The 2015 NAMM Show feels like forever ago. But it wasn’t. It was just last month. Even that seems too long ago. It was under two weeks ago. Which means it was only two weeks ago that I discovered the Smart Track pedal board system by Aclam Guitars. If you’ve never liked the idea of attaching velcro to your guitar pedals, then this may interest you greatly. … Smart Track pedal boards—modular awesomeness coming soon
Last week at NAMM I was lucky enough to catch Mike Campese perform at the Sonoma Wire Works booth at the 2015 NAMM Show. Mike was showcasing the tones the iOS app GuitarTone is capable of. Even though I’ve used GuitarTone several times in the past—even writing about them a few times over the years—I was blown away by the audio quality. My embedded video is not going to do that audio any justice because I was only using an iPhone to capture video/audio, but trust me … It sounded awesome and was loud enough to ensure the NAMM decibel police were on hand to protect all sensitive ears.
Everybody won on this day. … Mike Campese performance at the Sonoma Wire Works booth—NAMM 2015
One of the things I liked the most about the 2015 NAMM Show was how easy it was to come across people I’ve recognised from the Internet and/or bands. For example, I saw John Petrucci, George Lynch, Paul Riario, The Tone King and Ryan Bruce. I know those people aren’t all huge on Twitter, but that’s where I like to hang out (hence the Twitter links). I also came across people who knew who I was (once I gave them one of my business cards or plectrums). That was flattering and weird. Because I am nobody.
Better than just seeing someone I recognised, was watching and listening to them play live at NAMM. That’s exactly what I did when Ryan Bruce played at the Cleartone Strings booth. It was pretty impressive to be honest. … Ryan Bruce performance at the Cleartone Strings booth—NAMM 2015
This week I get to do something that I imagine I’ll do rarely during this series of 52 Pedals. I’ll get to write about a pedal I have actually played through. A pedal I have tried and obviously liked. If I didn’t like it, why would I write about it? I wouldn’t obviously. So hopefully that gives the One Shot by Main.Ace.FX a little bit more street cred. Because it is tried and tested—by me.
Conveniently, it’s also now available for purchase. Timing is everything. … 52 pedals, week 4—Main.Ace.FX One Shot
Yesterday afternoon Roland let slip that a few new products would be unleashed at NAMM. Actually, they’ll be unleashing a fair amount of innovation this year if all goes well. Unleash is their new thing. I like it. In particular, I like the look of the newly released Eric Johnson Blues Cube Tone Capsule and the BOSS ES-8 Effects Switching System. I was lucky enough to see them working first-hand at the Roland pre-NAMM launch. Pictures below! … Roland releases a whole heap of awesome
