Orange
Orange revealed a number of new lines including a new bass guitar range.
Orange debuted its Micro Dark amp, which has a new 12AX7 driven, high gain preamp, coupled with a solid-state power section capable of 20W of output. The amp can be paired with any 8-16 Ohm speaker cabinet.
In addition, there were new all analogue 4 Stroke 300 & 500 bass heads. Available in either 300 or 500 Watt variants, both include line-level and balanced outputs, plus a pair of parallel speaker outputs. Its Class A/B nature also means it can also be run without a speaker load, making it perfect for direct recording.
The O Bass, is the latest brainchild of Ade Emsley, Technical Director and Lead Designer. It first made an appearance at the 2014 Winter NAMM as a demonstrator piece, hidden from view backstage. However, the firm says it has been inundated with production requests following videos of prototypes posted online.
Available in three finishes – Teardrop Sunburst, Off-Black and Orange – it is constructed from lightweight Okoumé with a bolt-on maple neck, rosewood fingerboard and custom-wound split coil pickup. It is supplied with a second 3-ply pickguard for customisation and fitted with master volume and tone controls, a top loading 4-saddle bridge, 2-a-side open gear tuners and knurled knobs. It comes complete with a padded Orange gig bag.
Following the launch of the Bax Bangeetar, their first pedal in forty five years, Orange Amplification are introducing a new pair of guitar stompboxes for NAMM 2016; the Amp Detonator Buffered AB-Y and the Two Stroke Boost EQ.
Following the launch of analogue OB1 Series of heads at last year’s NAMM show, the firm launches its OB1-300 Combo version, featuring a 15” Eminence neodymium driver in ported cabinet.
Orange’s UK Custom Shop has designed and produced 110 commemorative Tiny Terror 10th Anniversary half stacks.
The limited edition head is a point-to-point hand wired recreation of the iconic original. Featuring premium components throughout and housed in a polished mirror-effect stainless steel chassis, each comes complete with its own bespoke open-back speaker cabinet.
Taylor continues 12-fret revival
Taylor added to its modern revival of the 12-fret guitar with an expanded suite of player-friendly 12-fret models for 2016
New models for 2016 will span the company’s 300 Series through 900 Series models, and in the 500 Series, a pair of 12-string/12-fret guitars: the 552ce 12-Fret and 562ce 12-Fret.
The firm also launched a number of new 12-strings in five Taylor body shapes.
Among the new shapes are 12-fret Grand Concerts (552ce 12-Fret, 562ce 12-Fret), Grand Orchestra guitar models (458e, 858e), along with a new 12-string Dreadnought (360e).
Also, it launched The TaylorSense smart battery box, replacing the 9-volt battery box in any acoustic Taylor guitar, with sensors that monitor the condition of the guitar and communicate via Bluetooth to the free Taylor Guitars iOS App.
It issues alerts and notifications to address some of the most common concerns guitar owners face: humidity and temperature extremes, potentially damaging impact, and their onboard pickup system’s battery life.
“I’ve been making guitars for more than 40 years now,” said Taylor Guitars co-founder Bob Taylor, “and one avoidable thing we’ve seen in our Repair department over that time is damage caused by temperature, humidity and impact. We’ve preached protection, proper care and awareness of the warning signs of imminent guitar damage, and now with TaylorSense, a player will know when their guitar is experiencing distress, and importantly, how to remedy it, through a robust selection of video care tutorials.”
The free Taylor Guitars App presents the data from the TaylorSense smart battery box in a series of easy-to-follow screens, and proactively delivers push notification alerts to the iOS device’s home screen. Each notification includes a link to “how-to-fix” tutorial videos to help the owner provide proper care for their guitars.
New Casio keyboards
Casio launched two new flagship models in its lineup of professional digital keyboards – the MZ-X300 and MZ-X500. Designed for home, studio and live performances, these arranger workstation keyboards offer new sounds, innovative effects and new rhythm content created by developers from all over the world.
“We are excited to debut our new MZ-Series at Winter NAMM 2016,” said Stephen Schmidt, Vice President of Casio’s Electronic Musical Instrument Division. “The MZ-X300 and MZ-X500 are top-of-the-line keyboards with a diverse range of features suited for many different musical genres.”
Marshall launches new modellers
Marshall’s new Code range of modelling amps, designed with its Swedish technology partner Softube, offers 14 preamps, four power amps and eight speaker cabinets.
CODE’s MST preamps include JTM45 2245, 1962 Bluesbreaker, 1959SLP Plexi, JCM800 2203, JCM2555 Silver Jubilee, JCM2000 DSL100, JVM410H and more, while power amp voicings on offer are EL34, 5881, EL84 & 6L6. The speaker cab selection features 1960, 1960V, 1960AX, 1936V, 1912, 1974X and others.
The range starts at £169 for the Code 25 1×10 combo, up to £349 for the 100 2×12″ combo.
